MIT librarian: Tech workplaces plastered with Star Trek posters, other geeky stuff is...

LT Brad McInnis As my sister once said "Build a bridge and get over it"

Yes I remember "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" and am saddened at how the internet and social media have proved that old adage is wrong LT Brad McInnis
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi LTC (Join to see) LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Jeff S. CPT Jack Durish MSgt Robert C Aldi SFC Stephen King MSgt Danny Hope SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl Craig Marton SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan

Great point Brad.

After years of beating my head against the wall trying to understand it, I think I finally "get" what's really going on. Twenty years ago, society may have reached a saturation point in regard to stability. Our generation came of age without a "serious" crisis; at least in the sense that we grew up distant enough from the Vietnam War, and the height of the Cold War. Our parents led us to believe that staying off drugs, practicing "safe sex" and getting a college degree was all it took to ensure life-long entre' into the Middle Class. To some degree, they may have been right.

9/11 changed all that. It ushered in real fears about security, started a highly publicized, seemingly unending war, and across many factors, strained the economic and social stability of the nation.

The kids that grew up in that two decades graduated high school with the belief that a degree is meaningless (it may largely be), and that their job prospects were slim (they probably were). In the middle of all of that, "we" started to come back from the War looking for jobs, competing for resources, and (somewhat justly) expressing frustration and even anger at just what the hell had changed.

I'm generalizing, but people in their late 30s to mid 40s, probably feel that we had a "shot"...regardless of how it worked out, for better or worse. We accept that life isn't "fair", and that common sense, hard work and rationality are the solutions to solving problems long-term. Maybe those in their 20s to mid 30s perceive they never got the "shot" to be independent, self-fulfilled, or take their place in line.

Again, I'm generalizing, but perhaps a few of the generation that proceeded "us"; those approaching or in retirement, are trying "too hard" to understand what's wrong. Maybe they're looking at their kids and grand-kids, and can't figure out why the time-tested formula isn't working. They overcame some pretty significant socio-economic divides themselves, and maybe some of those wounds are re-opening. I know that when I talk to my parents, I get the sense they are far more "worried" than I am.

It's easy to recognize the sort of behavior your post describes as inane...but its seems to becoming rapidly endemic. For my own part, I just keep trying to tell younger friends and colleagues that through the ups and downs, the only thing that really works is never giving up. Meanwhile, I keep trying to convince my older mentors that it may not be as bad as it often seems.