I was at meeting last week with about 35 people to discuss the future of nursing. The facilitator asked how many of us were born between the years of 1946 - 1965, and all but 2 raised their hands. The 2 were obviously older. The facilitator then went into a diatribe about how controlling, competitive, overachieving, pushy, self-centered, etc., the baby boomer generation is. She was from the generation before the baby boomers, and she is writing a book interviewing the Xers about their thoughts about the baby boomers. She said the most common comment from the Xers is something like, "Even though they don't realize it, someday they will die."

Her theory on the competitiveness/pushiness is that there were so many of us that we had to compete for a small number of slots.

At any rate, her whole attitude irritated me. Even before her analysis, I have questioned all this generational gibberish. We hear a lot about it in nursing, only in the reverse. The Xers aren't responsible, they don't want to put in the necessary time, they don't read, etc. Are there any theories that refute these generational generalizations? How do you feel about these generational theories?

I think of these generational theories the same way I think about personality tests and birth-order theories and gender-likenesses. They can be helpful sometimes in getting a broad feel for a certain kind of person. They can sometimes help you understand why a person might make a certain choice. In the end, though, they are simply another way to pigeon-hole people and stereotype.

Many Cubs fans are obnoxious about their team. Not all are.

I agree wholeheartedly with Caterwauller, Like all stereotypes they can give an idea of what the (stereo)typical person of that group is like, but to try and apply that to an individual is dangerous and insulting.

I have friends ranging from their late teens to mid 60s, and they're from all walks of life. The one thing they have in common is that they all have youthful spirits, which is what I'm attracted to. We all have to age, but we don't have to get 'old'.

I absolutely hate it when someone makes a judgment on someone based on their age / generation without even getting to know them. No decent person would dream of judging by race or gender, so why judge on age? When I was 15 I had a friend who was 30, while the idiots I went to school with were considering even 25 to be 'too old'. They missed out. I didn't.

As a species, we like to make order out of chaos, which is why I think we like to group people. It may have its benefits in moderation, but we need always to remember the individual.

If I still want to frequent rock clubs at 80, I will, lol.

Yes, I agree with both of you. CW, I was thinking the same way about birth-order. I have seen many over-achieving middle-children and many lazy first-children.

However, I am a rather obnoxious Cubs fan.

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No decent person would dream of judging by race or gender

I wish that were true but I fear it is far from the case.

That's why I said no decent person, Richard. Anyone who does judge thus is far from decent.

I did note your qualification, Cat. Sadly I fear that there are still many people, otherwise eminently decent, who allow such prejudices to cloud their judgement.

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Originally posted by Richard English:

Sadly I fear that there are still many people, otherwise eminently decent, who allow such prejudices to cloud their judgement.

Maybe they did not have any judgement to cloud?

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Maybe they did not have any judgement to cloud?

I believe we all have the ability to judge; how well we use it is a different matter.

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However, I am a rather obnoxious Cubs fan.

But we continue to love you, regardless.

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I did note your qualification, Cat. Sadly I fear that there are still many people, otherwise eminently decent, who allow such prejudices to cloud their judgement.

Sometimes the hardest people to appreciate are those people who don't appreciate others. By the same token, it is often difficult to admire someone if they display certain qualities which you dislike vehemently.