So this morning we had an orientation slash welcoming session for our new and returning student staff members. We discussed policies and procedures and gave them a quick tour of our computer lab’s equipment.
There were a few new faces, and I couldn’t help thinking how young some of these kids are. The freshmen (“first years” for the politically correct) are approximately fifteen years younger than me. In a few of the red states, I might be old enough to be their father. (Yeah, I guess I’m starting to get sick of red state jokes too.)
Still, it’s weird to be regarded as an “adult” authority figure, rather than as a peer. Don’t call me “sir,” or Mister—that was my father, etc.
One of these kids last week was surprised to find out that I regularly watched The OC. Well, I’m not that old. (Although, I am referring to them as kids. Sheesh.)
Anyway, I was at a tech conference a couple of years ago that referred to these kids as “digital natives,” contrasting them with the older set—the “digital immigrants.” The argument was that those who had grown up with computers and “new media” all their lives had a different comfort level with technology and thus their perception and utilization of that technology was dissimilar from those who adopted this technology later in life.
I’m not sure I completely buy into that argument, but one thing that I did notice—their use of internet-based social networking tools is much more pervasive than I remember. Nowadays, “anybody who’s anybody” has a profile on thefacebook.com. I asked one of our veteran students for info on one of our new hires. He immediately sat down, logged into the Facebook, followed the link of one of the friends in his list, and sure enough this kid was in his friend’s list—his picture, his vitals, and a list of all his friends and his friends’ friends. Interesting.
Feeling old, though. So I think now I’ll snarf down some cold pizza while watching a few cartoons that I BitTorrented—after I break out the L’Oréal Preference and color out my gray.
I’ve always thought that the true litmus test was Internet Messenger. Those who grew up with the Internet seem to view it as essential, whilst those of us who did not rarely bother with it. (IMHO)
You shouldn’t let the age gap get you down, though. Do what I do: If one of the students says that you’re old enough to be his dad, just smile thoughtfully and ask for his mom’s name…
Isn’t it a real nightmare? I volunteer with teenagers and, at their football games, people look at me and treat me as though I’m their parent. I was shocked and horrified for a while until I sat back and thought about it and, well, I’m DEFINITELY old enough to be their mother. Ugh!!!
Good one, Rob.
As for the IM thing, they do seem to be addicted to it, don’t they. I never really could get into Instant Messaging myself.
Personally, I kind of look forward to the day that I’m not the baby of the office. I think that people often assume I’m older than I am (height=age??) so although everyone knows I’m the youngest, they’re still always shocked when they learn my true age. Plus, it never fails that one of the guys will hit on me and when discovering I’m the same age as their kid they really freak out!
Ugh is right, Denise. When the heck did we get old enough to be parental? But…I guess the cliché is right—you are as young as you feel.
That day will come far too quickly, Jenniy. Enjoy being a twenty-something while you can. :-)
Height does equal age sometimes. Ever since high school people thought I was older than I am. Nowadays, not so much, though.
The reverse is also true. At my last job in north Jersey, I had a friend who was rather short, and she had young, pretty features. It was always so shocking how much people would condescend to her and not believe her when she told them she was in her 20s.