"Labor Day, and the 'Millennial' Generation"

On a day that we celebrate the American worker, it is fitting that we review how the work force has evolved into a new generation filled with new ideas and ethics versus old standards and regulations.
Without being too much of a curmudgeon, I offer the following observations:

• Regardless of what generation you are labeled, baby-boomer, x-generation, y-generation, or echo generation, you feel that nobody does/did it better than you.
• Hard work (Labor) = Success.
• Success is not measured by the size of your house, the length of your boat or the emblem on your car.
• Anyone can be a success in America.

In you watched 40 Minutes a couple of weeks ago (60 - commercials = 40) one of the segments reported on was the Millennial generation.

The Millennial children born to the baby-boomers, is the new driving force in America. Their values are in many instances completely opposite than mine and yet in many cases their values are very much the same.
One area that I relate to this younger generation is their use and reliance on the Internet.
I spend as many as 3-4 hours a day on the Internet, which is about half of what the Millennials spend from getting the latest news reports to writing/reading E-mail and now making an income. But if the Internet were to crash today, I would know how to not only survive, but live successfully without it. This is where we differ.
The Millenials do not know of any way other than e-mail, text messaging, camera phones or blogging to communicate. It's not their fault, it just all they have known. E-mail is now considered "snail mail", or what I used to refer to as the U.S. Postal Service. They have to have instant communication.
Writing letters isn't one of their tools of the trade. Complete, thought- out sentences are replaced with truncated wrds tht tak mr tm to decfr than it wld hv tkn to spl thm ot.
Communicating is not simply writing a statement, waiting for the reply and then replying to the reply often having to explain the first statement. Communicating is speaking/writing and reading/listening at the same time. It is not just a one-sided conversation.
Even in news gathering, it is important that one does more than simply peruse the headlines from all of the on-lines news agencies, but take the time to get more in-depth reports via newspapers, periodicals, television and most important other people's opinions.
The Internet can give you the instant news, but you have to be able to massage and interpret the message and discuss the information in order to understand what was below the surface.
And don't take the Internet as gospel. Anyone can post a white paper that can easily be picked up as the first search result in Google, and the information can be full of misinformation. When I hear, "Well, I read it on the Internet", a red flag is hoisted immediately unless I hear of another source to go along with the proclamation.
I have a lot of respect for the new generation and their willingness to be team players, their tolerance of their fellow man and their quest for success.
Their need for instant gratification however, does leave me a little worried.
I am still a believer that success comes also with hard work, sweat, and labor.
Labor has to be part of the recipe for success, and it can't be instant.
Thus that is why we celebrate Labor Day and the true meaning behind it.