It only takes one trip to the library of essentially any college in America to see that laptop stickers are a medium of expression adored by all those hovering around the age of 19. Take a moment to look up from your Stats practice exam in the Ugli and your eyes will be met with a sea of colorful stickers: some of the state of Michigan, some referencing TV shows or movies, some of favorite athletic teams, and many sporting sorority letters.
Upon discovering this fad for myself, the conformist in me decided that I thought all of these stickers were cute as hell, so I decided to search for some adornments for my own bare laptop. Friends of mine informed me that RedBubble was the site to go to, so I did exactly that and began scrolling through the options in the “Trending Stickers” section.
‘Oh there’s a New York one to show where I’m from… a University of Michigan one to show my school spirit… a ‘Parks & Rec’ one to show my favorite series… and a pretty one of mountains just for fun.’ I was having a good time going through all of the possibilities, until I started to notice a pattern.
It started with a sticker that said “But First, Coffee.” I thought, “Hm. Okay. I guess the common ground of caffeine addiction makes that kind of funny.” But as I continued to scroll, I kept coming across all of these stickers with oddly resentful and angry mottos on them. “How About No.” “Can U Not?” One just came right out and said it: “Go Away.”
Once I noticed this phenomenon and actually began looking for it, I started finding tons of them. I have comprised a list of all of the different stickers ridden with either disinterested or just plain irritated undertones:
The Careless:
The Cynical:
The Bored:
The Antisocial:
The Strange Mental Health Jokes:
(Not gonna lie, that last one made me chuckle.)
But my question is: what does this say about our generation? One argument could be made that a lot of these are just meant as a sarcastic joke, and that we’re not all just festering in our own cynicism. But even if that is true, there must be some subconscious affect had on us when we see these types of messages every day (and then start to create and share them ourselves).
A lot of criticism of these messages could simply point to the biggest flaws of the millennial generation and consider them responsible for this type of trend. And yes, maybe the snarky tag lines are simply an ode to the typical pissed off teenage generation of any decade. But there is something about the way we have gone about it that seems different than in the past. Instead of simply being angst-ridden and mad at the world for some reason, we seem to be disinterested.
There also appears to be a new hint of antisocial alienation added into this young angst. Instead of banding together and drinking and rioting and listening to Rock & Roll like our parents did, we just say ‘Yeah, f**k the man!’ and go watch Netflix alone in our rooms.
I am sitting in the Ugli again right now writing this, and within my line of vision I can see one “Ok. But first, coffee” sticker and one “I (donut picture) care” sticker. We seem to be perpetually displeased and annoyed with the present–so much so that we must either alienate ourselves from it or intake enough caffeine to tolerate it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to grow up in the generation that simply did not care.
Images courtesy of: RedBubble.