Caleb Corbin

EN 101

Summary/Response Essay

17 November 2020

Teamwork Is Better Than Working Alone

A guy named Mason is a hard-working fellow. He has a job and lives alone with his pets

that he takes care of. The reason he can do his house work is because he has help. His mom sees

this as being lazy and not being able to do anything without having someone else help him. He

argues that he does work hard, just not alone, but she does not think so. Her mood changed one

day when Mason took her through his day which includes many things like going to his day job

at the local nursing home. After his day of work, he comes home to work on his farm, take care

of his dogs, and his mom. She realized how much he actually does and how little free time he is

left with. The older generations often think that most millennials are lazy, but this is not always

the case as explained in Catherine Rampell’s essay “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.”

Rampell states that millennials are productive and not lazy as they are perceived; Rampell

correctly argues that younger people work hard early to try to get ahead in life, that asking for

help is productive and not lazy, and that taking breaks at work can make people more productive.

In Rampell’s essay, "A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much." she makes the argument

that millennials are productive, just not in the same way that the older generation is. Rampell

makes the claim that older generations interpret productivity in different ways. The numbers for

young people doing community service are up. The number of college students with full-time

jobs were increasing until the Great Recession. Millennials do work even though most older
generations think they are lazy because of stereotypical images. “I don't think this is a generation

of slackers, this image of the kid who goes off and skis in Colorado, I don’t think that’s the

correct image. Today’s young people are very focused on trying to work hard and to get ahead”

(Rampell 389). Rampell also states millennials like to have fun at work while also working with

others to get the job done. “Members of Gen Y, for example, are significantly more likely than

Gen X’ers and boomers to say they are more productive working in teams than on their own”

(Rampell 390). Gen X’ers get their teamwork mindset from the activities they did together

during their childhood.

Most people while going through high school and beyond will have a job. When they get

that job in high school, people around them usually tell them to save the money for college.

Rampell correctly claims that millennials have these jobs early in life to get ahead. As Rampell

states in her essay, “Today’s young people are very focused on trying to work hard and to get

ahead” (Rampell 389). Young people today try to work hard early in life to try to make life

easier in the long run. I agree with this statement, because I know that this is my attitude towards

life and based on how many students get part-time and sometimes full-time jobs, I can assume

that they are also trying to make some extra money to get ahead. Part-time jobs also help people

get ahead by teaching them social skills and basic work skills that are needed in every job. Other

jobs that are available can also make people better at counting money or cooking.

During their childhoods, millennials did many group activities that taught them to work

well with others. Rampell correctly states millennials would rather work in teams than by

themselves. ​Rampell summarizes Don Tapscott, author of “Grown Up Digital: How the Net

Generation is Changing Your World,” who notes that “To older workers, wanting help looks like
laziness; to younger workers, the gains that come from teamwork have been learned from the

collaborative nature of their childhood activities . . .” (390). Older workers are used to working

alone and doing everything on their own while younger workers would rather work in a team; to

the older workers, this looks like laziness. I agree with this because everyone needs help

sometimes, and when they do, it looks like laziness to the older generations. I ask for help when I

need it, and it gets perceived by the older generations as me not wanting to do anything if I can

let someone else do it. Another time I ask for help is when I am doing something that is difficult

and there is someone there who might know a little more than me. Asking for help is different

than asking someone to do something by themselves; one is being lazy and one is trying to learn.

Breaks are a good thing to have while working and often make workers more productive.

According to Rampell’s essay, ​“The prevailing millennial attitude is that taking breaks for fun at

work makes people more, not less, productive” (Rampell 390). Having a fun break while

working makes people more productive and allows them to enjoy working more. I agree with

this because whether it is at work or soccer practice, I work hard and when I get a chance to stop

and do something fun, then I get all my energy back and I am ready to work hard again. In

soccer, we would do drills, and working hard doing those made us all really worn out and tired.

Then we would play a game and it would be like a second wind. At Hy-Vee, my uncle likes to

brighten the mood by having a lot of fun while working, and it really brings the mood up for the

people around him while still allowing everyone to be productive.

Rampell states that millennials are not lazy like older generations say they are, but rather

are productive. Rampell correctly argues that younger people work hard early to try to get ahead

in life, ask for help not to be lazy but rather productive, and take breaks from working to bemore
productive. If millennials keep doing what they are doing, they will prove the older generations

wrong and be like Mason when proving his mom wrong by being productive in his own way.
 Work Cited

Rampell, Catherine. "A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much." ​Acting Out Culture: Readings

for Critical Inquiry​, by James S. Miller, 3rd ed., Bedford/ St. Martins, 2018, pp. 388-390.