Marty Anderson and Chuck Peden had talked about it for at least a decade. They’d probably thought about it for most of the quarter-century they’ve been married.
Both are gifted musicians. Both have golden voices. The husband and wife team sang together at public events. Why not record a c-d together?
For 10 years, the plan stayed in the talking stages. Just words. No music.
That changed last fall when Marty and Chuck visited our Northern California home on their way back to their residence in Washington state.
When talked about our college years, raising children and growing old. We also talked about the future. What we could do with it. I gave them a copy of my book, “10,000 Days.”
They read it over the next few days and a spark was lit.
Last month, a package arrived at our home. It was a copy of Marty and Chuck’s c-d, “Farther Down the Road.”
On it, twelve songs written by Chuck and Marty. Sung by Marty and Chuck. Produced by Chuck. Recorded at Rainmaker Studios. Accompanied by a trio of their children singing back-up and playing drums and guitars.
Marty said the book simply inspired them. The message of making the most out of our next 10,000 days hit home.
“I think it was the general message from the book that was the driving force,” Marty said in an e-mail. “It woke me up. Made me realize I could still make some sort of an impression on this world. I think I was at a turning point in my life, wrestling with (whether to) sit back and relax and watch my life roll by or put some effort into the last years.”
Marty and Chuck have done what I encourage all Baby Boomers to do. As we cruise into 50s and 60s, we should try to make the world a better place and to make ourselves better people.
We now have a half-century of experience and perspective we can offer. Many of us also have extra time to accomplish things we have put off for years. Learn a second language. Take up that hobby. Climb that mountain. Or, record that c-d you’ve always said you would.
Once they decided to go forth, Chuck and Marty said the rest was relatively simple.
“I was amazed at how easy the actual task was in comparison to making the decision to just do it,” said Marty.
The couple urges others to do the same.
“Granted, the c-d did not change the world on the whole, but it has had a ripple effect in family and friends and in my attitude,” said Marty. “I feel like I can still make a difference and not only that, I owe it to myself and others to do just that.”
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Keeping That Job
It’s a strange situation for a lot of Baby Boomers, a generation that grew up in bustling economic times.
A job wasn’t something we thought much about as we traveled through high school, vocational classes or college.
The economy in the 1960s and even early 1970s was strong. A job was something that just came naturally.
Most of us chose careers we were interested in. Something we had passion for. Or a field where we could change the world.
How times have changed.
The country is struggling to come out of its worst economic slump in 70 years. The employment rate is hovering at nine percent, higher in some regions and for some segments of the population.
Baby Boomers have an additional burden in this regard. Their age.
Companies, in general, are disinclined to hire or promote people over the age of 50. With a tight job market and our culture’s emphasis on youth, industry is even less open to bringing on someone who has passed the half-century mark.
There is one bright spot for the Baby Boom generation. At the moment, they are less likely to be laid off. In March, the unemployment rate for workers over the age of 45 was 6.4 percent. That’s the highest rate for that age group since 1948, but it’s still significantly less than the national average.
However, once older workers lose their jobs, it is much tougher to find a new one. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports laid-off workers over age 45 were out of work an average of 22 weeks in 2008, compared to 16 weeks for younger workers.
Those statistics are also higher than the recessions of 1983 and 2001, when workers over age 45 were unemployed for an average of 19 weeks and 17 weeks, respectively.
The situation is causing serious concern among Baby Boomers, a generation that doesn’t want to retire, much less can afford to do so.
The question… what do we do now?
One alternative is to fight back. Baby Boomers have apparently begun to do so. Age discrimination complaints were up 30 percent in 2008. However, those claims are tough to prove. They are also a divisive wedge between generations.
Another tact being tried by older workers is trimming their resume to hide their age or even dying their hair. Not sure this is the right path either. It’s demeaning and doesn’t attack the real problem.
I suggest a better solution. Baby Boomers should try to change the culture, something we have done over and over again in our lifetime.
The problem in the job market is experience and knowledge isn’t valued. Older workers are looked upon as expensive and past their prime. The stereotypes and jokes abound.
We need to alter the way seasoned employees are looked upon. We can do this not only by speaking up but also in the way we do our jobs. We can be the cost-effective employees who efficiently get their work done. We can be the co-workers who don’t complain much and offer sought-after advice to younger workers.
As a group, if we show employers we are worth the money they are spending on us, they will be inclined to keep us on the job.
That is not only good for our generation. It is good for the country and the workplace.
A job wasn’t something we thought much about as we traveled through high school, vocational classes or college.
The economy in the 1960s and even early 1970s was strong. A job was something that just came naturally.
Most of us chose careers we were interested in. Something we had passion for. Or a field where we could change the world.
How times have changed.
The country is struggling to come out of its worst economic slump in 70 years. The employment rate is hovering at nine percent, higher in some regions and for some segments of the population.
Baby Boomers have an additional burden in this regard. Their age.
Companies, in general, are disinclined to hire or promote people over the age of 50. With a tight job market and our culture’s emphasis on youth, industry is even less open to bringing on someone who has passed the half-century mark.
There is one bright spot for the Baby Boom generation. At the moment, they are less likely to be laid off. In March, the unemployment rate for workers over the age of 45 was 6.4 percent. That’s the highest rate for that age group since 1948, but it’s still significantly less than the national average.
However, once older workers lose their jobs, it is much tougher to find a new one. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports laid-off workers over age 45 were out of work an average of 22 weeks in 2008, compared to 16 weeks for younger workers.
Those statistics are also higher than the recessions of 1983 and 2001, when workers over age 45 were unemployed for an average of 19 weeks and 17 weeks, respectively.
The situation is causing serious concern among Baby Boomers, a generation that doesn’t want to retire, much less can afford to do so.
The question… what do we do now?
One alternative is to fight back. Baby Boomers have apparently begun to do so. Age discrimination complaints were up 30 percent in 2008. However, those claims are tough to prove. They are also a divisive wedge between generations.
Another tact being tried by older workers is trimming their resume to hide their age or even dying their hair. Not sure this is the right path either. It’s demeaning and doesn’t attack the real problem.
I suggest a better solution. Baby Boomers should try to change the culture, something we have done over and over again in our lifetime.
The problem in the job market is experience and knowledge isn’t valued. Older workers are looked upon as expensive and past their prime. The stereotypes and jokes abound.
We need to alter the way seasoned employees are looked upon. We can do this not only by speaking up but also in the way we do our jobs. We can be the cost-effective employees who efficiently get their work done. We can be the co-workers who don’t complain much and offer sought-after advice to younger workers.
As a group, if we show employers we are worth the money they are spending on us, they will be inclined to keep us on the job.
That is not only good for our generation. It is good for the country and the workplace.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Generation Jones
Jonathan Pontell thinks the best of the Baby Boom era might be coming the next few years.
In fact, he doesn’t even think the leaders now surfacing are Baby Boomers at all. He thinks they are an entirely new generation.
Pontell has dubbed them “Generation Jones.” These are the people, he says, born between 1954 and 1965.
This age group is certainly something to be reckoned with. First, there are 53 million people born in those dozen years. That’s twice as many as were born between 1946 and 1953.
Pontell believes they straddle the gap between Baby Boomers and Generation X. They are, it seems, almost a mixture of the two. Yet unique in their own way.
Gen Jones had a much different experience growing up in the 1960s than their older counterparts. During those tumultuous times, they were toddlers and elementary school students while Baby Boomers were in their teens and early 20s. The two age groups had significantly different experiences during those years.
Generation Jones, for example, remembers the Vietnam War, but unlike the Boomers they did not have the military draft hanging over their heads.
The Baby Boomers had to protest and demand equal rights and civil rights. Generation Jones watched this change unfold and then benefited from it during their adult years.
Pontell says the 1960s were an intense, ideological time for the Baby Boomers while that decade is remembered by Generation Jones more for its idealism. Baby Boomers were digging in and fighting for change while Jonesers were taking it all in from afar. Generation Jones, perhaps, was enlightened by the 1960s without being deeply scarred by its violent, emotional divisions.
Pontell came up with term “Jones” from the word’s slang definition of craving or yearning for something. It also symbolizes the anonymity the age group can have from being squeezed between Boomers and Xers. Those born in those years do feel they belong in an independent category. A poll from the website “Third Age” of people born in 1961 showed that 57 percent consider themselves part of Generation Jones. Only 27 percent put themselves down as Baby Boomers while 21 percent said they were Gen Xers.
Gen Jones is definitely an up-and-coming phenomenon. The Associated Press Trend Report lists Generation Jones as the number one trend of 2009. The leaders of this group are certainly rising and making themselves heard.
The best known of them is President Barack Obama. Our 47-year-old leader has taken the reins after his two Baby Boomer predecessors led the nation through 16 divisive years. The country split in half, angrily vacillating between extremes and not fixing some of the long-term problems the country faces.
President Obama has set a different tone, at least so far. He has a calmer, more disciplined approach. He is inclusive yet decisive. He sees the goals in the distance and is patient in achieving them.
It is something the nation needs not only in government but in industry, schools and neighborhoods.
Whether Generation Jones is its own generation or whether it is a subgroup of Baby Boomers isn’t important. What is important is for this emerging group of leaders to steer our ship in a better direction.
And Baby Boomers and Gen Xers alike should help them.
In fact, he doesn’t even think the leaders now surfacing are Baby Boomers at all. He thinks they are an entirely new generation.
Pontell has dubbed them “Generation Jones.” These are the people, he says, born between 1954 and 1965.
This age group is certainly something to be reckoned with. First, there are 53 million people born in those dozen years. That’s twice as many as were born between 1946 and 1953.
Pontell believes they straddle the gap between Baby Boomers and Generation X. They are, it seems, almost a mixture of the two. Yet unique in their own way.
Gen Jones had a much different experience growing up in the 1960s than their older counterparts. During those tumultuous times, they were toddlers and elementary school students while Baby Boomers were in their teens and early 20s. The two age groups had significantly different experiences during those years.
Generation Jones, for example, remembers the Vietnam War, but unlike the Boomers they did not have the military draft hanging over their heads.
The Baby Boomers had to protest and demand equal rights and civil rights. Generation Jones watched this change unfold and then benefited from it during their adult years.
Pontell says the 1960s were an intense, ideological time for the Baby Boomers while that decade is remembered by Generation Jones more for its idealism. Baby Boomers were digging in and fighting for change while Jonesers were taking it all in from afar. Generation Jones, perhaps, was enlightened by the 1960s without being deeply scarred by its violent, emotional divisions.
Pontell came up with term “Jones” from the word’s slang definition of craving or yearning for something. It also symbolizes the anonymity the age group can have from being squeezed between Boomers and Xers. Those born in those years do feel they belong in an independent category. A poll from the website “Third Age” of people born in 1961 showed that 57 percent consider themselves part of Generation Jones. Only 27 percent put themselves down as Baby Boomers while 21 percent said they were Gen Xers.
Gen Jones is definitely an up-and-coming phenomenon. The Associated Press Trend Report lists Generation Jones as the number one trend of 2009. The leaders of this group are certainly rising and making themselves heard.
The best known of them is President Barack Obama. Our 47-year-old leader has taken the reins after his two Baby Boomer predecessors led the nation through 16 divisive years. The country split in half, angrily vacillating between extremes and not fixing some of the long-term problems the country faces.
President Obama has set a different tone, at least so far. He has a calmer, more disciplined approach. He is inclusive yet decisive. He sees the goals in the distance and is patient in achieving them.
It is something the nation needs not only in government but in industry, schools and neighborhoods.
Whether Generation Jones is its own generation or whether it is a subgroup of Baby Boomers isn’t important. What is important is for this emerging group of leaders to steer our ship in a better direction.
And Baby Boomers and Gen Xers alike should help them.
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