Readers respond to Mike Straka's column on Millennials.
Damien writes: That column about today's employees was classic Grrr and even though I am not your boss, I wanted to say good job, Mike ... I figure since I have given you a hard time in the past, much like a boss, I should also give you props when you earn them ... and you earned them on that shout-out to America and it's wimpy people who don't want to earn a living that doesn't include hours a day wasted on a computer e-mailing and blogging! (and that was all in one breath!)
R. Bollinger writes: Do people really have nothing better to do than find things to complain about? In Utah the atheists are crying over a handful of crosses that represent fallen troopers. You have got to be kidding! Between animal abuse in Peru, human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and just the usual humdrum of homelessness and crime here, they need to raise up and cry foul over that?! What the heck is wrong with some of these people? If the symbol of a cross makes the families of the victims feel better, then go for it. You're not impeding my ability to go to work, not make enough money and pay too much in taxes. Every day I sit at work in my few minutes of down time and read the news and just get so pissed off at some of the stupid crap that people actually have a legal precedence for in this country. I am all about freedom, but who is about COMMON SENSE??? I swear to God unless some people are on a soapbox about something, they're just not happy. I never write these opinions because frankly I doubt anyone cares, but this has just reached the brink of stupid!
Nicole in Pittsburgh writes: I usually very much love your column, but you are completely stereotyping the Millennials. I am a young 25, went to undergrad and law school in six years to save myself an extra $30K and now have been working in public interest law for over a year. Since I’m not earning enough money doing that, I have a second job to help pay bills and save some money for buying a house someday. I have worked my tail off my entire life to get where I am and for you to just stereotype everyone born from 1980-1995 is just flat-out wrong. Not everyone from this generation was given a silver spoon or had their parents hold their hand at job interviews! So my GRRRR is to you on stereotyping a whole generation!
David writes: Thank you for speaking out. More people need to write articles such as yours in an effort to convince Americans to stop this madness. As I watched that segment on "60 Minutes," I literally wanted to throw the remote control through the screen. America is facing an unprecedented level of competition from foreign sources, and the up-and-coming generation can only think about what employers are going to do to make their lives more comfortable. The whole sordid mess would be funny if it weren't so frightening.
Katherine H. writes: In response to Sam G: Soon has already come. In the city I live in, the public schools don't allow the kids to dress up for Halloween or have a Halloween party at all. Their reason? Halloween is a Christian holiday. And before you GRRR their stupidity for not knowing Halloween isn't a holiday, but instead the Celtic New Year celebration, it won't matter because the one agnostic parent who threw a hissy fit always wins out. And please, remember that it's "winter" and "spring" break ... which just so happen to coincide with Christmas and Easter. So GRRR to political correctness ruining a fun childhood celebration!
Robin P. writes: I love Dr. Phil's show. I watch all the time. My Grrr is he needs to quit with the trailer park talk. He said on a show last week that pretty much if you live in a trailer park you are a crackhead, welfare whore ... he does this all the time. I live in a trailer park, a nice trailer park. I am NOT a crackhead welfare whore either ... My trailer is paid for and my lot rent is way cheaper than an apartment. My place is neat and clean just because of the whole trailer park stigma. I know how I live and I do not fall under Dr. Phil's idea of trailer trash. I would think that Dr. Phil would not be so judgmental. Anytime Dr. Phil would like to come by my place, even if it's 3 a.m. on a Wednesday, he will not find my house a wreck, except for maybe the kids' room, lol ... but even that is a tolerable mess, lol ... Come on over Dr. Phil and have a look around...
Lisa-Marie writes: OK, seriously, all I want in the morning is my coffee from the gas station. If you are going to be there during "rush hour" time, please, for the love of pete, BE PREPARED. I know exactly how much my coffee is going to be, so I am in-and-out in a flash. However, I am simply frustrated with you people who bring in your kids and cause ruckus; scan your lotto, get more lottos, scratch them right there and then get more; and those who cannot pay for their staples but try every credit card you maxed out at the register anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, you people can come when it is "dead time" and not at the 8 a.m. rush hour!!!!! But then again, I am most sure "these kinds of people" are not reading FOXNews.com anyway.
Floyd in Texas writes: The politicians and newspeople complain that Americans don’t save or even have a savings account. In the '50s and '60s when I grew up, the banks depended on savings accounts to help the make loans to fuel the engine of the American business. Fast forward to the current times and you have a bank paying $1.87 interest on $11,000 savings, BUT charging $12 service charge. Tell me where is the incentive to have a savings account? THERE IS NONE!
Vince in Ohio: Right on. I'm 23 and just entered the professional workforce after a grueling four years of earning my engineering degree. Everything I have, I bought myself. I pay my own bills and make my own decisions. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and appreciate all they did for me when I was younger, but I grow weary of seeing kids these days driving around in brand new cars that their mommy and daddy bought for them. Everything is given to them on a silver platter, because what Little Timmy wants Little Timmy should get. I shudder to think what these spoiled brats will be like when they grow up and find out that the world does not revolve around them. GRRRRRRRR!
Staci in St. Louis: I am sick and tired of being called lazy and being accused of having no work ethic just because I was born in 1981. I work hard, I pay my bills. I find it difficult to ask for money or help. Yet, it doesn't matter that I work hard — if the guy sitting next to me isn't a hard-working person, I get lumped into the same category with him because we are of the same year of birth. It has to do with parents for the most part, and I had good parents. They made me appreciate everything that I have and I don't have much. I usually just blow this rhetoric off to ignorance, but I actually like you and don't consider you stupid. I am a well-informed individual and expect respect from people and it's hard for me to accept that people look down on me because I was born in the '80s. Next time, think about the stereotype you just placed upon me.
Bruce K writes: Mike, I read your Grrr! columns online each time it comes out. Love them. And, your 11/12 column was right on!! In addition to being a former teacher, and now a successful businessman with a large multinational corporation, I am the father of two so-called Millennials. And, in a hiring position for my company, I saw much of what you talk about.
But, I also see (and hire) the exact opposite. Not as many — but they are there. And, more often than not, the problem is the parents and how the children were raised. My wife and I were both teachers. She had a parent complain of too much homework — the daughter was too busy with baton twirling lessons and had to get her sleep! I saw it as a coach. The parents all thought their child had to be the star, captain and the best so that they could get a scholarship to a large university. And, rather than leave the coaching to me, they told me how to do it!
My two children are now 21 and 25. My older is an MBA graduate working in financial analysis for a Big 8 accounting firm. My younger is a senior honors student with two majors, the starting goalie for her university lacrosse team, team captain and has been offered a graduate assistant position to continue her education when she graduates in May. My wife and I are just ordinary people. We live in a modest house, drive used cars, go to church and support our kids in their endeavors. But, one thing we never did was set their expectations such that a living was owed. Rather, success was something that was earned.
Thanks for your perspective. Keep it up. There are those of us that read, listen and agree!
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