I am annoyed that the Baby Boomer parents of Millennials are insisting that their children be coddled in the workplace when many of the Baby Boomers, as employers, have treated the Gen Xers and those of us that fall into the generation that has no name (people born 1965 to 1972) so poorly. Baby Boomers, unlike the generation that preceded them, have done little to ensure the professional success of the generation that followed them. Many Baby Boomers became rich and successful in the 1980s, when jobs were plentiful and it was far easier to establish oneself professionally than it was in the 1990s, and are loathe to share that sucess or wealth with anyone else.
While I applaud employers for taking strides to keep good employees, they should not unncessarily coddle the Millennials. In the real world, you don’t always get what you want when you want it. If there parents did see fit to teach them that, then they are going to have to learn it the hard way.

Why we Fight in Afghanistan?

Former Marine Seth Moultin made good points in his concerns for the people of Afghanistan. There are however
topics in his interview he was unfamiliar with and went unchecked by the host Robin Young. One being the comment related to the “young women” Seth Moultin felt sad about because they would be veiled later on as adults and have no access to education. Also, the idea that Afghani people have no knowledge of the “outside world”?

This arrogance is common because most Americans tend to only know their “sheltered” lives and anything else is experienced exclusively through TV. This false sense of reality goes unchecked by even a radio host who we would assume to be more critical about biases and ignorance.

It is sad that “public” radio we support cannot be challenging and constructive but instead limited and as superficial as mainstream dogmatic propaganda that stations like Fox TV or CNN entertain with.

creating categories and labels to distance or separate works. Example, Gen X, Baby Boomers, Millenials, Gen Y etc.

The problem might be that America has always existed with two dialectical moral and value systems. Each serving two completely different groups. Today we see young people not having goals or values or even caring to focus on anything because they don’t fell empowered by anything so they seek distractions. This all started with the make up of this country and the contradictions in family values and education system, a poor one at that.

What can you do to help a person with Alzheimer’s? Recently my brother in law, Mike, who is afflicted, received a call from a former work colleague. In a one-sided conversation, the colleague remembered many ways Mike’s work in law enforcement was a shining example to others. The phone call did not take very long, but it was very meaningful to both Mike and my sister. This simple act of kindness brought back several good memories and helped Mike retain some of the significance of his life for a while longer. Sending a photo or a card with a story could also be good ways to reach out.

Regarding the Artz for Alzheimers:

I am an incoming graduate student in Drexel University’s MA in Creative Arts Therapy program. The program is essentially a psychodynamically oriented councelling psychology program which uses various arts modalities as a conduit in therapy. Like any other mental health care field, we have structure for professional responsibilty and accountability. I’m curious about Dr. Zeisel’s opinion regarding this aspect of care. Ultimatly, we all have to work together. How do we/does he manage artists not trained in councelling yet becoming involved in an intimate and fragile mental health situation. What does this mean for this program. What does this mean for the field of Art Therapy?

Great comment Patty. I think that in the long run the most important thing is for the public to know that these resources are out there – whether it is with a counselor or with some other program. I think that, more often than not, people don’t know how to interact with a family member with Alzheimer’s, and it pains me how these people are sometimes relegated to institutions with no life enhancing programs where they live out their lives in a shadow. I wish the program today had been longer!

I am a part of the “baby boomer” generation, with grown children in their thirties. I am astounded by what I heard on, “Keeping the Millennials.” Sometimes *parents* need to grow up; it would provide a role model for these adult children who still want Mom and Dad holding their hands during orientation.

The solution to the Millenial problem is to hire people like me — dedicated, over-achieving, pro-active, knowledgeable, experienced people over 50 with a strong work ethic. I and a number of highly capable people whom I know have run into the “over qualified” categorization for a number of years now. The entire culture is obsessed with youth, and as long as employers hire younger people with unreasonable expectations they will have to deal with those expectations.

I am a ‘millennial’ (25) and think a closer relationship with our parents can be a great value. I have always talked with my mother on a daily basis and she is even my other half when it comes to the business I own. My mother always said she wanted a close relationship with me since she didn’t have one with her mother. I don’t know if this is typical of a Baby Boomer’s relationship with his/her parents, but it worked out well for me. However, my parents would NEVER come to a job interview with me. Completely inappropriate for an adult to do that. And I can’t see how that could be so common and yet no one I know has ever done or heard of that practice.

The other points were very accurate. Such as having the TV on in the background while still being productive and expecting to work until the project is completed (leaving early or late).

Overall we just want to be connected to the world and our friends and that includes our parents.

Re: Millennial Generation / Dr. Joanne G. Sujansky

After listening to your discussion of your guest’s new book I must say that I was shocked and disturbed. Shocked by the way this serious lack of work ethic was discussed and disturbed that the discussion seemingly embraced this new standard for worker behavior. I would just like to say that I am not part of this generation, I miss the cut off by 6 years. But I work with this generation of workers all the time as an architect and I can tell you right now, that regardless of what statics are saying regarding American businesses are losing in turn over, nothing can compare to the complete lack of work ethic this generation has. I have had to deal with the results of this ‘come as you are’ attitude that this generation of workers has. I have been forced to exclude them from meetings or keep them away from clients because they dressed like slobs, use profanity like these no tomorrow and submit sloppy, incomplete work which causes others to finish said work at the cost of additional dollars and resources. Instead of making accommodations for these ‘professionals’ who have no sense of ethics and in some cases, common decency, there are more than an adequate supply of their generation as well as some slightly older who know that when the company says work starts between 8 and 8:30, that you show up at that time, not at 10 am or whenever you feel like it. Your discussion failed to address this issue as well as issued related to it such as failure on the part of the Millennial to be available for sudden meetings, clients or supplies who call with questions as well as accountability. More over you didn’t discuss the issue of these meddlesome ‘hovering’ parents. You mentioned the relationship dynamic but no one mentioned what will happen to this generation of workers in say 10 to 20 years when their parents start dying off. If its the hovering parent that these workers look to for direction, what will happen when their parents are dead and they have to think for themselves? What’s going to happen to the USA when a structural engineer has to decide for himself if his calculations are right or wrong and can’t ask his parents or boss for the answer? If society continues to coddle these weak and sub-standard workers, the country is going to be headed for a calamity. These workers are not the norm, they are the unfocused, undisciplined exception to the norm. Business, like life, is tough, difficult and more often than not cruel. Most time life, doesn’t go your way and unless this new generation of workers realize that, they are going to be the first generation of substandard workers that will continue to get worse and worse.

The fact that some “Millennials” want their parents at events describing healthcare benefits and such has nothing to do with reliance on parents. The real issue is that Millennials want real, cut-the-crap information, and often things like healthcare seem foreign to them. Rather than “Googling” all the terms of a health plan, it’s easier to obtain information by asking a reliable source who has spent years (presumably) dealing with the very issue — PARENTS. This just proves that Millenials are more efficient at obtaining valuable, reliable information, not that they have been coddled by their parents.

In response to Lucas’ comment, you need to rethink your hiring policy if you are having so much trouble with your workers. Our generation in entrepreneurial and motivated but we learned from watching our parents get their retirement and benefits snatched away after decades of work with one company. We learned that if we are going to seriously dedicate our days to just one company and give them our upmost focus it better be secure and worth it. (and I don’t mean letting our parent’s come to work with us) In the design/construction industry there isn’t much to feel secure about right now.

I work in the same industry as you do and project manage several people in the early Baby Boomer generation or even before. They blatantly ignore comments because ‘they obviously know better than someone younger then they are’. In my work experience Millennials are willing to collaborate and work as a team instead of being self serving in a rush to climb the corporate ladder. 90% of the millennials I know are working more than 40 hours a week with a side business or volunteering.

If anything our problem is over-motivation. We aren’t willing to dedicate our lives to a business that could soon be a sinking ship, but instead will just use it as a temporary source of income while we determine a better more productive use of our time. We no longer need a company to give benefits and retirement since we do that ourselves.

Doesn’t every generation say that it is the next generation that will be the downfall of society?

Hi there. I can tell you personally that taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s can be both challenging and rewarding. I can also tell you that when my mom listens to the music from her youth she can tell me so many memories from that period. Music does something to the very soul.

Taking care of my husband’s 92 year old mother in law has gotten more difficult over the last six months. Showing her photos doesn’t help, in fact she gets more frustrated when she can’t remember names, places in photos. She can talk about memories from her youth. The greatest problem for me as a caretaker is the constant attention she has required. With her Social Security check her only income, placing her in a nursing home that accepts SS and MediCal (we live in CA) is out of the question. Even the best ones are unacceptable. On the other hand, my husband and I are not in a position to supplement her check with another $1500 a month for a privately run Alzheimer’s facility. Home health caregivers have been hit or miss as to quality, with the expense about the same a a private facility for full time help. Having her with us is now taking its toll on us mentally and physically, but we have no other choices. This is an issue many of our friends in similar situations are having to deal with.

Regarding the Millenials, just a terminology clarification – Are the parents of the Millenials really the Baby Boomer Generation (born roughly between 1946 and 1960) or are their parents the so-called Generation X (born roughly between 1961 and 1982)?

I’m a member of Generation X, raised by Baby Boomer parents, and my upbringing was vastly different from what was described in this segment. When I was young, we were latch-key kids. We walked ourselves to and from school, let ourselves into the empty house, fixed some cereal or Kraft Mac&Cheese, and plopped in front of the television until our parents came home. My parents were much too wrapped up in themselves during the Me-Decade of the 70s and their careers during the 80s to take more than a passing notice of us kids.

However, I’m constantly shocked at what different parents my GenX friends and siblings are now. It’s true that we have a tendancy to “hover.” When the kids fight, the adults immediately intervene, referee, send someone to “time out.” (When I was a child, we were just sent out to the backyard and told to fight our own battles.) Every move my nieces and nephews make is monitored. They are consulted for every decision – what they want to eat, what they want to wear, what they want to do, etc.

It’s as if our generation is overcompensating for being ignored when we were kids by being WAY too present in our own children’s lives. I’m not saying we should go back to latch-keys, but perhaps some moderation is needed. Our genuine desire is to raise happy and successful children, but part of preparing your children to be successful in life is to give them space to make their own mistakes, fight their own battles, find their own solutions…

I was struck by the point that there are many years to stimulate, connect and rekindle memories with those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
before the progression of the disease seems to strip them of their personality. Music was my mother’s connection to the world. Although diagnosed in 1996, she showed signs of dementia since at least 1992. She now appears to be a stereotypical old person staring blankly into space unaware of her surroundings but I am not fooled. She is still in there. Family, caregivers or staff should not forget that.

For 8 years she has resided in a progressive, specialized home for AD patients.
The use of art and music have been wonderful stimuli.
My mother at 93 is non-verbal 98% of the time but the years of daily stimulation have given her quality of life.

Never underestimate what the person still holds inside.

Talk to them not at them and play music from their era, look at art photos, tell them old stories and new. You may never know what will resonate with them but you will never regret that you didn’t try.

My mother hums contentedly even in her sleep, and I sing songs (badly) that she recalls as I feed her dinner. But she lights up and hums along with me in between bites of pureed food. Her happiness makes it all worthwhile.

RE: Millennials

What is wrong with flex time and an area to nap if you do your job and do it well? If a person is willing to work more hours in the day by starting the day at 10pm and working until 7 or 8pm, does the company not get a good deal?

I’m sensing something here and it is what other commenters are missing: the face of a “workplace” is changing. It is not written in stone that the day begins at 8:30am and stops at 5pm when the Fred Flintstone whistle blows and everyone rushes the doors. The routine will change and the ability of different workers will change along with the zeitgeist, no matter the ability of certain people to “understand” it.

If one doubts the applicability of this “new” workplace model, look no further than Google, Apple, Microsoft or any of the other tech companies who employ boatloads of this particular generation. They are all doing so badly, eh?

/a 42 year old male