Radiation + Mutuated Gene + HR Seminar

Today I started out my day kind of mad.

I go to radiation at 7:30 a.m. every morning. And I have to meet with the doctor every week for a check up. (I only deal with Radiation Technicians in the mornings.)
Well, the technicians NEVER schedule me in advance to meet with the doctor.

Never.

So when I go in on Friday morning and then they say to me, "uh, hey, could you, uh, stick around for a half hour to see the doctor?" And I'm like, "uh, although 95% of your cancer patients are retired, I have to WORK. So I'll come back on my lunch."

And I was supposed to come back on lunch on Friday... but... we had our Pi Day at work and I spent all morning setting up for it and I didn't get finished until about 1 p.m., and then it was too late to go - so I just missed my appointment.

So this morning, the Rad Tech says, "uhhhh...could you stick around this morning to see the doctor?" And I said, "NO! I have already planned a meeting all day today." Then the Rad Tech says, "uhhhhh... the doctor won't let you finish radiation without seeing her." And I say, "fine." And the Rad Tech says, "can you just stick around for a half hour?" And I say, "NO! I have to WORK! I can't schedule these things the day of!"

So we decided I'd see my doctor on Friday sometime. Ugh. It's been 8 months of scheduling cancer around my already too-demanding schedule.

THEN.... I took a genetic test a while back and the results are......YES, I HAVE A MUTATED GENE. I am getting a print out of information about it tomorrow and I'm going in for another genetic test (a family study) tomorrow morning, so I'll tell you more later.

AND.....I went to this interesting Employment Law Seminar today and they talked about generational differences in the workplace, and I thought I'd share a snippet of it with you:

1. The Traditionalist: born in 1945 and before

-Lived through World War II
-Has Traditional Values, believes in hard work and dedication
-Conformity is important and respect for authority
-Believes in delayed rewards (like work now and you'll be rewarded later)
-Duty before pleasure
-Honor
-Change is uncomfortable for them, they don't adapt quickly to change.
-Hates the use of slang, prefers more professional communication.


2. The Baby Boomer: born 1946-1964

-Lived through MLK and man on the moon, women entering the workforce
-"Can Do"/"Conquer All" attitude
-optimistic, team-oriented (because their parents were around in their youth)
-good at relationships and networking
-Time-starved, stressed-out
-the "sandwich generation" - has to take care of kids and elderly parents
-Prefer eye contact
-their idea of aging is "it's not going to happen" i.e. the "new 60"
-"don't leave us behind" attitude when learning new technologies
-will have a focused retirement, full of goals


3. Generation X (or Baby Busters): born 1965-1980

(this is totally me, even though I'm on the cusp of the millenials)
-lived through the Challenger Explosion, the president being adulterous, icons showing the reality of their not-so-glamorous lives
-grew up being latchkey kids
-learned how to be independent at a young age, so are fiercely independent by nature
-techo-literate
-they gather data from the internet and then meet to discuss things
-they prefer work to be balanced with their personal lives - time off is important to them
-non-trusting; because of all the things they learned in their youth, they have the attitude of "show me I can trust you, then I'll respect you"
-No corporate allegiance
-Informal when communicating
-Eye contact is not important when communicating
-multi-task oriented
-Survivor mentality (if this job doesn't fit me and my employer won't do anything for me, I'll find another one. I won't rely on waiting for them to change. I'll just do it.)
-Process information quickly.


Millenials: born 1980-2000

-Movers/Shakers
-Are used to a digital, instantaneous world
-street smart because they have been exposed to so much
-Arrogance, "respect me" attitude
-Used to constant communication with family and friends (text messaging, anyone?)
-Global in the way they look at things - wants to know what's going on in the board room because they know it will ultimately affect their position.
-They want to know WHY
-They want constant feedback of their performance at work - no more annual reviews.
-They don't see a difference in personal and professional lives. Everything is viewed as personal - nothing is a secret.

Anyway, I thought that was interesting stuff.

Talk to you later.

Tomorrow morning, 7:30 a.m., is my LAST RADIATION AND MY LAST TREATMENT FOR CANCER EVER!