It's their world now

Gordy

"It's their world now"

Sometimes I think we need to wrap ourselves around the whole picture from former generations adversities from the beginnings of human culture. If not at least the beginning of this nation. There were some tough times. Those tough times spawned economic, convenience, education, medical, food, gaining independence, and keeping it innovations.


Former generations are always prone to think the present generation has it much easier than they did. Most of this stems from innovation in the afore mentioned. Some don't want to see their kids struggle as they did. While the intent is kind hearted. They cripple their off spring with out realization of it until it's to late.

Think of our government as those parents. Providing all the things they do to make their kids life easier so they don't have to over come the adversities.............in the end they cripple......

I think we are in turbulent times more than we realize. The population was a sleep on a run away train for a few decades, and now they awake wanting big changes. Something more than any potential candidates can offer.

EricAune

Wow, what a great topic, Hot Rod. And there are some interesting perspectives for sure. I am soon to be 39, that makes me a GenX'er I guess. I never really understood the whole labeling thing but I digress.

I cannot speak for everyone here but when I read Hot Rod's first comments the topic of our aging skilled trade workers was top of mind and I would suspect some others thought that as well. Of course this topic often brings comparisons of work ethic and attitudes with the usual negative connotation in tow. I hate that, for the record.

I was able to attend the most recent Uponor convention where a Ryan Avery, an outstanding example of many millennials, spoke about his own generation. He's a professional public speaker so you can imagine the message was delivered well but consider too the average age of those attending. It more closely aligned with those born in the 50's, 60's and 70's. He made some very good points demonstrating the differences between Boomers and Millennials but, what might be more eye opening were the similarities and how the millennials have grown to be who they are.

I know many and have millennials working for me. My take on the stereotype is that it has been perpetuated by the very people who created it. The parents of the millennials. I agree with Harvey, there is already a huge segment of this population already working very hard. So what if they aren't "getting their hands dirty"? Their parents told them not to! What should be expected of a generation taught that the only way to a better life was along the path of a college degree? The short answer; exactly what we're getting. Which by the way isn't all that different than all the other generations before them. There are plenty of people from my generation that don't want to work. The same can be said of my parent's generation. The difference then was a swift kick and a locked door to force forward movement and positive contributions to society.

This generation wasn't raised that way. Their parents, the majority at least, aren't kicking them out or forcing them to do anything and that's not the millennial's fault.

Erin was spot on with the comment about millennials and the difficulty of entering a the workforce that offers lower employment opportunities, piles of debt and the burden of a stereotype such as it is. The college degree propagandist have made quite the impact here.

We'd all be better off learning more about this generation and how better to work with them than to sit around complaining about the things we don't like simply because they're different than ourselves. Different doesn't have to mean bad; don't confuse that with ignorance, for either party involved.

Wow, I guess I had a lot to add. Sorry so long.

hot_rod

Nice post and observations, Eric. I heard Avery was an excellent speaker, good choice by Uponor.

You MAY be a millennial, depends on who you ask Some suggest 1976- 2004.

ChrisJ

hot rod said:

Nice post and observations, Eric. I heard Avery was an excellent speaker, good choice by Uponor.

You MAY be a millennial, depends on who you ask Some suggest 1976- 2004.

I was born in 1980 and have some colorful metaphors for whoever suggests that.

SlamDunk

ChrisJ said:

hot rod said:

Nice post and observations, Eric. I heard Avery was an excellent speaker, good choice by Uponor.

You MAY be a millennial, depends on who you ask Some suggest 1976- 2004.

I was born in 1980 and have some colorful metaphors for whoever suggests that.

According to wickipedia, you are a "Baby busting Gen X'er."

ChrisJ

SlamDunk said:

ChrisJ said:

hot rod said:

Nice post and observations, Eric. I heard Avery was an excellent speaker, good choice by Uponor.

You MAY be a millennial, depends on who you ask Some suggest 1976- 2004.

I was born in 1980 and have some colorful metaphors for whoever suggests that.

According to wickipedia, you are a "Baby busting Gen X'er."

You're on the xmas list,
Hot rod is off.

SlamDunk

for some reason, there is more written about baby boomers and millenials than gen x'ers!

KC_Jones

SlamDunk said:

for some reason, there is more written about baby boomers and millenials than gen x'ers!

I guess we don't matter? No I know, we are perfect and no one can complain about us! Right @ChrisJ?

SlamDunk

good question. new subject!

Gordy

SlamDunk

no wonder no one understands me...I was born in '64.

ChrisJ

I have to ask,
How is a boomer considered 1945 if the war ended September 1945? I'm not the best at math, but I don't see anyone born in 1945 as being a baby boomer.

That whole 9 months thing..........

Gordy

SlamDunk said:

no wonder no one understands me...I was born in '64.

So was I.....

KC_Jones

ChrisJ said:

I have to ask,
How is a boomer considered 1945 if the war ended September 1945? I'm not the best at math, but I don't see anyone born in 1945 as being a baby boomer.

That whole 9 months thing..........

Military men got leave, my father was born when my grandfather was in the Pacific (1945). He was home on leave and "enjoyed" the company of his wife before going back to fight. It fits with the basic premise that the baby boom was from all the men returning from war, to me coming home on leave during the war fits right in with this concept.

Gordy

Technically 1946 is the start date. I would not rack your brain on dates, opinions, and what each generation is coined for being associated as. They are all over the place. I could be a boomer, or a Gen X. Like you could be a Gen X, Or a millennial.

Rich_49

1 -2 years either direction , kinda like those +- numbers included in Polls .

SlamDunk

Gordy said:

SlamDunk said:

no wonder no one understands me...I was born in '64.

So was I.....

So, do you feel family first? Or, work first? What's your reality?

Mine has been split down the middle. Hard to take care of family without work. I have to juggle.

But I have read you should always choose family because in obituaries, they never list surviving coworkers.

Gordy

I walk the line with work. I'm there if Im needed, but not begging for it. I favor family first. Family first is not a draw back. I don't think it is meant to be designated as one.

For me I fall into both catagoreies. In beliefs, and reality. I love the old culture of the 40s,50s, and 60s. Martini lunches, business on a hand shake etc.

Edit: as a border line baby boomer I experienced some of those things I admired from earlier generations. Something later generation xers, and millenniums only hear stories about. Am truly missed experience which really enhances the pluses, and minuses of how generations, and technology have evolved.

BobC

The world of work has changed a lot in the last 50 years. The days when you could work for one company for decades is largely gone. That means there is no loyalty between the worker and their company because the worker knows they will be dumped whenever the wind shifts.

I remember telling assembly line workers to wear old clothes tomorrow because we are going to paint the production department. In 25 years we never laid people off. We had good times and lean times and if you did your job well you didn't have to worry.

All that went out the window when the company was bought out, it took them 18 months to put a 45 year old company out f business. Along the way they bilked the state out of a $500k grant they got for "preserving" jobs.

These days your better off working for small shops.

Bob

Gordy

Remember when you started at the bottom, and worked your way up if that was a desire? In doing that you knew the company inside, and out.

BobC

That's very true, I started out doing low level testing and worked myself up to engineering and management over the 25 years I was with them. We rarely had more than 100 employees and most of them were with the company for decades. A lot of the gear was military grade and it was built to exacting standards.

While working for the post office I attended school at Lockheed Martin who made some of the mail sorting machines. Half that factory was building sorting machines and the other half was building assemblies that went into fighter planes. i was surprised at the poor level of workmanship I saw there, it was not very good.

Bob

SlamDunk

In 1985, I had a microeconomics class-Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z.....

I remember only one statement the professor made. He made a prediction to the class based on his research:

The majority of you will not work for one employer for an entire career like your parents may have. The majority of you will change jobs every 7 years for one reason or another.

He was absolutely right. Every 7 years and X Months, I had to look for a new job! Mergers/acquisitions/bankruptcy/re-org.

At this company, I am at 7yrs 1 month. Yesterday, the CEO and CMO abruptly stepped down after a meeting with board of directors. Here we go again.....

ChrisJ

Here's my opinion.

Everyone is different and it has absolutely nothing to do with what year you were born in.

Lazy people are not something new, neither are ignorant people, thieves, liars etc.

What has changed is how fast you find out information.

You can sit around thinking your generation was the hardest working and had the best music but in the end no one cares. Millennials are going to be saying the same crap 20 years from now.


That's my 1 cent.

hot_rod

And we have turned into a reality show nation, could that be dumbing down the masses also?

No more news stations as we remember them, it's all opinion and entertainment, 24/7

SlamDunk

...And new cars now have a feature to apply the brakes if it senses an impending collision. Some of them will parallel park for you, come with rear cameras and coming soon, driverless cars! (I'll appreciate those when age forces me to give up my license)

All necessary because we are getting better? smarter?

ChrisJ

SlamDunk said:

...And new cars now have a feature to apply the brakes if it senses an impending collision. Some of them will parallel park for you, come with rear cameras and coming soon, driverless cars! (I'll appreciate those when age forces me to give up my license)

All necessary because we are getting better? smarter?

You're right.
There were no car accidents before.....................

Ever seen videos of people driving in the 1930s-40s?

Those features are necessary because no one has changed.

hot_rod

A.I. will start to out-performing humans in the next decade, according the Zuckerberg. Some of that artificial intelligence you read about in PopSci magazine is a bit concerning. I think it already out-thinks many people.

Rich_49

Suddenly Stephen Hawking doesn't sound so crazy huh ?

ChrisJ

https://youtu.be/nUPLGKL18Mo


https://youtu.be/WpZvqc7utq0



People used to drive so much better!

hot_rod

the pros and cons of cell phones. It sure has made the highways more dangerous.

ChrisJ

hot rod said:

the pros and cons of cell phones. It sure has made the highways more dangerous.

That I can agree with.

SlamDunk

chris, I was referring to the rapid access to information via cell phones while driving that necessitate these features. Pilots are loosing their skills because of auto pilots. Same is happening to teenagers; soon they wont know how to drive.

A useful advancement in technology that I would approve of is an electric shock to the kiester of the driver who doesn't move when the light turns green because they are looking down!

NYT has an article about treating the law wanting to treat texting/snapchatting/facebooking while driving the same as drunk driving because accident rates are climbing.

New Technology is creating psychological problems and we are solving them with more new technology.

ChrisJ

SlamDunk said:

chris, I was referring to the rapid access to information via cell phones while driving that necessitate these features. Pilots are loosing their skills because of auto pilots. Same is happening to teenagers; soon they wont know how to drive.

A useful advancement in technology that I would approve of is an electric shock to the kiester of the driver who doesn't move when the light turns green because they are looking down!

NYT has an article about treating the law wanting to treat texting/snapchatting/facebooking while driving the same as drunk driving because accident rates are climbing.

New Technology is creating psychological problems and we are solving them with more new technology.

It is the same.
Texting or using a computer while driving is no different than taking drugs that impair you be it alcohol, pain killers and so on.

Another major issue is people everywhere seem to think it's ok to tailgate. Tailgating only gets you to the grave or hospital faster. You're still going the same speed whether you have a 1 foot gap or a 200 foot gap in front of you.

NY_Rob

SlamDunk said:

A useful advancement in technology that I would approve of is an electric shock to the kiester of the driver who doesn't move when the light turns green because they are looking down!

+1
I missed two lights this morning on the way to work because the um... Alpha Hotels.. in front were looking down texting when the light changed from red to green for us to go.
The final one didn't even move as the light turned from green to yellow then to red! She completely missed a full light cycle and didn't even realize it! I was steamed.... I hate laying on the horn at 8am in a residential neighborhood, but you can't let them get away with it without some grief.

KC_Jones

And when she finally looked up thought: "Hmmm this is a really long red light".

hot_rod

ChrisJ said:

SlamDunk said:

chris, I was referring to the rapid access to information via cell phones while driving that necessitate these features. Pilots are loosing their skills because of auto pilots. Same is happening to teenagers; soon they wont know how to drive.

A useful advancement in technology that I would approve of is an electric shock to the kiester of the driver who doesn't move when the light turns green because they are looking down!

NYT has an article about treating the law wanting to treat texting/snapchatting/facebooking while driving the same as drunk driving because accident rates are climbing.

New Technology is creating psychological problems and we are solving them with more new technology.

It is the same.
Texting or using a computer while driving is no different than taking drugs that impair you be it alcohol, pain killers and so on.

Another major issue is people everywhere seem to think it's ok to tailgate. Tailgating only gets you to the grave or hospital faster. You're still going the same speed whether you have a 1 foot gap or a 200 foot gap in front of you.

Itgoughbt tailgating was a Missouri thing. I wanted to petition lawmakers to add that the the Missouri license plate
"The Tailgater State"

Also most feel the use of turn signals somehow invalidates their turn. Turn signals could be eliminated from new cars around here. Keep the stalk for my wipers or light dimmer, however

Canucker

Signals are only if you're going over more than one lane. At least that's how it seems where I am

hot_rod

Canucker said:

Signals are only if you're going over more than one lane. At least that's how it seems where I am

So you have actually seen a blinker operating?! Remind me, are they red or amber theses days, it's been a long time!

KC_Jones

The guy I carpool with just needs to talk and he starts driving differently. I have seen him doing 40 in a 55. He was doing 55 then starts telling a story and next thing you know 40. I call him out on it all the time. Smart guy, but easily distracted. Thankfully (even though he is a tech geek) he hasn't done anything with his phone while driving. I always look forward when I ride with him, just in case.

ChrisJ

What is an Alpha Hotel!?!?!