Posted on 08/07/2022 5:39:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Given the right environment and guidance, unsavory traits of the younger generations can be chipped away to reveal true potential.
I recently watched a new Netflix show called, “Snowflake Mountain.” Based on the trailer, I set my expectations low. I was looking for something lighthearted to drown out politics for the day and it looked like the perfect escape. I got more than I bargained for.
“Snowflake Mountain” is a reality series hosted by Navy veteran Joel Graves, retired Army combat engineer Matt Tate, and professional survival instructor Cat Bigney that takes 10 spoiled, entitled twentysomethings to a remote camp and teaches them survival skills, independence, hard work, and ultimately, how to make more of themselves than they (or their parents) ever thought possible.
The contestants are a mixture of the two most disliked generations in our society: Millennials and Generation Z, with the participants ranging in age between 20 and 26. They can’t (or won’t) hold down a job, they sleep all day, party all night, and are entirely void of responsibility. The show really drives home the depiction of both generations as whiny, lazy, and privileged, and fragile like snowflakes. They are everything the prior generations set them up to be and now despise.
This got me thinking about how we got here and how we can fix it.
At the beginning of the series, you see the snowflakes’ parents at their wits’ end. Dreaming of bright futures for their children, but unable to see a path to that reality, the parents are actually the ones who signed their children up for this challenge (unbeknownst to the kids). The videos from the parents reveal a clear pattern: Although well-intentioned, their parenting style of “friend first and parent second” led to their children walking all over them. This dynamic engulfs these families, regardless of their status as a one or two parent household, their ethnicity, or their income bracket.
The issue lies within human nature and our inability to find a balance. We go from one extreme to another without pausing in the middle. Generations before were hard on their children or had distorted views of discipline and used it as an excuse to physically abuse their children. The next generation didn’t want to repeat the cycle and created a new extreme, resulting in virtually free-rein parenting.
Luckily for these 10 contestants, their parents gave them the push they needed. They arrive under the belief that they are staying at a fabulous resort when it is really a campsite fit with tents and outhouses. Once they realize what is happening, none of them are pleased.
At first, the whining was incessant, the sum of times I heard “I can’t do this” or “I’m going home” was innumerable; pair that with the complaints about Joel, Matt, and Cat pushing them, and I really didn’t see how they would finish.
Yet eventually, the group dynamic began to shift.
Leaders emerged. A few of them showed a desire to prove they could persevere. They demonstrated a willingness to be and do better. It was amazing to see positive changes in such a short amount of time. The sight of the hosts offering a balance of well-rounded support through structure and discipline, coupled with counsel and guidance, showed me that given the right environment, any of the unsavory traits disliked among these generations could be chipped away to reveal true potential. They just haven’t been pushed yet.
I commend all three hosts on providing this style of support system that made the contestants push themselves physically and mentally. The hosts knew when to motivate to achieve one result and when to communicate to achieve a different result. “Snowflake Mountain” proves that strength truly has nothing to do with the “generation” you’re born into, but rather the foundation laid for you by your parents and society. The solution begins at home and, although these steps are not always easy, they are necessary for turning a child into a responsible adult.
I have seen this in the workplace too. Younger workers, often with different color hair, that are winey and won’t do any extra effort to help their team get tasks done on time.
I’ve not seen it and that being said If it’s “reality tv” then I have my doubts that it’s very real.
I just can't imagine them choosing to stay.
Next time your at a restaurant and a Millennial or Gen Z hostess tries to seat you, when you get to the table tell them you want to sit elsewhere and watch that pea brain short circuit.
I’ve seen it many times. Dealing with a slight deviation and thinking outside the box during something as simple as that causes them to almost breakdown.
One time the little probably 20 year old had to get the restaurant manager to handle it.
All I wanted to do was sit at a booth instead of a table in a half empty restaurant. SMH
Last time it happened we were in a pretty nice chain restaurant we’re fond of. The very young hostess actually told me I couldn’t sit where I wanted to.
“You can do that” She said. WHAT??!!
Somehow the manager got wind of it and came over and apologized.
I don’t know what happened but the little hostess disappeared and we never saw her again.
Kids now really struggle to interact with other people.
My the standout in my experience with, I guess, gen Z (I don’t train or work with them) is that they’re super polite, verging upon weird.
“I don’t know what happened but the little hostess disappeared and we never saw her again.”
Did you get the 20 year old fired because you wanted to sit somewhere else or to make a point? Either way, that’s pretty impressive. A lot of people don’t have the absolute power that you apparently have to get a restaurant hostess fired.
You remind of the guy who got my nephew fired from Lowe’s because my nephew said “f you” after several minutes of unnecessary and unjustified verbal abuse. Another customer actually tried to defend my nephew to the manager. I don’t really understand people like you.
A couple of years ago I watched two twenty-ish guys spend a half hour in a Lowe’s parking lot, trying to figure out how a jack worked. Their late model car had obviously run over something and flattened one of the tires.
I suspect you could take a bunch of them to the middle of a patch of dense Southern woods not over 500 acres and tell them they were free to leave. I suspect most would be afraid of the woods and not move, and any who tried to leave would get lost before they found their way out.
You got the weird part right.
Try shaking hands with one and look em in the eye....they can’t do it
I was in a Burger King yesterday and there was a black kid working constantly. He emptied the trash, filled up the supplies of cup lids etc., wiped the tabletops with disinfectant, ... He was never loafing.
Before I left, I shook his hand and told him I noticed. I suspect he’ll go far.
He never implied that he got the hostess fired. He only stated they didn’t see her there again. I doubt this was the first or only incompetence. She was apparently not qualified for the job.
Not too long ago I asked my hostess or waitress if they might be able to make the temperature a little warmer than the upper 60s that it must've been set to. She said she'll mention it to the manager. When it didn't seem to be getting any warmer, I asked if the manager had acted. She said the manager had to ASK CORPORATE for permission to change the temperature and corporate had not yet granted permission! Sigh.
“He never implied that he got the hostess fired. He only stated they didn’t see her there again. I doubt this was the first or only incompetence. She was apparently not qualified for the job.”
That’s the way I read it. Why would you get so defensive about something that doesn’t even concern you? A little guilt complex going on there?
I actually ended up sitting where she told me to sit and as far as I was concerned it was over end of story no big deal.
Also I didn’t ask to speak to the manager, he approached me.
Contrary to what you apparently think, I wasn’t trying to get anyone in trouble.
Your right about one thing though, you don’t understand me......how could you? you don’t know me, just like I don’t know you.
As far as your nephew, unlike you I’ll keep my opinion to my self.
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