Nutwood Baby Boomer Edition

I recently started subscribing to a site called Politics Daily, and I'm really enjoying it. It's many of the writers that posted on AOL's Political Machine, plus a few new faces, and I like the quick analyses and perspectives. Earlier today, I read my favorite piece of the day, and I think it will be one of my all-time favorites.

Gary Sinise For President?

Dylan and Ethan Ris

Posted: 05/12/09

Over at the Daily Beast, columnist Nicolle Wallace figures that the GOP needs a Reaganesque figure to lead the party out of the wilderness. That means finding someone with Reagan's most important attribute: mid-level moviedom fame.

So after parsing the four Republicans in Hollywood, Wallace settled on Gary Sinise as the GOP nominee for president in 2012.

... Gary Sinise might be our savior. According to news reports, he's part of an underground group of conservatives in Hollywood-an act of bravery in itself. His stated belief in American exceptionalism might end up being a powerful contrast to Obama's "American apologist" mantra. The natural strengths that an actor brings to politics would come in handy to anyone going up against Obama in 2012. We will need an effective communicator who can stand toe to toe with Obama's eloquence.

We agree to support Sinise's candidacy, but only if Tom Hanks commits to following him around on the campaign trail shouting "President Dan! You got new legs!" at regular intervals.

I'm glad I wasn't taking a drink when I read that, because I would have done a spit take!

*****

It was nice and sunny today, so I sat out on the deck for a while. Ken was off today, so we got to spend some quality time with Mr. and Mrs. Lounge Chair! After I read Time's 100 most influential people issue, I finished a Ladies' Home Journal. This wasn't the same magazine that had the silly slumber party for adults blurb, and there was actually a very interesting article about generational conflicts in the workplace. I've talked about that with former coworkers, Ken and I have talked about it, and I believe he wrote an entry about it at some point. (I don't know where to start looking for it, or I'd link to it.)

It addressed three main groups: Baby Boomers, who make up 40% of today's workforce; Generation X, who comprise 36%; and the youngest group, the Millenials, who are 16% of the workforce, but growing. (The Matures are the other 8%, and that number is falling.) Ken and I are on the tail end of the Baby Boom (born in 1962), as are many of my former coworkers, and we've both experienced some of the conflicts mentioned in the article. I think the thing that got to me the most was the sense of entitlement that many young workers seem to have now--a feeling that they should get everything they ask for, that they don't want to work weekends or holidays, and that they should never have to work overtime.

Disclaimer: I'm coming at this from a healthcare perspective, so your results may vary. I was also privileged to work with many fine younger people who didn't feel that way, but I've also worked with some who did.

This was especially hard for some of us who had been in healthcare for a long time. We felt that we had "paid our dues" by working multiple shifts, plenty of weekends, lots of holidays, long hours, etc. After over 20 years of working, I was still working every other weekend when I stopped working. You can imagine how maddening it was to hear some younger people come in and say, "I'm not working every other weekend" or "I can't work those hours."

The article goes on to talk about the things that the various generations can learn from each other, and there are some good lessons there. Us Baby Boomers can be a little on the rigid side, and have a feeling of "Hey, I had to do this, so you do, too." I think we need to get beyond that, because technology and attitudes are changing, and younger people don't necessarily want to be defined by their jobs. They have many outside interests and value their leisure time. Perhaps workplaces need to be a little more flexible when it comes to accommodating hours, flex time, etc. This doesn't always work in healthcare, because so much of it is hands-on, and round-the-clock.

I also think that Gen X-ers and Millenials need to recognize that there are some things that they can't just walk in and do. Sometimes experience is necessary, and can take years to develop. Respect the knowledge of those who have been doing the job for years; there is much they can teach you, and they usually have a pretty strong work ethic worth emulating. I would also suggest that they reconsider multiple piercings in the workplace, especially in a healthcare setting--the less hardware and fewer holes you have, the less your chance of infection, or passing an infection on to others. Clothing itself can be a problem, as older workers sometimes don't approve of more casual attire. When I worked in Indianapolis in the 90's, my favorite attire was leggings and a long T-shirt. A group of older workers put together a new dress code, and decided that leggings shouldn't be worn. That was silly, and leggings and long shirts or tunics are very common now.

It's definitely an interesting dynamic. We would all do well to recognize our differences, but try to understand each others' strengths. As goes the workplace, so goes life, eh?