This says it all...

Razor blades and needles: Halloween memories of Gen X

While newsmen and newswomen report the story each year, the fact of the matter is that there has been no substantiated story about Halloween candy tampering.

And yet, this is probably one of the biggest urban myths to crop up during the childhood of Generation X.

The one thing that is surprising, is that the myth wasn't directly blamed on Gen X children (like most things in the 1970s.) It was blamed on Satanic Cults. But then again, media portrayals of children in the 1970s often showed them as being demon-possessed (remember Damian? Linda Blair? Rosemary's Baby?).

You know, maybe it was our fault after all. Thirty year later, Generation Y is also jumping on board the poison candy bandwagon.

Gen X quiz

As I wait for my Intro to PR students to finish their midterms, I am reading Jeff Gordinier's X Saves The World. I must share the GXAT (Generation X Aptitude Test). What's your answer to this question - Do you want to change the world?

1. Yes, and I'm proud to say we did it, man. We changed the world. Just look around you!

2. Yes, absolutely, and I promise I will get back to doing it just as soon as interest rates return to where they're supposed to be.

3. Omigod, omigod, changing the world and helping people is, like, totally important to me! I worked in a soup kitchen once and it was so sad but the poor people there had so much dignity!

4. The way you phrase that question is so fucking cheesy and absurd that I am not even sure I want to continue with this pointless exercise.

That's the only question on the GXAT. If you answered #4, you're an Xer (no matter your age). What did you answer?

Why Xers have a hard time brainstorming with Boomers

I've noticed over the years that Xers and Boomers brainstorm very differently. Xers throw out their ideas and then negotiate the final decision. Boomers like to flip things over, analyze more, and come to a consensus.

However, that's not why we Xers have a hard time brainstorming with our Boomer colleagues. It's because the Boomers break and unwritten Xer rule: No ripping on other people's ideas in the first round.

Boomers will tell you WHY they don't like your idea - and then WHY they prefer their idea. Xers will just tell you WHY they prefer their idea - unless it comes down a draw, at which point they bring out the heavy guns: WHY they don't like your idea.

So when Xers brainstorm with Boomers, and the Boomers say WHY they don't like your idea, Xers take it to mean the Boomer has pulled out the heavy guns from the start. It's a dis, if you will.

That's why we feel pissed off. But we shouldn't. Most of us are fine going with another person's idea, so that's not what gets under our skin. It's the breaking of the rule. And if the Boomers don't know the rule, they aren't pissing us off on purpose.

Can retired Boomers compete in a Gen X lead workforce?

A new website is trying to levy support for retiring Babyboomers who want to start on their second career. The question is: Can they hack it in a Gen X lead workforce?

Xers are outcomes focused. Boomers like to talk process ... a lot. With Boomers in charge, Xers have learned to work with it. But when Boomers retire from their "first" career, it will be Xers who take their place. Is it payback time?

Frankly, Xers are different than Boomers. And Xers are never going to grow into Boomers. It will be hard for Boomers to fit into this new workplace. They may have second careers - but almost all will focus on offering some type of service to other Boomers. It's hard to imagine an Xer hiring a Boomer, when they could hire an Xer who will just get the job done.

At least your day's not this bad...

For any Monday morning grumps, I present Cowgirl.

The Associated Press is reporting that this undated mug shot released by the Middletown, Ohio, police department shows Michelle Allen, 32. Allen was arrested Sept. 27, 2008 after she allegedly impeded traffic, urinated on a neighbor's porch and chased children while wearing a cow suit, according to a Middletown police report.(AP Photo/Middletown Ohio Police department via Dayton Daily News)

Millennials want to be Xers!

I knew it. Millennials really just want to be Xers. Why? Because we're cooler, of course. Well, they won't actually admit it. Blogger Sarah Ewing says they're trying to pass as Xers so they can get better accounts in the advertising industry.

I'm just really glad that blogging didn't exist when I was 26. I'd hate for there to be a record of my total lack of regard for wisdom and experience at that time.