The Exceptions... Or maybe not.

So I've heard a lot of negative things about this younger generation. That may be a sign I'm getting old--I'm suddenly allowed to be involved in conversations about how bad the younger generation is. According to what seems to be common knowledge, they're rude, unmotivated, have no attention span, and are so entitled that they never work for anything. 

The first issue I have with this is that I have four kids of my own in the younger generation. And I happen to like all four of them. I don't find them to be rude. In fact, I find them to be quite polite with others, and more than tolerable around the house. (OK, pretty rude to one another, but verbally attacking one's sibling didn't just suddenly emerge at the turn of the millennium.) Like just about every adult I know, they're motivated when they're engaged in things they care about, and not so much otherwise. They're attention span seems fine to me, and I don't think I'm the poster boy for ADD. And they do work. They happen to work pretty hard most of the time.

Maybe my kids are the exception. At least that's what I thought.

Then, a few years ago, I started coaching my daughter's basketball team. Oh no, everyone told me. Not only are they middle schoolers, but these are girls, I was told. Lots of them. In one place. The drama will be unbearable, I was told. And with this generation? They'll never work, they'll never be coached, it's just going to be a mess, I was told. I braced myself for the worst.

Guess what? I love coaching these girls. Seriously, it's probably the most enjoyable thing I do all year. I look forward to basketball season starting like most people look forward to vacation. They're not rude; they're giggly and joyful at a level that most adults I know could learn from. And guess what? They seem to be pretty motivated. They work hard and pay attention to what they need to do to compete at a high level... 

...In their rec league. That's right, this isn't an AAU team or even school ball. This is rec league. There's not a college scout anywhere in sight, the newspaper's has never written a word about them, and most of their friends don't even know they play. This ain't a glamorous gig.

But play they do. This year, they played to the tune of a 12-0 season, winning the regular season championship and the tournament championship, navigating the toughest schedule of any team in their league. They worked hard from October to March, practicing drills, learning plays, running sprints, and working on jump shots. They're never going to be the '86 Lakers, but they did a great job. Even today, as they won a hard fought championship game, they made lots of mistakes. But they never quit, and in the end, they pulled it out. Seriously, I couldn't be more proud of them.

Maybe everyone's right. Maybe this generation is a mess. Maybe I just know all of the exceptions. But the more I get to know, the more exceptions I find. And isn't that always the case? It's so much easier to categorize people when you never bother to get to know them. However, once you do, you realize that generalizations rarely fit, and that people, for the most part, are just people. 

It seems that "those kids" are not so bad after all.