So what's gonna happen?

For the past two years, I have been attending classes at the local community college to get my Forestry degree. I am in my mid 40's and most of my classmates are 19 or 20 years old. The only other guy in the class who is older is 25. I graduate next month, but I am noticing that most Forestry jobs are with the government, and they want you to take the experimental clot shot which I refuse to do. So I feel like I might have wasted the last two years learning a trade (even though I love Forestry) that I won't be able to effectively use. Anyway, I am drifting off topic a bit.


Holy smokes has the past two years exposed the generational gap to me. I don't have kids or anything, so this is really my first experience with these modern day youngsters. I am floored by their absolute laziness, their unwillingness to learn even the basics of the trade they want to work at. They will work harder trying to figure out how to get out of work than if they just did the work to begin with. They have no initiative at all and have to be micromanaged to perform even the simplest of tasks when we are in the field. No critical thinking or problem solving skills at all. Even something as simple as a back and forth face to face conversation is a struggle for them. They are all scared to death to talk to girls, which I think is kinda weird for a bunch of young guys. Over half of them are effectively illiterate. I know this because I am also a part time student worker up there. I was the only one in the class who was even interested in that position to help me pay for school, so sometimes I help the teacher grade/file papers and whatnot. Reading anything that these kids had to actually write on paper is like reading a schizophrenic 5 year olds diary and I'm not kidding. No math skills. Alot of Forestry is learning formulas to calculate stand inventory and merchandising your sawtimber. Even basic math is lost on them unless they have a calculator and even then they have to be told what to do every time.


These modern day young men seem totally disinterested in anything but but making just enough money to buy video games, their precious phones and junkfood and that's it. They all are happy to live with mom and dad, none of them ever talk about moving out on their own. Most of the time if the teacher is giving a lecture on something like stand dynamics or controlled burns, they are all watching porn or playing video games on their phones. I have just never seen so many people who are willfully lazy and ignorant and are totally ok with it.


So what's going to happen when this generation is the one running things? I mean, there were certainly stupid 20 year olds in my day. Hell, I think I was probably going for the "stupidest 20 year old of the year" award when I was that age. But at least I could read, write, and teach myself or learn for myself almost anything that I did not know and wanted to learn. Thinking of the future seems kinda hopeless.


Or maybe I'm just getting old and saying all the things old folks say about younger generations.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Or maybe I'm just getting old and saying all the things old folks say about younger generations.

I'd say it's a bit of both.

It's hard to relate to youngsters how important skills can be in later life.

From personal experience, I learnt the hard way.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

It's not your age, it's reality and it explains the grotesque worker shortage. And I see no solution.

Well , despite all the bad characteristics listed in the OP , they are the first ones hired .
And considered a valuable commodity at that .
Why ?
They work a hell of a lot cheaper.
At least for a short time .
Then , the company just hires more .
Wash , rinse , repeat.

originally posted by: TonyS
It's not your age, it's reality and it explains the grotesque worker shortage.

Unemployment and labor force participation is at near records lows, everyone who wants a job has a job, that's why there is a shortage.

I think they know that the school will just push them through no matter what, collect the tuition fees and on to the next ones. But it’s not just academics, it’s basic life skills they are totally apathetic towards.

None of them ever steal any of the old mans beers, or smoke any green stuff. I always thought that was like some kind of rite of passage at that age.

It’s just weird.

originally posted by: Gothmog
Well , despite all the bad characteristics listed in the OP , they are the first ones hired .
And considered a valuable commodity at that .
Why ?
They work a hell of a lot cheaper.
At least for a short time .
Then , the company just hires more .
Wash , rinse , repeat.

But what if they cannot perform even the basics of the job they are hired to do? No employer is going to hire a kid who can’t do a simple timber cruise, or has to be micromanaged and told step by step what to do in every task given.

I’m sure it’s not just forestry and it’s across the board like this. I hope I’m wrong but the future doesn’t look all that bright.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: TonyS
It's not your age, it's reality and it explains the grotesque worker shortage.

Unemployment and labor force participation is at near records lows, everyone who wants a job has a job, that's why there is a shortage.

Naw .
Companies are too busy letting their veteran employees go in lieu of much cheaper , younger , employees who " just want to make things pretty" .
Usability be damned .
Quality be damned .

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

But what if they cannot perform even the basics of the job

The veterans are made to train the new employees .
The problem with that is , the veterans only have to tell their replacements what to do , not how to do it .
Thus begins the wash , rinse , repeat in hopes the company can find 1 out of 50 who can do the job .
That one can OJT the others .

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Your post did not surprise me. I'm glad I'll be dead in the next 10 years because I don't want to live in a world of their creation.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Whats gonna happen . ?

Is that the World will continue to Digitalize and move Online , People will leave there homes less and will live in a sort of Virtual Reality .

It's already here , We are literally seeing it built before our very eyes . Skilled Crafts men and Trade Craft jobs will be outsourced to those who can't afford to live in the Virtual Reality or to those who prefer not to live in it.

Just take a look at the Biggest corporations on Earth , Apple , Google, Microsoft etc etc etc all conduct there billions in a virtual reality.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Congrats on getting a degree in something you're passionate about! A quick search on Indeed showed lots of forestry jobs in Florida, many in the private sector and lots were entry level. I'm sure other areas may have similar luck. If not, move to where the jobs are. Good luck!

As for the generational differences, you've lost me there. I don't get it either.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I have to disagree. The numbers you cite are entirely bogus. Restaurants in my area are working reduced hours, or closing due to the fact that the youth don't care to work. They don't have to. They live at home with their parents.

The labor shortage is profound.
www.bloombergquint.com...

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Mid forties and going to school for a career that only now you are finding out might only get you a government job that requires a shot that you are not willing to have, hence making your last two years training moot.
This suggests that your guess about not being the wisest of men, young or old, a real possiblity.

I got into my trade at age thirty and had to compete with 18 and 19 year olds in a field that took for the most part a lot of youthful stamina. Realizing that I would not be able to ''run'' with younger guys like that I made sure to pay more attention in my classes and look for a position for a more balanced maturity. It worked well as I found a position in which my schooling allowed me to excel with permanent employment while the younger guys were prey to seasonal and economic down turns.

My suggestion? Take your superior schooling, as you have been paying attention and those other fellas have not, take the shot and choose from a list of positions that the government might offer you.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

I hope I’m wrong but the future doesn’t look all that bright.

In terms of goods and services, the future looks ever more bleak. And another bizarre effect is that the birth rate is falling off a cliff. The 20 something's you discuss will never replace themselves.

And they thought the problem was climate change.

originally posted by: VierEyes
a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Your post did not surprise me. I'm glad I'll be dead in the next 10 years because I don't want to live in a world of their creation.

I wish I was a lot older as well, by a few decades, as I don't see a future either.

OP, it's not your age, it's kids today.
Compare them to kids from 100 years ago, you'd be floored.

Sadly I have a child, I dread his future

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

You're an absolute A** . You're suggesting he should have been able to predict the damn future?!
This plandemic is the first of it's kind , with forced 'vaccinations'.

And maybe he was being optimistic , maybe he was hoping it wouldn't happen in his field etc , you don't know.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

Mid forties and going to school for a career that only now you are finding out might only get you a government job that requires a shot that you are not willing to have, hence making your last two years training moot.
This suggests that your guess about not being the wisest of men, young or old, a real possiblity.

The shot was not even around when I started. I can't see the future, and had no idea at the time that the people in Washington would go full blown dictator over a disease with a 99.99x survival rate.

Realizing that I would not be able to ''run'' with younger guys like that I made sure to pay more attention in my classes and look for a position for a more balanced maturity.

See that's another thing, even being a heavy smoker, I am much stronger, faster and can work circles around these guys. None of them even smoke, they all vape some strawberry mango whatever concoctions though.

My suggestion? Take your superior schooling, as you have been paying attention and those other fellas have not, take the shot and choose from a list of positions that the government might offer you.

Thank you for the advice, but injecting my body with an experimental substance is one principle I refuse to compromise on. No job is worth my health.

a reply to: ancientlight

OP, it's not your age, it's kids today.
Compare them to kids from 100 years ago, you'd be floored.

My dad once showed me his high school graduation pictures from 1959.

What I noticed immediately is how many of those teenagers looked like full grown men, hell half of them had beards. And even if they were poor, they were dressed nice, hair combed, etc. One Sunday at church one of the other members showed me his sons high school graduation pictures. Almost all of them were obese, pale like they'd never been outside before, and wearing t-shirts and shorts like they were at the beach or something.

a reply to: TonyS

Restaurants in my area are working reduced hours, or closing due to the fact that the youth don't care to work

Probably because some of them still want to pay next to nothing.

Who wants to work fast food for 10 dollars an hour after inflation made that nothing. Who wants to work at a restaurant with crazy hours when you can go to a warehouse and get $20 an hour.