Generation Y?

Over this winter term, I have been taking an online human resources class. While, winter term isn't typically my thing, since snow and ice doesn't exactly motivated me.. I found our recent topic of study a little more interesting…

Many of us have heard of Generation Y and the current growing generation Y gap? But many of us don't look for this gap or even notice it in our daily lives. While technology is continuing to grow and the current generation is "taking over", things are certainly changing!

Most of us, couldn't imagine getting our work done without our computers, cellphones, email, and the wonderful source of all knowledge.. Google. (Anybody else find themselves googling everything recently?… Oh wait, thats just me!). This generation wants answers and they want them now! But thats how most of us were raised! If I want to know how to make a grilled cheese, I don't have to get up, drive to the library, find a book, check it out, and bring it home and start reading. I simply pull out my phone and ask Siri "How do I make a grilled cheese"… and a recipe will pop right up! DONE! Took me maybe 30 seconds, and I'm off to make my yummy sandwich!

However, I think the problem is that some of the older generations, can't keep up with all of our changing ways and fast answers! They grew up believing that you start at the bottom and you work your way to the top. Nobody just walks into a new office place and gets a promotion the next day. Not unless your Steve Jobs… Oh wait…… He had to work his way up too.

Bottom line is that I think this generation gap has nothing to do with age. I think the problems simply come from two sources…

1) Communication! …. Generation Y is communicating is ways that require anything but face to face conversation. Text messages! Emails! Facebook messages! …. Wait, my phone is making a strange sound… Ohhhh, someone is trying to call me?…. Must be my mom! (Love you mom!)… While some conversations are appropriate to have in a text based form, others are not. And most importantly, generation x needs to realize that generation y is excepting feedback and encouragement constantly! … And generation y needs to learn that just because my boss doesn't tell me "good job!" every time I turn in my work, that it doesn't mean he doesn't like my work.

2) Patience! For those of you gen y's out there….

Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties


Our generation wants answer and we want it NOW! We want to be famous and known NOW! We don't know how to work our way up! We want everything handed to us! While the younger generation needs to learn to work and wait for the good things to come… The older generation needs to learn to be patient with this newer generation. 

You Can't Take It With You

Recently, I've been busy stage managing a crazy insane cirrus show. And at first, it was just like every other show I have ever stage managed, just another show telling another silly story. Find the props. Make sure you have lights cues, sound cues, costumes, set pieces. Deal with the crazy needy actors. Typically stage management job.

Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forgot to stop and take in everything thats happening around us.. For those of you how don't know, my father passed away on July 23rd, due to stage four cancer and respiratory complications. It's been tough, and a day doesn't go by that I don't think of him.

So your probably wondering how all this relates to stage managing. Well, its not about stage managing at all actually. Its about the show. But more importantly, as Jack Parkhurst would say "Its about the story."

You Can't Take It With You tells the story of a crazy family, who frankly do whatever well they please. The story is centered around a good daughter, who falls in love with a young co-worker. But sadly, there families are so different that they don't believe the relationship will never work out. The story focus on the girls grandfather, who believes that life is short to be bothered by silly affairs. He quits suddenly one day, and decides that he is going to spend his time doing whatever he wants. He goes to graduation ceremonies, zoos, and collects snakes in his free time. He doesn't pay income taxes, because he doesn't believe it them. He doses what he wants because life is short.

I think the best way to sum up grandfathers outlook on life is said in this quote:

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff: Maybe it'll stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money than you can ever use? You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends.


It's funny how the things that we are doing in our daily lives, because they seem like "work", can relate so much to what is happening in our life around us. It's the first day of tech week, and I finally listening hard enough to realize that Grandpa is just like my father. In some ways, he is my dad.

My Dad stopped working years ago, and did the bare minimum at his office, because he had a life to live. My dad always had something going on up his sleeve. Baseball games. Football games. Sporting events of all sizes. Seeing plays. Traveling. Spending time with friends. He did what he wanted too because it made him happy.

My Dad always told me "Money doesn't matter"... I said I wanted to go to Paris because it was my dream. Regardless of how much it cost, my Dad simply wrote a check and sent me on my way. I wanted to go to a Husker game because I felt like it was part of the college experience. My dad spent a whole year working to find me tickets. I told him it wasn't important enough to worry so much about, but he didn't give up. And myself and four friends, happily went to the game. My brother wanted to go the World Series, and he did.

That was Dad. I always thought he was crazy. "Money doesn't matter". Thats crazy. Of course it matters! But you know what, if this play has taught me anything... its that my dad was 100% right. Money doesn't matter. It wasn't about the money to my dad. It was about the experiences that my dad gave up..

And Grandpa was right too. You can't take it with you. My Dad died and his money was left behind to my brother and I. My Dad didn't pay medical bills or such, because he didn't want too. He gave every cent and dim he earned to my brother and I. He could of paid off bills, but instead he bought us nice cars, and great educations. And you know what, its not about the cars or trips or money. Its about the experiences that we've gained for them. Because, one day, we are all going to die, and we won't be able to take the money or cars with us. But, we will be able to take the memories.

My Dad spent his last six months living off a feeding tube, and never say a day without pain. But he still lived his life. Just a few days before he passed, he was outside mowing the lawn. Because he liked it. I visited him the month prior, and he was outside sitting around laughing with friends. Because thats what he enjoyed. And when he did die, he didn't take the money or physical things with him. But I do know that my dad took a lot of GREAT memories, and a life lived EVERY DAY to its fullest.

More people showed up to my dads funeral then any other church service that town had seen in 25 years. People I never meet. Friends that I or my dad haven't seen in years. My dad told my grandparents that he wanted his funeral dinner to be at a small pizza shack by the church. Nobody understood. Why wouldn't he want it at the country club or someplace nice? ... My dad told my grandparents that it was because he had friends who couldn't drive and he wanted everybody who wanted to be there, to have a fair chance to be there..... Because, he know that it wasn't about the food or nice restaurants. It was about the memories. And those people who couldn't drive, had a smile on there face. They won't get to take the food or drinks with them. But they sure as hell, will take the memories, love, and compassion my father showed them.


I really hope my ramblings, makes you stand back and really look at life. We get so focused on things that we believe we should do, and work, instead of doing what truly makes us happy. And sometimes we forgot that in the end... You Can't Take It With You.

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11 years ago today, our world was turned upside down as those two towers can down in New York and thousands of loved ones were lost. Everyone has there stories, and so I figured, its time to share mine.

I remember exactly what I was doing during 9/11. But the thing was, I didn't know what was happening. Then again, no one did.

First: I was sitting spelling class taking a test, when a plane flew overhead. It had to be flying pretty low, so I'm sure my teacher stopped for a second, we looked up, and continued to go back to work. While I don't remember this moment exactly, it was that moment when my story began. 

Second: Our teachers were called out of the room, along with a few students whose parents had worked in the city. They knew what was going on. Meanwhile the 8th graders came in and entertained us. They later told us that there was a large accident in the city. But no one knew what that meant. 

Third: It was getting late, and my mom wasn't home. She called and said she was going to be home very late, because there was an accident in New York and they were bringing people into her hospital. My mom worked about an hour out of the city. I remember our babysitter made us watch movies instead of tv. She put my brother to bed, but my mom had told me that she wanted me to stay up. 

Fourth: My mom got home, and turned on the TV. She explained what had happened. It took me a while to understand, but once I did, I cried. I remember laying on the sofa crying. Not because I understood what was still to come, or that I comprehended that lives lose, but because I was scared. I was scared because I knew that plane flew right over my head. Between New York, Washington DC, and PA, I knew that most of those planes had flew right over me. I knew that if there were more attacks in New York, that we were going to be effected. Knowing what happened is scary, but being so close is even more scary. I give the greatest blessings to the people who where there. Especially, children. Because as a ten year old, I was scared, and I had a good three hours on them. I couldn't imagine what it was like to be living in the city. 

Five: I didn't go to school the next day. My mom didn't go to work, because her hospital was over full, so her department was closed, and it was too close to the city to travel. My class had a field trip to the city planned the following week. I told my mom that I was too scared to go. She didn't make me go. For the longest time, I would look up and just pray every time I saw a plane fly overhead. And to this day, there are moments when I still look up and pray when I see a plane flying low. I remember thinking about how silly I would feel if my classmates made fun of me. But since I've gotten older, I realized that I had every reason to be scared and I'm sure they all felt the same way. 

It's kind of an incredible event. Its amazing how so much changed in those few moments. Scary. It was history in the making. 

It may be history. But it will never be forgotten. <3 .="." div="div" nbsp="nbsp">

Good Byes.

Well, today I finished cleaning out the old Fancy Place. Monday, I'll turn in the keys, and Tuesday someone else will be moving in. I'm going to miss that place. So in honor of the Fancy Place and my first apartment, I hereby present a list of things that the Fancy Place has thought me/random memories.

• TV stands from Target are a two day building project. 
• If don't have a hammer handy, a Lutheran Study Bible will work just as well.
• 20$ bed frames from Amazon.com are dangerous and will be break in a matter of weeks.
• The best place to build snow people is on the balcony. 
• If you throw muffins on Corrie's balcony in the Winter, she will find them in the Spring. 
• Getting trashed the night before working a morning track meet or speech/debate meet is never a good idea. However, that doesn't mean you won't make the same mistake next time. 
• That being said, track meets and speech/debate meets are never the same if your not hungover. 
• If you drink while doing a drama project, you'll get an A. However, it doesn't work with Education projects. 
• Theres nothing wrong with a glass of wine, before dealing with middle schoolers. 
• When moving in. Always except help from the hot neighbors. 
• Culver's ketchup cups make for great jello shot holders.  
• Kelsey does not have the power to jump off the balcony and climb back on.
• DDR Country Music is only fun if Rachel wins. 
• Sometimes, you have to live with a crappy living room for 4months, before you realize theirs a better way to arrange furniture. 
• Netflix > Cable. 
• People will come to your apartment to simply steal your internet. Including your neighbors. 
• If you get scared at night. You can bang on the wall and Corrie will reassure you that she's right on the other side. 
• Balconies are the best place to bitch about life and people you don't like. 
• By the end of the night, the yard underneath the balcony will be covered with sunflower seeds.
• Don't forget to water the planets outside with WATER. Rum and coke does not keep them alive. 
• Margarita Mondays <3. 
• If your planning to trash Tasha's office for her Birthday, don't blow the balloons up at the apartment. You'll have to carry them down the stairs in trash bags and find a way to fit them all in the car. 
• That being said, paper chains are never good ideas when your bored. They just keep getting longer and longer. 
• And to go along with that, always give Tasha the nice chain, because she gets more excited. Corrie can get the shitty left overs, since she's pretty easy to please :) 
• When in doubt, barrow a shot glass from Corrie and tell her your doing shots of water. 
• The sofa isn't big enough for sleeping on. Use the floor. 
• Nothing says WELCOME TO CONCORDIA, they convincing the new volleyball coach that he lives across the hall from 2 boys and a girl, in a one bedroom apartment. 
• The Michigangers are always welcomed, and there is always room for them (somewhere).
• I do have a walk in closet, and we can fit four people in fit, with coats. 
• It is possible to shove Rachel into the bathroom closet, and it hurts. 
• Coming back from Theatre Study Tour, and saying "WHO THE F DRANK MY WINE WHILE I WAS GONE!"..... I never do remember drinking that bottle of wine. 
• Nobody watches movies on movie nights. 
• The boys feel manly when you let them make you food on the grill. 
• Don't give your neighbors a fish for their birthday. You'll just end up caring for a hobo fish. 
• Don't forget to check in! 

Nick, Kelsey, Nate, and Corrie, I except you help me continue the list, so I can add too it :) 

RIP: The Fancy Place! :(

The Monster in the Shower

Normally, I don’t like to get all personal in my blog. After all this is a public website, and who knows what’s going to come back to haunt me in a few years. But this is an issue that I really want to bring to the surface.

A few days ago, I was standing in my bathroom brushing my hair and singing in the mirror. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been living in a one bedroom apartment by myself for a few months now. Anyway, so there I was, singing and brushing my hair, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I heard it. You know that “noise” you hear in your head, and all of a sudden you know that someone is in your shower. Don’t lie. I know you know exactly what I’m talking about.

This was the first time; I’ve had this experience since I’ve been living on my own. So just like any normal person, I quickly finished getting ready and ran off to work, hoping that I would soon forget about my over active imagination. But let’s not lie to ourselves here, my jobs boring and what else was I going to do for hours but sit around and think about the person in my shower who was going to kill me.

That’s when I started thinking. I knew that when I got home, the first thing I was going to do with check my shower. Don’t laugh, because I know you’ve all done it at some point in your life. It’s natural instinct. So we walk into the bathroom, stand in front of the shower and slowly pull back the curtain to find an empty tub just as you last left it. But, has anyone every thought about what they would do if someone was in fact in the shower? Because at that point you just set yourself up to be killed. The murder or kidnapper or whatever was in your shower, was perfectly content hiding, until you pulled back the curtain.

In reality, we would probably all scream and start running, but by the time you’ve unlocked the bathroom door and tried to get out, they already got you!

Next time, I hear a noise in that bath-room, I’m just going to leave it there. Eventually one day, the monsters going to get me anyway.

Rachel

Picture Perfect Pintrest

Unless you live under a rock, in which you shouldn’t be reading this, then you’ve probably heard of the new “internet sensation” Pinterst. In case you are the loser who lives under the rock, here is what you need to know:

Pinterest is a website based of the ideas of facebook, that allows users to search a catalog of millions of photos and then “repin” or share their finding with other users. Then everyone sits around the computer for hours “following” their friends by looking through their picture findings. Its pretty much google images with facebook friends.

I’m going to be honest, I have a Pinterst and while I’m not as addicted as others, I do log on daily. Mostly, because I’m bored and mostly because it’s fun to creep on your friends. Sorry Facebook, timeline is just making it to hard for me to creep conformability.

So I don’t have a problem with Pinterst and I thing it’s a wonderful idea. However, as I look through my friends “postings”, I can’t help but wonder if Pinterst is giving us a false sense of reality. Every time I log onto Pinterest, I find endless pictures of perfect weddings, perfect fashion, perfect houses, and lets be honest I’m an education major, perfect classrooms!

We all like to fantasize and admire what we don’t have. But this has taken “dreaming of the perfect future” a little too far. I don’t want to break anyone’s heart, but no ones house actual looks that perfect, and no one actual has weddings on private beaches. Unless of course, your daddy’s a millionaire or you have an uncontrollable desire to spend the rest of your life in death.

While I understand that everyone likes to look at pictures that please the eye and show off that perfect reality you always dreamed about as a kid, maybe we’ve taken it a little too far. So in a few years, when your getting married or buying your first house, do yourself a favor, don’t expect your life to be like Pintrest. The internet is not reality.

Rachel

Spring && Changes.

I'm not gonna even try and make up excuses for my lack of post lately. Nope, not gonna do it.

Well, it is finally getting warm outside, the grass in my backyard is starting to look green again, and I'm getting random cravings for sandwiches. In case you don't know what that means: Spring is on the way! And if we want to be really positive here, Summer will be here in no time!

I'm not sure what it is about sandwiches, but I only like them when it is warm outside and I'm wearing shorts. Obviously, I "like" them in the winter, I don't think my taste buds change with the seasons, but I always have a had a really hard time eating lunch meat and cheese, being held together on two pieces of cold bread in the winter. I never understood why, but it's just a strange mental weirdness about me.

So spring is on the way, soon followed by summer and that puts me in a rather good mood. When Rachel is in a good mood, she tends to remember that she has a blog that she enjoys writing in. St. Patrick's Day is also coming up, and it was around this time last year that I began this whole blogging thing. As a result, I decided that maybe it was time to force myself to bring it back!

As "Spring" productions, never understood why we call them that since they mostly take place in the winter, begin to wrap up and the theatre season is coming to a close, faster then I would like, I realize that for a few months (or weeks) I will have some extra time on my hands. Free time doesn't go over to well with me. Not sure why, but I always feel like wasting time is unproductive... Oh wait, it is.

Anyways, I decided that this spring, not only am I going to enjoy the nice warm sunshine, but I'm also going to try and spend at least an hour everyday doing one of two things.... 1) laying outside and blogging or 2) laying outside and reading a book.

I'll let you know how that works out for me! :)