Again...veering off from SL for a bit today to share a frustrating/comforting moment at work today. And it centered around the event of this morning, the inauguration of our 44th president of the United States.
The frustrating part was the disparity, the comfort...was that it WAS generational.
Let me explain. About 2/3rds the workplace now consists of employees under 35 years of age. And then the final 1/3rd are folks over 45.
So here is what happened. Those of us in the 2/3rds category, regardless of how we'd voted, or our personal politics...were eager to listen to the inaugural address on the radio. History was being made after all. So we crank up the radio...got quiet...and listened while we worked.
Now...remember that 1/3rd group? Fortunately, on my floor, they are in a different part of the building, but that didn't stop them from walking by and making comments. One said "Turn that Shit off!" (we ignored him). And I found out from another co-worker (in the 2/3rds group) who was able to overhear another woman who fell in the 1/3rd group making comments that were downright racist.
I can tell you, those of us in the younger generation were rather shocked by it. But the GOOD thing about this...the only people being blatantly intolerant and close-minded were all over 45. To me, it indicates that blatant discrimination in general could be headed for the retirement home.
This could be a good thing. As the younger generation begins taking the reins of power, we do so with a distinctly different mindset from generations past. Of course those pages of history have not yet written whether or not this change was a triumph or a disaster as that is yet to be seen. But with change comes hope.
We shall see.
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Don't be too discouraged. I am in my 40s and so is my husband, all my friends and also most of the people I work with are in their 40s and 50s and pretty much all of them are liberal, open-minded, tolerant and the farthest thing from racist you will ever find. We are THRILLED that Obama was elected. I think it really depends more on where you live, and the type of environment in which you work. For example, I work with therapists, who are educated and compassionate people. You would be hard-pressed to find a narrow minded person (or a conservative) in the group. Same with my friends. I do hang with people my own age for the most part, but they are liberal and none of them are closed-minded or intolerant.
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