Let’s not be whinging Poms, yeah?

I thought about voicing my opinion on Facebook. I thought about voicing my opinion on Twitter. I thought about voicing my opinion on Instagram. But there are a lot of people that will probably lynch me for having this opinion, on there, so I’ve decided to write what I am thinking here. Because here I can say what I want (not for anyone to read particularly) but just so that I can get out what’s in my head onto the page. So hear me out. And if you can’t hear me out? Then stop reading this now.

Still here? Good.

Congratulations on having an open mind.

There were many things that upset me about the whole Brexit debacle; the way we were all manipulated by the press, by celebrities (who don’t even live full time in this country) and their opinions forced upon us. But none so much as a comment from a girl having a pop at a 90 year old woman from Sunderland for voting leave and ‘ruining her future.’

Pretty strong, I thought. And pretty distrispectful.

First of all, It’s not an old lady’s vote (who has survived 2 world wars, more economic down turn than you’ll ever probably experience, raising a family on those long, low-income times, running a household etc etc), but you young madam who will ruin your own future with that attitude.

You can’t blame other people all your life, you have to take responsibility of your own future, no matter what the path that’s been put in front of you.

(The 18–24 generation is ironically the same generation that have always been able to have everything. So when a vote suddenly doesn’t go their way, it’s expected that they might throw their toys out of their pram just a little bit.)

You see, I have a lot of respect for our older generation. The older I get myself, the more respect I have for them. And the more I listen to them. They have been through EVERYTHING and they are wise and gracious and grateful because of this and the wonderful thing is that I’ve not seen one older person from this generation retaliate. They quietly have their vote, and then, no matter what the outcome, they get on with their life as before.

If it had been the other way around, I doubt that the older generation would have batted much of an eyelid, having gone through MUCH worse in their time. They would have accepted it, and moved on and made the best of it. Because this generation has learned that you must just carry on and make the best of a situation, from their tremultuous pasts.

I bulk to think how the 18–24 age group of the UK would cope with a midnight air-rads, or have to live on clothes rations.

I’ve watched from the sidelines on social media the people who are getting very upset about it all, and from what I can tell it is mostly 18–24 year olds — who are still probably living at home with their parents and, excuse me, really have no idea what it’s like to live in the real world and deal with ‘running your own finances and feeding a family’ real life issues just yet. The world is all very cosy and safe for them in the south. And Londoners, who, really quite honestly have no idea what it’s like north of the country or what happens there.

‘But you’ve ruined our future!’ They squalk from their Westminster addresses.

We have to humour them.

Now that I’m over 35, I’ve lived through quite a few ‘downturn’ periods in my life; I was a born in Thatcher Britain, I have experienced 3 economic recessions, I’ve lived in a Tory and Labour Government, I’ve seen house prices boom and house prices crash and boom again, and there is one thing that always happens — we get through it, we survive. Sure, there are good things and bad things, but above all we keep going and focus on our goals, dispite Politics getting in the way too much.

You are your own future. It’s true that the world is a mirror and it reflects what you are. There are many people who have prospered through difficult times, through economic downturn; How do you think we all got to where we are today? Because no matter what, no matter what the economic outlook, we worked hard, and we carried on as usual and made the very best of what we had.

In Winston Churchill’s famous words — KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.

That’s just what the people in war times did and they are the strongest, bravest people you will ever meet. They are a generation to be proud of.

I’m sure that there will be both good and bad things to come of leaving the EU, sure, but I really do believe that it’s life teaching us all a lesson — the lesson that you are responsible for making your own future — for turning a bad situation into the best situation and to be caring and tolorant towards everyone dispite objections or discrimination from other sides.

If we maintain those values of hard work, love, acceptance and tolerance, it really doesn’t matter whether we’re in the EU or not, it doesn’t matter, because what matters are your own values. Leaving the EU will not strip those values away from you, and neither will it ruin your future. The world is still a big and beautiful place, and you will still be able to work aboard if you work hard and if you want to. And people from other countries will still be able to come here if they work hard and want to.

I might come back to this open letter in a few years time and reflect to see what changes have happened.

Let’s be open minded, let’s embrace the change and let’s still continue doing what we’ve always done — carry on.

And, in true British style, this will all be forgotten about next week and the Kardashians will take the front pages, and ASOS will have a Sale on and the 18–24 year olds will have something to do again.