Millennials get a bum rap, don’t get me wrong, but recently an expecting Philadelphia-based millennial couple may not have helped improve the public image of this oft-criticized generation.
Twitter user @JJfromtheBronx aired grievances quite publicly this week after stumbling upon an admittedly over-the-top request for ‘meal assistance’ on community social network NextDoor.
JJ recounts:
The week I got a thing in my mailbox to join a social network @Nextdoor. People in my neighborhood can alert each other about crime and stuff like that. Great idea! But today someone posted the most ridiculous thing ever (1/?)
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
"My wife and I are having a baby. I'm starting a meal train because it is our first and neither of us have a clue what we're doing. If you are feeling neighborly" so I clicked the link bc there is no way these people are asking strangers to make them food bc they have 1 baby(2/?)
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
Turns out they are in fact asking total strangers to help them and with the most millennial phrasing I have ever seen in my life. (3/?) pic.twitter.com/ex0o9LBKVo
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
Trying not to be negative, I figured maybe it's like "if you make a lasagna and make too much, we would accept it". That would be very reasonable inside a totally unreasonable ask. BUT THERE WERE 30+ SPECIFIC MEALS WITH RECIPES pic.twitter.com/BkE2kBuhyJ
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
THEN THEY LET YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DONT LIKE AND IF YOU CANT ACCOMMODATE, YOU CAN COME AND DO THEIR DISHES OR VACCUUM. WASH THEIR FUCKING DISHES OR VACUUM THEIR HOUSE?!?!?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/yJ6IXJ56TW
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
This guy then tops it all off be telling us we can sign up for a day to text, and if they decide they would rather not see people, WE CAN COOK THEM A MEAL AND LEAVE IT FOR THEM IN A COOLER HIS WILL PROVIDE IN THE YARD BECAUSE HE COULDN'T BE BOTHERED ANSWERING THE DOOR pic.twitter.com/FXtNRgVa8Z
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
If I don't egg their house, I deserve an award
— Jack Jokinen (@JJFromTheBronx) April 18, 2019
I don’t know, maybe it’s not so much a millennial thing as it is these people are full on fucking crazy.
Twitter, can you back me up, or am I the one who’s crazy?
Oh, good, you can back me up:
This person maybe shouldn't be procreating if it's so beyond his ability to steam his own quinoa. 🤷🏻♀️
— Janie Haddad Tompkins 🇱🇧 (@janiehaddad) April 19, 2019
If they spent less time writing up ridiculous requests and arrangements, they could have prepped a weeks worth of dinners themselves.
— laur (@minifanlaur) April 18, 2019
They’re having a baby, not both dying of cancer. Reality is hopefully going to slap these two in the face one day.
— Andrea Bachman (@BachmanAndrea) April 18, 2019
Of course, others felt this was perfectly OK and stated their case simply and logically — though they are wrong and I hate them.
This is just something neighbors used to do for each other. We love to bitch about how social media is destroying the fabric of society, but here is an example of someone using it to build community and then that's wrong, too? Don't take food if you don't want to. Simple.
— Kristy D Alley (@KristyDAlley) April 19, 2019
Totally agree with you. What's the big deal? A neighborhood of folks who know and care about each other is great. I love it.
— Angela Roberts🌊🏳️🌈📖 Free Education (@AngelaRR56) April 19, 2019
Community begins with giving, not demanding/receiving. A “concerned friend” would do this for the couple, rallying their existing friends and neighbors they knew. The “beneficiary” doesn’t send out their Christmas wish list to Santa
— Bo Bromhal (@BoBromhal) April 19, 2019
I don’t know, maybe it’s all good. Having been through the wringer of having a baby going on three times now, I guess I probably didn’t have my head on straight the first time.
Best of luck to the happy couple! And enjoy your granola!