Boomers to Blame

It has been years since I decided to blame Boomers, those born between the years 1946 and 1964, for very bad behavior. It is time again.

I live and work on the West coast, near the beach, in an urban city. I recently started work for a large cultural institution. It has a heavy, boomer-laden bureaucracy. I hold a responsible managerial position there, but I have never personally met the female head executives. I saw them yesterday after a presentation to the whole staff where the CEO actually said to us, "Wow, we expected stupid questions and didn't get any!"

At the reception aftwards I had an opportunity to introduce myself to No. 1 and No. 2, but I didn't because I am constantly getting the message from my own bosses to keep my head down, not to rock the boat, and to keep my mission there to myself. In fact, minutes ago I had received one of those messages from my immediate superior just after I spoke up at the meeting.

I work for a team of boomer executive women, both good and bad, and the company execs are women, good and bad. My friends and I have long experienced a "woman in power problem" that I'm now thinking might really be a "boomer woman in power" problem. The issue with these problem leaders is: How to manage staff--especially the childless young women we are suspicious/jealous/unable to relate to--effectively while being a passive-aggressive, or simply abusive, hardass. Oh wait, I shouldn't generalize, I've known two, no one, good exception to that (the second woman I was thinking of was born before 1946).

So I thought to myself, "Why have I never been introduced to the execs, and now that I think about it, weren't these the very people who, when I first started at the company, entered my administrative area with a VIP, looked over the specs of the area, and were about to totally ignore me before I introduced myself?" I remembered yesterday how terribly uncivilized that was and is--which led me to think about how this used to be considered rude behavior.

I thought that maybe in the 1940s one NEVER walked into a room with another living person in it without introducing oneself and one's guests. Especially a CULTURED, EDUCATED person...perhaps I'm just too English sometimes. Even elitists, whom we currently don't expect to talk to us unless they need something, managed to do introduce themselves back then. At least I like to think they did. This kind of rudeness could be the whole reason our company has such bad morale and high turnover.

So, I call on all my friends and family, and boomers too, please be courteous to one another--introduce yourself and others to your neighbor. It instills peace.