‘Resilience? Most Australians under 40 would never have heard of the word’

Talk to the screen: Millennials race against time to find the perfect coronavirus emoji. Picture: iStock

Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Nick Cater suggested coronavirus would provide an unprecedented test of resilience for Millennials, who have never experienced an economic downturn and have been wrapped in cotton wool by their well-intentioned parents. A failed test, according to Terryd:

“Resilience? Most Australians under 40 would never have heard of the word and will never have been taught it in school so good luck with that one. A family member told my wife yesterday their Millennial son, still at home at 26 of course, was complaining that the toilet paper she had at home was not 3 ply.”

Hard lessons much needed, reckoned Louise:

“In short, the hard landing the snowflake generation needed. Went to the supermarket last night and the shelves had been stripped bare. Incredulous shoppers wandering around trying to find any nutritious food to buy and shaking their heads at the madness of it all.

“In this context, and with so many now facing the prospect of job losses — so have stopped spending on anything other than food causing more job losses in those industries that employ younger people — micro-aggressions and offence-taking, correct pronoun use, gender fluidity, doomerism over fractions of a degree of warming in 150 years … all of it looks what it has always been. Stupidly superficial fixations of coddled generations.

“Don’t get me started on the politicians who have pandered to it all and the squawking media who thought they were cool sneering at anyone who tried to inject some adult rationality amid the handwringing, ideological emotionalism. This virus is the figurative bucket of icy water!

When this crisis eventually passes, and it will, I hope we take from it a better understanding of what matters. Having an economic buffer, like saving for a rainy day, is crucial. Being able to provide for the health and well-being of your family and those you love. The safety and sovereignty of a nation with the power of its democratically elected leaders to make decisions in the interests of that nation’s citizens. Our level of independence from potentially hostile nations and how we manage our borders for example.

“The silver lining to the virus, aside from temporarily killing off Eurovision, is that it will be character forming. It may also be a blessed disruption to global institutions and the fixations of our societies that had veered sharply towards dysfunctional and left us in a less than resilient condition.”

Bradley bit back:

“I’d say Baby Boomers have had a pretty easy ride. Now they’re crying about their share portfolios.”

That got Garry’s goat:

“I am afraid, Bradley, that I take umbrage at that comment. The Boomers in some ways had the very best of times. Like being able to catch a wave on your own. I could list all the things we didn’t have, but you probably couldn’t comprehend the lack of what you would regard as necessities. One thing we did have was unrelenting hard work. It wasn’t moaned about, it was just the done thing. So good luck with your first recession. It may be a shock to the millennium system.”

Jonathan’s medicine:

“One change Australia needs desperately, is to run all the Greens out of our parliaments and council chambers. The ALP has to wake up to the fact that the Greens are a handbrake on good government and a prosperous society and stop doing preference deals with them.”

alc056 warned:

“Some of us under 50 (I’m just under) are aware of what could be ahead. Some us paid attention to our grandparents who lived through wars and depression. Their resilience in the face of adversity & attitude of never letting anything go to waste. Boy could my Nan get every last bit of butter off the wrapper! Have never forgotten it!

“Then my mother and stepfather (who was quiet wealthy) lost nearly everything in the recession of the 90s. I was about 22 and watched and felt the impact it had on all our lives. Then my husbands’ and my financial situation changed greatly due to a redundancy. It’s always been a reminder to me that you can think your doing all the right things, but for whatever reason it can be pulled out from under you. Resilience is key. Pull together and just get on with things as best you can.”

Kiss of death: Resilient Millennials resort to a nose-rub.

Garry griped:

“The most catastrophic event the under-thirties have encountered is the battery of their iPhone running out of charge. The social and economic upheaval we are currently experiencing will test their mettle.”

Grant grinned:

“True. A late 20s female daughter of a friend rang her mother from interstate to complain about the lack of toilet paper. Mother told her to cut up newspaper (as our grandparents did) and use that. Youngster was horrified. Then she complained she couldn’t get any chicken (Didn’t like red meat). That’s resilience for you.”

Centsworth counselled:

“You do understand the problems if you try and flush newspaper down a toilet? If you run out of toilet paper simply cut up some old towels, use them and do a lot of washing. Generations did this quite successfully with babies until it was decided it was best to capture everything inside the plastic cover of a disposable nappy and sent it to landfill.”

Paul pointed out:

“How many people have newspapers nowadays? There are some things you can’t do with a smart phone.”

Ross reflected:

“The various measures dreamt up by government bureaucrats to prevent even mild downturns remind me of the measures dreamt up by state governments that allowed fuel to accumulate in our forests. Eventually we get an uncontrollable disaster that wipes out far more than was ever protected. The RBA has now exhausted our monetary fire hose and talk of more fiscal nonsense only makes me want to spend even less — since, having helped fund the mad schemes of Rudd, Gillard and Turnbull, I know I’ll be paying some kind of coronavirus Levy for the rest of my working life.”

Debbie declaimed:

“The under 50s are the ones at Bondi. They’re not ‘suffering’ the disease. They’re not even having to suffer the responsibilities of going and seeing aged parents or grandparents! They’re being paid (a huge proportion by government) to work from cafes or, for those on welfare, to continue in front of the TV!”

Yes, Virginia:

“I can’t help but wonder (as Peta Credlin says) what is happening while our attention is diverted onto the virus crisis. Also politicians, banks, profiteers, criminals and hostile countries will be looking at how they can bring in new regulations, special measures, acquire failing businesses, herd us into the grip of the banking system, or prey on people.

“Australia is weak — identity politics, cultural Marxism, PC, and mass immigration has fragmented the social fabric, and the global warming/climate change scam has hamstrung the economy. Human nature says that people will seek to take full advantage of this crisis. I hope our federal government (and general citizens) have one eye on that.”

Glenn gloated:

“One positive I have taken from this is that it will put the panic over Global Warming in perspective, and make people realise only well-off, Western, first world people panic about such virtuous goals, the rest of the world has far larger problems to contend with on a daily basis. Perhaps we will now be able to have a rational conversation about the fact the climate is indeed changing, but we can’t throw money at it without knowing what the outcome will or won’t be.”

Mr T tut-tutted:

“I work at a small business that has not yet sent its employees away to work from home. A few days ago at lunch a young staff member complained about the lack of everything in the supermarkets but also baby nappies in particular. I sympathised with her but also casually mentioned that she can also convert towels to become cloth nappies if things got really desperate. She physically recoiled from me in horror as if I had said something far worse. I fear for the future of this country if she is representative of the next generation of can-do Australians.”

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Massage therapists were among the first to embrace working from home.

As coronavirus tightens its grip on the nation and business shuts down regular operations, thousands of Australians have found themselves working remotely — many others, it seems, aren’t ­remotely working. Chrissy was cynical:

“The people hanging out at the beach and the coffee shops when they should be working, are the very same people who don’t do much work when they are in the office. We know who they are, they know who they are.”

MikeT mused:

“Sooo if the general idea is that by people not going into the office the virus will not be spread, then WHY are the same people out socialising?”

Simples, said Samuel:

“Some people in Sydney have too much money.”

Brian shared:

“In a former life, I employed many people and experimented with the ‘work from home/somewhere’ option. I soon abandoned the idea as productivity dropped dramatically among those who lacked self-discipline and a work ethic. At the office, there was nowhere to hide, so it was akin to imposed discipline.”

Jason S said:

“Don’t kid ourselves? Really? The virus will pass. Why do you think we won’t go back? Working remotely might be trendy but it is inefficient on multiple levels. Less collaboration, slower internet performance for most etc. I’d love to know why you think it isn’t and therefore should become permanent after the virus passes?”

Suzanne disagreed:

“You are so wrong about it being less efficient. The biggest increase in efficiency is the fact that workers don’t have to travel to and from work every day. How much time can this save people (workers) every day? Two to three hours for some. As far as collaboration, you can pick up a phone and have a conversation just like if you were at the office. Face-to-face meetings can be facilitated via video conferencing technology for group calls. Get with the times. Upgrade your technology. If your internet connection is too slow then you should do something about it.”

Rosalind reasoned:

“It doesn’t suit everybody, but for self-starters it is a great option. I start work an hour earlier when I work from home, no interruptions and office chatter to deal with. The only downside is the background noise here — I was on the phone a couple of weeks ago when one of my horses near the house let out a loud whinny. The person on the other end of the phone said ‘what was that?’.”

Helpful, Ray:

“The other guy in the adjacent cubicle!”

Jason feared:

“Perhaps Bondi will be the next epicentre of the contagion with all that touching going on.”

Jeremy was jazzed:

“I work at home every day. I am at my desk about five minutes after I wake up (after making a nice cup of coffee of course) then straight into it.”

Oriana explained:

“Many are like you and very productive, I agree with you from my own experience. But unfortunately, equally as many don’t have the self-discipline. They were the kids at school that spent all day passing notes in class and doodling in the back of the textbook.”

: c : shared:

“I’m having trouble with the upload speeds as well. Very frustrating, thanks to our incompetent politicians. People overseas can’t believe I’m not receiving emails almost instantaneously. They say, ‘But I’ve just sent it’.”

Last word to Mal:

“Nice work if you can get it. Meanwhile the doctors, nurses, police, ambos, plumbers, electricians, tradies, shop assistants, truck drivers, mechanics, builders maintenance crews, you know, the people who make this country function rather than move spreadsheets from one computer to another are all working on site whilst tens if not hundreds of thousands of others in hospitality are now not working at all through no fault of their own.”

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