Mike "Dirty Jobs" Rowe Nails It

[bezhawk]

Well, sorry that you took it as disparagement and narrow mindedness. I was describing what I've been seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears because I feel I have a very open view of the world around me. I know there are many other folks who have seen and heard the same kinds of things from millennials - hell, it's the stuff of SNL and late night TV these days. I can't help it, and certainly won't be offended or feel bad if you took it differently.

You can't please everyone all the time. You can only please some of the people some of the time

The reply wasn't directed at you.

[showbizkid]

Fair warning now : any more sniping and this thread gets locked. Play nice.

[hausdok]

Mike: I would say that we are about the same age give o r take a couple of years which is to say we are of the same generation.. You sure are acting as if our generation was perfect which is far from the truth. Part of the problems we have with some millennials today is because of our generations drug culture of the late 60's dating although the 80's that our generation is famous for. Remember pot, heroin, cocaine, lsd and other drugs our generation used. That drug culture has migrated down through two generations now.

You have made comments about the weight of some children today do yourself a favor take a good long look at yourself in a mirror Being that you stated that your doctor told you to lose 50 lbs. being that much over weight what kind of example have you set for your children and grand children in that area of human health. When I graduated from high school I was 6 ft 2 inches tall weighed 160 lbs sock & wet I was real skinny then. Got on the scales at the local YMCA today weighed 187 lbs in my street cloths and shoes. I work out three times a week which helps me from gaining excess weight because of the back problems I have. I could never imagine letting myself get 50 lbs over weight. When the last time you did any hard physical work.

From being on local school board for several years I know first hand we have a lot of young people out their that are very bright hard working persons making great contributions to our society despite what you think.

John S.

Hey, it's not a competition. Nobody has to be right here.

It's personal observations from different perspectives. I've never said that my generation was perfect. Hell, I spent half my life chasing those from my generation that were criminals. If we were such a perfect generation there wouldn't be so many of us who became alcoholics or dope addicts and there wouldn't be so many of our generation in stir.

When was the last time I did hard physical work? Hmm, well I do that all the time. When was the last time you low-crawled through a space less than twenty inches high through dirt and feces, weaving around piers, rolling over to check the underside of a floor deck every five or six feet, moving up and down the entire length of that crawl about four to six times and making at least one full circuit around the perimeter, pulling yourself under low-hanging ducts using your elbows and pushing with just the tips of your feet; or low-crawled the length of an 18-inch deep attic space moving along the top of ceiling joists without any support between joists that enable you to rest a bit? I assure you, it's very hard and very physical and its like getting several workouts all lumped together - and that happens three or four times a week, adding up to a total of about 4 to 5 hours of hard physical labor spread out through the week. Doesn't seem to do much for the weight though - the weight started coming on in my mid fifties and seems to correlate with when my knees began going bad and I was no longer able to jog. That's OK though. I'm an old fart and typical for the men in my family at this age so I don't sweat it.

What I was saying about the kids has more to do with them not getting out and exercising, because they are inside in front of the video games, instead of being outside and being active, and I believe it's that which is creating this generation that, unlike back in the 50s or 60s when heavy kids were far fewer, has created a generation of kids where a huge percentage of them are obest. I fully acknowledged that I'm a chubette. But, like you, I was thin as a kid and fat kids in those days were not very many because we, fat kids included, got out in those days, exercised and did stuff. We didn't loll around in front of a TV sucking down sugar-laden drinks all day. Yeah, we sucked down sugar laden drinks, but it was outside and while we were getting exercise. That's the point I was making about the kids. As we get older, our metabolism slows down and we don't burn off as many calories as we should. We are also unable to exercise like we used to. This means when we get to be our age many of us are obese. So be it, we've lived our lives and we don't mind being chubettes. It's a different thing for the kids though - the "stuff" they get to dink around with these days doesn't get them exercising much. A kid that's fat at 9 or 10, who doesn't start losing that weight by the time he or she reaches the teens and then moves into adulthood, has a high likelihood of a future laden with a lifetime of weight-induced health issues.

[sweetolbob]

Depends on which broad brush one chooses to use. I'll be attending my 4th grand child's High School graduation in 6 years. Like Brad's they have all done well and are moving on toward adulthood.

Grand daughter (25) full college scholarship, third year in the best Vet grad school in the nation, top of her class and up a 4 AM to be in the clinic at 5AM.
Grand daughter (22) third year college Going to be a teacher, part time job, coaches her old high school's dance and cheerleading teams.
Grand daughter (21) third year college, Dean's list, MBA bound two part time jobs.
Grand son (19) high school senior, Deans list, varsity football three years, state level runner, part time job.

Am I proud of them, well I put it here. But the bottom line is, the youngen's that want to achieve are still doing it. I watch their class mates cross the stage to get there degrees and see a pretty healthy group of folks. Are there obese one's yup! but the general folks look pretty healthy and are pretty solid academically.

Now the downside and where the post topic is important IMO.

My SIL is a fifth grade math/science teacher in this school district. He is also the head JV football coach. He's been teaching in this system for about 20 years. He says his biggest frustration is the feeling of entitlement among some has been growing markedly in the past few years. In his classes historically he says there may have been 1-2 kids that just didn't care and drag down the class but he says it now can approach 40% in some years. He has his ideas on how to change that but it's not for my discussion here.

Somewhere in the future those expectations and low achievement will need to be dealt with so providing jobs for those that will take them will be important.

For those that don't want to take them, there will be significant learning experience involved some how.

I'm not here to discuss solutions but to provide data on both ends of the spectrum.

I should add that he continues to be pleased with the guys that play football, he says they still have good attitudes train hard and compete as well as ever.

So grab your brush and paint away.

[jclary]

Hey, it's not a competition. Nobody has to be right here.

Fair warning now : any more sniping and this thread gets locked. Play nice.

Well...(unless something untoward happens while I'm typing)...I'm impressed we've made it this far without getting the thread locked.

Too often, we either post our comments in a way that we stake out our position as an "absolute"...or we misinterpret the comments of others and become combative when it seems to contradict. If we could only not take ourselves too seriously, and realize that life is like the pendulum of a clock, or the rhythm of the surf.

I have a very dear friend who, although we have much in common, we are polar opposites in many other ways. In regards to our different opinions, I often disarm his "cocksure" conclusions by using the statement..."You should be thankful for my friendship...for if it wasn't for me, there would be no one left on earth to whom you could feel superior!"

With that, we have a good laugh and move on. There are many good observations in this thread, but as we have observed, there is no "right/wrong" but the perspective of any given wave depends on which side of it you are on. Like our own generation (any generation) there's good & not so good. Disparaging some does not necessarily condemn all. However in-artful our ability to express ourselves clearly, let's do our best to do it with a bit of humility, decorum, and a little humor.

For me, if things work out, I hope to make it to the York swap meet. If I do, my hope is that anyone reading this, can stand flatfooted, shake my hand, look me in the eye, and see the same excitement regarding all things STUDEBAKER reflected in my expression.