news about my former Gen Y colleague
Antonio Huerta
seemed to glide effortlessly through his life. He got his BEEng
degree, and straight away was hired into a permament position in our
lab. He did not care about the successful outcome of his work and left
the work at 5 pm withought any concern; we had a contractor who
confessed to me that every day he had to rework the software and the
circuit diagrams which the Gen-Y'er 'improved' earlier in the day. In
contractor's opinion, the Gen-Y'er was no good specialist and "had a
small brain". The life of the Gen-Y'er colleague seemed to consist of
the stream of socialising with the other Gen-Y'ers (or 'mob' as they
called each other). He bought a brand-new premium sedan soon after
getting the job. He got married, and his parents helped him to buy an
(overpriced) house in the new development. He had this whiff of being
an alpha-male about him and being in an elite. This kind of people
derive satisfaction from showing their exclusivity to the unwashed
masses like me. Life was sweet for him, and could get only better.
Right ?
Inside of me, I came to hate his guts. The analysis of my thoughts
brought me to the realisation that I actually was envious to his
background: quite well-to-do emigrant parents (shop owners) who were
buying everything for their favorite son; effortless sailing through
where I got bogged down (It took me 10 years before I could get a
permanent job at this lab while he got it straight away after the uni
without any hiccup; he was buying the new cars while I used a beaten-
up one). I thought the day of redemption would eventually come, but it
was not coming. The working environment in our lab is not friendly to
the fresh graduates -- they get bogged down with lots of boring
unimportant work with little of opportunities for career advancement
-- and this an anathema to Gen-Y'ers.
Anyway, about couple of years ago, this Gen-Y colleague of mine had
himself transferred into a different department, and I lost a sight of
him. Only occasionally I bumped into him the cafeteria. Here I saw him
chatting carelessly with his mob; good life seemed to continue for
him. Our common contact told me that he got married in a posh
ceremony, and the parents helped him to buy a new house off
development plan. The day of redemption (as I predicted to happen) was
not still coming; in opposite, his life seemed to get even better and
better. On the other hand, my life did not improve. Everything seemed
to fly into my face contrary to what I knew. I solidified more in my
opinion that I was cursed.
However, recently I spoke to our common contact. He said that the
things for my former Gen-Y'er colleague were not going well at his
work. He did not specify what was happening with this Gen-Y'er, but he
told me that the Gen-Y'er now worked from home. To which I though:
"What ??? That's wacky -- I have never heard anyone in our lab working
from home". Perhaps, he argued that the work was giving him emotional
stress, and the managers gave up on him and allowed him to "work from
home".
Furthermore, my contact told me that the wife of this Gen-Y colleague
(who came from interstate) could not get a job in our town, so that
she moved with the parents of the Gen-Y'er (and the parents got her a
job using their connections in the local community). I presume my
former Gen-Y'er colleague drives every weekend to his parents' place
to see his wife. Ha-ha, that's not a high life. I think it is now only
a matter of time before my former Gen-Y colleague caves in and moves
back to his parents' town.
All in all, it looks like that the chickens finally started to come
home to roost. The feeling of schadenfreude was sweet and satisfying
(at the beginning). It seemed to me that my way of life would finally
yield me some fruits and was probably more superior to that of my
former Gen-Y'er colleague (i.e., "study hard and work hard, and you'll
finally arrive there").
However, last Friday I saw my supposedly wretched Gen-Y'er colleague
driving his car out of the lab's gates. He changed his car again; now
it was a used BMW... And I thought: the habits die hard. He now
probably did not have much money (he needs to pay out that expensive
house), but still he wants to come on top of his 'mob', and for that
he needs to conduct a life style which is flashier than that of anyone
else on the mob. He cannot afford to buy a new BMW, so that he opted
to drive at least a 10-year old BMW -- nobody else on his mob can
afford it either (I cannot afford it, too... the spare parts and
service for this car is prohibitive around here). He just has to have
the 'elite' stuff even if it is dilapidated. Truly, it is not far from
the great to the ridiculous.
I got it off my chest, and I am supposed to feel better now.
phil scott
these types are still spending their last dime, on credit... shortly
the world economy will tank like you cant believe, the house payments
already have hit their balloon stage for most, and many had taken out
second mortgages to purchase a big fat ass SUV that gets 8 mph, as
gasoline hit 4 dollars a gallon. No way in hell to pay for any of
that... and no way to sell the house now that its declined in value
and companies are laying off staff.
in the end those who dont perform ruin all they touch, as this guy
has.
Those with brains and who actually do perform might never reap the
financial rewards of such fraud, but they gain vastly superior skill
sets, so that as these bogus bubbles collapse only the real talent is
retained since the company absolutely must have performance and can no
longer afford to cater to this idiot class.
If your personal standards are entirely material, and it seems they
are to a large extent, you might never be satisified on your path,
even as your skills and compensation advance and you end with superior
influence in the company..
Myself, I am aged 67 now, almost 68, and due to constant learning and
advance I am in demand as the rest of the market is laying people
off...and I am in demand at very good rates, about double what most
engineers make even ones with superior degrees. Thats because I
kept learning and active while the others went for the money, ceased
learning, specialized in kissing ass to keep their job etc...
now here we are.... most of those are grossly overweight, nerves shot,
brain dead... and either out of work or working for peanuts.
Im still flat tracking... women are still chasing me. I have to
carry a sharp stick to fend them off.
One key to this in my view is never ever even think about kissing
anyones ass...be nice but take no crap at all... never compromise your
design or engineering etc.. and never ever fal to nail the dumb asses
that come after you with lies, spin, posturing and bad advice....
and have plans to move on constantly in place.... so that you can
afford to be like that.
The best example Ive seen of that was a guy named Hamid Khazai who
came to the USA on a boat with 5 dollars in his pocket in the 60's...
he met a blond girl in New York and they lived in a tent in NY City's
central park for a while as they put each other through school... he
told me that more than once he killed one of the park ducks with a
rock and they cooked it for dinner on their hibachi in the park.
I met him at Northrup aircraft where he was an engineer, about 10
years later he took a job in management running a state engineering
lab.
His magic despite the usual predjudice was to never ever take any crap
at all... and to speak up very pointedly at all times with no
exception... he was only slightly tactful...mostly he spoke up very
clearly.
Phil scott
Aging_Recycled_Scientist
obsessing about others.
Just be here now.