Editor's note: Times Free Press writers Mark Kennedy (60) and Meghan Mangrum (27) are representative of the generational divide in many modern workplaces. Here, they weigh in on the boomer-millennial culture clash.
Mark Kennedy: Hey, kid. (Wait, too informal.) Hey, young lady. (Wait, too paternal.) Hey, Meghan. (Yes, relax.) As a 60-year-old baby boomer I would like to know your take on working alongside older people like me. We baby boomers love to recite our pet peeves about millennials, but I don't really know what you guys think about us. What ticks you off? Please be honest. My skin is pretty thick.
Meghan Mangrum: I'm not sure if "kid" or "hun" is worse to be honest, but Hello, Mark! (Or do you prefer Mr. Kennedy?) Other than being jealous of your 401K and retirement savings - or savings in general - I think most millennials (myself included) don't like when boomers or older folks act like their way is the right way because that's what they've always done. Especially in the newspaper business. And multitasking - why can't y'all do 10 things at once?
Mark: No need to call me Mr. Kennedy, Meghan. Mark, is cool. (BTW, remind me to ask you if the word "cool" is as resilient as we boomers think it is.) Not sure I can engage you on the "our-way-or-the-highway" boomer thinking in the newsroom - that's not me. By and large, I think today's young journalists are better than those in my generation. (Although, I shared an office with two young guys about 30 years ago who ended up winning separate Pulitzer Prizes.) By "multitasking" do you mean working two jobs and feeding two children while servicing a mortgage? Or do you mean wearing ear-buds, chewing gum and posting to Instagram simultaneously?
Meghan: Well, I wish I was feeding two children but I'm too busy trying to break through the glass ceiling (yes, it's still there) and too burdened by student loan debt to have kids, so I take pictures of my beagles and post them on Instagram instead. Sometimes it feels like in the workplace, because you're a "digital native," you're expected to automatically know how to do everything and anything - and I guess sometimes we do know a lot. But boomers sometimes want us to forgo work-life balance to do that, which I'm not sure my peers are down with.
Mark: I get what you're saying, Meghan. Self-righteousness is a definite boomer flaw. And hubris. We boomers want to compare millennials to our late-middle-age selves. A fairer test would be to compare you guys to us in our 20s. But when we do that, we lose - bigly. The generation of "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" loves to criticize young people today for the awful flaw of wanting a rich life outside of work, and friends. Puh-leese. We went to college when it was dirt cheap, and think we're special. No, we boomers can be real hypocrites. Our best quality is having really great kids. (OK, I may need a tissue before we're done.)
But back to the workplace, do you see boomers more as allies or irritants? Or just soon-to-be ghosts? One of our generational traits is a deep, dark fear of being irrelevant.
Meghan: I would say it's an either/or - boomers that are open to change, innovative and take young folks (millennials actually hate being called millennials) under their wings definitely aren't irrelevant. You CAN teach old dogs new tricks, and most boomers who've been at a company a long time have some serious institutional knowledge and street cred, that fresh-faced rookies crave and like to learn from. Boomers who are stuck in "this is how it's always been" mindsets and are reluctant to change, or think millennials are entitled, spoiled or social-media obsessed, are irritants. There's definitely both, but we mostly try and ignore the latter - unless they're our direct bosses, and then millennials just find a new job, because we don't have any sense of loyalty (supposedly).
Mark: Good to know about the M-word aversion. Some of us have worn the boomer label for 60-70 years, so I guess we're resigned to it. On the subject of bad bosses, my advice is don't always run for the exit. Sometimes, teeth-gritting is as effective as job-swapping - especially if you otherwise like the work. I've out-lasted several bad bosses. (And some good ones, too.)
Hey, changing topics, I need an emoji coach. You in? My go-to emojis are the peace symbol and the smiley face, but I feel like I'm capable of much more. You know: old dog, new tricks.
Meghan: Here's your starter kit:
Mark: Great! I owe you. If you ever need a tutorial on compound interest, I'm your guy. Peace, out, Meghan.