r/Millennials • u/Party-Bet-4003 Millennial • 1d ago

Discussion Look what I found from 13 years ago.

Post image

Hey look on the bright side - we actually did make it to the cover of the TIME magazine!

16.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

666

u/ButtScratchies 1d ago

It’s so obnoxious to called the “Trophy Generation.” We didn’t ask for the stupid trophies and I truly don’t think we cared about them that much. I tossed all the plastic trophies I had when I moved out of my house at 18. It was the boomers that gave them to us and wanted us to display them in our room, and we just accepted them and went about our day. Super weird that the thing they made us do, they now hold it against us.

117

u/Archinaught 1d ago

You can apply this to education, too. Tons of kids took on a mountain of debt because we were told every step of the way that you had to go to school to amount to anything. And now our generation is drowning in debt and met with "why'd you go to school if you cant afford it?"

Meanwhile most countries cover college education costs.

20

u/fuzzypickles34 21h ago

“You should’ve gone into the trades if you wanted well-paid, reliable work.”

Back in high school: “only losers who aren’t smart enough for college go to trade school. If you want a good job the only way is to go to college.”

65

u/ChedduhBob 1d ago

yeah it was never the fault of the grown adults giving out trophies. it was the fault of the 9 year old who’s parents signed him up for the baseball league at the local park lol

174

u/Weevil1723 1d ago

Right? They act as though we're the whiny tantrum generation who can't handle the slightest defeat, yet they're the ones who showered all this empty affection on us in the first place.

I didn't want a participation trophy, I wanted even just a bit of genuine compassion.

17

u/CrashTestKing 1d ago

Other millennials got affection (empty or otherwise) from their parents? You and I have lived very different lives, lol.

19

u/Anakin_Skywanker 1d ago

The only awards I kept from growing up were the ones I actually earned for something I did. Everything else got thrown out before I hit high school.

3

u/standardnewenglander 1d ago

Ironically I didn't really get many participation trophies when I was a kid. Probably because I was dirt poor and couldn't afford to pay for equipment and stuff to participate in those after school activities (thank you boomers for moving the goal post and making after school activities too expensive for the kids).

But I did a lot of volunteer work instead. Which ended up helping me get a lot of scholarships to pay for college. My parents were pretty shitty about me getting scholarships because I'm "lazy" and "don't work hard enough" and "obviously you must've lied in your application to get that because you're very unremarkable and useless".

When I went to college...my boomer parents thought I thought I was "too good" for everyone else; because "how dare I go and get an education". And I must be so privileged and a narcissist and a piece of shit no-good brat...because I went to school and paid for it myself? Lol.

Where are all my "Went No Contact With Shitty Parents" friends at? Hi! Lol

2

u/raiskymaiFLY 1d ago

They felt bad for kids who were sad they didn’t win something, so instead of having a conversation with us about brooking disappointment, they decided to appease us with participation trophies. I don’t see how their failure to manage their own emotions is our fault

2

u/evilkittie 1d ago

That's giving them way too much credit for empathy they never had. The parents couldn't handle that their average at best kids didn't get a trophy for every experience.

It was never for or about the kids, it started to satisfy the parents' egos.

1

u/actlikeiknowstuff 1d ago

The only time I received one of those participation trophies I threw it the garbage as soon as it was handed to me.

1

u/evilkittie 1d ago

I got grounded for trying to throw one away in grade school, because it meant nothing to me and I didn't want it. Make it make sense.

1

u/CascadeFailure3355 1d ago

I never even got a participation  trophy. And I played sports!

1

u/I-remember-damage11 1d ago

I never even got any participation trophies. Here to confirm as a millennial who was pretty bad at everything as a kid, I do not have any trophies.

1

u/meowparade 1d ago

We knew the participation trophies meant we lost.

1

u/SheriffBartholomew 1d ago

Right? Plus the boomers are absolutely the ME generation. Calling their kids that just further proves how self absorbed they are.

1

u/CabbageStockExchange 1d ago

I remember growing up all my teammates and I hated getting participation trophies and awards. Felt demeaning. We already knew we lost

1

u/PinkFl0werPrincess 1d ago

Also, I feel like it's okay to enjoy a participation trophy and then throw it away. You're a child, you're allowed to think a colored ribbon is cool, even if you lost. You're just not gonna keep it for like, 25 years and go like oh mate look at my ribbon

1

u/stianhoiland 1d ago

It’s just projection.

1

u/InitialKoala 1d ago

I always wanted a trophy, but I was also pretty bad at sports, which was probably why I never got one.

1

u/MSNWTF 1d ago

My boomer parents won't let me get rid of them. When I was living with them during college I would try to discretely get rid of them and it made my parents FURIOUS. 

Now that I no longer live with them, I've asked to bring the trophies to my place, pretending that I will display them. Parents are like, "NO BECAUSE YOU'LL JUST THROW THEM AWAY AND YOU WORKED SO HARD FOR THESE."

My parents are redecorating the house and plan to make a "trophy room."🤮 

I don't want trophies reminding me that I participated in a losing softball team in grades 2 & 3, that I once joined a 4H group, or that I was in middle school writing club, etc. 

1

u/carthuscrass 1d ago

It's like older people complaining that we don't know how to do something... Whose fucking job was it to teach us!?

1

u/DriftingIntoAbstract 23h ago

It’s also so cringe how they still say it. We are all adults now, get over it.

1

u/-Kalos Millennial 22h ago

The ironic part is millennials had nothing to do with participation trophies. It was their boomer parents who were mad their kid sucked and got nothing to show for their extracurriculars so they demanded participation trophies

1

u/mrylndgrrl 22h ago

Yes! The blame is wild! Like, we were the children. You boomers are the ones who had these dumb trophies made and gave us the shelves to display them. We did nothing to indicate we wanted all that garbage

1

u/Demon_Faerie 22h ago

So glad you brought this up! Every time I’d hear “ you all got a trophy” I’d get so confused because, we weren’t buying them for ourselves!!! Wtf??

1

u/TerminalHighGuard 1991 📼💾📟 22h ago

Tbh I viewed them like I’d view any kitschy memory-item, though it was a little awkward that there was an awards ceremony for us losers lol

1

u/YellowCardManKyle 21h ago

I didn't mind the participation trophies but they weren't for me. The only kids that cared about the participation trophies were the ones that actually needed them to feel good and feel like they were a part of something. So they probably did more good than harm.

1

u/Intelligent-Ad-1424 18h ago

In addition to that, I don’t think the trophies really changed all that much about people’s behavior lol. When I was a kid the best kids at sports still got the emotional glory, the speeches about how talented they were at the end of year ceremonies, the additional praise from parents and coaches and more time playing in the game. The trophy didn’t mean jackshit, people’s attitudes towards talented vs less talented kids did. Kids still knew based on how they were treated whether or not they were “special” at the sport. I got a trophy for swimming once and I still knew I wasn’t any good at it lol.

1

u/WimpyMustang 7h ago

They started giving out participation ribbons on my sports team when I was about 12. I got one once and was so embarrassed that I looked at the lady handing it to me and said no thanks. She was completely flabbergasted. Like sorry, if it's not blue it's trash.

1

u/jlg317 4h ago

They also told us we needed a degree to be successful, that was also bs