We are all marked for the rest of our lives by what happens in our twenties. For me, it meant coming of age during the summer of love. Money was the last thing on anyone's mind. Vietnam, communes, and the feeling that we could impact politics in a major way changed all of our lives in ways both good and bad. But it saddens me to think that coming into adulthood during a recession might make a person more selfish, more concerned with money, less compassionate and less political.
Exactly right. As I was driving 4.2 miles to work, I was thinking about my uncle going to Vietnam, about my parents forced marriage from the draft. What a weird time to come of age... And then I thought about now, for Gen Y.
Even someone like me with bulletproof education and credentials got thrown to the wolves, and suddenly there were no jobs to be had. Friends are out of work, hell, everyone is out of work. It's common to hear people are unemployed. You post when you get fired on your Facebook. Getting fired no longer has anything to do with you. Staying unemployed doesn't either.
I have a friend who is an accountant, and he did the unthinkable. He scored a corporate accounting gig doing some kind of auditing. We had a giant party... for getting a job. GETTING A JOB!
Sure, it's still better than getting sent to Vietnam, but a weird cultural moment as well. We know we can be fired at any moment. We know our companies will throw us out with no notice. We are not so sure that other job is around the bend, like it always was before.
What does this do to us? Maybe it does make us cynical, concerned with money, selfish. I'll take that. It also makes us conservative and thoughtful in ways Gen X was not, for sure. I have been thinking about this break from Gen X for a long time. Gen X lived in a fat time of car loans and interest only houses. Nothing could go wrong, and everyone got a trophy. Gen Y got screwed, for sure, in the recession. Gen X brought it on themselves.
Gen Y has been hit hard, really hard. Just as we are at our first jobs, or, worse, heading out of college with backbreaking loan debt that even Gen X couldn't shoulder in better times. Everyone didn't get a trophy, for sure. I'm not sure anyone got a trophy. So, maybe we're cynical and obsessed with money. I also think we have been forced to be more creative. Like Senor Dog, who put a half-dozen boomers in early retirement by outproducing them better, faster, and cheaper.
I like to think Gen Y is like me and Senor Dog. You either make do and find what you can and keep your eye on moving on (me), or you think outside the box and don't depend on anyone else (Senor Dog).
17 comments:
I like the idea that the recession has colored our experience. Interesting thought.
"Like Senor Dog, who put a half-dozen boomers in early retirement by outproducing them better, faster, and cheaper"
Wow, that's quite an accomplishment! Does it make you especially proud if they lost their homes and health insurance?
Give yourself a treat and go see "Up in the Air" paying close attention to the character Natalie...or just go look in the mirror.
@ Florence. Yes, it does make me proud. It's called business.
There's no reason his competitors couldn't have done everything Senor Dog did, for years. They had all of the resources and experience, they just chose to be inflexible and not innovate.
So, yes, if you do it better, faster, and cheaper, you should be proud.
"So, yes, if you do it better, faster, and cheaper, you should be proud."
Good, now you understand why your sorry ass with the bulletproof education was laid off.
Flo & Dog-the problem wasn't with the boomers. Perhaps the problem was that whomever Senor Dog put out of business (retirement) were just, as Dog said, people who refused to innovate and automate & update to the future. Unfortunately, people who fall into that format, are older.
It is up to us baby boomers to stay agile and be able to move. One day it will be Senor Dog's time to be passed over. It's just business, right, Dog? Eventually Senor Dogs' mental and physical capacity will just not assimilate and diminish.
Eventually, the younger generations will realize that they too, will age and grow older. Hear me now-however they treat the elderly today will come back to bite them on their own butts. Everyone ages. Everyone.
If a boomer wants to see an enlightening program, watch current editions of 'Ask This Old House'. There will stand before you several aging men who are masterminds in construction, energy, building codes and current structural advancements. They are key to showing the youngin's how to do anything. The men of 'This Old House' can mount any ladder, crawl any basement, and tote any tool far sharper and better than any other younger generation. Plus, they all stay in step with the ever changing modes of construction and energy.
Gen Y and other generations would be wise to learn from the baby boomers and not be so quick to toss them aside.
As for 'Up In The Air'.......it's on my Xmas must-sees. This is not the first round of job layoffs in America. And it ain't going to be our last. DH and I, both baby boomers have adapted well. This year, 2009, will tally up to a 110% INCREASE in salary as compared to last year. Not bad for a declining economy?
How did we do it?
Experience.
Natalie all over. You've got to see the movie!!
I don't get it. Was he supposed to roll over and give up contracts because they are boomers? Was he not supposed to scale up his business because he was competing with someone?
This isn't Hollywood, this is real life, and we have to look out for ourselves.
Since we don't know Senor Dog's business, I can't advise on his recent rise to success and the means he used to get there.
But let's look again at Grace's comments and your statement that you liked what Grace said:
But it saddens me to think that coming into adulthood during a recession might make a person more selfish, more concerned with money, less compassionate and less political.
Do the words 'selfish, less compassionate and less political' mean anything? Are we to be like sharks, looking for our victims weak spots (disability, age, race, etc?) and then strike?
I credit DH's and my increase in annual income this year to the fact that we hired an out-of-work baby boomer (58 year old) and a 32 year old ex-army man who came back from a tour of duty to Iraq (and is now jobless). In this recession, I have learned that it is more advantageous to all of us to lend a hand and help another fallen victim.
You have a long way to go Dog but thankfully, you are on the right path.
You'll get there. I'm counting on it.
I'm not sure what this weird conversation about 'Up In The Air' is all about, but I think that the recession has the power to make the people of Gen Y more political. In my job, I have a pension (though not a good one), health insurance (although premiums are rising), and job security (relatively speaking). Why can't everyone? Young people should be taking to the streets to demand a change in the way America does business. Why should we not have universal healthcare? Pensions? Unions? Why are we settling for so much uncertainty and vulnerability, getting passed from job to job with crappy unemployment benefits in between?
If nothing else, the recession should be teaching us to demand change in the way that our nation operates, on so many levels.
Dog, I'm a Gen Y'er too and on many points I agree with you... we are learning that we have to adapt... this isn't Mom and Dad's economy and it never will be again.
But don't you see the irony in the fact that at the beginning of the post you quote an excerpt that includes "it saddens me to think that coming into adulthood during a recession might make a person more selfish, more concerned with money, less compassionate and less political."
Your first two words right after that excerpt? "Exactly right."
Then later on you exhibit no compassion or selflessness at all by seeming to take joy in the fact that Sr. Dog put 6 others out of work in a time when, as you say, "everyone is out of work" and "Getting fired no longer has anything to do with you."
For those 6 did getting fired have nothing to do with them?
I'm not suggesting Sr. Dog shouldn't do the best he can in his work. He should, and neither he nor you need feel bad about it if it displaces others who weren't producing as good a product or service(though some of us would at least a little).
But for crying out loud, no need to be proud of that fact. That little tid bit adds nothing to your post, it's just rubbing it the faces of others who feel they may have lost a step now that they are in the latter stages of their career.
"I don't get it. Was he supposed to roll over and give up contracts because they are boomers? Was he not supposed to scale up his business because he was competing with someone?"
No, but a mature person with some sense of modesty would not have posted it in the first place. Sure, business is business and the object is to do more business and make more money - that's a given. Do we need to go around exclaiming "Na na na na na na, my hubby's great, he probably put half a dozen boomers out of work, I'm so proud of him"?
I can certainly see why you were let go from your previous job. I can't imagine anyone as immature as you in a corporate work environment getting paid big bucks. Clearly you have not learned your lesson yet and it's definitely something you didn't receive as part of your your bulletproof education.
Florence, I couldn't agree with you more. My husband and I just saw "Up in the Air" this afternoon. Having both been "laid off" during our careers (me in 2007when my company's corporate parent moved it to another state and put 75 highly educated and skilled people out of work), I doubt that looking into George Clooney's soulful brown eyes during the process would have made it any easier. But at least his character knew something about people, the dignity of work, and that a job means more to someone than just a paycheck.
Having been fired, not laid off, herself this year, one would have thought that Ms. Dog would have more compassion for others in this situation. I guess that's a lesson she hasn't learned yet. Along with the fact that a Christmas present to a secretary isn't a "bribe" but a token of gratitude for a job well done and for being of help all year long.
Morrison, I love your comments about the "This Old House" craftsman. As the owner of an old house myself, I wish they all lived in my town. :-)
Gen X has been hit hard. Technically I am Gen X (people born up to 1980 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_X) and my husband has been out of a job since April. 8 months, no sign of a job or an interview for that matter, anytime soon. And he has a degree from a top 10 engineering school. I was laid off this year (I have an ivy league degree, too). We feel much of the same pain as Gen Y (nevermind the recession of 2001 - lots of Gen X was in their 20s then. I was laid off twice during the dot-com bust). I don't buy that Gen Y is feeling more squeezed or has "learned" a profound lesson about money or life anymore than anyone else.
I'm certainly not of the mind that gen X is better off at this point. We're all squeezed and quite frankly, Gen Y, the youngest workers in Corporate America have the best chance to bounce back from this recession, rather than getting canned half-way through your career like Gen X when no one wants to hire mid-level positions (too expensive). Or losing 50% of your retirement when you're in your 50s as a boomer.
chacha, I agree. I'm a Generation X and I don't exactly like the way Dog has posted this. That it's entirely Generation X fault. Ooookay. Time to look in the mirror dog.
I did not see only Gen X getting mortgages and Gen X being irresponsible. I see just as many Gen Y and Boomer parents doing the same thing.
And Gen X have learned to deal with loss of jobs. MOST of MY friends have been laid off a ton of times. Sorry but the tech bust of 2001? I graduated and scrambled to find a JOB. And most of my friends and colleagues would say the same.
Most were moving, working 2-3 part-time jobs to get a full time job. Talk to people in their 30s in tech, biotech industries who work for a company.
ALL will tell you they've been laid off at some point in time. And ALL will tell you that you can only plan always for the worse.
You sound spoiled. I'm not sure what you did, but obviously you weren't a true techie just working for a corporation. You weren't part of the masses earning your $250k salary fresh out of school.
Most of us were working/interning at companies before graduation. And still we couldn't land jobs. And yet I don't think we were alone.
I don't think that trying to tag on generation for all the problems will work.
I'm more reminded of Topher Grace movie In Good Company. Where a boomer guy takes a paycut to keep working under a young hotshot.
Life happens and you can't predict what will be. You can only plan for the worse and hope for the best.
I'm Gen X and I also graduated during a recession. We went through a dot.com boom and bust, as well as the real estate bust, so I don't think we had it any easier.
I guess it's common to blame the earlier generation. Gen Xers tend to place a lot of blame on Baby Boomers (Gen Y's parents) because they did reap more benefits. Yes, they had war but they also tend to have pensions and more job security.
I actually think Gen X and Y are more in the same boat.
Actually, I think for a lot of those coming of age during the recession, it's beneficial. Most people are not ever taught about money. But having an acute awareness, and learning that you HAVE to pay attention to your finances can only help. While I think college grads are hurting for employment… and are perhaps having to make some hard choices, it's a life lesson. Perhaps it's lucky that they were schooled so early… so they can really truly understand the value of a dollar.
Whenever you speak of your 'bulletproof education' and 'unlimited lunch expense account', do you know who you remind me of? I have to say it .... Patrick Bateman comes to mind from the movie 'American Psycho'. Patrick Bateman and his ilk, male and female, (for those who haven't seen the movie) sat around in over inflated corporate environments, comparing business cards, making lunch/dinner reservations at the uber elite 'Dorsia' and doing very, very little else other than competing between themselves over icons of materialism.
Now, I'm not saying that you enjoyed such 'hallowed halls' but you certainly were very expendable, weren't you? Are you sure your 'job' wasn't just some fat cat's tax break?? It sure sounds very much like it. I wonder what you spent YOUR days actually doing? So, you were once 'employed', like so many thousands and thousands of others, at jobs that vanished like spit on a stove because, basically, such filler jobs were unnecessary. Get over IT and YOURSELF.
You are right about one thing: an entire lateral shift in the way of thinking is now the order of the day. Many people who have lost their jobs have had to rethink their entire M.O. No more 'disposable' income...no more expensive interest only mortgages...no more wallets that hold 25 different credit cards, all of them maxed out....no more expensive leases on vehicles that have plummeted in value over the past couple of years (I can pick up a 7-series BMW now, almost new, for $25K. UNHEARD OF.)...no more uber consuming purchases for Junior...it's all OVER.
Yes, it's tragic that so many people are unemployed but, at the same time, those people are learning to think a different way. I no longer see new cars in the neighbors' driveways every year. Many people have moved away and into houses they can actually afford. You know, abodes with a mortgage or rent that doesn't exceed 25% of income? Change has come at a painful price but, come on! Things couldn't continue the way they were!! Whoever or whatever was responsible for 'controlling' the banks at that time were obviously members of the useless legions of Patrick Bateman types.
You had a job that wasn't REALLY a job at all. So put your thinking cap on and move along.
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