Monday, May 21, 2012
Correcting Faulty Assumptions about Older Workers
My friend Tom sent me a link to a blog post bemoaning the fact that people over the age of 50 looking for work will face discrimination. Never mind it’s illegal. It happens. According to the blog post, younger hiring managers have several pre-conceived notions about older workers. One is we will want higher salaries. Another is we’re low energy. Still a third assumption is we’re not up to date on the latest technologies. Are they right? When it comes to salary requirements, they’re probably right. Older workers do have an established standard of living and hard won experience tends to justify a higher salary.
The other assumptions though are troublesome. Exactly how does a prospective 50 or 60 something year old person demonstrate that they have high energy? And while talking about technology is fairly easy to do, tech talk alone probably won’t convince a hiring manager that we really get it; that is understand how technology is being used in today’s marketplace. Except maybe for the obvious part, which is the destruction of jobs and even entire industries, older workers may miss the finer points of social media’s advantages.
In my opinion job seekers over 50 must take dramatic action if they want to be taken seriously by prospective employers. Throw caution to the wind. Be the bold risk taker. I’ll tell you this much, words alone aren’t going to persuade a 35 year old interviewer that you are a wireless, tireless, 24/7 wild-eyed workaholic. You want to get that job? My advice is to use the very technology they doubt you’re familiar with to make a lasting and positive impression that gets you hired.
First, be sure to set up a Skype interview. What better way to let your interviewer know you not only have an I-Pad but you can do more than turn it on and play games? Note: Your costume for the interview is critical to making the point that you are bursting with energy. May I suggest gym shorts, muscle t-shirt, Nike sneakers and a sweatband? I want your hair tousled, sweat stains under your arms and perspiration on your face. Two cell phones should be placed strategically nearby in full view. If there is any chance either phone might go off, make sure the ring tone is Maroon 5 and not the Jackson 5. Finally, make sure your tennis racquet is nearby and a Bow-flex is clearly visible behind you. You’re an animal, got it?
Your script:
“Good morning, (glance at your power watch, its face the size of a Moon Pie) I’m Chris. Thanks for your time so early this morning. I’m 60 years old. No doubt you can see that in the wrinkles on my face and the gray in my thinning hair. (Move camera in for a close-up) My apologies for my appearance but I just got off the tennis court. I’m not one to brag, but it really felt special beating young Raphael in straight sets this morning. I assume you have the resume I emailed you. Based on my background and experience and the 749 recommendations on my Linkedin profile, I think it’s fair to say I’m fully qualified for the job. Excuse me for a moment please. I just remembered I need to tweet something real quick while I do 25 one-handed pushups. (Do the pushups counting them off) May I speak frankly? I think my only chance today is to clear up any age related misconceptions you may have. As you can see I’m physically active. I’m also constantly challenging myself intellectually. I just started taking Tango lessons, Argentine of course, and next week I will complete an advanced course in Chinese.
You’re obviously a good deal younger than I am. Some managers struggle with that but I hope you won’t. I don’t want your job. Listen: Our age difference is a good thing for exactly the same reasons it’s a good thing when a 40 year old hires someone 25. Their needs are different. You’re 35 and I’m 60. You want to reach the top of the corporate world. I now want the same thing I did when I was 25; to be taken seriously. Now, honestly, do you feel my age is a concern?”
My script may not land you the job of your dreams, but if you work out enough so you can actually do those one-handed pushups, surely good things will happen.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Bostonian Flexaire $19.95
My favorite ad was one by Continental Airlines that boasted, “You can buy your ticket on the plane.” Fifty years ago this month Time Magazine ran that ad. A lot can change in 50 years. You can hardly buy a Coke on the plane today without three forms of identification. In 1962 you could buy a Botany 500 suit for $69.50 and dress it up with Bostonian Flexaire shoes for just $19.95. Botany 500, originally a Philadelphia based firm doesn’t appear to exist anymore but you can still buy Bostonian shoes for about 10 times the 1962 price.
Leafing through several issues of Time Magazine dating back to 1962 is an interesting exercise. I heartily recommend it to those old enough to remember the year 1962, and those too young to believe that there ever was an actual year 1962. In historic terms 50 years isn’t very long. The magazine itself only goes back 88 years to 1923. There are several things you can’t miss even with only a cursory look at the magazine. The pages weren’t glossy, there was very little color photography and to say women and minorities were under represented is a gross understatement. One of the ads I loved, placed by Goodyear Tires, typifies the way we were back then. They introduced the “Captive-air Double Eagle by pointing out that a Double Eagle won’t go flat. It “carries the load for up to 100 miles until you or your wife can conveniently stop for service.” I guess back then women weren’t expected to be customers for tires. The ads then were directed mostly at men. Just a couple of years later Goodyear dipped a cautious toe into the women’s market in a backhanded way, running ads that showed a woman trying to change a tire herself but the ad was directed at man’s responsibility to keep his wife out of such predicaments.
One ad that startled me was one placed by the Blue Cross Association which pointed out that Blue Cross paid out over $1.3 billion dollars in benefits in 1961. This was before Medicare and Medicaid of course. In those days Blue Cross all but owned the health insurance market. So that number probably was a reasonably good indicator of what the nation was spending on health care back then. Even if it was double that amount including out of pocket expenses, it was a pittance compared to recent years. In 2010 we spent $2.6 trillion! While our population hasn’t quite doubled in the last 50 years our healthcare expenditures are nothing less than breathtaking.
One thing some advertisers did back then was include prices in their ads, something you rarely see now. Kings Men after shave went for a buck a bottle. A Ronson Big Daddy electric shaver (which “ate beards for breakfast”) could be had for just $29.50 A Zenith Piedmont, transistorized, space command, remote control TV was advertised at $575. Unlike healthcare by the way, you can buy a Zenith 50” Class 720P Plasma HDTV for $499 today. Somehow inflation got knocked completely out of the box when it came to TVs. If healthcare services were like televisions, healthcare would cost less now than it did in 1961. And x-rays would be available on wide color screens in high definition.
Some of the captions that appeared in news stories would be anathema today. Oscar Brown, Jr. singer-song writer was described as a “hip negro folk poet. for example. Then there was a picture of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy watching a mongoose fight a cobra. The caption: “A treat for an animal lover?”
And of course there were some questionable claims like Florsheim Shoes. Their ad claimed, “Florsheim introduces the square toe and again changes the shape of the nation.” And you thought the social upheaval of the Sixties was responsible for a changing nation. Western Union placed a full page ad that simply said, “To be sure to get action, send a telegram.” Imagine what the Madman who wrote that line would do with a Tweet.
Looking back at the way news and advertisements were presented in the past can be a very enjoyable experience. If you were alive during the period you’re studying, it gives you a fresh perspective and can even confirm events you think you remember but wouldn’t bet on. It can also clarify and even correct some ideas you have about why the world is shaped the way it is today. If nothing else, it can make you wish you could take advantage of those Bostonians for $19.95.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Everybody Knows Everything Now
The other day my friend Richard said, “We now live in a world where everybody knows everything. It’s not what you know that matters anymore. It’s what you do with what you know.” Richard’s comment succinctly points out that anyone with access to a Web browser can know almost anything they would like to know in a flash. It’s changing the way we teach and the way we communicate.
Yesterday I met a pediatrician who’s been teaching medical students in a nearby medical school for ten years. I asked him, “What’s changed since you started teaching?” He told me the biggest change is that they are teaching students a good deal more about how to find the information they’re looking for from reliable sources rather than relying on memorization. He said, “It’s pretty easy to find how to treat a disease state but what we worry about is a doctor’s ability to determine which disease to look for.” He added, “Doctors need to learn how to observe patients, talk to them and above all, listen.” Apparently those skills are still not emphasized in medical school. Finally, he said, “Memorizing certain things is still important but it isn’t as critical as it once was.”
I for one am practically overwhelmed by the reality of having so much information at our fingertips. As a writer I’m delighted to have such easy access to so many sources of information. Then again, there aren’t many good defenses for getting the facts wrong anymore. And precious few excuses for postponing my writing when research is such a snap.
On a visit to the local library recently, browsing in the reference section, I came across the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. Most of you will recall that the Guide provides an index of articles from selected popular periodicals published in the 20th and 21st centuries. In ancient times, before the World Wide Web, we used the Guide to find information we were looking for when we had term papers to write. No doubt some of you recall writing down the desired article references on small pieces of white note paper so you could search through heavy, bound editions of magazines or; if you were unlucky, be required to work your way through endless reels of microfilm. All this just so you could find the three sentences you needed to support your rebellious contention that Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach had nothing to do with religion. If you haven’t visited the reference section of your local library recently you might be surprised by the changes you encounter. For starters, you won’t need any tiny white slips of paper.
The Guide is still available of course, on line now. And, instead of simply providing a list of various topics, the magazine’s name, edition and page numbers, you can now click your way right to the article you need to prove your brother-in-law is an idiot. To make it even easier to get at what you are searching for, our local library (and perhaps yours?) doesn’t even order a hard copy of the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature anymore. In fact they buy Gale Publishing products and make them available on line from home to anyone with a library card.
While pointing and clicking certainly saves us a lot of time, I do wonder if speed itself robs us of needed time to reflect on the information we’ve gathered. Over the years I have learned the hard way that as it is with driving well over the speed limit, speed in communication can have deleterious results. There was a certain value I think in the labor involved in research. Limited time and tired eyes often forced us to return to the library a few times to get what we needed. We had time to reflect and consider what message we wanted to send. Celebrities are plagued in my opinion, by live microphones, texts and tweets. A thoughtless comment is nearly impossible to catch up to, let alone fix. Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the Miami Marlins is struggling with that problem right now. He isn’t the first and he won’t be the last.
I love having information easily at my fingertips. Yet, I pray that what’s on the tip of my tongue doesn’t make me long for the days when knowledge played hard to get. As Richard said, it’s what we do with what we know that matters.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino All rights reserved.
Yesterday I met a pediatrician who’s been teaching medical students in a nearby medical school for ten years. I asked him, “What’s changed since you started teaching?” He told me the biggest change is that they are teaching students a good deal more about how to find the information they’re looking for from reliable sources rather than relying on memorization. He said, “It’s pretty easy to find how to treat a disease state but what we worry about is a doctor’s ability to determine which disease to look for.” He added, “Doctors need to learn how to observe patients, talk to them and above all, listen.” Apparently those skills are still not emphasized in medical school. Finally, he said, “Memorizing certain things is still important but it isn’t as critical as it once was.”
I for one am practically overwhelmed by the reality of having so much information at our fingertips. As a writer I’m delighted to have such easy access to so many sources of information. Then again, there aren’t many good defenses for getting the facts wrong anymore. And precious few excuses for postponing my writing when research is such a snap.
On a visit to the local library recently, browsing in the reference section, I came across the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. Most of you will recall that the Guide provides an index of articles from selected popular periodicals published in the 20th and 21st centuries. In ancient times, before the World Wide Web, we used the Guide to find information we were looking for when we had term papers to write. No doubt some of you recall writing down the desired article references on small pieces of white note paper so you could search through heavy, bound editions of magazines or; if you were unlucky, be required to work your way through endless reels of microfilm. All this just so you could find the three sentences you needed to support your rebellious contention that Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach had nothing to do with religion. If you haven’t visited the reference section of your local library recently you might be surprised by the changes you encounter. For starters, you won’t need any tiny white slips of paper.
The Guide is still available of course, on line now. And, instead of simply providing a list of various topics, the magazine’s name, edition and page numbers, you can now click your way right to the article you need to prove your brother-in-law is an idiot. To make it even easier to get at what you are searching for, our local library (and perhaps yours?) doesn’t even order a hard copy of the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature anymore. In fact they buy Gale Publishing products and make them available on line from home to anyone with a library card.
While pointing and clicking certainly saves us a lot of time, I do wonder if speed itself robs us of needed time to reflect on the information we’ve gathered. Over the years I have learned the hard way that as it is with driving well over the speed limit, speed in communication can have deleterious results. There was a certain value I think in the labor involved in research. Limited time and tired eyes often forced us to return to the library a few times to get what we needed. We had time to reflect and consider what message we wanted to send. Celebrities are plagued in my opinion, by live microphones, texts and tweets. A thoughtless comment is nearly impossible to catch up to, let alone fix. Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the Miami Marlins is struggling with that problem right now. He isn’t the first and he won’t be the last.
I love having information easily at my fingertips. Yet, I pray that what’s on the tip of my tongue doesn’t make me long for the days when knowledge played hard to get. As Richard said, it’s what we do with what we know that matters.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino All rights reserved.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Goodbye Youth
My friend Ann sent me an email the other day describing her sister Patricia’s application for Social Security. I think Patricia’s words on the subject of reaching this milestone, one that few of us ever thought would actually arrive, captured the essence of the baby boom generation. When she completed her on line application she hit the send button and said, “Goodbye youth."
Yes it’s a funny line, certainly uttered tongue-in-check. The reason I’m sure Pat’s words were said tongue-in-cheek is that no respectable boomer is prepared to acknowledge old-age and we probably never will. Never mind that Social Security was specifically designed to assist the elderly in their later years. Remember that Social Security may also be described by the acronym OASDI, as in Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, a term younger people and more than a few baby boomers are probably not familiar with. Not that baby boomers would actually cotton to the alternative definition.
Baby boomers invented the youth culture. We’ve been pushing back the boundaries of age for many years now. Many of our contemporaries are as active as they were in their 30s. Some are probably more active, still brimming with ideas, hopes and dreams. Believe me a simple matter like a monthly check from the Federal Government is hardly enough to make us feel old! Did you know there are now 13 million people under the age of 65 receiving Social Security thanks to the program’s disability provision? Obviously eligibility for Social Security alone isn’t a useful guideline to determine old age.
I don’t know very many boomers who act like senior citizens. As it turns out there is a great deal of truth in the saying, “You are only as old as you feel.” The Pew Research Center surveyed 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and well over 65 to get their views on old age. On average people suggested old age begins at 68. But if you ask people who are 65 and older they will tell you old age begins at 74. The survey also found that only 35% of respondents 75 and older said they felt old.
One of my friends, 63, is spending countless hours trying to land an executive level position in a high tech industry. The obstacles are many but after a full year of searching he soldiers on. Don’t bet against him. He doesn’t see his age in a youth oriented business as a barrier. Why should he? He considers himself youthful.
Another guy, over 70 recently spent a hefty sum for a top of the line electronic Lowrey organ. He takes lessons and occasionally performs. Frank would no more sit on the front porch watching life go by than any hip 40 year old.
I know a 60 year old woman who works long hours managing a medical practice and still has the energy to go ballroom dancing three or four nights a week. I play tennis several times a week and the vast majority of my playing partners are also in their sixties.
I know still others who volunteer their time, like my friend Bob who drives chemotherapy patients to and from their treatment sessions.
Too soon old, too late smart is a proverb, reportedly Dutch, which many people of a certain age fully appreciate. In the case of baby boomers, and perhaps generations to come, some of the sting may be taken out of the old saying. We do have a lot more energy in our later years than our ancestors did and we have many, many more opportunities to do useful, important and even smart things. More than ever the world needs wisdom and willingness to set right what has gone wrong. The fabled ‘60s were an exciting time. How grand would it be to come full circle and make this time our generation’s finest hour? And we’ll know we are groovin’ when someone coins the phrase, “Don’t trust anybody over 80.”
Copyright Len Serafino, 2012. All rights reserved.
Yes it’s a funny line, certainly uttered tongue-in-check. The reason I’m sure Pat’s words were said tongue-in-cheek is that no respectable boomer is prepared to acknowledge old-age and we probably never will. Never mind that Social Security was specifically designed to assist the elderly in their later years. Remember that Social Security may also be described by the acronym OASDI, as in Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, a term younger people and more than a few baby boomers are probably not familiar with. Not that baby boomers would actually cotton to the alternative definition.
Baby boomers invented the youth culture. We’ve been pushing back the boundaries of age for many years now. Many of our contemporaries are as active as they were in their 30s. Some are probably more active, still brimming with ideas, hopes and dreams. Believe me a simple matter like a monthly check from the Federal Government is hardly enough to make us feel old! Did you know there are now 13 million people under the age of 65 receiving Social Security thanks to the program’s disability provision? Obviously eligibility for Social Security alone isn’t a useful guideline to determine old age.
I don’t know very many boomers who act like senior citizens. As it turns out there is a great deal of truth in the saying, “You are only as old as you feel.” The Pew Research Center surveyed 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and well over 65 to get their views on old age. On average people suggested old age begins at 68. But if you ask people who are 65 and older they will tell you old age begins at 74. The survey also found that only 35% of respondents 75 and older said they felt old.
One of my friends, 63, is spending countless hours trying to land an executive level position in a high tech industry. The obstacles are many but after a full year of searching he soldiers on. Don’t bet against him. He doesn’t see his age in a youth oriented business as a barrier. Why should he? He considers himself youthful.
Another guy, over 70 recently spent a hefty sum for a top of the line electronic Lowrey organ. He takes lessons and occasionally performs. Frank would no more sit on the front porch watching life go by than any hip 40 year old.
I know a 60 year old woman who works long hours managing a medical practice and still has the energy to go ballroom dancing three or four nights a week. I play tennis several times a week and the vast majority of my playing partners are also in their sixties.
I know still others who volunteer their time, like my friend Bob who drives chemotherapy patients to and from their treatment sessions.
Too soon old, too late smart is a proverb, reportedly Dutch, which many people of a certain age fully appreciate. In the case of baby boomers, and perhaps generations to come, some of the sting may be taken out of the old saying. We do have a lot more energy in our later years than our ancestors did and we have many, many more opportunities to do useful, important and even smart things. More than ever the world needs wisdom and willingness to set right what has gone wrong. The fabled ‘60s were an exciting time. How grand would it be to come full circle and make this time our generation’s finest hour? And we’ll know we are groovin’ when someone coins the phrase, “Don’t trust anybody over 80.”
Copyright Len Serafino, 2012. All rights reserved.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Need Extra Cash? Sell Naming Rights
When professional sports teams started offering naming rights as a new profit center or a way to defray the cost of building a new stadium or arena, I thought it was an annoying practice. I was very much afraid that my beloved Yankee Stadium might one day be called Pizza Hut Yankee Stadium or Trump Yankee Stadium. Surely the House that Ruth Built deserves better. The sad fact is that companies don’t always have fetching names, suitable for adorning the arena of your favorite sports team. Take the University of Louisville. A couple of years ago they opened a new basketball arena with the name KFC Yum Center for a moniker. Say it: “I’m going to the Yum center tonight.” It could have been worse. When the Houston Astros opened their park in 2000, the stadium was named Enron Field. It’s Minute Maid Park now. Better for sure but again, I’m very happy that Minute Maid Park is an Astros thing and not a prefix to Yankee Stadium. At least the Coca-Cola Company, which owns Minute Maid, didn’t insist on calling the stadium Minute Maid Grove.
And naming rights aren’t limited to professional sports. High schools are doing it too. Consider the Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance, Antioch High School in Nashville (long enough for you?) or the Poland Springs Arena at Toms River High School, North in New Jersey. Shouldn’t a high school in Maine have snapped that one up first?
This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that respected universities are offering people the opportunity to sponsor bathrooms and even bathroom stalls? Yes, according to a Time magazine article this week, the University of Pennsylvania has a bathroom lined with plaques noting, “This relief you are experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman.”
I have no idea why Mr. Zinman would want this type of recognition but I find it even more curious that universities would stoop so low. This country went through the great depression in the 1930s without resorting to bathroom stall naming rights. I wonder how long it would have taken back then for a university board of trustees to dismiss a university president for suggesting such an outrageous idea. An hour I’ll bet.
Regardless, it won’t be long now before the floodgates are open. Everything we see and touch will come with naming rights, individualized too, like urinals. Here are my predictions for future naming rights deals. Remember you heard it first here.
Federal Government buildings. With the deficit crisis seemingly unsolvable, naming rights seems like a natural solution. Picture the Statue of Liberty with a Nilla Wafer instead of a torch. Of course the wafer would light up at night for all to see. Imagine if you will what the Ford Motor company could do with the Lincoln Memorial. Of course they’ll have to get rights secured before Lincoln National Life Insurance gets wind of the opportunity. And then there’s our United States Capitol, home of our Congress. The very thought of the largest lobbying firms bidding for the naming rights to that plum is thrilling. We could cut the deficit in half.
The U.S. Postal Service, another financially troubled agency is certainly a fantastic naming rights opportunity. Think NASCAR without the speed. Postal workers will one day wear uniforms adorned with ads for fried chicken, cereal, and software just to name a few. And postal delivery trucks are another potential boon to advertisers. Considering the steady drop in snail mail, the trucks will soon be smaller. New vehicle designs will be smaller mimicking race cars we see whipping around Talladega, Pocono and Darlington; loaded with ads for everything from M&Ms to GoDaddy.com.
On a more personal level, individuals should be able to get in on the act too. This is America right? Some people already put ads on their cars but once we get more comfortable with the concept and advertisers get even more aggressive than they are now, we are looking at a cradle to grave opportunity. How about offering naming rights for your baby? “Big Mac Jonathan Smolinski” has a ring to it for example. And, when our lives are over, there is plenty of space on our caskets. Imagine being able to defray the cost of your funeral by selling naming rights to your coffin. Don’t expect too much though. People will only view it for a day or two. “Say it with flowers” might be a good choice.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
And naming rights aren’t limited to professional sports. High schools are doing it too. Consider the Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance, Antioch High School in Nashville (long enough for you?) or the Poland Springs Arena at Toms River High School, North in New Jersey. Shouldn’t a high school in Maine have snapped that one up first?
This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that respected universities are offering people the opportunity to sponsor bathrooms and even bathroom stalls? Yes, according to a Time magazine article this week, the University of Pennsylvania has a bathroom lined with plaques noting, “This relief you are experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman.”
I have no idea why Mr. Zinman would want this type of recognition but I find it even more curious that universities would stoop so low. This country went through the great depression in the 1930s without resorting to bathroom stall naming rights. I wonder how long it would have taken back then for a university board of trustees to dismiss a university president for suggesting such an outrageous idea. An hour I’ll bet.
Regardless, it won’t be long now before the floodgates are open. Everything we see and touch will come with naming rights, individualized too, like urinals. Here are my predictions for future naming rights deals. Remember you heard it first here.
Federal Government buildings. With the deficit crisis seemingly unsolvable, naming rights seems like a natural solution. Picture the Statue of Liberty with a Nilla Wafer instead of a torch. Of course the wafer would light up at night for all to see. Imagine if you will what the Ford Motor company could do with the Lincoln Memorial. Of course they’ll have to get rights secured before Lincoln National Life Insurance gets wind of the opportunity. And then there’s our United States Capitol, home of our Congress. The very thought of the largest lobbying firms bidding for the naming rights to that plum is thrilling. We could cut the deficit in half.
The U.S. Postal Service, another financially troubled agency is certainly a fantastic naming rights opportunity. Think NASCAR without the speed. Postal workers will one day wear uniforms adorned with ads for fried chicken, cereal, and software just to name a few. And postal delivery trucks are another potential boon to advertisers. Considering the steady drop in snail mail, the trucks will soon be smaller. New vehicle designs will be smaller mimicking race cars we see whipping around Talladega, Pocono and Darlington; loaded with ads for everything from M&Ms to GoDaddy.com.
On a more personal level, individuals should be able to get in on the act too. This is America right? Some people already put ads on their cars but once we get more comfortable with the concept and advertisers get even more aggressive than they are now, we are looking at a cradle to grave opportunity. How about offering naming rights for your baby? “Big Mac Jonathan Smolinski” has a ring to it for example. And, when our lives are over, there is plenty of space on our caskets. Imagine being able to defray the cost of your funeral by selling naming rights to your coffin. Don’t expect too much though. People will only view it for a day or two. “Say it with flowers” might be a good choice.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Boogie Oogie Oogie
I’m 64 now. Yeah it happened about 3 weeks ago. I can’t say that living six plus decades has made me wiser. But, to paraphrase something novelist Kurt Vonnegut once said, why ask me what to do? The earth has been around for billions of years. I just got here. One thing I am certain of though is that there are some things you shouldn’t do after a certain age like dancing fast to a song like say, Boogie Oogie Oogie in public. Take my word for it you don’t move the way you did when you were twenty-something. You may remember the song, recorded by A Taste of Honey. My favorite line is “We’re gonna boogie oogie oogie until you just can’t boogie no more.” In the privacy of my own home I tried to do just that. Thirteen seconds and I couldn’t boogie-oogie no more. I never would have made it that long had it not been for the oxygen my wife was feeding me.
You know, you can play a mean game of tennis at 64 (Not me but I’ve seen it done.) You can cook a gourmet meal complete with a rich dessert and select an elegant wine to go with it. What you can’t do is eat it. You have to choose between the Chateaubriand and Chateauneuf-du- Pape. While everyone else is enjoying cherries jubilee, you’re nibbling on a ½ inch square of dark chocolate and I do mean 80% cocoa.
Another thing that never really looks good after the age of 60 is a man behind the wheel of a sports car even if it’s a Ferrari. As you’re turning the corner with your lamb skin gloves wrapped around the steering wheel, you can’t help notice that heads are turning. Feels good but deep down you must know the girls…and the guys are snickering. If you’re over 60 and you have that kind of bread, give it to charity if you want to impress. Remember: When you get out of that little red car your knees will still hurt.
Then there are the long working hours we used to take for granted. Business travel, time zone changes and high pressure stakes made your heart sing. Long distance travel in the twilight hours of your career gives you heartburn and high blood pressure makes your ears ring.
A friend of mine pointed out that Hillary Clinton, also 64 is still a globe trotter who keeps long hours and is at the top of her game. Yeah, but I’ll bet she doesn’t cut her own lawn on Saturdays. And let’s face it, she is a world leader constantly stimulated by global crises and the march of history. Suppose she was selling yogurt franchises, promising prospects a new flavor every other month? How stimulating would that be for someone just a year shy of Medicare eligibility? Her best hope for stimulation in that situation? Accidentally dropping her hair dryer in a stopped up, water filled sink in her motel room.
Here’s something else you shouldn’t do in your sixties. Criticize younger people for their work ethic, their manners or their lifestyles. Of course we don’t understand them. We were born under drastically different conditions. The world has changed so much and more than once in their short lifetimes. Most of them are doing the best they can. I recently had a job change that brought me into regular contact with young co-workers. Know what? They are smart and hard working. They’re ambitious and respectful, even patient with an old timer even if he just can’t boogie no more.
You know, you can play a mean game of tennis at 64 (Not me but I’ve seen it done.) You can cook a gourmet meal complete with a rich dessert and select an elegant wine to go with it. What you can’t do is eat it. You have to choose between the Chateaubriand and Chateauneuf-du- Pape. While everyone else is enjoying cherries jubilee, you’re nibbling on a ½ inch square of dark chocolate and I do mean 80% cocoa.
Another thing that never really looks good after the age of 60 is a man behind the wheel of a sports car even if it’s a Ferrari. As you’re turning the corner with your lamb skin gloves wrapped around the steering wheel, you can’t help notice that heads are turning. Feels good but deep down you must know the girls…and the guys are snickering. If you’re over 60 and you have that kind of bread, give it to charity if you want to impress. Remember: When you get out of that little red car your knees will still hurt.
Then there are the long working hours we used to take for granted. Business travel, time zone changes and high pressure stakes made your heart sing. Long distance travel in the twilight hours of your career gives you heartburn and high blood pressure makes your ears ring.
A friend of mine pointed out that Hillary Clinton, also 64 is still a globe trotter who keeps long hours and is at the top of her game. Yeah, but I’ll bet she doesn’t cut her own lawn on Saturdays. And let’s face it, she is a world leader constantly stimulated by global crises and the march of history. Suppose she was selling yogurt franchises, promising prospects a new flavor every other month? How stimulating would that be for someone just a year shy of Medicare eligibility? Her best hope for stimulation in that situation? Accidentally dropping her hair dryer in a stopped up, water filled sink in her motel room.
Here’s something else you shouldn’t do in your sixties. Criticize younger people for their work ethic, their manners or their lifestyles. Of course we don’t understand them. We were born under drastically different conditions. The world has changed so much and more than once in their short lifetimes. Most of them are doing the best they can. I recently had a job change that brought me into regular contact with young co-workers. Know what? They are smart and hard working. They’re ambitious and respectful, even patient with an old timer even if he just can’t boogie no more.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
High Unemployment: Are IQ Scores to Blame?
"Someone in America who has a 90-point IQ is qualified for many fewer jobs today than he was 100 years ago." Warren Buffett
I read that quote in a recent edition of Time magazine. It shocked me and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it. In a Presidential election year when jobs and the economy are the primary battleground between the candidates, a statistic like this is more than a little bit worrisome. According to the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, an IQ score in the range of 90 to 99 is classified as in the normal intelligence range. A score of 90 has been labeled elsewhere as low average.
According to the Mega Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing programs that aid the very gifted, people with IQ's of 90-110 generally occupy semi-skilled positions, including typists, receptionists, assembly line workers, and checkout clerks. People in this category are not usually successful in completing college. Other research indicates about 46% of the public fall into this category.
Is it possible that one reason we are in a period of seemingly intractable unemployment is that there just aren’t enough jobs suitable for the many people who fall into a functional but lower IQ range? Historically, when we had a bustling manufacturing industry, jobs that didn’t require a college degree were plentiful. In the 21st century’s high-tech, instantaneous, information driven global economy, the jobs most readily available for those with a 90 or so IQ would seem to be limited to low paying service jobs like restaurant workers, and retail clerks.
A worrisome development indeed and, I haven’t heard any discussion in the Republican debates or the President’s State of the Union address last week that suggests the problem is being addressed. Massive retraining sounds like a great idea until you realize that many people probably don’t have the wherewithal to fully understand the subject matter, let alone perform work that involves a good deal more than making change –even using a computerized cash register that essentially does it for you.
The economy will certainly recover but it seems entirely possible that all boats will not be lifted when it does. Consider how many jobs are being lost through online ordering from large warehouse-based companies like Amazon.com that drop ship products all over the world. (Think how e-books are reshaping reading habits and affecting even a book selling giant like Barnes and Noble.) Online shopping is making life difficult for many small business owners who employ the very people we are discussing here. And shopping malls, a traditional source of employment in the retail space, are closing in part for the same reason. In the Nashville area alone there have been six closings.
For those of us comfortable in the knowledge that we have higher IQs that should serve us well in the future, consider that Bank of America announced last March that they are shutting down 600 branches, in part because so many people prefer online banking. They don’t need as many people to run their business. Thousands of jobs including professionals in legal, marketing, human relations and finance areas will be lost. Even higher IQ people are not immune to problems created by technology advances. The difference of course is that people with higher IQs are better suited to take advantage of retraining opportunities.
That may be good news for those blessed with a higher functioning IQ but what about the rest of us? What if anything can be done to help otherwise functional people with lower IQs? Thankfully, there may be some good news on that front as well. A study done by the University of Michigan strongly suggests that IQ can be improved upon. Researchers found that exercising the brain through activities like reading, writing, puzzle-solving and taking up new hobbies can improve performance. Parents of children who have lower IQ scores please take note.
More of us have to be trained and ready if America is going to compete successfully in the 21st century. According to Brenda Albright, a well known consultant in the field of higher education, “These issues are being discussed extensively in higher education policy circles. The foundations that support higher education as well as political leaders are actively promoting the idea that many more Americans should go to college and obtain a degree or certificates.”
Warren Buffett is an extremely bright man. Work that demanded less intelligence was easier to find 100 years ago. The task at hand however, is to look ahead and find a way to put people to work who might otherwise not only fall through but demolish the social safety net, taking the rest of us with it.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
I read that quote in a recent edition of Time magazine. It shocked me and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it. In a Presidential election year when jobs and the economy are the primary battleground between the candidates, a statistic like this is more than a little bit worrisome. According to the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, an IQ score in the range of 90 to 99 is classified as in the normal intelligence range. A score of 90 has been labeled elsewhere as low average.
According to the Mega Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing programs that aid the very gifted, people with IQ's of 90-110 generally occupy semi-skilled positions, including typists, receptionists, assembly line workers, and checkout clerks. People in this category are not usually successful in completing college. Other research indicates about 46% of the public fall into this category.
Is it possible that one reason we are in a period of seemingly intractable unemployment is that there just aren’t enough jobs suitable for the many people who fall into a functional but lower IQ range? Historically, when we had a bustling manufacturing industry, jobs that didn’t require a college degree were plentiful. In the 21st century’s high-tech, instantaneous, information driven global economy, the jobs most readily available for those with a 90 or so IQ would seem to be limited to low paying service jobs like restaurant workers, and retail clerks.
A worrisome development indeed and, I haven’t heard any discussion in the Republican debates or the President’s State of the Union address last week that suggests the problem is being addressed. Massive retraining sounds like a great idea until you realize that many people probably don’t have the wherewithal to fully understand the subject matter, let alone perform work that involves a good deal more than making change –even using a computerized cash register that essentially does it for you.
The economy will certainly recover but it seems entirely possible that all boats will not be lifted when it does. Consider how many jobs are being lost through online ordering from large warehouse-based companies like Amazon.com that drop ship products all over the world. (Think how e-books are reshaping reading habits and affecting even a book selling giant like Barnes and Noble.) Online shopping is making life difficult for many small business owners who employ the very people we are discussing here. And shopping malls, a traditional source of employment in the retail space, are closing in part for the same reason. In the Nashville area alone there have been six closings.
For those of us comfortable in the knowledge that we have higher IQs that should serve us well in the future, consider that Bank of America announced last March that they are shutting down 600 branches, in part because so many people prefer online banking. They don’t need as many people to run their business. Thousands of jobs including professionals in legal, marketing, human relations and finance areas will be lost. Even higher IQ people are not immune to problems created by technology advances. The difference of course is that people with higher IQs are better suited to take advantage of retraining opportunities.
That may be good news for those blessed with a higher functioning IQ but what about the rest of us? What if anything can be done to help otherwise functional people with lower IQs? Thankfully, there may be some good news on that front as well. A study done by the University of Michigan strongly suggests that IQ can be improved upon. Researchers found that exercising the brain through activities like reading, writing, puzzle-solving and taking up new hobbies can improve performance. Parents of children who have lower IQ scores please take note.
More of us have to be trained and ready if America is going to compete successfully in the 21st century. According to Brenda Albright, a well known consultant in the field of higher education, “These issues are being discussed extensively in higher education policy circles. The foundations that support higher education as well as political leaders are actively promoting the idea that many more Americans should go to college and obtain a degree or certificates.”
Warren Buffett is an extremely bright man. Work that demanded less intelligence was easier to find 100 years ago. The task at hand however, is to look ahead and find a way to put people to work who might otherwise not only fall through but demolish the social safety net, taking the rest of us with it.
Copyright 2012, Len Serafino. All rights reserved.
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