Introducing Echobabble: Dilemmas of a Twenty-Something

Echobabble refers to my generation known as Echo Boomers, or Generation Y/Millennials, etc. I struggled with what to rant about on my first blog post. I took myself to a quiet space: the bathroom. This room has been consistently reliable in clearing my thoughts. It occurred to me that the only way I could write this first blog post is, simply, to write.

The “slip-into-the-bathroom solution” to get some peace and quiet has never failed me. It is here where I have tried to label my thoughts from superficial issues, like how to cut my hair, to more serious issues such as, the irreversible effects of global warming. Some injustices that have been bothering me since graduation 2013 are as follows:

• Businesses that fail to deliver on their promises of customer service
• Politicians who refuse to focus on environmental issue
• Accounting departments that love to mail bills but cannot give a clear idea of what I owe
• The ever-trending job postings for fake marketing companies that lie to recent college graduates by employing the masses of inexperienced workers at less than the minimum wage.

 Though I would love nothing more than to devote this entire post to calling out these individuals and practices, I need to fix how I let these problems affect me, mainly by erasing them from my thoughts and allowing space for more positive energy. For example, an anonymous television and Internet provider that rhymes with bombast caused me a lot of unnecessary stress in my early twenties. I spent several hours disputing bills and being passed off to various departments to file claims. I would get so worked up and distracted by this one company. I realized that the only way I could alleviate this problem was to disconnect my service. Since then, I have utilized the wifi cafes, visited more of my friends who have internet service, and even chose to live in a room out of someone’s apartment where all utilities and entertainment were combined in the rent. Today, when I lose my head over other companies that I am forced to deal with, I still feel a sense of relief that at least I do not need to spend my time stressing about cable and internet providers.

In reviewing this smart consumer decision that I made in my early twenties, I would like to channel this same attitude towards the pressures that I face today. Obviously, not everything can just be disconnected and ignored completely. But, part of the problem was that I tried to hold these businesses accountable by filing complaint after complaint. Of course, the belief that this action will bring me justice is a grandiose way of thinking that will only lead to frustration and dead ends.

Therefore, I have chosen to create a blog that will include my own guide to “real world” stuff. That is, obstacles I have encountered since being an independent adult. I will include consumer reports, how-to guides when dealing with foreign situations and random tools that I have learned from my new experiences in the “real world.” My goal is to give a voice to a diverse array of topics. I seek to express my perspective and develop it through a more positive creative outlet: Echobabble.