Tag: Gen X

3 reasons why the younger you are the brighter you work future looks. 

Posted on by Karac Avalron

In this post we are going back to the workplace to give some of our younger reader’s encouragement. The last major work force shift was via globalization. Many of you are too young to remember a time when globalization WASN’T prevalent. When everything wasn’t made in china, as an example. I’m not here to say globalization is good or bad, but it’s an example of how work can change dramatically.

The latest shift was hastened by the pandemic that is the “great resignation” which coincided with a huge increase in people working from home. This shift is evolving but similar to globalization this will have a dramatic impact for the next 20-30 years. Globalization didn’t happen overnight, it took decades and now it is here. The “great resignation” impact is being felt now but it’s really just beginning. This is why the younger you are the brighter your work future looks.

Why? Three major reasons.

  1. Remote work – in 2015 remote work was a novelty now it is main stream. It’s not going away and its upside is hard to quantify but I will try. Less time traveling to work, more opportunity to work at convenient times for you. More options for work. You see Remote work is a game changer in so many ways. Younger workers are going to be able to adapt quickly and in some cases hold more than one job making much more money.
  2. Boomers & Gen Xer’s – We are getting older. Many boomers have already left the work force. I will be gone in 15 years myself. There are more of us working in traditional industries then the younger generations (some Gen Z kids are still in high school). The more of us that leave the more positions that open up. The work isn’t going away, it still needs to be done and companies need someone to do it. This ties in to the point below as well but as Gen Xers age out of jobs you’re going to have more chances at middle and upper management roles, that’s where the real money resides.
  3. Birth rates – People are having less children and they are having them older. This really started with my generation xers. Many of us had our kids in our 30’s and our family size dropped from prior generations. This trend is continuing, along with lower marriage rates as well. The bottom line is there will be less people in the workforce coming in 20-30 years from now. So the 20-40 year olds working now? Things look good for you here, newer, younger cheaper versions might not be so plentiful in say 2050.
Working from home?

I know conceptually some of this might be a stretch but it’s not out of the realm at all. I think most of these suppositions are actually highly probable. It could be that we experience another huge labor force shift on a shorter time span then normal (they usually happen every 35-100 years). Technology is moving quickly so it might be global companies have an even broader pool of candidates should they continue to evolve remote work.

Either way I think it bodes well for younger workers. I think in 2050 the people turning 40 will have very good employment opportunities and income levels should be very robust. This of course doesn’t account for anomalies like pandemics, war, environmental disasters. Let’s not kid ourselves things could go badly, but if things remain the same as they are now I think working in the next 20-30 years will be easier. You will have better options, more availability and a greater pool of employment opportunities.

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Are you a Gen X? (10 test questions below)

Posted on by Karac Avalron

So this blog is “A Gen X Point of View” and at 52 I am right smack in the middle of that generation. Below are 10 questions that will verify you are a Gen Xer (or not) the answers will be provided at the bottom. DON’T CHEAT see how many you get right; you need at least 7 out of 10. Good Luck

  1. How many Red Balloons?
  2. How many Thompson Twins are there?
  3. What year did Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married?
  4. Who was the narrator for the Michael Jackson video “Thriller”?
  5. Who said “Where’s the Beef”?
  6. What kind of car does Marty drive to go back to the future?
  7. Who was Vice President in 1989?
  8. In 1981 who became the first female supreme court justice?
  9. What does “VHS” stand for?
  10. What happened in Ukraine in 1986?
DONT CHEAT !

Answers

  1. 99
  2. 3
  3. 1981
  4. Vincent Price
  5. Clara Peller
  6. De Lorean
  7. Dan Quayle
  8. Sandra Day O’Connor
  9. Video Home System
  10. The Chernobyl incident

How did you do?

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5 Things a Gen Xer experienced that new Gens haven’t

Posted on by Karac Avalron

As this blog is “A Gen X Point of View” in 2022 from time to time I am going to do some “generational” specific posts. This one is an homage to the 80’s and my generation. Any of my readers who are 40+ should be able to identify with some of these. For those of you who are 50+ you’ll get all of them. My Gen Z kids laugh at me from time to time when I tell them I used to have to get up to change the channel on the TV because it had a dial. They don’t get it….

So what are some experiences that your Gen X friends have had that the new Gens haven’t? Take a look.

  1. A Rotary Phone: Now some of our new friends might MIGHT have had a push button phone but few if any of them have ever had to use a rotary phone. You can put phone booths in this category too. Remember when there were public phones all over the city? Got a dime?
  2. Playing records: Now it’s possible that some of our young friends have a record player for nostalgia but for many of us that’s all we had before things really opened up in the 80’s with Cassettes and CD’s. Maybe you had an 8 Track player but most of us had record players. I still have my original “Thriller” record, do you?
  3. A computer free home: That’s right no PC’s. No smart phones, no internet, no Wi-Fi…. Can you believe it? PC’s weren’t a thing until the 80’s and even then most people didn’t have them. The most electronic thing in your house was the TV and that was still using the same tech from the 50’s. Now it changed in the 80’s but many of us grew up without them.
  4. WW I Veterans: That’s right, when we were kids they were still around. Now not every Gen Xer met a WWI vet but many of us did as back in the day you went to parade’s. It’s also possible that your grandparents (or a member of your family) was in that war. Yes they were old but many were still functioning well.
  5. Gender Specific Classes: Yes you heard me correctly. Back in the day we had classes like home economics and shop class. Each was designed for females and males respectively and you were auto enrolled in those based on your gender. It didn’t matter if you wanted to take it, or the other class or not. LOL imagine that today….

Honorable mentions:

                Being a Latchkey Kid

                Buying cigarettes and booze for your parent with a note

                No bike helmets

                Fake wood on cars

                Fanny Packs

                Lady Dianna and Prince Charles Wedding

                Making a mix tape

                Break Dancing

                Hanging out at an Arcade

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Blog Update: Cool Milestone, April review and a few other bits

Posted on by Karac Avalron

So I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has come by and spent some of their time on this blog. We recently passed 10K hits! I know that’s actually not a lot, some of you have blogs that get that many hits in a month. It’s a big deal for me. I am a one man show, I produce all the content on this blog and it’s just a great milestone, thank you.

April was a tough month for me personal and for the blog in terms of visits and views. It’s funny how when things in life permeate into all aspects of what you are doing. April was really the first month in a long time where I was just stuck in a serious anxiety rut. I was hiding in my “office” at home, exhausted from the winter (we had bad weather here all of April basically). Stressed about work, had medical issues it was just bad.

The content here reflected that and so did the visits and views. As this is my little corner of the blogosphere it’s all on me. I am hopeful that May will bring the renewal spirit that deep spring should. I still enjoy blogging and I am committed to “A Gen X Point of View”. Thank you for sticking by me and the blog. Your continued support and willingness to share my blog with others has really helped the site grow, I sincerely appreciate it.

A few other bits….

So it’s no secret that the content here varies, I am breaking a cardinal rule of online content creation. I am not honing in and focusing on a niche. I understand that, it’s part of the evolution of me as a content creator. There are a lot of things I would like to write about and while I am committed to continuing my work as a good resource for anxiety issues, I have and will continue to expand on the subjects I cover. I realize many people are here because they consume posts on anxiety, stress and depression. I am committed to writing about those subjects, I hope the other topics I cover will interest you as well.

This blog was never meant to be a commercial endeavor, meaning I am not, and don’t intend to sell you anything at any point. Sure I want lots of followers, yes I want more likes, you bet I want more interaction but those are hoped for outcomes here. In the end this blog is my outlet into the larger world, from my small rural New England town. I always hoped that people who read these pieces did so because they appreciated my perspective and “take” on the subject matter. I still hope that is the case going forward.

I am so thankful you are here, and thankful that you are on this journey with me. For now, the “A Gen X Point of View” blog will continue on much as it has for the first few months of 2021. It’s funny to say this now but 2020 was an easy year to blog, there was A LOT of material to talk about. There still is, but it’s less targeted in my view. Simply put, as a content creator I find it challenging to adhere to the “script” of successful blogging. Find a niche, become an expert. I am interested in so much more and while doing that would have propelled this blog to higher statistical counts in many areas it would have become another job.

I don’t know where the blog is going to land and thats a good thing for me as the creator. I know I want to talk more about men’s issues, finance, anxiety, weight loss. Where ever this journey takes me, thank you for sticking with me and this blog, I truly appreciate it.

3 Quick Facts about the 80’s

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Hey folks, something a lighter today. I “came of age” in the 80’s the greatest decade in U.S. History, LOL. So for my Gen X friends out there, a tip of the hat, for all my other generational friends you’re awesome too, like TOTALY….

  1. In 1985 the average home price was under 100K: Though home ownership has become prohibitively expensive for many Americans, back in the 1980s, getting your hands on a piece of property was a relatively inexpensive proposition. According to Census data, the average cost of a new home in 1985 was just $92,800, or $229,990.61 when adjusted for inflation. In contrast, the average house bought in the U.S. in 2017 cost $398,900.
  2. P.C. became available in 1982 (even then, most people didnt have them until the 90’s): Before the 1980s, with the exception of a few models, computers were largely machines that took up entire rooms and were predominantly used by astronauts, scientists, and government officials. However, by the 1980s, the personal computer was gaining traction in homes around the world, with companies like IBM launching their own mass-market PCs. In fact, in 1982, Time magazine awarded the personal computer its “Machine of the Year” honor—two years before the Apple Macintosh hit shelves.
  3. There was no 24 hours news (Stations in the 80’s still signed off at night with the national anthem): It may seem like we’re constantly inundated by news today, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, it wasn’t until June 1st, 1981, that media mogul Ted Turner launched the first-ever 24-hour news network. Dubbed Cable News Network (later shortened to CNN), the cable channel was also the country’s first channel to show exclusively news programming.

Source

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Am I contagious?

I’m at a loss today.

Posted on by Karac Avalron

You know sometimes I run out of things to post. I know bloggers are supposed to NEVER have this problem right? LOL. Believe it or not I write all my posts sometimes the same day, I rarely if ever have posts completed way in advance and ready to go. That’s just how I blog, I see things that interest me and I write about them. The last few weeks I have been very busy at work, along with the normal February crush (3 birthdays including my own + valentine’s day) so I have had a lot to do.

What does that mean for today? It means I don’t have much that’s substantive, lol. Although below are 3 random facts about the 1980’s, the greatest decade of all time, lol.

  • July 29th 1981 – Over 1 Billion people all over the world tuned into the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. It was broadcast on all the major TV channels, and yes I watched it!
  • In 1984 A loaf of bread was ($.93,) a pound of bacon was ($1.55,) and a dozen eggs was ($.58) you could feed your family breakfast for $4.06. Less than most coffees at Starbucks in 2021
  • In 1988 the world population surpassed 5 billion and many at the time suggested we were at our environmental limits in context of human impact. In 2021 we are now near or over 7 billion.

That’s all I got today, lol. Thanks so much for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it.

Atari 2600

One of the tools I use to deal with Anxiety: Gaming

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Yes I am a gamer. As a proud card carrying member of Generation X I can tell you that in 1982 I got an Atari 2600. I actually got a “sears” version, back then Atari sold directly to Sears (who was still a major, if not the biggest retailer in the country in the 80’s) my FAVORITE uncle got it for me, LOL. I’ve been hooked ever since. Back then you had to hook it up to the TV, graphics were horrible by today’s standard but god was it fun.

I’ve gone through many iterations of games and generations of gaming consoles in the last 38 years. I’ve been gaming probably longer than many of you have been alive LOL. I’ve recently started playing some of my older games again. This my hobby of course, I work full time, I have a family I have a normal life. Hobbies allow you to disengage from reality, more over it allows you to escape from things you don’t necessarily enjoy doing.

As an example do you hate your job? Are you having a stressful situation with your family? Hobbies are a refuge, and allow you something you enjoy that’s exclusive to you. Sure you can share your hobby with other people but having something that is YOURS is very important for your mental health. It’s almost like a safe space, it’s a place you go that you exist as you like. At least that’s how it is in video games, and I truly appreciate that aspect of it.

Hobbit Hole
So does this mean I can be a Hobbit?

Your hobby can be anything, cars, golf, pets, writing, and video games. In the end though it’s a great way to have something that is just for you, that you can be selfish about and not share if you don’t want to. It’s indulgent and people in your life may find it threatening to their relationship with you that you have something personal that doesn’t include them. It’s important to make time for everyone in your life and to make sure they don’t feel ignored.

However it’s just as important to make sure that you make time for your hobbies. This will make you a better overall person and far more relaxed and happy. Remember to not over indulge and to be clear with the people in your life what your hobby is and what you are doing. As an example, I game wed evenings 8-10 and Friday night 9PM – to whenever I go to bed. My wife and kids know I do this, and it doesn’t create an issue for us. I game with my son from time to time actually, LOL.

The point is, find something you like for you. Be selfish, but don’t let it consume you.

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Surviving 2020 & covid

Anxiety Sucks Vol XIV. – How you are not supposed to feel on your Birthday

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Yes I recently had a birthday, a big one 50. So for all my Gen X friends out there welcome to the silver years I guess, LOL. The event in of itself was good, my immediate family and in laws kept it low key which is what I wanted. Still that day I began to feel very anxious. The number doesn’t really throw me, 50 is a number. Some days I feel it, some days I feel older honestly. The worst part for me was I didn’t hear from anyone from my side of the family.

Upon reflection that was the source of my anxiety, I was anticipating a call or something which normally evolves into some rehash of a past event that I have no desire revisiting. We all realize that 1995 is was 25 years ago? MOVE ON. But I digress…

I won’t illuminate everything about my family, let’s just say that my childhood was less than stellar. It was a melding of so many factors that its hard to pin point one singular event or individual that contributed to the negative impact it had on me and many others. My siblings move out when each one turned 18 to escape, I was the youngest I was 8 years behind my sister so when I was 10, I was essentially alone in this abyss.

I survived, I got over it but there were a lot of things that happened along the way as I became an adult that made things, at various points go extremely sour. Silence, physical altercations, cops. Ya you name it we had it. I look back now and I realize that most of this was from an event that happened before I was born. I have a half-sister, who was given up by my mother at the behest of my father. Now this sounds complicated and it is, but the short story is she got pregnant right before they got married.

The family story is booze was involved, a mistake was made etc. Now what that did was, it created a foundation of mistrust and resent that over decades manifested itself in to all sorts of bullshit. My siblings and I were participants and outlets for this constant struggle between my parents. Honestly my brother got it the worst, the 70’s were not good for him I was too little to know what was going on.

Oh, right so my 50th birthday… What does all this have to do with it? I didn’t receive a card, a call, not even a text from anyone on my side of my family. I didn’t expect much, but a call would have been nice. I would have liked to hear from them, but it wasn’t to be. I was upset about it but got through the event. Now that I am a few days removed I can reflect back on it and it makes me a little sad.

Please folks, if you have issues with your family don’t let it fester. Before you know it, you’ll be 50 and your time is getting shorter and shorter. You can’t make up for lost time, be the bigger person and reach out. I wish I had, and I didn’t and that makes me a blatant hypocrite for giving this advice I realize that. It just sucks, and the longer it goes on the harder it is to fix.