One thing that I often found irritating when I was younger was how old people would perceive and talk about us. "When I was young, we walked 20 miles to school in 12 feet of snow, uphill in both directions! You kids know nothing - darn kids these days anyway! Watsa a matta wit you kids. Ya know nuttin from nuttin!"
Also, the "chip on the shoulder" about technology. When we first moved into our condo, I didn't want to tell anybody that I had worked as an electronic tech and now worked as an engineer because I didn't want people bugging me to fix their stuff, and do it for free. that gets old really fast. Anyway, one guy who was retired from Honeywell did get wind of it and would try to put me down in front of other people in the condo with his tales of engineering prowess, showing that kids these days knew nothing. Later, I found out that he was a customer service guy, never been to college, and definitely not an engineer. In hindsight, I am glad that I didn't challenge him. Somehow, when you have nothing to defend because you truly are all that, it is easier to stand in the face of that sort of thing.
However, I realize that regaling anybody except another engineer (if s/he is interested) with tales of my career would likely have the same reaction toward me. I did, in one thread here, talk a bit about my past career when the discussion was about that. However, most of the time, I don't say anything. Personally, I respect anyone who works for what they get, and do so with no hierarchy in mind (i.e. a janitor is just as valid a worker as an engineer).
So, for me, the opposite of some of the posts in this thread is true. I try to remember what old folks did that pissed me off, and try not to do those things myself. I realize, thinking back over my life, that every generation seems to think the next generation is going to hell in a handbasket and will bring the country to ruin. I can imagine what the Beatles must have sounded like to my parents, who were raised on music played by truly skilled musicians, for example. I came to understand that only later in life when I was exposed to their music with some knowledge of music myself. I am sure that, back in the 60s, my parents' generation might have thought the US was on its last legs as a nation because of the mess we were in with all the societal change, the riots, etc. With the pandemic, the fires and floods, the riots and surge in crime, and the US torn apart by politics, all at once, it looks like that to many of us too.
The generations following mine will be, and are starting to, take positions of power in our respective countries. We older folks have a choice to either live miserably, railing against every little thing we don't like by blowing it up into something bigger than life itself, maintaining our own sense of mental balance while adjusting to change, as our parents' generation had to do as we took those positions. Just don't forget that we always have a choice in how we react to the things and events around us.
Tony
