Generation Gaps

There's nothing that makes you feel quite as old as kids.

Ask a kid what a typewriter is. A what?

According to one recent news report, kids were asked what Watergate was. Their overwhelming answer - the hotel where Monica Lewinsky stayed.

Try to explain to a kid that you had a little radio in your room, no computer, no television, no game console, no cell phone - they look at you like you're from Mars.

I remember when my Mom would drag me along shopping. There's nothing like 30-seconds in a women's wear department to bore a young boy into a coma. I remember listening to the muzak in the stores and thinking to myself, "What is this stuff?"

Years and years later I was doing some late Christmas shopping (the only reason I'd find myself in a mall) and low and behold, the store was playing a muzak version of a song by the Grateful Dead.

I've made it, I thought to myself. I'm old enough now that they're marketing to me, trying to communicate with me, playing muzak that I can relate to.

I guess in 10-years I can look forward to muzak of a Snoop Dog hip-hop song. Well there's another reason to stay out of the shopping mall.

As someone who has made his living as a communicator I find it both important and very challenging to try to bridge the generational gaps. It's difficult to effectively communicate with a 16-year-old and a 66-year old simultaneously.

Personally I find it important to explore the years, the past and the future. You will find both Frank Sinatra and G. Love and Special Sauce on the playlist in my car.

As we move into the upcoming Presidential election, it looks like bridging the generational gaps could be the key to the election. Many older people I speak to feel that McCain relates more to themselves, and what they believe in, what they feel is important. Many younger people I speak to feel that Obama represents their interests best.

According to Madison Avenue, the advertising mecca of the world, I am the one that everyone wants to talk to right now. I am at an age that is known for buying a lot of televisions, washers and dryers, refrigerators, cars, all the big-ticket stuff. It won't last long though. In a couple years that will all pass, and Snoop Dog will begin playing on the muzak in a mall near me.