By Sarah Newton*

As I work with more and more companies, I am seeing something that is very striking; a lack of what I would call a Young Worker Friendly policy.

I work a lot with the service, catering and leisure industry which, let’s face it, lives on young employees and yet, for some reason, their policies seem to be hostile to young workers.

Let me explain.
1. They throw their young workers in at the deep end with hardly any training.
2. They then moan at them when they cannot deliver.
3. They give them no training as “they will not be here that long”,or, “they are only temporary”.
4. They come down on them like a ton of bricks when they do something wrong.

This puzzles me; most of these industries rely on their young employees to deliver great customer service and be very in the know, and yet they just expect them to be able to do it. It does not have to be that way; some large companies like Disney or McDonald’s really value their young employees, yet the little guys have not got it yet.

It is like they expect their young employees to know what to do and how to do it. Just because we may have known it does not mean this generation are as savvy. Most of these young employees are being managed by Gen X and let me tell you, we had a very very different experience from the generation coming up behind us. Left to our own devices for much of the time, we were the latch key kids and we learnt how to cook, wash and pretty much fend for ourselves, we were exposed to adult things at a much earlier age and we were in no way protected. We were given it with a sink-or-swim attitude.

OK, so let’s look at that in comparison to the youth of today. Firstly, they have a voice and have been encouraged to use it, so they will speak up and not just get on with it. Secondly, this generation has been cared for and protected and consequently expect things and think they are special. If a customer shouted at me when I was in my first job I took it as par for the course. Now they want you to stick up for them. Thirdly, they need instructions and feedback and they need them to be clear; in a way they have been force fed and things have to be in a step by step process , so where things may have been ambiguous, they are now very clear. They are used to pushing boundaries, since a lot of the time they do not have any and the adult/child divide has become much less clear.

So, if you want to make the best of your young employees, here are a few important things to note.

1. Make sure they get sufficient training, know what they are doing and are given feedback. While they are in no way stupid, they want systems and steps to take. This is how they are used to being taught.
2. Devise a system for them to participate in at every level; they have a powerful voice and want to use it. Often, they will make great suggestions that will really help your business.
3. Ensure there is a positive feedback system of some description and make teamwork a big part of how your company works.
4. Get clear what the systems and structures are that you want them to operate within and also let them know where they can be creative if they want. This needs to be clear.
5. Give them a “buddy” who they can go to and have an open door policy.
6. As a boss, don’t expect to automatically earn respect from your young employees. You will earn respect by being honest and transparent . Stick to your word and do what you say you will.
7. Be firm and fair when they cross boundaries with you.

And yes, expect that sometimes you may feel like you are a parent. However, remember that you are very influential to this young person. You may be this first adult they have had contact with in a work capacity and how you treat them could set up their whole idea of work and how adults in the outside world communicate with them. By not having Young Person Friendly policies, you could be sending a very strong negative message out to them.

Young workers can be the hardest working, most enthusiastic and energetic work force if managed correctly.

However, what I hear most saying is that they are lazy, rude and annoying. Well let me tell you, your employees will exhibit what they see in their boss, so take a look at yourself!

And if you are reading this, thinking that you are not going to change what you do for the young employees who never stay very long, good luck to you! You are in for a bumpy ride; remember the impact that one bad employee can have on your customers and then ask yourself if it is worth it or not.

By Sarah Newton*

I spend a lot of time coaching Gen X on how to handle Gen Y. You see, even though the generations follow each other, they really are poles apart.

For all the times that Gen Y were told they could succeed and do anything, Gen X were told not to show off, not to hold high expectations and to be realistic. For all the awards and trophies that Gen Y got just for taking part, Gen X were left on the sidelines thinking that they were not good enough. For all the caring and sharing, child-centric ways in which Gen Y were brought up, Gen X learnt that it was the individual that mattered and you must win, no matter what and that youth should, well, just go away. As Gen Y were loved and wanted children, Gen X were often mistakes and were reminded of this countless times. Gen X were a very rebellious cohort of youth, pretty much left to get on with their lives. They saw things and dealt with things at a much earlier age than they should. They were feared and ignored by society and grew up isolated, used to being overlooked.

So when you get an enthusiastic, I can do anything let’s work together, confident Gen Y, trying to get a sceptical, individualistic, I can make it on my own Gen X together, never the twain shall meet.

I was recently contacted by a Gen Y who was having problems in a company she was consulting with. The Gen Xs were not taking too kindly to her and she wanted to know how to get them on board. I agreed to meet her and talk this through and it was a meeting that showed me in black and white the differences between the two generations.

When we met up she enthusiastically spent the first 30 minutes telling me all about herself and the awards and accolades she has got, then spent another 30 minutes telling me how wonderful I was, to the point where I thought I would be sick. She then told me the problem and asked me what she should do. I left the meeting feeling like I had been chewed up and spat out. Wow, is this what employees in the workplace feel like?

It got me thinking, how does a Gen Y get a Gen X to be on board with them without driving them to the point of nausea?

1. Make me feel special, but not that special. OK, we want to feel like we can help and we are of use, but anything over the top makes us feel that you are been totally insincere. A simple, “You have been with the company much longer than me and I would really value your opinion,” will suffice. Make us feel we have something you need without showering us with praise.

2. We know who you are, so don’t tell us. We are not good with people boasting about themselves, it makes us feel very insecure. We are just not used to it. Believe me, we will have researched you, we will know all about you, mainly to see if we consider you a threat or not, so please don’t tell us anymore. You are special, we know that so don’t ram it down our throats.

3. We want to help. We have an affinity with the youth and we want to help them, but we are always suspicious about people’s motives. Be really honest with us and don’t feel you need to butter us up lots; a “Can you help?” will do it every time.

4. Acknowledge what we did. We may not like it but secretly we want it. If we can help you or support you, then please let people know. We may not acknowledge that you have done this and may even go red and say, “You shouldn’t have,” but if you don’t do it we will secretly hate you forever and if there is anything that Gen X are really good at, it is causing trouble.

In return we promise not to talk down to you, to listen to your off-the-wall ideas and acknowledge your expertise.

By Cíntia Reinaux
A brilliant text written by Rubem Alves* uses a metaphor to explain why parents should be a bit more strict with their kids. Alves jokes that parents today wouldn’t be able to stand Michelangelo. They would say, what does Michelangelo have against marble?

Alves states, “…he had something against marble, because inside that marble was Pietà. Where would Pieta be if Michelangelo hadn’t been so tough on the marble?

My conclusion? Education is art. And nothing is more counter to art than leaving raw material exactly as is. Those who do that aren’t dreamers or artists. Feelings of guilt sprouting from motherhood and fatherhood often turn into Jello. A rock is still a rock. We need to know that love is hard.

Many people discuss the “trophy generation.” More and more, young people are rewarded, but not because they necessarily deserve it. On that note, Elaine Brumm** nails it when she writes, “doing something for the merit eliminates the equation…” New generations seem to not notice how hard life is and how much work it takes to obtain what you desire. Even if you work extremely hard, there will always be something which is simply out of your reach.

It’s rather preoccupying how much new generations seem to learn, very early in childhood, to systematically guilt others for their own failures.

If a kid get bad grades, he or she will often blame the school or the teacher. And that same kid grows up to be the employee who will blame his or her boss or external factors as an excuse for a stagnant carrer. And yet how could it be any other way?

Generation Y is perhaps one of the most promising generations that has emerged in a while. Expert multi-taskers, bathing in technology, with enormous cognitive capacities. Yet, these same skills are also the ones which get this generation labeled as: superficial, immature, egocentric, impatient, and anxious.

It’s as if all this potential hasn’t been properly channeled and cultivated. Of course, we couldn’t hope that young people would get to the workplace completely ready. Yet, how could they reveal their Pieta if they never learned to use a hammer and a nail?

And so, a rock is still a rock. I don’t think it’s too late. With a little strength, discipline, and help from elders, we will teach them to use the tools they need.

*Rubem Alves is a psychoanalyst, educator, theologist, and Brazilian writer. This is an excerpt from her book “Sobre o Tempo e a EternaIdade”, Ed. Papirus, 1995, págs. 37 e 38.

**Eliane Brum is a journalist for Revista Epoca. She describes the generation of self-deserving individuals in the text “ “A era dos adultos infantilizados” published on Nov 16, 2009.

Cíntia Reinaux is 25 years old and feels so proud of being from Pernambuco. She seems to be a great sister and her patience is always completely tested by his brother, a Gen Z. She is an administrator who loves Human Resources and, in her free times, she likes to tell stories about her adventures in Canada, from where she has recently returned, on the blog http://reinaux.wordpress.com.

By Tatiana Kielberman

Sometimes we assume that everybody knows the basic terminology which classifies generations, and we forget that there are many people who have trouble understanding the classifications and characteristics of each one.

In a chat with my older brother, I realized that I know more about this theme than he does. He’s a bit lost.

Our conversation went something like this:

-Tati, I know you are part of Generation Y and I’m part of generation X, I’m 32. Is that right?

- Yes, you are on the very edge of X and Y, you were born in a transitional moment between generations.

- Oh, I get it. And what generation is mom from?

- She’s a baby boomer, she’s 58 years old.

-Baby boomer…what? She explodes babies?

-Ha, that’s not what baby boomer means.

-I’ve told you millions of times that our parents are part of the baby boomer generation. They were born in the 50’s and right after the second world war, came a boom in births. People started to have lots of kids, and that’s why they’re called the baby boomers. The boom is an explosion in birth rates.

-Oh, ok. But let me try to understand. How do you know all this?

-Well, for many reasons. My generation studied English as a foreign language more rigorously than yours. You grew up in a time of constant economic inflation and economic tension. There wasn’t much money to invest in extracurriculars. When generation Y was born our parents felt a necessity to guarantee our future. English was a way to do that.

- That’s true. You’re right. I studied English for a very short time, and I never made it a priority. Mom and Dad also didn’t ask a lot of me, and since I entered a job where I didn’t need a foreign language, I didn’t think much of it. So for me, that’s why “baby boomer” makes me think of exploding babies. I know only the basics of English. But for what other reason?

- Well, maybe I am also more connected to these topics than you are. You have different interests. Also generation Y is a bit quicker. So while you guys were thinking about researching something, we were already “googling,” “copying,” “pasting,” and answering your questions, and we always did this with a great deal of creativity, and a certain level of efficiency.

- Convenient huh?

-It’s an example, I’m talking not only about myself here, but about most of the young people my age. This doesn’t exclude you, as part of Gen X, full of your own history, symbols, and idols. Plus, you were raised in a better way than we were. I bet mom and dad said “No” to you more than me. With me, they had to deal with my “No’s.” And I actually don’t think this did me a favor at all, because I think I would have experienced more personal growth, if things had been a bit more difficult for me. But anyways, that’s the reality of the matter.

-I would say that this is called “spoiling.” I guess, I’m spoiled as well.

-Of course you were spoiled, but spoiled by the lack of things. There was a lack of money at some points. That made it so our parents often tried to compensate in other ways. With me, everything was in my reach, at whatever moment, and however I wanted it. The good side of this, is that I discovered that information was available. I got to research and create. I discovered the meaning of a baby boomer before you. The negative aspect of this is that my thirst is somewhat unquenchable, and I’m not easily satisfied. Perhaps when I become a full-time employee this will be one of my weak points.

-Yes, perhaps you should try to diminish this anxiety you have, that seems so typical of Generation Y. In my case, I get anxious when I have to find a new job. But seeing you today, I feel that things in my day were easier. It seems employers expected the basics from Generation X. A good university, an impressive CV. That’s it. And yet, you guys need much more than that.

-Yes, that’s right. Things aren’t easy, and the question is no longer simply to grasp opportunity. Rather, you need to know what will happen to these opportunities once they’re in our hands. We have to be capable of transforming and making something out of them. Nothing is static, everything changes, all the time!

-Maybe that’s why things need to be so innovative these days. I get tired just from thinking about it.

-If you’re tired, imagine us, and the pressure we go through every day! What I want most is to be happy, doing something that I’m passionate about.

-Well, it seems that you’ve discovered this talent, and you can only improve from here.

-I know, I’m generation Y. I have you as generation X to remind me that quality counts. And I’ve got mom and dad to remind me not to forget what really counts in life.

-That’s right. And what about our kids? What do you think it will be like for them?

-Well, that’s a topic for another day. They’ll probably represent unimaginable speed and velocity, that we can’t even begin to conceive. They’ll make the earth move, and if we do our part, then they will be filled with value. In the end, the most valuable aspect of generations is that even though we live in different times, we all grow by living on the edge. Got it?

-What?

-I asked if you understood what I meant. Got it?

-On yeah, I “got it,”

-Oh! At this rate my own kids won’t no the meaning of yes and no.

-No problem, just like a good gen yer, you’ll teach them in a matter of minutes.

By Eline Kullock
I just read an article on Folha On Line in which an actress, wearing a short dress (not even that short in the eyes of a baby boomer,) went to various prestigious Brazilian Universities (including the Law School at USP, FMU at University Ibriapuera, and PUC).  The actress, pretending to be a student, asked random questions like, “Where’s the bathroom?” just to test the reaction of students to her outfit.

Ironically, this actress suffered the same crazy reactions as the Uniban student Geisy Arruda, who was violently bullied, insulted, and ostracized by her classmates for wearing a short mini skirt.  The actress did undergo less violent reactions than Geisy.    In Geisy’s case, the police even had to get involved.

As I watch and reflect on this, I think about the pendulum theory.  Hippies created a counter culture, starting a revolution. Non-conformist went it came to war, they rebelled against the values of their time.

As society obtains certain liberal values, the pendulum seems to swing back to the other side.  There’s a rebellion against these liberal values, and a quest for a “middle ground” of the pendulum.

Are young people who rejected the micro-skirt attempting to express what can and can’t be done?  But this is the generation that CAN DO ANYTHING.   ANYTHING.  TOTAL FREEDOM FOR ALL.

Of course this “can do anything” mindset doesn’t encompass harmful actions, such as stealing, and killing.  However, it does include posing naked on the Internet.  It seems that young people don’t care about this.  “The body is mine, and I can do what I want with it.”    This has always been the message Gen Y has expressed.  A level of zero prejudice.

Even in my lectures young people are less prejudice than baby boomers.  There’s usually the sense that they accept people more as they are.  The accept diversity.

However, I’m really surprised at the number of weddings I see among very young people.  Up until very recently, wedding rates were low.  Our generation, the baby boomers, were revolutionaries.  We opened up doors for people to simply live together, without the need for a signed piece of paper, a priest, or a rabbi.

Generation X lived together and usually didn’t care so much about the tradition of marriage and religious ceremonies.   Especially because the fairytale of a virgin bride isn’t even close to reality anymore, it’s become totally irrelevant.   And yet, why is that in big Brazilian cities like Sao Paulo and Rio, I see more and more young people really wanting to get married?  What’s more, they want the classic wedding that we considered really old-fashioned in our day!

Does all this have to do with the shift and movement of counterculture?  Is this a movement of a current generation saying “enough!” to certain things?  Enough to “you can do anything?”   I can only understand the ban on the miniskirt (not only in the case of Geisy but also in all the Universities the actress went to), through the pendulum theory.   But if this isn’t the explanation, then I’m completely confused by the signals this generation is sending.  Perhaps some college students can explain what’s going on to me…

This is a question that has always haunted me. It still does. The roots of the question go even deeper: what do I want to get out of life? This philosophical question should be a question everyone asks. I don’t believe in simply letting life take over, relying completely on destiny, and yet I feel that most people live this way.

My generation was raised with the ideals of a “stable, solid, career” and a “structured family.” A solid career used to mean having a steady job in a good company, with a special focus in your area of expertise. The structured family meant marriage “until death do you apart,” with children. Combine all that with your own house, and you have the equation for perfect happiness. At least that was the life most dreamed of in the past.

Looking at today’s modern dilemmas, I ask myself if the old formula for success still applies.

Certainly, for this new generation, the point of life isn’t the same. Perhaps a huge change has been the feeling of realization and achievement. I’m talking about professional achievement. In this context, “solid careers” and marriages “until death do you apart,” don’t make much sense. Futurologists believe that formal job positions will greatly decrease, not to mention the idea of a traditional marriages. These days, people try being together first, before they even think of marriage. That is, if they ever do.

I believe that the big difference between my generation and this new generation is that we are living to build the future, while Generation Y is living in the present.

My Generation does everything for a better future. The formula of the future in the past was: “solid career” + “structured family” + “home ownership.”

On the other hand, Generation Y’s priority is to live. Of course they envision their future as bright and cool, but they think of a short-term future, not a long-term one. This generation wants to build a future, as long as it’s a near future.

I still wonder what I want to get out of my life. The feeling of realization and achievement are very personal and specific to each person. The feeling of fulfillment often feels like something almost unobtainable, and this creates frustration and inner conflict. On the other hand, every time we achieve something new, we think about our next challenge. Our being thrives on challenges, which quite possibly makes us the unhappiest species on the planet.

We make buying a car a priority in life, followed by owning a house, followed by exotic travels. Our search never ends. We always want more. This new generation seems less preoccupied with conquests, and appears more volatile. Maybe I’m wrong, but wherever I am, they always seem much more preoccupied with their own lives, than in getting the latest Montblanc pen.

Look in the mirror and ask: What is the life you are searching for? What is the purpose of life? What does success mean to you?

By Rudney Pereira Junior

Sometimes I feel like the “lost link” caught in the middle of generations. Like a fossil, stuck between the monkey and the human being. Archeologists searching for me in the heat of African deserts. If you’re into definitions, I belong to generation X. But I feel as though I’m part of Generation Y too. Perhaps I belong to the group in transition. As the son of baby boomers, I also carry many characteristics of Generation Y.

When I discovered the term “multi-tasking,” I felt relieved. I thought, “That’s what I am!” I’m able to do a million things at the same time, and take care of everything. I would always try to justify this by my astrology sign…

But it’s not only about multi-tasking. I’m afraid of getting left behind. Seriously. How do I explain this? I’m 33 years old, and I’m afraid of growing old. Another preoccupation. It’s not that I’m sick or anything like that. But I keep thinking what I’ll be like at 60 or 70. Will I be able to follow the frantic rhythm of technological evolution then?

I think of my grandmother. 77 years old in the midst of this technological revolution. She comes from the time of the wood-burning stove. Even worse, while I was growing up television was still black and white.

Another label for myself comes to mind: Kangaroo generation. Labels come and go at such rapid velocity. That makes me anxious. What legacy will this generation leave? Does planting a tree, having a kid, and writing a book still count? The question remains, how do you follow this life and not get passed by? I don’t want to ever be or feel useless. But how?

Have you heard of the Gen Y that doesn’t understand or know the meaning of processes? They are used to getting everything now. They like things to be easy and quickly resolved. You probably have. That’s where I’d like to start this post. A few weeks ago, I had a very unique experience that allowed me to observe generational behaviors.

I traveled to a remote beach only accessible by boat. Electricity was rationed, our showers were cold, food had to be delivered and was directly proportional to demand. The Internet? Nonexistent. Cell phones? You only get reception in certain places, with the help of fisherman who make up 80% of the population. TV? You could only watch it during the 4 hours a day when electricity is available.

Of course I marveled at how these people lived, without information or connection to the world, without cars, without traffic, free of everything modern. But even in the middle of all this, something really caught my attention. While my friends and I hiked along a path, we saw a group of men. Four men in their 40′s, with little boys who couldn’t be older than 6. At first we thought it was a bit strange since there were mostly young people around. Then we noticed that the men were with their sons.

We overheard a father talking to his son as they hiked:

-”Son, here we are, at the highest point of the mountain. This is the moment where our victory starts, after the difficult path. Let’s wait for our friends and applaud when they arrive. The important thing isn’t who makes it first. The important thing is getting here.”

I could see the little boy’s eyes sparkle. The sparkle of a challenge overcome. The sparkle that isn’t very common for a 5 year old, especially these days. Once the friends arrived, it was beautiful. They hugged and celebrated their victory. Everything was being filmed by one of the fathers. Full of pride, he was stuck to his camera.

We asked if they were all together, and they replied that this was an odyssey! They had told their mothers that this was a man’s trip.

Later we saw the little explorers again. They were in a local restaurant, and the learning wasn’t over. While they ate, their fathers taught them good table manners, how to respect others, and how to share with their friends.

At this moment, a group of young people arrived at the restaurant. They had a lot of hiking gear, they wore huge backpacks, and bandannas protected their heads. They looked like professional mountain climbers.

Again we overheard the parents:

-”They are the pirates of the place. They are looking a treasure hidden in the mountains, and they don’t stop hiking, not even to eat or sleep!”

The kids looked like they were in a mixed state of enchantment and apprehension. Their eyes glued to the group of young “pirates.” It was probably one of the most memorable moments of their trip. Later, they excitedly boarded a fisherman ship, and ran on the beach, truly living a unique moment. Their fathers recorded everything, proud of having survived a weekend with the boys, away from Sao Paulo, and mothers, in a place with so little infrastructure. This weekend would probably stay firm in everyone’s memory.

At that moment, a million thoughts flew into my mind. Did we really have to go so far to teach proper table manners, the value of overcoming challenges, the taste of victory over difficulty, the art of learning through play, or the importance of time spent between parent and child?

Does one really need to escape “civilization,” fleeing to a place with no cell phone reception, where it’s impossible to connect laptops or use blackberrys to properly raise one’s kids? I’m sure this isn’t the case. However, in this place, so distant from reality, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a long while: parents passing on values to their kids. This was the way most of our own parents had been raised. They had learned the necessity of processes and various steps, to reach a final goal or objective.

I started to feel nostalgic for the time when conversations with parents were not interrupted by cell phone rings or vibrations, by people signing into AIM, or by the stress of traffic, and the lack of time to learn.

That vacation spent on that faraway beach definitely marked the lives of those kids, not to mention the lives of their parents. And yet, it also impacts our lives, the lives of generation Y, as we started to question if this is the way we will eventually raise our own children. I hope so.

By Flávia Vianna

It’s incredible how a tool used to send messages through 140 characters can be used to update us, convey emotion, encourage thinking, reflection, and laughter, or “all of the above.”

A few weeks ago, I got a post through Twitter talking about a mom who went into an electronics store and asked the salesperson if he carried Twitter. She said she needed to buy Twitter for her son.

After this I went on a trip. Streaming velocity, downloading images and insights in my mind. I was thinking about Generation X and Generation Y.

It’s funny. No mother on earth is required (or even stimulated) to know about online social networks. But this mother was trying to understand this new generation. As my trip ended, I thought to myself: “what many big businesses need to do, hasn’t actually begun yet.”

When businesses are disconnected from technology, it’s sad. If this attitude comes from a big business, it’s completely unacceptable and embarrassing.

This week I got some comments, in regards to my last post. The comments were mostly from individuals belonging to Gen Y who work in businesses that are very set in their traditional ways, and haven’t realized that there’s a digital conversion to be made. Reading some of the comments, I couldn’t believe that there are still businesses that block access to social networks, on the grounds of “productivity.”

Employees born from the 1980’s onwards are at the epicenter of businesses and will be for years and years to come. Businesses that aren’t in tune today are going to become junk like in Wall-E, if they don’t adapt fast.

If you want to hire and tap into the competencies of these Gen Y creatures, please update your corporate world. Old concepts must be re-examined. There’s no point in listening to Pity on your iPod, if the machine that plays music at the office is still a record player with an LP by Trio Irakitan. Proof that this generation is hungry for information, is that I’m sure that at this exact moment, the gen y readers have already opened Youtube and are searching for “Trio Irakitan.

I’m not saying that Gen X readers aren’t interested in knowing more or researching things. It’s the way in which they research and function that’s different, and that sometimes causes conflict.

My interpretation is that the multi-functionality of Gen Y is what creates corporate conflict. And yet this conflict is a pure waste. A waste of time, a waste of energy, and a waste of money. Managers, leaders, and bosses, should try and take advantage of these Gen Y characteristics to minimize conflict and guarantee sustainability in their businesses.

I’d also like to reference the blog post “What’s Age Got to do With it” by Silvana Avinami. It’s an excellent post and very well written. It shows that respect comes with admiration and not with your birth date. We need to respect our differences and compile our distinct visions of complimentary worlds.

What is necessary to build mature work relationships isn’t age. It’s behavior, ethics, professionalism, and most importantly open heads and open hearts. And if you don’t know what that is…Google it.

Flavia Vianna is from Rio, works in advertising as a co-owner of the agency Trafor Comunicação. About 2/3 of her day is spent trying to understand human behavior. During the rest of the time she sleeps. Or tries to sleep. Recently initiated in the 2.0 world, she’s discovered that she’s embarked on a path of no return. She’s Gen X, but she was born at the wrong time. She’s actually SO Gen Y. Her philosophy in life: it’s an eternal process of re-learning.

By Flavia Vianna*

New illustration created by my intern. I signal over to him with my hand. Removing the phone, which is usually glued to my ear, making extra effort for a “personal approach,” and “personal interaction” with him.

He goes, “Ah….(popping chewing gum sounds)…check it out to see if this is cool.”

So, I walk over to his screen to “check it out.” Immediately distracted by the blinking AIM conversation and the 16 windows open at the same time (Yes, I counted). You can tell Gen X and Gen Y apart, just from the number of windows they have open at the same time. Two minutes ago, I had minimized my MSN because 4 windows is too stressful for me to handle. Not to mention blinking…

“Yeah…so is it cool or not?”

His voice brings me back to reality. The illustration. Yes of course. Here’s another characteristic of this generation. They see the world through digital windows, and believe the entire universe actually works like this. Try explaining that those of us over 30, look at MSN chats first, and then look at all that blinking, and only then are finally able to “check out” what we were supposed to be doing in the first place.

“The illustration looks great.” “Just add some color…” I’m interrupted. He answers his cell phone. I didn’t even hear the ring. Puzzled by this, I wondered, is there a ring tone that only those under 25 can hear?

And the other Gen Y employee sitting in front of him starts to laugh. Hauihaiuaihaiu. Yes, because “haha” “hehe” or “lol” is SO Gen X. My favorite illustrator finally hangs up, and explains the mysterious ring to me. I was right. The sound is so low, that as we grow old, we simply don’t hear the ring anymore. Perfect for class he explains, his professors never catch on. Oh yes, technology can be so cruel.

OK. So I know my hearing isn’t what it used to be. But I’d like to make clear that my soul is totally Gen Y. I’m completely enchanted by all post-1980 inventions. The other day, I caught myself at home, with my TV on, MSN chats open, two other windows open, SKYPE, texting through my cell, and to make it a total geek scenario, I was also tweeting. When my phone rang, I almost started crying. Emotional. This gen y thing was growing on me.

The truth is, I learn so much in my daily “laboratory” coexisting with these Gen Y creatures. They are really special, and they bring their worlds of everything.at.the.same.time.right.now. It’s as if they’ve come to me equipped with a chip that understands everything going on around me. It’s even better than Neo’s chip from the Matrix.

On top of all this, lies their extreme capacity for professionalism, ethics, compromise, and creativity. And of course my desire to know more and more about them just keeps growing.

Flavia Vianna is from Rio, works in advertising as a co-owner of the agency Trafor Comunicação. About 2/3 of her day is spent trying to understand human behavior. During the rest of the time she sleeps. Or tries to sleep. Recently initiated in the 2.0 world, she’s discovered that she’s embarked on a path of no return. She’s Gen X, but she was born at the wrong time. She’s actually SO Gen Y. Her philosophy in life: it’s an eternal process of re-learning.