Is young the new old? Millennials seem to take their lives much more seriously than their parents did. While Lucy’s Mum thought about moving to Rio de Janeiro at the age of 27, her daughter dreams of sourdough recipes. Who got it right?
Lucy doesn’t dial but commands Siri to call her favorite contact: Home. She is going to inform her Mum about the latest news: She and her boyfriend Paul are getting a dog. It was last week’s Banana Bread Sunday when the couple got in touch with a local Labradoodle breeder, a week later they committed to a puppy. Paul got the idea from scrolling through his friend’s dog’s Instagram account. The dog’s name is Bert and he is ridiculously cute.
Lucy’s Mum is irritated by her daughter's way of life. At that age, she remembers being wild at heart and dreaming of ultimate freedom. She enjoyed her independence to the fullest, not saving, not thinking of tomorrow, telling her friends about living in Paris or Brasil or both. She crossed borders to explore and not only during a sabbatical. At the same time, she felt the urge to fight inequality, no matter where. Being wild also meant to be political, to be involved, to protest, and to speak up for others.
While Lucy’s Mum was limited in her options, her daughter seems to limit her options by choice. Lucy doesn’t dream of Paris (except for Christmas Shopping), and Brasil seems pretty dangerous. If it were for a job, she would consider moving to London though. Lucy fantasizes about her own apartment, ETF saving plans, and cost-benefit ratios, is pretty self-involved, sometimes has to speak up for Paul, and will be taking care of a dog soon. She pushes herself to the limit during astrology workshops, rather than wasting her time with other people's problems. She is fine, so are her friends. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end” is not only her Instagram tagline but pretty much describes her attitude towards everything. Also, what do we elect representatives for? To do the politics for us.
When Lucy calls her Mum via Facetime, she either looks at her forehead or at her ear for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes she feels a bit sorry for her, having trouble imagining life before Google Maps. When she asks her Dad for career advice, the answer is: “better safe than sorry.” Parents of millennials might not be as digitally advanced and as self-optimized as their kids. But when Lucy’s Mum starts recalling her adventures, her daughter doesn’t feel bad for her anymore but for her generation. In fact, life before Google Maps sounds hilarious. It happened more than once that her Mum woke up in a different city after going out for a drink, her daily routine was called excess. Cancelling a date due to a hangover was still socially acceptable and everyone was invited to the party.
Lucy enjoys the occasional party, too. Since she started investing in kitchen devices, she frequently invites friends for dinner. There is always good wine, preferably Rosé, tenderloins from local, happy cows with names, and vegan options. Sometimes, there is a theme, sometimes not. Lucy knows how to spoil her guests, it’s hard not to have a good time. Nevertheless, people start to cut unnecessary drinks at around 1 am, the hangover is calculated. Saturday appointments and obligations start to pop-up and last-minute brunch- cancelations are simply NOT fair. At 2 am even the only single leaves the party. Thank god. Cleaning starts now.
Obviously, Lucy and her friends also go out. In fact, the organization for a night out already starts a week in advance. By then everyone knows the DJ set, whether to drink or to microdose, and who to text for guestlist. A night out won’t simply begin with “let’s go out” but it can indeed last for 12 hours. Lucy’s Mum doesn’t understand why the whole night would depend on the level of intoxication. Unlike these people, she was wild by nature, she didn’t depend on anyone or anything to feel great, to have fun, and to be self-confident. She didn’t need to do coke in Ibiza to feel like a Rockstar, she was a Rockstar.
Lucy knows these nights are rare and that’s okay. Just sometimes, she really needs her freedom. She needs to get out of her zone, to leave her responsibilities behind, to shut her eyes, and to fly.