Joe wrote: One thing for certain - America is full of whiners, complainers and blamers. If its not class warfare, its generational warfare. If it is not the greedy corporations, it's the corrupt government. Or China. Or Big oil. Or Big "anything". SOBs
What happened to the "can do" spirit? Haha
That is what generation W is all about. Can do ... Stealth technology, cell phone technology, internet, super computers, transiters, transitor radio, vacuum tube, ... what else?
I'd say that is can do. Complain? Can't is not part of my speech. Can do is.
I am either the first generation xer or the last baby boomer- I tend to think of myself more as the first in the "x" generation.
I will not be as successful as my parents- because my parents did very well thanks to the hard work of my father. He started out with nothing and worked his way into a very comfortable life for our family, but I remember when he worked 2 jobs and we did not have alot. I will do pretty well myself but it would take a lot of luck for me to earn more than he did. He also did very well investing his savings.
You don't get there from being a slacker- or playing video games- or spending a month protesting evil corporations. It takes hard work. Many Xers are hard workers - and many more are just taking advantage of everything they can because they are slackers.
It wouldn't make any difference to me except that the slackers expect the workers to "take up the slack and bail them out".
Frankly, every generation has it's slackers and its industrious successful people. I'm not sure that success needs to be measured in terms of money. There are many sorts of achievements that are worthy of the success label. I think of inventors who for one reason or another loose out on the financial end or even on the invention itself. One I know of is the originator of the 4 leaf clover interchanges. Sketched out on a napkin at dinner time in Lancaster Pennsylvania by my father. Somewhere at the old homestead is that napkin still as my mother saved it. She is the one who told me about it as father's name is not even associated with this design. Our family remained poor, and with a work ethic aimed for success. Our family has done well in part because of it and a can do attitude.
I can understand where your coming from on the 4 leaf clover interchanges, as a design engineer I have had dozens of my ideas taken without any recognition. I don't let it bother me. My employers have taken many many ideas and run with them, without even a single pat on the back.
You just have to keep going, the thing is- a great idea changes things, and people who are capable of a great idea are also capable of another one, and another one. I once solved a problem for a company that allowed then to stay in business- the solution was literally worth millions- and all I got was a thank you- well at least I got that.
I think if one goes through life thinking that it's all going to be fair- they will be very disappointed, and a great idea is one of the easiest things to steal. I have to be satisfied knowing that all over the place, my ideas changed things.
BearMtnHIB wrote: I can understand where your coming from on the 4 leaf clover interchanges, as a design engineer I have had dozens of my ideas taken without any recognition. I don't let it bother me. My employers have taken many many ideas and run with them, without even a single pat on the back.
You just have to keep going, the thing is- a great idea changes things, and people who are capable of a great idea are also capable of another one, and another one. I once solved a problem for a company that allowed then to stay in business- the solution was literally worth millions- and all I got was a thank you- well at least I got that.
I think if one goes through life thinking that it's all going to be fair- they will be very disappointed, and a great idea is one of the easiest things to steal. I have to be satisfied knowing that all over the place, my ideas changed things.
I'm good just knowing that.
Isn't that the truth. One of the things I've not understood in my field is why people are so protective of their models or interpretations. First its only an interpretation that is likely to change tomorrow if not sooner as new data becomes available on some assumptions one had to make. And then Yes, I've been told I need to be more secretive about my ideas, that I share too much. I keep telling my friend, that what is important is that the idea gets out there and tested and that I've a million other ideas I'll come up with soon enough. The problem is there are not that many people who constantly come up with new ideas and that is why they are protective of the few they do manage to create.
