A job is not 24x7 indentured servitude.  I am not available on week evenings or weekends, and frankly I'd be offended if an employer expected me to be.  There's more to life than working.  Much, much more.  

I wear headphones while I'm working for the same reason as the 20-somethings--to concentrate in the midst of many workplace distractions, and not to fiddle with playlists.  They weren't disagreeing you with, but giving you another reason for wearing headphones.

I do agree it's rude to text message or answer phone calls in the middle of meetings.

Not stay home from work unless I were at death's door?  I also find that ridiculous.  Was it written just to incite commentary?  One has to take care of oneself and one's health (one's production capacity), before being able to work.  Again, work shouldn't be indentured servitude where one is required to make personal sacrifices and tradeoffs that jeopardize one's health.  Life's too short as it is.

You have a change of heart at the end of your article, but like the rest of your article, it's not very convincing.

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 I'm closer to 53 now than I am 52...I have seen a lot...normal as we knew it a few years ago is out the window...but, we still have a job to do...find new ways to get the job done...but, never allow or become disrespectful...flexibility to the employee...but remember the employer also needs flexibility from the employee...I'm glad that I can work "almost" anywhere...I have written some of my best reports in my backyard at a table near my self dug and installed fish pond...I'm a grandmother raising 4 grandkids (all 5 years and under - I'm "good" there are over 50,000 million grandparents doing the same thing today)...and I work full-time+...where would I be without flexibility...who would have thought I would need it now at 52+ more than ever...as for the earbuds in the ear while trying to work for me...I would be sunk...would not work for me...but, for the "younger" set...give me the numbers, give me the report when due, show me the productivity and I am good...I want results...as long as the ingredients are such that will give me a cake that taste like cake, smell like cake, look like cake, texture is like cake, and makes for a product that's marketable with a good return to the investment it works for me...I think some of the needs of the "Y's" that have been set in motion...is allowing us boomers to manage our lives...such as flexing to take care of the grandkids, have a meaningful worklife and still have quality of worklife...

Just my take...Thanks!

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I appreciated your article very much, however' the word toilet seat caught my interest. I am a baby boomer with juvenile arthritis and use an elevated toilet seat!
The line between diversity and diability is then. I often don't see people with disabilities included in diversity. I think that is a mistake.
For example, when I asked for an accessible bathroom, I was told I could use "donut hole" seat. I could carry it with me to a restroom.
A commode on most toilets with make the easiest and safest accomodation.
I was very angry with the response.
I needed ground level and parking which was worse.
I took the donut hole to work in the Phila School System.
I asked the Prin if I could keep it the office.
He suggested I carry it like a luch box.
I sent an memo stating I wanted to eat lunch together. I brought our lunches in the same bas as the donut hole. While humorous, the prin felt it was hostile.
I was transferred out and when I couldn't find parking to get in a building. I was not able to attend a meeting. I was asked to take leave until I undergo a medical eval. I have had offers withdrawn when I disclose disability related info.
I would appreciate any resources you may have and also share many experiences pos and negative.

Thanks for a good article.
Dorrie Iltis Cooper Psy.D.
School Psychologist

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 From one Boomer to another, I had several chuckles while reading your post. I facilitate workshops and give presentations on understanding the generations at work, at home and all points in between. Invariably, someone (usually a Gen Y) will comment on the Boomers incessive need to "be seen" in the office working. They just don't get it. But as I stopped to ponder this subject, I began to understand that it was me who didn't get it. As long as the work gets done as requested, on time, what does it matter where it gets done?
As for fixing the toilet seat, I've found that if I have a viable reason behind a rule, these young workers will accept pretty much anything. However, if they are told that this is the rule - just deal with it - yes, they are probably going to find another employer. In some rather repressed way, I have to agree with them. After all, we Boomers spent a great amount of time during our youth rebelling against almost anything our elders held true.
Maybe if we just try talking, really communicating, our quandary with each other, new paths of understanding would open and conflict would be dramatically reduced.

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 Barbara,

I chuckled as I read your article because I heard such comments so often when I reported my new book, "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace." I believe iPods and text messaging were the two biggest pet peeves of managers I interviewed. As for flexibility, I believe smart managers must meet the millennials halfway on this issue. Millennials must be in the workplace when business demands it, but at other times, what's so wrong with working remotely on your own time?

Ron Alsop

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 This is a great article - I try to stay as up to date as I can on culture changes and technologies.  Luckily, my kids keep my up to date.  I don't understand the huge draw to texting - it takes me a long time to write a text.  I also don't understand instant messaging.  I still prefer to pick up a phone or stop by a desk - but I am aware that others don't.  One thing that I have noticed in those entering the work force is a feeling of entitlement and I don't think many know what "paying dues" are.  I do my best to balance life and work - but I know it is work that provides my family financial support.

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 No, you did not over-react. There is a sense with some younger employees today that they do not need to prove their worth and that they are entitled. That is of course not the case for the majority of younger employees, but I do think it is something that is much more prevelant today than in my generation. I also see it early with a lot of children. Maybe this is common for more affluent families, since we were working class I am not sure, could be a stereotype, but the bottom line is the author did the right thing and I am sure you are better off without her.

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 Thank you for the message. The key, I think, is the comment "as long as they get their work done." That should mean not just getting the bear minimum done, but doing your job very well, and truly being committed to our work in the context of it being one of the most important and productive parts of our life.

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 Oh Barbara - you hit it out of the ball park this time! Help me understand why the job that pays for your lifestyle is not important enough to extend common courtesies to. The idea of a good work ethic needs to find its way back home to... the workplace!

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 The more flexible my company is with me (working from home, flexible hours, etc...) the more flexible I am with them (working on weekends and evenings).  If I am required to be in the office from 8-5 Monday through Friday, I am less likely to log in from home.  

Here is a really recent example.  I am a single mother of two elementary school aged children.  My kids both were out of school with head lice (GROSS!)  I found it early in the morning, began the de-lousing process and was all done by 9.  Barring sending the kids to school in a bubble, this was an unavoidable circumstance.  If I had been required to take a personal day, I would have hung out with the kids all day and watched movies.  Instead, I was able to be extrememly productive from my home office.  This allowed my critical project to keep on track. Win-win!

In this day and age, I think that companies need to be flexible.  With the tools that my company has provided me, laptop, BlackBerry, etc...I can be productive from almost anywhere at any time.

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 I must say I related all too well to this article.  Just one more lament to add:  Help me understand why 20-somethings are on their cell phone or blackberry while in the restroom, in the stall?  It takes "Can you hear me now" to a whole new level!

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 I am 52 yrs old and in grad school with Gen Yrs. At first I was offended by them being on their laptops during class, but one evening wanted to understand them better, sat by them.

This is what amazed me. They were playing Texas Hold em with internet players, texting kinda secretavaly behind the laptop screens to their friends sitting in the row in front of them about their blind or internet dating oppt.

BUT... this is KEY...they followed the classroom instruction AND had valuable input throughout.

WOW!!! these kids really do have substance behind the technology.

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 I would like to share a story from our office. Our diversity trainers have emphasiszed that the firm needed to accommodate youmger workers in a world where talent was hard to find. Yet, we had one young co-worker who never quite understood the urgency of client requests especially if a request came in around lunch time or close to 5 PM. How was I to explain to clients that we had to adjust our demands for the new generation of workers? BTW, this employee was the first to go now that we are downsizing.

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 I had to smile as I read this article.  I teach Freshman and Sophomore English at a community college, and at least half my students are Millennials.  They do not understand why I insist that they not email me in text messaging format.  They also have issues with my insisting their cell phones be off in class.  Several have tried the vibrate mode, and texting under the desktop, but most are detected.  One student almost hyperventilated when I suggested she just turn her phone off.  She told me she had never turned it off, and even takes it in the shower with her in a zip top bag. I suggested psychological help.

As far as the toilet seat problem, I'm not surprised at all.  You should hear some of the excuses I get for absences or requests for extensions on assignment dates. It's a new world!  

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 I am a 21 year old student, and I feel the same way you do about these issues.  I do not text in class, and I do not like when people text while I am talking to them.  However, this summer, I started babysitting for a family who only texts.  My new employers would text me to see if I was available, and their kids would frequently text me, and send me pictures.  I did not and still do not fully understand how to act in this situation.  I find it uncomfortable, and I feel it crosses some boundary when the parents let their kids just call or text me at 10 pm.  It just seems weird

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 This is a great article - I try to stay as up to date as I can on culture changes and technologies. Luckily, my kids keep my up to date. I don't understand the huge draw to texting - it takes me a long time to write a text. I also don't understand instant messaging. I still prefer to pick up a phone or stop by a desk - but I am aware that others don't. One thing that I have noticed in those entering the work force is a feeling of entitlement and I don't think many know what "paying dues" are. I do my best to balance life and work - but I know it is work that provides my family financial support.

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 I had mixed feelings about this article. I, too, am a baby boomer and grew up with a very strong work ethnic (even now I feel quilty if I'm too sick to come into work.)  I, too, complain about the lack of courtesy and what I perceive as lack of ability to think critically among young people.  Surprised, I embrace much of the new technology and can always be found in front of one computer screen or another.  I also own a Blackberry.  However, you lost me when you talked about your annoyance when employees were reluctant to respond to your messages during their off hours, including weekends. As someone who now regrets that she put her job first above all else, I envy young mothers who put their families before their jobs.  

With downsizing and layoffs, employees can no longer count on getting a job and working there for the rest of their lives.  Why should they be any more loyal than companies are to them.  My job is not coming to my funeral.  I would be very annoyed with a boss who expected me to be on call 24/7.  I work very hard at my job(s) and still do go beyond the call of duty (I was recently awarded for excellence in my workplace).

Way back when, when I worked and raised a family, I didn't bring my homelife into the workplace and I expect the workplace to stay out of my life.  

I would be very annoyed with a boss that wanted me at his beck and call during my off hours, and I would be apt to leave if my hard work during the workday was not enough.  Now when I see young mothers with new babies, I whisper to them to quit their jobs and take care of their babies at home.  I tell them to tell their hubands to get two jobs if necessary and to cut back on the luxuries because their kids need them.  I regret the day when women were told they could "do it all".  What a crock!  I know it is not practical for us all, but if I could go back, I'd take welfare if it meant I could be home with my kid.  

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 This article is extremely interesting and some of the Boomer and even Gen-Xer feedback is alarming.  That fact that we'll soon have a significant amount of our workforce (Boomers) retiring/leaving the workforce & a new generation taking the lead (Gen-X)and we have not learned to work with the younger generation to pass off years of intellectual property and experience to make our organizations and our country better.
   Everyone is so focused on the differences rather than the collective similarities- we all want to get the job done. No one is focused on the fact that these generation differences delay our ability to innovate and leverage technology, etc. to expand our industrial might.  This miopic view the Boomers have is an example why the US automotive industry still lags behind the rest of the world in fuel/mileage standards- we have not looked beyond the 'Ol reliable gas guzzlers because it's new technology. We're comfortable with it.  "DARN those new fangled hybrids, I want my SUV" that only gets 13 Mpg.  
 Additionally,we have not adopted the work smarter, not harder concept.  Technology is a staff/force multiplier and the Millennial's ability to leverage technology to be more efficient at completing tasks should be something we all adopt or at least understand.  We might actually realize that it doesn't take a full day to produce full day's work. Case in point, look at the ground game that Barack Obama put in place using social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube), TEXTING, the internet.  He blew John McCain, who was just learning to use the internet, off the charts as far as ground execution. Have you noticed that Millennials don't take that morning coffee break/water cooler chat the Boomers even Gen-Xer's do?  They come in with that Starbuck's cup and jump right in when they arrive.  For the companies that have Instant Messenger, or anything similiar, noticed that those Millennials are "online" at 1030/1100 pm at home?  But you think because they leave at 5 they are done with their work day?  Because you work onsite until 8 pm you believe you are actually more productive.  See the forest not just the trees.  Remember what the Greatest Generation thought about the Boomers- "they are a bunch of stoners with no work ethic." Sound familiar???

 We better learn and learn soon to work together despite the differences in technical acumen or we'll continue to watch the world pass us by.  Remember the next time you use that cellphone when your car breaks down, it's probably a Millennial network engineer who ensures your call goes through.

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 The "Boomer's Lament," I understand both points of view, being a boomer myself and having two kids who use their cell phones and do a lot of text messaging, but I feel that in some cases people are addicted to the technology and to the ability to have near-constant access to others. This reaches its extreme in the dangerous practice of texting while driving.

I was more struck with the part of the article having to do with the "boomer" work ethic and being available late. In some cases it is necessary depending on one's line of work, but often people make themselves too available when they should be taking care of themselves (especially one's physical and mental health) and their loved ones. It often takes courage to insist on one's well-being when so many voices are shouting to give up one's soul for the job. I have been willing to pay the price of being passed over for promotions because there is nothing as precious as one's soul. I have given my company much more than they have even asked for by being consistent for 20-plus years and always willing to help people on the job.

I never bought into the philosophy fully because upon studying it, I drew several conclusions about it. First, it seemed to me to be a bill of goods sold to the workforce by executives, roughly in the period from the 1970s to the 1980s, who wanted to cut costs and get more work out of their employees, regardless of the effect on the employee's family. Second, the emphasis on work is not only a generational trait, but also has a uniquely American component (though it also exists in some other cultures). In our country, a slogan found in a commercial, "A man is what he does," became a rallying cry, though in my mind a person is much more than what they do. In Europe an extended "holiday" is considered one's right, and Europe doesn't seem to be lagging behind us economically. Third, if we neglect ourselves or our families, we eventually pay the price for it, and the effects will invariably spill over into our work. Fourth, like children, we adults also need to play a little to be able to recharge our batteries, return to work fresh, and make good decisions (what Stephen Covey called "sharpening the saw"). Finally, I like to use some of my spare time not only for my family, but also to volunteer to serve in the community. I have struggled to maintain balance but after a lot of trial and error, I have more or less found it.

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 I'm 25, have been employed with the same company for 2.5 years and consider myself to hold both modern AND traditional views.

As a modern, young employee I feel that technology provides a great advantage. Why not perform a task in 6 hours today that would have taken you 8 hours in the past? Our work culture strives for efficiency and the use of technology is just one of many ways to achieve it. Yes, technology has changed the world of work and communication. We want to get the most out of our employees, and utilizing current technology helps us accomplish more in a shorter amount of time.

In some ways, however, my traditionalist views take over. How has technology changed the ways in which people relate to and communicate with each other? One could argue that our need for speed and efficiency has created a generation apathetic towards proper spelling and grammar; a generation that favors quantity over quality. Sometimes I fear that technology is creating more of a gap than we realize; we forget we're actually communicating with a living, breathing human being.

Now for my feelings on generational differences in behavior unrelated to technology. Younger generations will almost always attempt to correct the mistakes of past generations (as they see them) in their own lives. My generation witnessed the sacrifices our parent's made to stay "committed to the job" first hand. Stress, weight gain, missed little league games and school plays: is it any wonder we're trying to keep our now-adult lives well rounded? Balance is good for everyone, and I am honestly proud to say I'm from a generation willing to stand up for ourselves and our right to a better quality of life.

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I have to chuckle whenever I read about "Boomers" complaining about "Millenials" and their work habits. Who do they think brought up and taught the "Millennials"? (Didn't Harry Chapin do a song about this?)PS- I was born in 1950, FWIW.

Fred you are right on track, we raised them, we taught them, we gave them these "expectations" and now wer are confused! You are also correct, Harry wrote the song and we are living the results. Life is about adapting, they have and we had better catch up!.

Having been born the day World War II ended, I'm the original Baby Boomer. That being said, my generation, and my son's, have done a terrible job passing on basic manners to our children. It is undeniably rude to text, take cell phone calls or listen to music during meetings, including one-to-one conversations with co-workers. Since younger generations were not raised with that basic truth, workplaces need to have express policies banning ear buds, cell phones and crackberries during meetings. It's also quite disconcerting to be forced to listen to someone else's cell phone conversation from the next restroom stall (or anywhere else, for that matter)..

I am not sure if I still qualify as a boomer having lived and still in the process of living in France for 25+ years.Work ethics are very culturally linked and it is culture which both links and differentiates us within that same country.The idea of someone quitting their job in France is almost unheard of. Why? Because if you quit your job you lose your unemployment benefits. So if you are not happy in your job you do what ever it takes to get fired! Work ethics! Conversely, the French work less (35 hours per week) but produce as much as the other industrialized nations per capita and they live longer than my fellow Americans. Technology is here and the younger generation have exploit it as the others but politeness is still a strong value in France for the better or for the worse!.

I learned as part of growing up that to do something else when someone was talking was disrespectful. This is why I become so annoyed at the grocery store when I don't have the checkout clerk's attention. You look someone in the eye when you speak to them. Insisting on respect and an honest day's work is not above the call of management and teaching that is part of both management and HR's responsibility..

I am 27-years-old. I work in an office, where constant meetings are held. As part of Generation Y, I can say that texting has become a part of life as we know it, and it has to be accepted. On the other hand, I do agree with the fact that it is rude to text message during meetings and other important conversations. I don't believe that my generation was properly taught manners as my previous generation has been. Also, as time goes on, cultures develop and change. The people of the 1800's would say that they don't understand the people of the 1900's either. As long as one realizes that generational cultures change with time, we can all get along..

I agree that the texting when having a converstion, meeting, or any interaction is entirely rude, distracting and unprofessional. (While driving it's just dangerous and stupid.)I had a pair texting and playing with their phones through an entire 4th of July party (I wanted to throw those stupid phones in the punchbowl - try talking to the people right in front of you). So kids, it's NOT cool when you sit and text all of the time. In fact, next time you want my attention I'll probably sit and play with my phone instead of bothering with YOU. What's more, these young adults can't spell or put together a properly constructed sentence - much less carry a conversation. And these are job skills. I've read the technology boom has made these kids fast, smart and efficient but ENTIRELY LACKING in any social skills. (I'd add basic etiquette as well.) They just don't know how to relate to real people (another job skill. Sorry about the rant - I'm just so tired of the text messaging - and how rude people can be when constantly and obssessively playing with their little phones. .

I'm in my late forties, which makes me in Generation X and a Baby Boomer. I resent lumping workers into categories by age or generation. Until they took Blackberries away from my coworkers, most of the employees that frequently used text messaging during meetings are close to my age. I do agree it's rude and one manager banned Blackberries from his meetings. But on the plus side it was nice to get an immediate response to email questions from my boss.I frequently use earbuds at work to drown out the constant noise of the air conditioning and of co-workers in the hallway or the meeting room next to mine. I switch to disco sometimes to keep awake in the afternoon (it helps me write programs). As for coming to work unless one is on deaths door: this leads to infecting others during flu season, particularity if the employee takes public transportation. At one job two co-workers and I exhausted our sick and annual leave taking care of young children during a particularly bad cold season. We therefore came to work when we ourselves were sick, and kept re-infecting each other and probably many of the other staff. One of the women eventually developed walking pneumonia. Since we work in IT most of the work could have been done at home.A few years ago, I used my sick leave to finish an assignment at home while I had the flu. A few months later I was formally reprimanded by my boss for not being at work. He forgot he had approved my Sick leave, was in contact with me by email that week, and received the completed assignment at the end of the week. I guess it took me until my late forties to grow-up and realize that I should use my sick leave to take care of myself and my family..

I am a 54 year old Boomer and mom to a couple of Gen Y's. I have found myself using the ear buds at work for many of the same reasons stated here. I also found that as my kid's got older and didn't need me as much, I was emailing and doing more and more office work on my time - not the companies time. I no longer do that. There is one thing that I can't understand though...why is it that a group of Generation Y people can be together yet they are not talking with eachother? They may be physically together but they are texting or talking on their cell. I don't get that! .

Great article! Many points are very well taken. However, talking about co-workers' "little" fingers is perhaps one of those things not to say about a younger co-worker. Seems to me this is just as dismissive as talking about the "little woman." Just a thought. .

The title and content of the piece sound like a combined take off on Rapper's Delight and Grand Master Flash... "don't push me 'cuz I'm on the edge!I'm the same age as television (Google it or do the math) and I get your point Barbara: constant texting (e.g. in meetings) is rude; for some people "cell phone etiquette" is an oxymoron; the toilet seat excuse was just lame, and so on.Then I remember my parents: bent out of shape about my telephone use as a teen; unable to comprehend most of the music of the sixties; working their respective butts off for two weeks vacation and a gold (plated) watch after 30 plus years at the same job.Look, there's no excuse for rudeness, disrespect or sloth. On the other hand, I respect young people for not being content to happily spend their work lives inhabiting cubicles, staring at computer screens or attending mindless meetings or acting engaged in soul numbing tasks. You love your work Barbara …. you're lucky, not everyone has it like that.There's nothing particularly sacred about our generation's work ethic … our divorce rate and the behavior of some of our young people should tell us that. And all too often we have grown up to be what we liked least about our parent's generation … intimidated by and averse to change; threatened by non-conformity; driven by material success..

I am a boomer as well, but I tend to side with the gen x'ers and millenial people. Answering emails on weekends and taking calls? We used to have a thing called "family life" just because you get a boss that is so uncomfortable with the emptiness of their own lives doesn't mean we should give up ours. We live in a time where corporate loyaty is zero and the old mentality of "constanlty showing your worth" gets you exactly nowhere. When I am on my deathbed, trust me when I say the last thing I am going to be thinking is "gee, I wished I'd spent more time answering emails and beepers and less with my family and friends"We need to get a life too! .

While I agree with you on the texting and constantly checking the cell phone, I totally disagree about the earbuds. When I worked in corporate america, I wouldn't have survived all those many years if I couldn't tune people out. A lot of people in these offices have no life, and that includes the married ones, and they have this idea that if their spouses or children aren't paying them any attention, then another function of my job duties was for me to do so. It just amazed me how these people would have offices and come out of the office and stand in front of my desk and talk loud about what they did over the weekend, what color their children's hair was, the sport scores from last night, etc. So yes, I had my headphones on 24/7 when I was at work because I didn't want to hear that. And if I still worked in an office, I would have a pair on now as well..

I'm part of the F'ed generation that came of age during the reign of Cowboy Ronnie in the in gorious 80's. What I don't get is why a diversity industry exists. All that really serves is the very self-serving purpose of pointing up how (surprise, surprise) we're all very different people, and we need you folks in the diversioy industry to tell keep us aware of that fact. Yes. Keep pointing that out, and we'll never get together on anyting, and we'll always require our services.Here's the deal, as I see it, we're all different and we're all lovable mutts in sme way or another. The sooner we realize we've all far more in common as fellow travelers on this dark earth, the sooner we might be able to truly embrace and celebrate real diversity and realize the one thing common to all of us, regardless of skin color or place of birth, or economic station in life: we're all born; we all die. Between the rocking of the caddle and the rolling of the herse, there lies the time and space in which we live, and to live is to know and to grow and to learn and to love. There's the thing: love. That is the one thing--One World, One Love--'tis enough. .

Fred, I totally agree.This is kind of funny. The same values that should have been passed on to my generation did not make it there because so many of my peers were told that they're so special and that the rules shouldn't apply to them. The question is why should anyone make an exception for just them? Because the boomers taught most of them that they were special and unique. Was that what boomers were told growing up? I don't think so. Thanks, I have to put up with all the people who think they're extra special for the rest of my remaining and hopefully very long life (in theory another 40-50 years). I like dealing with older people better because they are more realistic and grounded than most in my generation are. .

Dick,I think you message was meant in a positive manner, so I would just say that we need a diversity industry because everyone has not reached the level of enlightenment you have.I wish it were so, but every day at work and in life I see it simply isn't so.I live in hope someday it can be, but until then, more power to these folks. .

I manage a large number of people in various geographic locations and I have to admit at first I wanted to agree with all your points, but I do not since I had to change my management style from the old blue collar mentality to avoid falling into your lamenting. All of your issues should be addressed by you changing your management techniques . Below are some suggestions from my own experiences:Texting during meetings? If I am having a meeting and worse flew people in, I expect their full attention and that means laptops shut, cell phones away. I spent money to have you here, pay attention or please leave (I do now allow laptops for people taking notes during meetings, but they are required still to be engaged and interactive or we close the laptop).Ear buds, again it is fine, but if I need to come speak with you I expect you to acknowledge me and take them out. Also, they should not be so loud that they cannot hear the phone or your approach.Working from home/remote. Again, I have people on my teams that are in different physical locations. They need to work together as a team. They do. I tell them I don't really care where you work from, as long as the work gets done. If the work isn't getting done, we have a problem. This clearly works for my type of work, and wont work for situations where they must be in the office / store to do their job because that's where the customer / files are located.Work hours: similar to remote locations...I do get frustrated when staff leave before me, but then again, my rule is "I pay you well, get the work done. If you need to work all night on some projects, then fine...if you finish early, fine". Hhopefully you have queued up enough work so they can start on the next assignment/project. If they are just punching a clock, then address it in their PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT that they are not accomplishing as much as their peers or as fast..

I find it discouraging reading comments from those older than myself and seeing the disgust and animosity with which they treat my generation. I am 24 years old and have not yet been to college. Officially I work Monday through Friday 8-5. Frequently I arrive at 730 and I often need to stay until 530 or later to ensure that everything is done and that the day's work is taken care of. I often spend more time at work than my 50 something year old boss does. I agree with many of you that it is very rude to text in the middle of a meeting or when someone is directly speaking to you. That being said, I find that a bit of texting with close friends during the day helps to keep the stresses of my job from overwhelming me, it allows a brief hiatus and the chance for a quick mental reset. The comment has been made that talking on your cell phone in places and ways that others can overhear you is very rude. I completely agree. However, the majority of people that I see talking constantly on their phones or parading around with their Bluetooth always in their ear are of my parent's age, not mine. Also worth noting, if something goes wrong in the office, my manager comes to me. He lays the responsibility for addressing it and making sure that the others understand why whatever happened cannot be allowed to happen again on my desk. Frequently he places the blame for whatever it may have been on me as well, whether i had anything to do with it or not. I am the youngest employee in the office or for that matter in the entire branch where I work.As for the dearth of morals, dedication, or what have you lamented in my age group, may I remind you that we learned our morals and our codes of conduct from watching you and the way that you interacted with each other? It was our parents and our grandparents who taught us that the best way to deal with a problem was to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there- to just hope it would go away. It was our parents and our grandparents who came home from work too tired and frustrated to connect with us. Our parents and our grandparents who were too busy with their work to see that they were neglecting their true job, raising us, teaching us. It was our parents and our grandparents who would leave us with the mindless entertainment of television as our role models and babysitters whilst they worked.And what of the highly prevalent trend of divorce? I cannot think of anything that more effectively teaches poor work ethic. After all, if marriage vows, which are an oath and are sealed with a legally binding contract, can be broken for near to any reason, why should I take going to work seriously? It clearly can be shrugged aside if it ever becomes inconvenient.So, I agree, there are things that are done by my generation, both in the workplace and in the rest of life, that are wrong, that are rude, that are stupid. But there is a cause for all of these things, and much of the cause is the conduct of those who came before us..

Great dialogue!We should have more conversations like this one.However,i am more concerned with the quality,or lack thereof,of much anti-social behavior and lack of personal respect for themselves and our our elders.Of course,my mature peers are the role models..

I was born in the middle of the WW II. I was one of the original beatniks in Greenwich Village. I wore flowers in my hair in MacArthur Pk. I drank electric Kool Aid and tuned in w/ Tim Leary. I was teargassed in Chicago. I rolled in the mud at Yazgers Farm.I applaud many of the cultural changes that came out of my youth. However, one thing that I regret is loss of manners. Those of my generaqtion frelt tht manners were an artifice that needed to be tossed aside. All the same, everything Ms. Frankel laments comes down to a loss of civility and the eschewing of basic ettiquette. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you..

Unfortunately, manners across all generational lines, have virtually disappeared in recent decades.People of all generations seem to be more self involved than ever. We "have the right" to differ, but please be courteous to one another..

I'm a Gen X'er so I'm caught in the middle of the Boomers who feel that work should always take priority and the Gen Y'ers who the article complains about. A toilet seat? C'mon! However, like many professionals my age, I feel THERE HAS TO BE some balance. If I give my all during the 8 hours that I'm at work and never leave with the job undone, I should be able to focus (with the same intensity) on my family during evenings and weekends, because when it comes down to it, they are the REAL PRIORITY and they are already getting the shorter end of the stick! If the job gets done well, why should it matter to a Boomer from WHERE it gets done. A balanced, happy employee is a good employee, so stop trying to make WORK everyone's LIFE. You can be good at what you do and not live, sleep and breathe it!.

I am a Boomer and I started in the computer arena before PCs were invented. I remember the culture shock the people experienced when PCs began to replace typewriters and 10-key tabulators. It was traumatic.What I mean is each generation has brought with it some kind of new technology or manner of working. This always filters over into every day life. Boomers had floppies and voicemail (which led to the once almighty answering machine). This new generation has social networking which literally shuns e-mail. They also believe in flash drives.I am not opposed to how the younger half lives. I have a choice to keep up with the times or not. However, I have never felt for one minute that the world was going to stop, get down on its knees and wait for me to get it in gear.Our country is in trouble in the work world for many reasons. Young workers must understand that and try to maintain the standards necessary to sustain our way of life. It is all about productivity. Isn't it? Boomers are no longer in charge. The best we can hope for is that in our retirement we won't be subjected to being care for by some of the less diligent, non -professional young people mentioned in the original article..