My fellow twenty-somethings and late teens, some of you may be aware of the label 'generation undecided' some of you may not. I first came across the phrase when reading a girly mag last year (can't remember which but knowing me, probably Company/Cosmopolitan/Glamour), so the article pretty much branded all of us born circa 1990 part of generation undecided.
Insinuating that we were part of a generation with a plethora of freedom and choice, so much so that we refrained from making decisions, whether they be life changing or everyday decisions, and suggesting that when we did finally come to a decision we spent hours upon hours pouring over whether we had made the right decision or not.
I don't know about you but I see the fact that we do have so much choice when it comes to pretty much everything quite refreshing and exciting.
Lets take the humble Kit Kat as an example, as Wikipedia describes
Each bar consists of fingers composed of three layers of wafer, covered in an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar separately. Bars typically have 2 or 4 fingers.
Only now days buying a Kit Kat isn't so simple, we don't just have the option of a two finger bar or a four finger bar, we have the almighty Kit Kat Chunky, Kit Kat Dark, Kit Kat Orange, Kit Kat Mint, Kit Kat Double Choc, Kit Kat Caramel, Kit Kat White and of course the yummy Kit Kat Peanut Butter
(and if you think we are spoilt for choice check out the Kit Kat Wikipedia page, in Japan there are over 50 variations!)
So as you can see, the Kit Kat is a wonderful metaphoric example for the extensive choice we have available to us, choice that perhaps wasnt available to our parents and the generations before them.
My main issue with the phrase 'generation undecided' is that it connotes negativity, the suggestion that we don't know what we want, and we never will...
Personally I believe that most of us know exactly what we want, we are just too afraid to admit it. A prime example being career choices.
What do you want to be when you grow up? The question is posed to us pretty much as soon as we learn to babble, with parents in hysterical delight when their toddlers announce that they want to be a "fire man", "brum brum driver" or "pop star". The same question asked over and over up until we leave education and reality hits home!
My career ambitions aged 5-12 can probably be summed up through the medium of song, this one song in particular
As you can see below I had the supermodel poses down to a tee from an early age,
Like all 'girly girls' I longed to be a pop star, actress or a Disney princess although the chances of the latter were significantly reduced (besides the fact that Disney princesses are fictitious) when my good friend Rosie decided we would play a game of hairdressers with 'real life scissors' which resulted in my long flowing blonde locks being transformed into a choppy mess that could only be saved by a bowl cut style courtesy of the nearest hair salon. As you can tell I am still very bitter about the situation as was my mum who, at the time decided to keep my treasured hair in a plastic bag (weird).
But the point is that with age, we change our minds, and if you're anything like me, I change my mind over and over again. But this does not mean that I am 'undecided' because most of the time I know exactly what I want to pursue.
Right now, I am planning on becoming the friendly version of Miranda Priestly a la The Devil wears Prada, a magazine editor, watch your back Anna Wintour!
Ambitious I know, and I truly think that is the reason why when most people ask us what career path we have chosen, we lie, or pretend that we are unsure (I know that I do all the time) because being modest and 'undecided' is much more approachable than being a go-getter. Deep down most of us do know what we want, we just aren't sure how were going to get it and don't want to be seen as a failure if it never happens, so keeping quiet is the safe option.
Sometimes its okay to be undecided, sometimes it results in us getting the best of both worlds because we can't choose between the two. When shopping my motto is usually, if in doubt, buy both, that way you can't go wrong!
I resent the label 'generation undecided' because most of the time we have already decided what we want before the decision confronts us, I think a more appropriate label is 'generation spoilt for choice'.
Rant over,
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