Another phrase...for discussion

It seems that some pretty large swathes of the younger generations want to be "important" (those quotation marks are deliberate, ha ha), with their seemingly constant need for social media likes and the mystifying (to me) rise of influencers. :unsure:

I personally want to be important to my children and grandchildren. That's the only importance I care about.
 
Younger people are really into the 'fake it till ya make it' routine and hung up on showing everyone how well they are living, coming up with new words for old things to show importance, and thinking they invented everything. Seeming to be important is very serious for them. Myself, I enjoy being low key and almost invisible.
 

Yes, I think most people want to feel important, but how is it measured? Just having a lot of followers on Facebook seems to do it for some . . .

Due to a position I once held in my career, I had a mistaken or overstated impression of my importance.

Since retirement, and no family or employer needing me as they once did, there's not much of a feeling of importance anymore, but I'm okay with that. I'm not setting out to impress anyone or win a popularity contest.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I don't think really being important is as crucial as having others think you're important.
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That reminds me: Several years ago, my younger daughter complained that her Snapchat account had been hacked and that she could no longer access it. I asked her why someone would do that, and she said that people who wanted to quickly increase their follower count hack others' accounts. The logic (or lack thereof) of this still mystifies me.
 
I thought as being an airline pilot for United, I was important. I thought that for quite awhile, until they offered me a buyout and that told me I wasn’t as important as I thought. I can be replaced. Over 200 pilots were offered severance packages and accepted their buyout offer. Six months later 200 more were offered a buyout. I was 63 at the time, so since I still had two years left before mandatory retirement I thought about going to work at Delta, but changed my mind.

Every airline is in need of pilots, so what I took from that was, I wasn’t important, but my job was. In my last newsletter from the union, I read that the three top airlines in the U.S., which are Delta, American and United are in need of 20,000 pilots in the next decade. Airlines have already reduced the number of flights to some cities and the number of routes due to not having enough pilots. Pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers are all in need at this time.
 
On a forum I drop into occasionally, it's very, very important to some of the posters to have a high post count. There are a few who mention their high count quite frequently, pointing out that that means they are "experts" in the subject at hand.

I noticed one lady had an insanely high count and, out of curiosity, looked to see how long she had been on that forum. She had only been on for four years, which came down to averaging more than 100 posts a day. How does someone make more than 100 posts a day? Well, I found out.

There was a "games" thread on the forum that not a lot of people participated in. Every day, she'd start a game with a name like, "List a number" and then she'd post "1", then she'd make another post "2", and another post "3", and so on. Next it would be letters...."A", "B", etc. Doesn't take too long to get your 100 posts in for the day.

I guess it made her feel "important" to have a high post count.
 
Jace said:
Being unimportant..is o.k. With some people.

Do you think  more people want to be important..
or not?
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I think we all want to feel somewhat special. We are a social animal that also likes to be appreciated as being unique and skilled.

I do know know one person who lacks ambition in the traditional sense, and he's the happiest guy I know.
 
jujube said:
On a forum I drop into occasionally, it's very, very important to some of the posters to have a high post count. There are a few who mention their high count quite frequently, pointing out that that means they are "experts" in the subject at hand.

I noticed one lady had an insanely high count and, out of curiosity, looked to see how long she had been on that forum. She had only been on for four years, which came down to averaging more than 100 posts a day. How does someone make more than 100 posts a day? Well, I found out.

There was a "games" thread on the forum that not a lot of people participated in. Every day, she'd start a game with a name like, "List a number" and then she'd post "1", then she'd make another post "2", and another post "3", and so on. Next it would be letters...."A", "B", etc. Doesn't take too long to get your 100 posts in for the day.

I guess it made her feel "important" to have a high post count.
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Reminds me of the people who always post "first" like it's some important magical thing. I don't get it.
 
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I don't care if I'm important because I know from the way our bosses treat us that we are not. I just like to be special and a little extra for my own enjoyment. At work I was told they ran out of sheets in the CT area the night I was off because the others won't just go in and check to see if they need sheets like I do. That little extra is often appreciated at times.
 
jujube said:
On a forum I drop into occasionally, it's very, very important to some of the posters to have a high post count. There are a few who mention their high count quite frequently, pointing out that that means they are "experts" in the subject at hand.

I noticed one lady had an insanely high count and, out of curiosity, looked to see how long she had been on that forum. She had only been on for four years, which came down to averaging more than 100 posts a day. How does someone make more than 100 posts a day? Well, I found out.

There was a "games" thread on the forum that not a lot of people participated in. Every day, she'd start a game with a name like, "List a number" and then she'd post "1", then she'd make another post "2", and another post "3", and so on. Next it would be letters...."A", "B", etc. Doesn't take too long to get your 100 posts in for the day.

I guess it made her feel "important" to have a high post count.
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I dont know what the big deal with a high count is. Its not like they give you Green Stamps.
Its the same way on some of the card forums I frequent.
"Juveniles" would call you names and insult you so you would clutch your pearls and leave the game.
That means you forfeit and they win the match. Didnt work with me. Im old. I worked with all guys.
I know words youve never even heard before so give it up Kevin. :D

Others would delay the play forever so you would get bored and quit.
Others would criticize their partners plays so their partner would quit.
I got tired of all the drama so now I just play the bots.
You can take bathroom and snack breaks with the bots and not feel guilty for holding up the game.
 
Ive never been important and thats okay. Actually Ive never wanted to be important.
That means people be wanting me to show up and do important things.
When I just want to chill alone at home and watch cat videos. :D

Ive noticed that some of the younger group can have a very inflated sense of their importance.
Possibly due to an over abundance of participation trophies?
 
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