Working with young people

I work with a number of younger colleagues. Our interns, in particular, are easily a generation younger than me. You might think this would make me feel old, but around the office, it really doesn't. After all, we are all doing essentially the same type of work. Our office is pretty casual so we're all dressed in jeans. If anything, working with this group makes me feel younger, as if they are my peers. This is true as long as we keep our focus narrowly confined to the job at hand. Sure I may have a bit more experience to draw on, but the challenges of our current development are new for all of us. In this respect, we are peers.

It doesn't take much of a widening of focus for me to be reminded that I am essentially working with children. A passing reference to a bygone operating system by me or, worse yet, a cultural reference by them. One morning, I eavesdropped from my cube as a small group discussed favorite bands. I did not hear a single name I recognized. Another day, they were discussing exercising - one of them had decided to take up running and had gone out for a three mile run the night before. Now, I've been diligently running that distance two or three times a week for almost a year. I strained to hear what sort of pace he managed on his maiden voyage. It was disheartening to learn that, if he and I were running together, he could give me a one mile head start and we'd basically finish three miles at the same time.

My coworkers are friendly and we joke around a bit but I know they don't see me as a peer. I feel it in the words of support when they see me heading off to the gym for a lunch time run. I sense it in their understanding looks when I have to run back to my cube for my reading glasses before I can check the report they've handed me in the hallway. I know how they see me. I remember my first job out of school. I remember the forty-somethings and fifty-somethings that I worked with. I remember how they were fun and smart and we worked well together. I also remember how old I thought they were. They had families and reading glasses and spare tires and all sorts of other symbols of middle age. I still recall being concerned when one guy told me he was planning on taking up running. I was worried the venture would be too much for his heart. He told me this at his fortieth birthday party. I think about it now and I realize he wasn't as old as I thought he was. Today, I'm sure my colleagues view me the same way.