The Epidemic

I'm starting to read a child-rearing book called "The Epidemic."  I know it's a little late, but I'm curious to see what we did right and what we did wrong... and maybe we can use what I learn to help raise my grandkids or grandcats.  Some of the things we did right - Don't let your child enjoy all the TV, videos and video games he/she wants. Don't facilitate your child's ascent into the world of consumerism.  Don't accommodate his endless urges for the latest, coolest, most attractive, most superficial things.

There's a few more things we did right and probably a few we did wrong... but I want to concentrate on these things as it's an epidemic that has now reached adulthood.  The book was written in 2004 after the Columbine shootings, and the writer talks about how disconnected these kids were in order to do something like shooting up a school and killing other kids. I think its cuz they get lost in these TV's, video games, internet, etc... and don't learn to deal with people. If those kids were still alive, they would be about 30... and there are many about that age who I work with now.

My old co-worker and friend died over the weekend.  I hadn't seen him in a while, but I've always thought highly of him and the kind of guy he was.  And that made me think about how the work environment has changed for adults because of technology.  For me, work was always enjoyable because of  the people I work with and the relationships I've formed. When I started  at AT&T, the working environment was such that you had to have some social skills to survive.  There were groups of 5-10 people working together for 12 hours straight, 3 days in a row, sometimes graveyard. There were no cubicle walls and you had to deal with each other face to face.  You saw these folks all your waking hours during half the week, and chances are you interacted with them more than you did your spouse.  It was great and I miss those days.

Now I am a Project Manager and deal with people in the Midwest, East Coast, and even India or Philippines.  Communication is done mostly by email, instant messages and internet meetings.  People are shocked when I actually call them on the phone because I'm too impatient to waste time waiting for messages or emails that are being ignored.  At work, you are not supposed to ignore a phone call unless you are on the phone.  I think that's an unwritten rule.  But somehow it's okay for people to ignore IM's or emails, go figure. If they are in my building, I make a point to go meet them in person so that there is a "face" they can associate with the emails/IM's... and maybe it will be harder for them to ignore me.  Anyway, since the market is now saturated with young 30-yr-old techies who grew up with electronic devices, computers, etc, it seems a lot of them prefer to use these devices rather than the ol telephone or face-to-face... and that makes me sad.

Some of the greatest people I've met have been through work.  What will make work fun for these 30-yr-olds who interact through cold machines?  If I have to find another career, I would probably find something more service-oriented because I like some interaction.  I'm kind of an introvert, but I do like to like people.