Dirty secrets of Gen Y: Don't lie to me

I would like to, if I may, begin this post by quoting a passage from one of the most incredibly relevant and poignant artist of our time (Eds. note: sarcasm): Mariah Carey. In the song "Obsessed" from her most recent album, "Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel," she laments:

Why you wasting your time
Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex
Seeing right through you like
You’re bathing in Windex

I've included the video below, but in case you don't feel like seeing Mariah writhe around on a couch in a slip for about three minutes, allow me to sum it up for you: Hot girl is pursued by creepy guy. Hence the title, "Obsessed." Get it?

The line "See right through you like you're bathing in Windex" always struck me as a very clever turn of phrase. We all know that Windex is a blue window cleaner that promises to make your window surfaces sparkle and shine. But how is this relevant to a discussion about Gen Y?

Unlike any generation that has come before us, Gen Y has grown up with scads (yes, I said scads) of information at our fingertips. Knowledge has always been but a click away; remember this little thing called Encarta? It was the successor to the physical encyclopedia and the predecessor to Wikipedia. And we all know the impact that blogs and Twitter have had on the spread of information.

Because of this tremendous wealth of information we've had access to since birth, our BS-ometers are incredibly advanced and sophisticated. You can't get things past us, not so much because we're smart, but because we read the blogs of people who are smarter than us.

• We can see through lame attempts to court our favor with halfcocked promotions and ads. 
• We can see when you aren't being sincere.
• We can see if your company constantly contradicts itself in any aspect.

Because we have this magic ball called the Internet, and we aren't afraid to use it to gain insight about a company, product or service.

So please, please, please, don't lie to someone who has been using the internet longer than you. It will end poorly.

Dirty Secret of Gen Y #1: Always tell the truth, or we will find out and unfriend you.

DeAndre