Generation Gap

"It's fun to be good at your job. And that will help you have a zest for your job and your life." -The Telephone Doctor

When he was here last month, G-Money told me about a seminar his boss had attended, the purpose of which was to help corporate supervisors -- who presumably belong to older generations -- better understand their workers -- who presumably belong to a younger generation. The main idea was that while previous generations see work as a lifestyle or as the most important aspect to their lives, while young whippersnappers from Gen X on down see work more as a necessary evil. It's sort of the difference between living to work and working to live. Apparently, instead of being sensitized to his workers' need for free time, relaxation, and not working, G-Money's supervisor came away believing that the younger generation of workers was just plain lazy and needed to get real.

It's not really the same, but here's a story from my own work that illustrates the point of the seminar. My boss -- who in all ways imaginable is a small, weak man -- is always telling us highly-qualified, low-paid peons at the counter that we need to do more "chores" like taking out the garbage and spritzing the glass. "You live here for eight hours a day," he always says. "It's your home. Why not keep it clean?" For him, the store probably is home, but it's not mine. I just work there. The day I think of any job I hold as more "home" than where I live is the day I will officially disappear without a trace. (But you all know that I can be found in Xijuatenejo.)

The quote at the top of the post is from one of those ludicrous corporate "training" books that you can find at Kinko's and in offices all over the country. Specifically, this one is meant to provide "training" on how to use the phone more professionally. I'm not going to get into why this book found its way into my hands -- that's a story for another time -- but the issue of a generational gap in work ethic is just as evident in my little retail store as it is in the lofty offices of Cerividimidiriurisaludian where G-Money gets his roost on.

Is there laziness in the Wandering Generation? I suppose so, but no more than there was before. Let's not forget what all the Boomers were doing with themselves when they were in their mid-twenties. I think the difference really is that we're just much more involved in leisure activities than we are with our work. If the work set aside for the week can be completed in twenty-six hours instead of forty, why should we stay in the office? The Ambitionless Entitlement Malaise referenced last spring makes us feel like work steals our free time, and when we can be more efficient and productive -- and complete the task at hand -- we want that time back.

The real question is whether this attitude toward the balance of work and play will actually cause a shift in the now-hallowed American work ethic. Only time will tell, but I choose to be more optimistic about this one. If you can telecommute from your deck, be done with work by noon, and be drunk playing PS2 with your people by three, then why can't we all be happy? Golly... that sounds pretty good to me.

Literary Antecedents

Writers -- even unpublished writers toiling in obscurity such as myself -- can always latch onto the influential writers in another scribe's style. The neat thing about getting older is that the writers who influenced you when you were busy gobbling up every written word you could find were also influencing other not-so-unpublished writers at the same time... and now, one can begin to see the influences of the last generation of novelists popping up in the new one.

One of the reasons for my absence here is that I've been reading a truly flooring novel called Everything is Illuminated by a 28-year-old dude named Jonathan Safran Foer. It's actually a pretty quirky book... at least, the parts that aren't about the Holocaust are pretty quirky... but the neat thing is that one of the two narratives that come together to make the fabric of the story is deeply deeply deeply influenced by the work of one of my favorite writers, John Irving. I won't get too far into it, but Foer's decision to give one of his characters a serious physical deformity that the character manages to be almost whimsical (and deviantly sexual) about is a plot device that -- I think -- has been in every one of John's books. At least the ones I've read. It's neat, and it's a great book.

Sadly, I can only stand to read two or three crushingly True Holocaust Stories in a year, so my next reading experience will be pretty different, but that's cool. It's just how I roll.

And yes, you just saw me call John Irving by his first name. I do this with all my favorite writers -- John, Hunter, Toby, Ernie, Nick* -- because, after all, when you read a writer's work, you wind up knowing them a lot better than they'd like to think you do.

*For 20 Buckwalter's Influences Bonus Points, name all the writers in the list. John, Hunter, and Ernie shouldn't be that hard... but Toby and Nick? Who are those guys? (Madame Flamingo doesn't get to answer this one....)

Built Like a Cheap Hotel: No Ball Room

It's been a busy nine days here at the Ultra Lounge. Visitors everywhere you look. And did I mention that it's still right around 75 degrees here? Well, never mind that now. Let's see... where to begin....

Two weekends ago, The Madame and I were graced with a visit from none other than the Yahweh of the Ia'Drang himself, G-Money. After a curious mix up resulting from blown communications, I linked up with him at Excalibur, where he had been staying to attend a wedding next door at the fabulous Luxor. I wasn't at the wedding, but it may interest Hunt readers to know that if you get married at the Luxor, you are treated to a meal at the Pharoah's Pheast buffet, where you dine upon Phine China and Silver Phorks. Phor sure. We had a lovely afternoon scarfing pizza, watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and discussing the difference between The Business and The Pleasure. It was really excellent to see G-Money, and both The Madame and I are looking forward to seeing him again soon.

Now, fast forward just three days, and The Madame's Mother arrived from Minneapolis to help The Madame celebrate her birthday (which was on Monday, for those of you playing the Home Game) along with The Madame's aunt. Among other things, The Madame's Mother was treated to hiking at Red Rocks, an insanely profitable ninety minutes at the roulette table (Jesus turned water into wine... The Madame's Mother turned $10 into $107.50... who do you think God likes more?), and a totally outstanding drag show over at the Riviera. Side note: any future visitors interested in attending any of the shows at the Riviera should advise me; I can get you into any of them for free.

And as if all that wasn't enough, I took the stage once again with The Sunspots on Friday night at the Aztec. Did it go better than last time? It certainly did. Did I play better? Yeah, well, you know it turns out that playing a gig by ear is easier once you've already played it by ear once before. But -- and here's the real kicker -- did I not only play my saxophone but also sing with a lounge act on the Las Vegas Strip? Why, yes. Yes, I did. And I have the pictures to prove it.

Buckwalter sings Santana's "Smooth" with the Sunspots at the Aztec.

Now, I'm going to give you all a test. In this next picture, see if you can pick out which one of the people is Buckwalter, which one is Ed the Lounge Lizard, and which ones are the rest of the band. It's difficult, but I bet you can do it. You seem pretty smart.

Find the young, non-Filipino face in the crowd, and you've found Buckwalter.