In my favorite place to see new people, I encountered a Boomer transacting with a Gen Yer. It was the neatest thing. The Boomer came out of the coffee shop as I was parking with a fellow Boomer friend and headed toward his late model sedan with a briefcase in hand, neat collared shirt tucked in his casual, loose fit jeans with a belt, and very polished speech as he addressed the Gen Yer. The Gen Yer came out behind him with a lap back cocked to the side of his waist, coffee in his hand, headphones around his neck, and keys in hand. He was headed to the sunshine yellow Ford Mustang parked right next to me. Well, me being me, I asked him directly, “How old are you?” I really already knew but I wanted to humor myself, and he said, “24.” I thanked him for answering my random question and the conversation ensued. I began to tell him what I did for a living and how this brief observation intrigued me. He found it humorous and told me about his friend that maintained a blog on similar topics. I asked him one final question in a casual, non threatening way, about why he dressed this way to meet a Boomer and contract business. His answer, “ I was just trying to be comfortable.”
Millenials/Gen Yers don’t mean to be disrespectful of an organizations dress code—they just want to be comfortable. If you have to go to a place and stay for hours on end or do business in the field and get in and out of cars and constantly moving, why then should you not be comfortable doing so. If we consistently interact with each other, why can’t the whole nation just decide that we will all just be comfortable daily and not try to impress people with our clothing unless they are from a foreign country and don’t appreciate our casual everydays instead of just Fridays? Just a thought and another observation of this fascinating generation.
