Entitlement

Does the generation now reaching adulthood have a particular problem with entitlement? Maybe. We tend to assume certain things will always be there for us. The more comfortable our circumstances, the easier it is to slip into that assumption without noticing. Then an economy turns sour, a standard of living slides, and suddenly the things we counted on have to be trimmed back or dropped altogether. Only then does it dawn on us how much we had quietly come to expect.

You can watch this attitude at full volume in certain self-absorbed celebrities. Ever read one of those lists a star hands over, spelling out exactly what has to be waiting in the dressing room or the hotel suite? Part of it I get. If you spend most of the year away from home, having a few familiar comforts on hand makes it simpler to settle in wherever you land. And some of those requests are really just practical: it is less hassle to ask someone at each stop to supply an item than to pack it along or go hunting for it once you arrive.

Related

• Opening A New Window Onto My Life
• Here I Am. I Cannot Do Otherwise.
• On Getting Down: I've Been Down So Long It Feels Like Up to Me
• Details, Details, Not My Cup Of Tea
• Do You Hear Only What You Want to Hear?
• Living Through Your Children, And Why It Hurts You As Much As Them
• Take A Trip This Christmas And Leave Your Worries Behind
• Out With The Old, In With The New? Or Is It In With The Old, Out With The New?