Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/15/2022
Mike Dobbs always used to refer to his columns as his rant. He would quite literally save the file for the column in our server with the title “rant.”
Today, I too, am ranting. I wrote a portion of this opinion column back in August and decided to hold onto it and come back when I was running less hot on the subject. But as I type this, I’m still fired up.
There’s nothing that grinds my gears more than generalizations.
“I don’t trust the media.”
“Millennials are entitled.”
“Kids these days don’t know how to work.”
These are just three generalizations that I hear frequently, and of course, they are easy for me to get upset over as they directly apply to me.
I’m a member of the media. I’m a millennial. Many people would still refer to me as a kid despite being a 27-year-old adult.
There are, of course, thousands of other generalizations – perhaps much more hurtful ones – that may apply to you. Your religion, your race, your career choice, your level of education, your sexual orientation, where you come from, what your interests are.
It is so irrational to me to label an entire group of people – quite literally millions of people – as one character trait.
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve been privy to but not been a part of – one recently, which sparked this column – where I’ve overheard 50-to-70-year-olds discussing the work ethic – or the perceived lack thereof – of those younger than them.
It’s ageism at its finest.
Ageism refers to the stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination toward others or oneself based on age.
Now, I’m not trying to be dramatic here. I don’t often feel I’m being discriminated against because of my age – however I certainly don’t appreciate negative work ethic comments being slung toward my generation.
What I can tell you is that I have eight exceptional reporters on my team who are all under the age of 30 who work their tails off to churn out as much quality journalism as they can into a 40-hour week.
And by the way – that 40-hour week doesn’t always happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. These reporters are up late, watching two-, three-, four-hour city council meetings on their Monday nights until 10 or 11 p.m., then at times writing the story until 2 a.m. to make deadline, only to repeat the process the next day with a school committee meeting. Don’t try to tell me that because they walked into the office at 10:30 a.m. the next morning that they must be “lazy” or “overslept,” when in fact they were up all night making sure their job was done so that the public gets the information they need.
There is always going to be someone – probably 1,000 “someones” – who may be the perfect example of a generalization. But for that group of 1,000, there are most likely a million hard working people who are simply trying to do their jobs and do their jobs exceptionally well. Or live their lives authentically to how they were raised, their beliefs and more.
In a conversation with our Prime Editor Debbie Gardner weeks ago, we were discussing an initiative that she recently found through encore.com. It’s called “Generations Over Dinner,” which is a global invitation to “have meaningful conversations that value all perspectives across the age continuum.” For example – the organization recently hosted a dinner with an “82-year-old motorcycle-riding Texan and a 17-year-old prodigy in astrophysics who had never met.”
The press release explained, “I watched as the elder’s eyes grew wide when the teenager spoke passionately about Einstein’s theory of relativity. The reverse happened when the elder spoke about the poetry and life-affirming philosophy he discovered fixing and riding motorcycles.”
Debbie was sharing how these conversations could bridge a gap between generations that we feel all too often, and I agreed. I’m hoping we may be able to do something to facilitate a conversation like this in the future.
Bear with me here, I promise this next bit relates to the age gap conversation. I have been reading the Harry Potter books for the first time this year – a bit of fun, light reading to take me out of the world. I finished the sixth book the other night, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and a few paragraph exchange between two of the books main characters – Harry Potter and Dumbledore – reminded me of this topic.
Harry – a young wizard of only 16 – and Dumbledore – the arguably most powerful wizard in existence at this time – were about to get into a very small, enchanted boat in an effort to reach a highly protected valuable of the book’s villain – Lord Voldemort. Voldemort created this boat, and Harry remarked that the boat looked like it might not be able to hold the weight of the two wizards at once.
“Dumbledore chuckled.
“‘Voldemort will not have cared about the weight [in the boat], but about the amount of magical power that crossed his lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a time will be able to sail in it,’ Dumbledore said.
“‘But then -?’ Harry questioned, wondering how the pair of wizards would fit.
“‘I do not think you will count, Harry: You are underage and unqualified. Voldemort would never have expected a 16-year-old to reach this place: I think it unlikely that your powers will register compared to mine.’
“These words did nothing to raise Harry’s morale; perhaps Dumbledore knew it, for he added, ‘Voldemort’s mistake, Harry, Voldemort’s mistake … Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.’”
I do recognize that ageism goes both ways. I’ve heard the phrase, “OK – boomer,” all too often in reference to the baby boomer generation.
In my humble opinion, we all have much to learn from one another – and we should all commit to doing so when the opportunity presents itself.