Friday, October 31, 2008

Boomers

I just heard a presentation about the "generation gap" at my conference. I'm going to describe the elements of the presentation and let's see if the class can spot the flaws:

- The speakers on the panel (there were 3 of them) were ALL Baby Boomers.
- They only spoke about the qualities of the Millennial Generation (born 1979 or later)
- Pretty much the only mention of Gen-X was to have us raise our hands (we were at least 1/2 of the audience and the other 1/2 were Boomers, there were only 2 Millennials) at which point, the speaker informed us that Gen-X was the biggest group in legal departments but the group with the least power. We were the "silent majority." The speakers only seemed to care about how Boomers need to relate to Millennials.

Gee, thanks.

I actually find these generational speeches to be really interesting and I have to admit that on my way back up to my hotel room, I figured out that my own personal angst can probably be summed up pretty well by the fact that I might not fit into any generational group really well. Sometimes I think that although I'm technically Gen-X, I've tried to live the life of a Boomer and I have the multi-tasking (to the extreme) personality of a Millennial.

Ok, ok...I'm probably just overthinking this (no...not Jenn!) - my angst is probably just due to my lack of sleep.

I maintain, however, that they should NOT have ONLY had Boomers up there and I also think that Gen-X deserved a bit more respect. After all, guys, one of us might be President after next Tuesday. And it'll be a Boomer in the second-hand chair if that's the case. So watch out, you Boomers, we're coming into our own.

1 comment:

Renee said...

You are absolutely right about having diverse age groups on your panel. How can it be a well rounded program without well rounded instructors?

I can totally relate to the other point as well. I've ALWAYS been a boomer. My music taste, my lifestyle...it's all boomer. I was born about 20 years too late.