Recently in old vs. new Category

I started my most recent tattoo last week. It's a big one. It's my 7th. I started getting tattoo'd when I was 20, and I've never really looked back. I've had pieces in magazines, placed in contests, and had internationally known artists work on me.

Then I read this article. Basically, according to Mr. Carpenter, I am a subhuman freak. On par with prostitutes, pimps, people with mental illness, and ancient tribal people. Frankly, I was offended by what he said. And I'm not offended very easily. While I understand everyone doesn't appreciate or agree with my choices of self-expression (my parents being in that category), it certainly isn't mutilation. And putting the artists in quotes, as to infer that they aren't indeed talented artists? I'd like to see him attempt to draw something with a vibrating pen on a squirming person.

But he can't. But he's too busy making broad judgments. Like assuming that Mike Tyson's face has anything to do with my ink (it doesn't) or that, in his own words, "No one can deny that the heaviest concentrations of tattoos occur in the lowest segments of society -- prostitutes, pimps, pugs, prison inmates, Ku Klux Klansmen and the members of street and motorcycle gangs." (they don't).

So basically, in Mr. Carpenter's world, I'm a freak. And yet, on any given day, Mr. Carpenter would have no idea I'm the kind of person he knows nothing about, yet feels the need to chastise. Heck, he may even think I'm a nice family man. As stated by one of my favorite bands, Good Riddance, "hatred is the stillborn child of ignorance and boredom". Sounds like Mr. Carpenter has too much time on his hands.

One of the more bizarre things in my life happened last night. Not bizarre in a "no one would believe me" or "this has to me something that the local news would want to hear about" sort of way, but just something that I never really envisioned happening.

My father and I became connected on LinkedIn. My 58 year old Baptist Minister father is networking.

Now this may not seem to usual to anyone else. But for me, it brought the last 17 years of my life full-circle.

(Backstory: When the internet was just starting out, (pre-internet, really. BBS style, if anyone remembers what those even were.) I wanted to get on board. I PLEADED with my father to allow me to put in a 2400 baud modem in our computer (Acer 386...25 mhz processor and a whopping 100 mg hard drive!). His response was basically that there was no need and it was a waste of time and effort. Fast forward to 2008, and here we are. I own 5 computers in my home, and my dad has 3. All networked, on-line to the nines. Although he's a Mac guy, and I'm a Windows guy.)

Now my father and I have a fantastic relationship. We didn't when I was younger, but that was my fault, not his. We smoke cigars together, talk about being a parent (me being the new one, him being the old hat), and how we both deal with my mom (married 35 years and counting). But social networking? With my dad? I mean, doesn't real life trump those things?

Now I'll be the first to admit that I rely on on-line mediums for networking purposes. I had a LiveJournal for years. I met my wife on MySpace, and still use it to keep up with my friends, plan parties, etc. I don't use Facebook, but that's more because my college wasn't listed on it when it was becoming prominent, and I don't feel like adding one more site I look at on a daily basis. And I'm on LinkedIn (although I'm not too sure why or what I'm using it for). But finding my father on there, and "inviting him to join my network" just caught be off-guard.

I think the boomer generation might not be so behind on things as they appear to be. They've been able to adapt so far, so why stop now? Let's not forget that they still hold the controls. They control the money, and most of the management. And while Gen-Y is forming businesses on a daily basis, they still look to the large corporations for support. If you don't think so, just look at who makes and supports most of the devices you use on a daily basis. So there might still be some things to learn from them.

As for the networking, I think I'll just call my dad if I want to talk, though.

I've been reading various Gen-Y blogs lately. One topic that has come up a few times, in various forms, is how we're "taking over" and how other people (usually the older folk) aren't happy about us. They view my generation as whining, over-privileged, tech-obsessed kids who don't want to work hard, but still want the benefits. At first (like any other self-respecting 20something), I was defensive and quick to discredit the critics as out of touch and jealous. But the longer I think about it, and watch people around me, I see that they may have a point.

Now, before I'm blasted for being an apologist for "the man", hear me out. A gal named Jackie has been writing an ongoing series for Employee Evolution talking about her experiences with joining corporate America and all that comes with it. Now, in following her reading (which I enjoy quite a bit), I can relate to a lot of what she's talking about. Granted, I started in the 'cube when I was 18, so a lot of that has long since come and gone. But some of it...well...is just complaining. And I'm not attempting to single her out, because I see the same theme all over the place.

If you were to ask anyone between the ages of 18-24 if they'd be willing to "put in the hard work" to get a career going, I'm sure almost all of them would answer a resounding YES. And they'd mean it. But, my experience has been so far that many of them think they've ALREADY put in the work. I'm sorry, but college is not a proving grounds for the real world. I never went away to school (for various reasons), and when I would visit my friends in various campuses across Florida, it was a vacation. There's nothing realistic about sleeping until 10 am on ANY day of the week, nor is using the fact that you live at home as leverage for a raise. Then we've got people regretting good grades in college. I could keep going, but I think my point is made.

Rebecca Thorman makes some excellent points regarding the rift between Gen X and Gen Y. I think she's right on the mark, but I wonder why collectively my generation doesn't take any of the blame to go along with the credit. I mean, I'm heralded for my grasp of technology at work, but that doesn't mean that the criticism I get for coming across as arrogant isn't correct. I do come across that way sometimes, because while I may be more of an adult than I ever thought I'd be, I'm still a punk kid sometimes who doesn't play nice with others. And my boss's 30+ years of experience, while technologically outdated, is still worth a lot.

I came across a recent Yahoo! Finance article written by Ben Stein about people who have no work ethic. That's fine. There are a lot of them out there. I work with them, and so do you. However, he begins his article talking about people he knows personally that he either grew up with, went to school with, or knows socially. In other words, baby-boomers. Again, no problem here. However, he then begins to explain that they should have "summer work camps" to teach people how to work. Now, is he talking about his friends / associates? NO! He's talking about my generation of workers! He goes on to say that everyone will do some sort of menial task, have no real contact with the outside world, don't use the snooze button, no text messaging, etc. You get the point. We're a bunch of lazy, tech-crazed slackers who can't put in an 8 hour day. Is this how we're really viewed?

I've always been somewhat insulated from all that, since I've held a position with a decent amount of autonomy and thus it didn't really matter what some right-wing Nixon speech writer thinks. He must correlate our workplace habits with his generation's failures. Or something. I really can't figure it out, unless it was some sort of stream of consciousness rant about "those damn kids" that don't find his deadpan school teacher act funny anymore. And is the classic 8 hour workday really relevant anymore? There have been numerous articles and opinions on this, and more and more people are on board with working from home, telecommuting, and flex-time. And that's all a good thing, and certainly doesn't fall into the 8 hour model. Heck, the only time that I NEED to be in the office is from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm (stock market is open). Beyond that, it's all gravy. Now, I certainly do my 8+ hours a day, but that's not because Ben Stein thinks I should.