There is a lot of pressure in one’s first post. I really want to stress why this blog is important to me, but a lot of potential missteps lie along the way. I could coin a phrase that inspires the masses or just as easily, and perhaps more likely in my case, piss off the audience, driving them to a firestorm of criticisms via an anonymous comment section. Sound a little jaded? Let me set the scene for you.

Two years ago, I had approximately 12 Twitter followers when I did the unthinkable. [Update: I am happy to report that I am now up to 15 followers- big deal, blogosphere! Controversy does payoff. Succès de scandale, as they say.] I expressed an opinion on an open, unlocked account. I retweeted a picture of Afghanistan from the late 1960s. It was, in a word, shocking. Aside from a few anomalies in the picture, it looked very similar to a picture of 1960s America. My message may have hinted at greed, and how it can destroy a country. I can’t be certain, but it may have included #oil…and that’s how they tracked me!

Wait. That was misleading. Not the oil industry. They gave approximately two shits about me, and they gave them yesterday. The oil industry is fresh out of shits for me and, frankly, most of you. The “they” to which I refer is: Generation X.

@MiddleAmericaBarb lit my twitter ass up! Dayum! I can appreciate that she disagreed (I use that word, because a verb that adequately portrays her fury has not yet been invented), but she took the comment personal. Why was she so upset? I creeped on her profile for a minute and nope, she was definitely not from Afghanistan just in case that’s what you were thinking. She had a Bible verse in her bio, so I don’t suspect she was a sympathizer to any extremist regime we see in the news. I could repeat the blow-by-blow we exchanged in order to shed some light, but

1) After a few rounds, I was embarrassed that I ever engaged with her, and

2) It wouldn’t answer any questions you have about this encounter.

Her responses were largely driven by nonsensical, irrational rage. Not to sound like a stereotypical Millennial right now, but for reals, who stands up for the oil industry?

Our predecessors insist that Millennials are bewildering. We are just as confused by you, but we aren’t as quick to fire that shot. Who gets that upset about a random Twitter comment from a stranger? It was certainly not directed at Barb, but it somehow ruined her day. Cool. What’s more is that she had to search for my comment. She was not 1 of my 12 that day. I don’t know about you, but I have too much student loan debt to troll for trouble. Three letters rule my life: DOE. I don’t need actual sentences to upset me. The Department of Education does an adequate job.

What is exceptionally odd, and by exceptionally odd I mean hypocritical, is that older generations complain about Millennials being “too sensitive.” I wish I had the royalties to the phrase, “You can’t say anything these days without someone being offended.” I guess you’re right, Barb. You sure proved that to be true. I should note that I didn’t see this phrase on Barb’s past Tweets, but honestly, it sounds like something she would say. Classic Barb.

So what is the point of this blog? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe we can use this as a platform to help others better understand our generation. But probably not. I hope it is more about us, than them. We hear the negative opinions about our generation. Let’s talk about the good we offer…and get back at those who ever doubted us. Let’s rally.