Grandma meets the millennial.  He probably winced when I walked in the door of the Mac store. Certainly not his demographic.  “She’s going to waste my time and won’t understand anything” I’m sure he was thinking.  He seems a little more interested as I pulled out my MacBook Air and seemed to actually know what it was.

But it was dead. Dead I tell you.  So we had a discussion about my options. He noted approvingly that I already had an iPad and an iPhone.  (6S+)

Millenial was quite polite and respectful.  I think by now he knew that not only might I actually know what I was doing but that I might have the ability, motivation and means to buy something from him.  He asked me about my needs and so we could determine best choice for me.

Then there was the old guy sitting at a table.  He was full of sage advice – unsolicited and also unhelpful. I mentioned that I was an attorney.  He responded with the cliché “I’m sorry”.  Real helpful.  He then went off on a lecture about security and how I need to protect my client’s information.  Really?  That’s good to know.  I never thought about that.  Insert sarcasm emoji.

Millenial guy remained respectful and we continued our transaction.  He helped me determine the best replacement for my obviously dead MacBook Air.

As we were completing my purchase I engaged him in a discussion about Millenials.  I was telling him how I appreciate the upcoming generation and have hope for the future. He told me how he enjoyed listening to previous generations and thought we had much to add.  (Remember I had already committed to a purchase so it was not mere flattery to get the sale).

He said “You know what I like best about being a millennial? The low expectations.  In a job interview or college class it is always easy to exceed expectations because they have such low expectations of our ability.”  Interesting point.  I guess that is true for “seniors”, especially seniors of the female gender.  Expectations are so low that it is easy to look very tech savvy and knowledgable.

And yes, the old lady did bring home the new iMac and install it without help from either the old guy or the millennial.  See:

So choosing a conversation between old white guy and millennial I choose the millennial.  I think there is hope for the future.