Did anyone watch 60 Minutes? Are they right about the Millennial generation?

If their report was accurate, it's a good thing I'm retired, because I could NEVER be a manager in a work atmosphere like they described is being demanded by the Millennials!

I've been working as an admin in higher ed - seeing a lot of undergrads, and particularly freshman. Woooooo howdy.

I think a good economic depression would do wonders for American culture.

slaves, & adjust their behavior to be suitably subservient.

You should be overjoyed.

They want flexible schedules, perks such as massages, rallys, signs of appreciation with frequent pats on the back; friends, families, and experiences are more important than career goals, they want work to be fun but are willing to work hard if its fun, flexible and their appreciated. They don't want locked into jobs like they saw with their parents who gave their life to their employers and were hung out to dry.

they are a bunch of slack asses?

pretty much.

"In 2006, Generation Y made up 12% of the electorate, and broke for Democrats 60%-39%. Democrats also hold an enormous, double-digit lead in partisan identification among this age group. In 2004, that advantage was 39%-28%. In 2006, it had increased further to 41%--28%"

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/12/1/15152/1638

it was a joke. Man some people around here don't have a sense of humor at all.

It's impossible to pigeonhole 70 million people. I see now that you were joking, but a lot of people aren't and it pisses me off a bit

I have always DETESTED being lumped in with the BABY BOOMERS :puke:

I think perks like those go a long way in engendering employee satisfaction which is good for the company, as well as the employees. When I love my job, I'm a GREAT, contributing employee. And loving my job has a lot to do with how I'm regarded, respected and treated by my employer.

but flexibility, appreciation, and being valued as an employee--sounds good to me.

It sounds like the kind of job I always wanted and only got when the pay really, really sucked. I worked my ass of in good jobs like those as long as I could before I had to take a lousy job with better money and a psychotic boss.

All they want is a humane workplace. Unfortunately, considering what the economy is about to do to them, they're going to find themselves settling into working for psycopaths just like we did and getting hung out to dry in their mid 50s just like we were.

How do you think the corporations keep worker bees coming back?

Just because people don't want to stay at a suck ass job till it ruins their physical and mental health they're slack asses? :shrug: Maybe these kids will take things into their own hands and be our next generation of unionists...

having a suck ass work ethic. We ALL have done our time at crappy minimum wage jobs; I've been a busperson at a cheesy family restaurant and worked in fast food. I've also worked at jobs I liked with bosses who sexually harassed me and paid me 40% less than my less experienced, less qualified male counterparts for the exact same job. But that's not what they are talking about here. I've also been a manager whose ass was on the line with tight, drop dead deadlines, and I've contended with the type of Millennials they were talking about(and others too old to fit the title, but who had the same attitude). They just didn't show up to work when they didn't feel like it, wouldn't call to say that they weren't coming in, and would start screaming at me that I shouldn't take an "attitude" with them when I finally did reprimand them. I was a flexible boss, too- I gave them flex time, would let them take work home and allowed two hour lunch breaks when the schedule allowed it. But some of them thought that having ANY kind of deadline was fundamentally unfair and cruel. They couldn't understand why I would be upset when they missed their deadline two days in a row and then showed up after a three hour lunch break playing video games. It was fucking insane. I caught all kinds of heat from my superiors for their behavior, but I simply couldn't get through to them. When I did have to fire one or two after warning after warning, they threw huge public temper tantrums, called me all kinds of names, stormed out, then demanded a letter of recommendation for their next job! :crazy: They didn't need a union, they needed a fucking nanny.

because they already existed in Generation X.

You'd get some of the worst slackers, and you couldn't tell them anything, no matter how gently or tactfully. Any suggestion that they weren't perfect, and you were their enemy for life.

There are people like that in the Baby Boomer generation, too, although perhaps not as many, because most parents were stricter when we were children.

In the end, though, brattiness knows no age limits.

but are these children the result of 2 parents working in good jobs, who possibly out of guilt, gave these kids every material good they wanted and let them do and go wherever they wanted???

It sounds like they are spoiled rotten. Doesn't seem like they have any comprehension of others so how could they ever form a union???

Sounds like they want an employer/leader like good ol' mom and dad who gave them everything.

We're in trouble....but I'm sure there are some of that generation who grew up with a work ethic.

n/t

People like being treated with respect.

-They want flexible schedules

-signs of appreciation

-friends, families, and experiences are more important than career goals

-they want work to be fun but are willing to work hard if its fun

-They don't want locked into jobs like they saw with their parents who gave their life to their employers and were hung out to dry.

I believe that these are good.

our employers?

I cannot believe the ppl on this thread who think there is something wrong with seeing that employers don't give a shit about employees and therefore have no claim on loyalty.

maybe you're seeing the kids whose parents' jobs were sold down the river to Mexico b/c labor is cheaper there.

maybe you're seeing the kids whose single moms never had health insurance even tho they worked their asses off.

maybe you're seeing the kids who grew up when all of the powers that be were slobbering over dot com start ups who came of age when those same cos were pariahs after the dot com crash.. who see that biz is just another table at Vegas?

I'm not a millennial, whatever that bullshit term means, but all my life all I've ever seen from business is a total disregard for community, personal welfare, health care and all those so-called traditional American virtues of hard work and community involvement.

Most jobs do not offer those kind of perks and never will. All the power is on the side of employers and at some people they will have to put up or shut up. Or seek some alternative employment (self-employed in some way I guess) that does not place those demands on them.

The thing is, NO ONE is special. At some point we all realize that no one but our friends and family actually give a shit about us. Those precious little snowflakes will of necessity have to wise up. Dad will not allow them to live off him forever.

multiple people had stories about employees' or college students mothers calling to question company policies or HR. Like, "my daughter earned a poor performance review, let's discuss it." I'm 39 and would be mortified if my mother called my boss to stick up for me.

i don't even think she realized what an embarrassing and totally unprofessional thing that was. She thought it was normal.

...or in emergency surgery...or being held hostage...

No way would I have mommy run interference for me at work for the common cold.

Sounds like what I'm looking for.

I don't like busting my ass for some large company and get no recognition for it. I also hate working for a whole year and only earn four days of vacation. :eyes:

Pats on the head are cheap. A once-a-month massage is cheap. Pom-poms are cheap.

Medical insurance for your kids is not. Needing time off to take 'em to the doctor is not.

They don't want locked into jobs like they saw with their parents who gave their life to their employers and were hung out to dry.

Yet, "they" are the reason that their parents gave their lives to employers who ultimately hung them out to dry. Kids are always oblivious to what comes next. (e.g. the demands of being a grownup) In my experience, this generation is more oblivious than the rest.

A bunch of whiny, defeated people in their 50s are bitching about 'those lazy kids'. I think this makes it generation #254,204 bitching about #254,205 at this point. However, thank god we weren't alive when generation #201,444 was running things, they really ripped #201,445 a new one.

There are approximately 4 million of them. They were raised via the Mr. Rodgers era where everyone is special, no one ever loses and you got a trophy for just showing up. Now they're entering the workplace, and will not accept being ordered to do something, or being told they're wrong. No one has ever done those things to them before! The one councelor on the show said they view themselves as simething they'd sell on Ebay. If their emplooyer doesn't coddle them, they WALK! As they walk out the door, they say if I can't do it MY WAY, I'll sell myself to the employer down the street, probably get more money, and HE'LL Love me, you just like me.

They're moving back home after graduation from college when gives them the ability to walk off the job if they're not perfectly happy.

All the mgmt. consultants are teaching business managers that it's THEM who have to change. They can no longer "tell" employees what to do, but ask them to do it, and give out LOTS of praise!

Certainly there were a lot more specifics in the 20 min. segment.

... the balance has shifted back just a little bit between employer and employee to be in the employee's favor. This is generally a Good Thing, especially since the employers won't hesitate one second to fire people when "business conditions warrant."

The employers were first on the scene with the loyalty-be-damned attitude; it's only reasonable that the employees have adapted.

(And I'm no Millennial either. I wish.)

Workplaces may treat employees like children nowadays, with grown adults standing around a birthday cake singing "happy birthday" and such, but statistics show that benefits and wages for most people have been piss-poor for a long time now.

Personally, I'd rather have the buying power, benefits and pension of a 1950s office worker and work for a taskmaster than be babied by somebody who comes in on his Razr scooter on casual Fridays with a hacky sack, but make shit money with puny or nonexistent raises and an HMO and a 401K in place of a proper pension.

(not disagreeing with your opinion, I just don't things are going in favor of the employees at all. More and more of us are competing with third-world labor - that is NOT in our favor.)

Edited to remove rudeness.

I wouldn't work for someone who thinks being treated decently is 'spoiled' or who really thinks you can write off an entire generation with such simplistic jargon.

We enter a workforce where healthcare and pensions are gone, where wages have stagnated for decades and where we are loaded up with student loans. Then to listen to people complain about us because we won't suck it up and smile is an insult.

I work 12 hour days and save a good deal of my income. I don't ask for massages where I work and I don't ask for praise. If other people do that is their business, but jesus this is insulting to listen to this drivel from people who should have the life experience to know better than to fall for this garbage.

This is really insulting to listen to one demographic wax poetic about how morally superior they are to another demographic, esp when I am in the latter. Not all black people are violent animals, not all jews are money grubbing sociopaths and not all people under 30 are stupid and lazy.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/02/01/254417/index.htm

The median age of a 60 Minutes viewer is 56.9, giving it the second-oldest audience on broadcast television,

read the transcript I just posted in Post 22. I sure never said a whole generation was lazy. It's NOT WRONG for employees to demand fair treatment on their job, and fair wages for the job being done.

Please at least scan the transcript, and you'll see what I mean.

that is mostly only true if you are middle class or rich. I live in a lower class in society. And I was hardly ever told I was special.

Kind of young to be swarming into the workplace and making such demands, I agree. However, you have to give them bonus points for being early achievers. :rofl:

My daughter was born in 1990-a millennial for sure. She will graduate this week for HS. She started working when she was 16 (which is the earliest you can here in Texas. Kids working on farms fall under different rules-they can work earlier on farms (operate heavy equipment etc-at least last time I checked they could). We are talking some very young kids here-I have also heard them referred to as the y generation-after x gen.

:hi: my (last) child graduates friday too :woohoo:

What empty nest syndrome!!!!!! :party: :toast: :bounce: :woohoo::party: :toast: :bounce: :woohoo:


Cograts Shanti on a job well done.

He's 13 and in the 7th grade. It's hard to find even volunteer opportunities at that age, so it also strikes me as strange that such a generalization is being made about people born in a five-year period that range in age from 13 to 19.

Praise for good work is just fine. How about where one needs to improve? I can't entirely believe these kids would walk out like that, but depending on the issue, it can be spun against baby boomers, those who run the media, and pretty much anything else too.

Again, there's undoubtedly some truth to it -- a couple years ago, I had a friend whose child was happy for biking a certain distance. His grandmother got upset because she walked far further, every day. Being a middle gen-x'er myself, I grew to appreciate a lot more that day... and I am inclined to think there is enough unfettered truth in that article to sit up and take notice.

Of course, if management doesn't know what's going on, then a person storming out might have a point. You cannot do a task for which came out of left field, or a job management thinks one has been cross-trained for but hadn't. (cross-training and all that, it's been tried in the 1980s, 1990s, and today, and it still doesn't work and management still hasn't figured out why. Or why things go downhill. On a personal level, I'm willing TO work with management and have demonstrated such, but for all the talk of cross-training, we're still doing our usual jobs. Management thinks it's utopia but the glasses they're wearing filters out all visible wavelengths, leaving them blind. And they're too busy to recognize it too. :( )

If you go to work in a machine shop, you'll do the work professionally, quickly and as instructed. Garbageman? Builder? Still the same. Just do your job.

It isn't the ability to demand work conditions that is bad. It's the presumption that this is the way it has always been, combined with the sense of entitlement, and the fact that no matter how cantankerous the millennials can be, praise is still way cheaper than hiring people with experience and families.

They're setting themselves up by false expectations. Once you have a family, experience doesn't matter at all - you'll be replaced by someone who, if given enough pats on the head, will work 80 hours/week.

umm, this can't be right. that would make these KIDS or close to it, not adults out in the work force. 14-19 year olds...

where you enter into and then dump relationships over and over because you can't find the "perfect" person.
Usually ends when you grow old enough to focus on someone else instead of yourself.

as in

No matter where you go
you take yourself with you.

It is true that the general work ethic appears to have slipped with greater expections of success with little investment.

I have never heard that term.

...along with "greater expectations of success with little investment" to make excuses for why the jobs are being sent overseas.

I haven't seen it yet, but from what other posters are saying, the kids have every right to demand more and not to trust corporations.

My sons fall into that category ('80 & '82), but they don't work.

But some of their friends do.

I'll try to watch it.

According to "60 Minutes" the problem lies with them having grown up in a time when building self esteem was more important than teaching responsibility or learning to deal with life's ups and downs. They don't take well to "bossing", they need to be "mentored". If what was said on 60 Minutes is true, I can't imagine how any of these "kids" will take being down-sized or laid off for some other reason.

My sons are 25 & 27, so they fall into this group.

But they do not work, so I will try to watch this to see what people of their generation are up to.

a disaster. No one seemed to realize that the two persons that possessed the highest level of self esteem in the 20th century were Hitler and Stalin.

Such ignorance.

that's the reason. I think, for me, it was the explosion of cross-country geographical moves which created a sort of pick up and go culture.

and don't intend settle down before I am 40.

ALL of my children, born in 77, 80, 82, and 90. sorry i missed this.

Millenials are generally born after 1977, are very competent with technology and view work as a means to an end (as a way to finance life) rather than a goal in and of itself. Generation Y is another term that is used.

I hit them up for tech info all the time - it's like they were born with computer chips in their heads :D

We always want to be on the move, and we place no stock in our "careers" to build a better future for us. Work is something that you take as much as you can get and then leave it when it turns sour.

We've both been working for well over 10 years so we're well acquainted with how much companies "value" their employees. Why should we be good little worker bees, when the reward for that is having your job outsourced, your benefits cut, your responsibilities increased without a better wage/title.

The Social Contract between workers and employers was broken before we entered the workplace. We're smart enough to know that our loyalty is worth nothing nowadays. I do good work when I'm at work, but if I so much as suspect a better opportunity somewhere else, I'm gone.

Why is this so wierd? Do any of you really think that loyalty is rewarded any more?

Maybe if more people had started "acting up", we wouldn't be in this horrible situation.

Oh and "Get Off My Lawn!"

"Generations, the History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069" by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Their latest book is "Millenials Rising, The Next Generation." According to Strauss & Howe, Millenials are the next "Civic" generation, born 1982-2002. The members of the last "civic" generation were the ones who fought in World War II.

I found "Generations" a much more interesting way of looking at history than the way it was taught when I was in school.

If you are a Boomer ("Idealist" generation) and want a good laugh, read the chapter on another "Idealist" generation, Lincoln's "Transcendental Generation." When they described the clothing, I kept picturing Sonny & Cher.

The 1980s, the 1990s and read of such reports of the 1960s. This is nothing knew, been claim about every new generation about every five years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200_page2.shtml

It's a future of sweet talking bosses, no more "Pay your dues just like I did." If this generation knows anything, it's that there are more jobs than young people to fill them.

"I believe that they actually think of themselves like merchandise on eBay. 'If you don't want me, Mr. Employer, I'll go sell myself down the street. I'll probably get more money. I'll definitely get a better experience. And by the way, they'll adore me. You only like me,'" Salzman says.

So who's to blame for the narcissistic praise hounds now taking over the office?

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow covers trends in the workplace and points the finger at the man who once was America’s favorite next door neighbor: Mister Rogers.

you'll understand why I say I couldn't be a manager in that atmosphere.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml

Mostly that they think the can apply high school or sorority/frat clique rules to the office and ostracize those who just aren't as fucking cool as they are.

That crap was nothing more than boomer bias.

after college it was time to hit the road and find adventure.

I drove an old Ford Pinto cross country to San Francisco where I knew no one and started my adult life.

I feel sorry for these recent college grads....It seems as if they are in some kind of denial. Of course the future looks so bleak, I guess I can't blame them (as well as the millions of other generational folks).

I work with a bunch of those *horrid*, *spoiled* millenials. My 27 year-old chef is one of the hardest working people I've ever known, and a great manager to boot. Hell, I'm 44 and won't put up with working in a place where I am not respected nor valued. Then again, I don't play the corporate game, too much ass-kissing expected and I just ain't that kind of girl.

I think the poster upthread is correct in calling it a marketing scam to further justify displacing these people. Corporations no longer take care of their employees. Many of these kids have probably seen their parents laid off or losing entitlements like insurance and retirement pay. So why stay and 'suck it up'? You only feel like doing that if you are going to get something in the end for doing it, and these kids know damn well that they are as disposable as a BIC lighter.

What say all you older folk who are getting HB-1'ed out of your jobs? (usually just in time to not give you retirement or other bennies...) Makes the last 25 years of slavish devotion all worth it now, doesn't it?

Edit to add: Blaming Mr Rogers and self-esteem is so republican. I'm really dissappointed that people here are buying this load of poo-poo. Consider the source. A guy who works at WSJ who has his and is bitter that noone wants to kiss his warty hemorroidal ass even though he was assured a millenia ago that he would be *entitled* to that kind of repect if he did his time as a grunt and smooched his bosses butt. Damn, I'd hate to work for him.

the people that they were talking about DO exist. They may not be the majority of workers from that generation, but they sure as hell give their generation a bad name because their shoddy work ethic and feeling of entitlement is simply jaw dropping. We're talking about the same people whose parents would beat up an umpire for calling their kid out during a softball game. Nobody should be defending them. Millennials who do work hard now have to deal with an ugly stereotype because of a batch of entitled GOP spawn that is out of control.

These threads have been popping up more and more frequently, and every time I am astonished by the comments I read here on DU.

of mind. This reads to me like propaganda, designed to make us more sympathetic to the poor employers and less sympathetic to other workers.

I didn't get that memo that said I shouldn't make her correct her mistakes because God forbid it would crush her esteem. It must have been in the helicopter parenting manual.The meanest thing I ever did was let her take summer school twice (once for Algebra I and then English because she chose to not do her work). I should have done it for her. Maybe then she wouldn't be able to do math in her head....oh the horrors She was so scarred from the experience that she graduated in the top 10 percent and had to get a state scholarship. And when I forced her to work to buy her own car and gas and insurance. Imagine, being force to go to work for that evil Vietnamese boss that started her out at only $7.50 when she was 16 and only gave her raises til she was making $10 per hour after working 2 years of part time hours. He was so sorry that he treated her that way-he cried when she left and told her he would treat her like that again if she ever wanted to work for him. And on top of all of this....I...forced ..her to be....respectful, there, I've admitted it.

I am such a bad parent and she is a damaged millennial baby. Oh what will I ever say to Oprah. How can I ever explain her work ethic. How can I hold my head up....she's too independent for her own good:sarcasm:

wrong and how to accept criticism, and as long as you do your best, it's OK to lose once in a while. You obviously did fine, but when I listened to the 2 guys who were supposed to be coaching the younger workers, and heard them saying your boss should send a note to your Mother telling her what a great kid they raised, I choaked! Call me an old fogie or whatever other name you wish, it's WRONG for ANY employee to expect their boss to continue to treat them as if they were still in first grade!

I told him what a good kid he had raised. Of course, the positions are reversed, he's MY boss. So I guess that's OK.

praise and pats on the back all the time. That's no different than the typical a** kisser employee who constantly says "OHH Joe, I love your tie, or you did a fantastic job last week." I believe in praise when it's deserved, and complimenting people when you genuinely are impressed with their performance, but not as a standard comment. To me, standard comments become meaningless.

being a responsible parent. Instead of a worthless thank you note-maybe some real help with descent and affordable child care and after school for working families. Or how about doing us all a favour and helping make college more affordable. It's not that I want the state to raise my kid, but I was a single working mom for most of her life and it was damn hard to do. Employers and society have a double standard-esp when it comes to single Moms vs single Dads. The welfare of the child should be first (and I can just here folks without kids bitching. Well, whatever extra you have to pay or inconvenience you have to endure is your cost for living in this society.) Our society needs children-it has always been the older nurturing the young and the young the taking care of the older. The care we give the young will be visited back on us.

Oh, the part of the show that blew my mind was parents calling up college professors to argue their children's grades. If my Mom had done that, I would have been absolutely humiliated-mortified beyond belief.:eyes:

At the end of this term I fielded no less (I got my notes out to count) than 23 phone calls from Helicopter Parents angry about the grades their college-aged children had earned in various courses. Of those, I had four threats of legal action if the grade was not revised upwards for some reason or another. The "reasons" in all cases but two were not even worthy of consideration, and I ended up only (slightly) revising a grand total of ONE upwards (thank God for the tenure-track).

This is the eleventh year in a row, and every year it has gotten worse and the number of cranky calls from hovering parents trying to intervene to get their college-aged children's grades changed to their benefit has gone up.

Now, not that I'm complaining: I'm well-compensated for what I do. And, yes-yada-yada-yada I'm aware that my tale is anecdotal. But "60 Minutes" might just be on to something...

plus lots of kids don't want to turn papers in on time, plagiarize their work (badly), and can't spell or use proper grammar. Not all, of course, but many. And the ones with a great work ethic get sick of the slacker mentality of their peers, and the stereotype it's creating for them!

The half-assed effort those who engage in it put into even that. It's as if some of these folks say "I can't even be bothered to put the effort in to copy someone else's work like a pro so I won't get caught." LOL.

Of course, we have a nifty piece of software that smokes about every case of plagiarism out, but they make it sooooo easy.

To be fair, I want to state that my department doesn't see a lot of that sort of thing; I don't want to leave the impression that plagiarism is rampant. It's not. And for every "slacker" student that goes through our department we have twenty that do just fine, and are great students. Still, the trend is slightly going the other way long-term (no pun intended :-)), and it is disturbing.

however, given the state of things in the world, I don't think older generations are any better.

to the ancient greeks on the same topic.

big deal.

you think this is new?

parents are footing the BIG BILL for that education and (you know) their kid is saying "Hey I'm really trying, but the professor doesn't like me" I can see why they at least give it a shot by calling you. The one thing that blew my mind was when the HR Directors said they are tired of parents coming to their office to update their KIDS resume, or calling to complain because Suzie didn't receive the kind of proformance eval she deserved! Dear God, when do these parents think it's time to cut the cord??????

In my two years of college I haven't had one instance where I would even fathom having my parents call a professor. There have been three instances where I felt I deserved a better grade on a paper. In each of those three cases I walked into the professor's office and asked what I could have done to make my B paper an A paper. In two of the three instances they had the TA look it over again and realize that they may have read it too hastily. In the third case the professor gave me an explanation, I thanked her, and applied her suggestions to the next paper.

I don't consider myself an extraordinarily independent person but maybe compared to my peers I guess I am.

manager at the workplace to chew them out for not treating Jr. with the respect they deserved.

Yes, there are parents like this. We see them as the kids are growing up. No matter what happens in Jr.'s lifetime, Jr. is PERFECT, it must be someone else's fault. Typically, Jr. is an upper middle class child.

Unfortunately for ALL young people of this age group, the youth of the typical upper middle class is that of the children of the media and their friends and acquaintances, so therefore, ALL young people from this generation are like this.

Personally, I think that's bullshit. There are a LOT of young people from this generation who live in the real world where their parents didn't live in the burbs. Jr. was NOT right all the time and, if Jr did something wrong, Jr. got punished. Where Jr will need to find a job paying minimum wage and the boss could give a shit less if Jr was happy or not.

Even your own anecdote shows this. Twenty three students of how many? Yeah, they're the pain in the ass ones, but while '60 Minutes' may be on to something here, I think it was irresponsible of them to bunch the entire age bracket into this small group of pathetic whiners.

As for the lady who made the comment about the so called economic excuse for recent graduates moving home.......well, all I can say is she's living in a comparable bubble of unrealistic expectations. A lot of college educated young people can only find minimum wage jobs. I'd like to see her sorry ass survive on a minimum wage job.

Sorry for taking off on your post like this. I really only wanted to point out that it wasn't just the college professor's who were finding the parents to be harassing them, but also manager's at work.

but remember that line from '1984', how their version of media told people what "they thought" were "their opinions." it's not about telling you what to think, it's about repackaging the message suggesting this is how everyone around you thinks. appealing to groupthink is a wonderful tool -- we can always find examples in our lives that conform to the proposed narrative.

but people are easily managed, so there's no reason to think this message really sunk it. back to watching the ponies prance...

....maybe they should pay what they paid decades ago, including proper health insurance, not HMOs, as well as proper pensions.

So, anyway, let's talk about how selfish and greedy and world-destroying Baby Boomers are! Sure, my mother is pretty cool and was born within those years, but no one is an individual - we are only cardboard cutout groups.

I suppose it's because I got a double dose of ignorance, being cut out from the American and the American South mold, but how do you fit in multiple groups? Let's say that a person is a young female African American living in the South. What part is cut out from the ignorant trailer trash racist stereotype? What part likes shoes and can't drive and goes to chick flicks? What part is a single mother living on welfare? And what part is demanding some kind of work atmosphere?

and I can tell you this. I don't trust any company I work for after watching my father uncermoniously forced into Early Retirement after 35 years of working there. I also watched as they dropped his health benefits they promised him after his early retirement 2 years after it. Thank God my mother was still working or he would have been uninsured. He gave his life to that company so any company I work for is a tool and I'll take everything I can from them if they are willing to give it to me.

When I moved from extreme poverty to working class to somewhere in the almost mythical (to me) middle class, I noticed this.

In fact, I'm still not comfortable around the "middle class" mind set. They shit they take for granted! Like, regular food and shelter, running vehicles, housing you can turn around twice in and lower crime rate neighborhoods. Damn

So, I would assume they're in this generation, because they'll be either entering the work force full time in a year, or going on to graduate school.

But, they all seem pretty nice and pretty reasonable to me. None of them have really had a problem with the typical intern-type work, which is often mundane/routine and kind of boring. Granted, they've only been around for 2-3 weeks so far, so I can't say how'll they'll be in two months... but, I don't see anything particularly unusual about them.

And, I work for a company that is in the top 25 globally.

How about pension security?

Pats on the head are cheap. Healthcare and pensions are not.

If you structure your business in a way in which experience is irrelevant it's a win-win situation for the employers.

Pay little, give all kinds of crazy trivial perks, tons of affirmation and document everything so that experience is valueless. It's a corporate utopia. Hire 'em when they're 21 and wave goodbye at 26 when they decide to have kids.