older gens are do-ers
I might be romanticizing things and seeing things through rose-tinted, idealized glasses, but I often get the feeling that older generations had more of a “do-er” mindset. A kinda “if not me then who, someone has to do it, well it can’t just lie around not finished, I’ll do it even when sick and uncomfortable.” kinda vibe.
Meanwhile younger generations more often feel like “Why should it be me? It wasn’t me who asked for it or did it. Is that explicitly a task in my work contract? Am I getting compensated for this? Someone else will just do it. I don’t owe anyone anything.” We want a village but almost no one wants to be the village for others.
I felt reminded of this by seeing trash in our shared garden. I feel like the more older people are present, the less time the trash would just lie there. They’d remove it because it bothers them and they want a clean space and know that if they don’t do it, it will be there for a long time. Meanwhile the younger generations, including me, walk past the trash every time thinking “Who did this? The person who did that should remove it. Why should I? No one would thank me for it. Oh, now I am walking past this again, I totally forgot to take care of this last afternoon, and I can’t do it now, because I’m on my way to work…”
I guess in this scenario, the older gen would be better and right.
In general, I think the ideal state is somewhere in-between. You can put up boundaries and don’t have to self-sacrifice all the time. You can expect others to step up or ask things of them. You should not be people’s nanny, a doormat, a people-pleaser. You should sometimes say “That’s not my problem.” But on the other hand, if it is quick and easy and doesn’t cost you money or sanity, sometimes just do it so it is done, and not think about it too much. Being the change you wanna see, knowing that if you don’t do it now, no one will.