JOE CASPER - South Boston Tribune

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GET IT DONE!

During WWII there was slogan that made fun of other people expecting someone else to do what they needed to do. The slogan was...LET GEORGE DO IT!

It seems that in every family; every business; every political office any and everywhere you look there is a...GEORGE. It could also be a female version of George like a...MARY. People turn to a George and Mary type because they...GET IT DONE!

Who do you turn to when you need to get something done? Do you turn to the person who doesn’t get it done or to someone who does? We all like someone who gets things done.

The question is this: Why are so many things not getting done? Clearly we are drowning in information and a sea of paper. Everywhere I look; everywhere I turn there is more and more paper. I see it all around me but I can’t figure out...WHY? How do we move on?

Why do we need all of this too much information? It is impossible to keep up. Everywhere I look, I see paper products. I could soundproof a room with all of the coffee cup holders that keep piling up. What do they do with these products that were originally recycled? Do they put them back in the recycling bin and then recycle them all over again?

If you purchase a magazine subscription then stand back and get ready to duck. Your name will be sold to just about everyone who publishes anything. It will be raining paper all around and over you.

Besides, why would you want to buy a subscription to anything when you can go online and read it for free? Who wants to read about something tomorrow that you can read about...RIGHT NOW? Is it any wonder that newspaper advertising sales for daily newspapers are way down? Is it any wonder that daily newspapers are cutting down?

They are doing it because people aren’t reading daily newspapers anywhere near like they used to. Times are changing. Where do we turn; where do we go to find the Georges and Marys of the future? People who...GET IT DONE! We find it in and among the children.

The Georges and Marys of today are the “Tweeners.” They are reluctant to put anything on paper. They are the children between the ages of 7 and 16 who are the ones who know how to get things done. If you want to send a text message to anyone you don’t ask the person you grew up with, you ask an 8 or a 9 year old. They show you in a few seconds.

Not only that, they will show you how to do it quicker and smarter. They know nearly everything you don’t know. If you can plug it in or put batteries in it they know how to...GET IT DONE!

If you are having trouble with your computer don’t waste your time calling for the “Geek Squad” ask one of the seven year old children in your family to show you how to fix it. The “Tweeners” are truly the only ones keeping pace with today’s rapid and ever changing technology. Before it is out, they know all about it.

For those of us who are not so technologically advanced we are surrounded with an army of “Tweeners” who can point us in the right direction. The key to going in the right direction is the willingness to ask a child how to do something.

They used to say when something was simple, “Oh, that’s child’s play.” For a time in that time it was indeed child’s play to do simple and basic things. But it’s not “Child's Play” any more. Now it’s how to get rid of your “Spam” or how to create a “Blog.” It’s how to attach a message instantly to an e-mail and get it there quicker than you could have ever imagined.

Is it any wonder that the kids are frustrated with the adults. The “Tweeners” don’t speak the language everyone else is speaking. They’re talking and thinking “High tech” and the rest of us are trying to get the time clock on the DVD player to move from the 12:00 mark.

All of this is happening today and that says an awful lot about tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. Certainly there have been technological advances over the years but they have been in somewhat of a paced and timely nature.

We can tell children to be careful crossing the street and to make sure they clean up their room. We can advise and guide them as to where to go; what time to be home; and who they can and cannot go out with. Sure we can do all of that but the minute they turn on that computer they are smarter than most of us.

Certainly there are people who are very savvy and are able to keep up with the “Tweeners” but that’s only for now. “Tweeners” don’t have to learn how to do anything technical or electronic. They were born with the ability and are able to soar off to places we have no idea where they will be going.

This is way beyond sneaking out and going to a movie. This is children stepping into their computer and instantly traveling the world. No you can’t have an extra cookie but you can text twenty people with who knows what. Every generation thought that they were smarter than their children because of what they had done as a child. They knew the shortcuts. No child was going to outsmart them. Well, that was then and this is now.

It is virtually impossible to keep up with a 12 or 13 year old child on a computer and what’s worse the Internet. They are surfing the Net and there are some very bad people out there. This is where the kids get in trouble. Their innocence makes them vulnerable to people who are looking for vulnerable people. That’s their stock in trade.

That’s why I think it is a good idea for adults to turn to children more to learn from them. If you think that because the computer is in the kitchen and you can see what they are doing, you are so very wrong. You don’t have a clue what they are doing. Not only that, they have a partnership with their friends who, with a few “Clicks,” share information with each other.

While you’re watching the Red Sox game the “Tweeners” in your family are surging down the communication network world. Come on! Admit It! You have no clue just how technologically smart these “Tweeners” are. Try asking them to show you some computer shortcuts and then be ready to be shocked. They are the George and Mary of the future.

Stand back and learn. You may find out from a here’s how to “GET IT DONE TWEENER” that you’re not quite as...SMART AS YOU THINK!
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