so people are not leaving the work force opening up jobs for a new generation.

I expect to see a lot of jobs opening up with the ACA in effect - I know people who put off retirement until both spouses were eligible for Medicare!

I'm not sure it's a generational argument.

so nobody has to guess that they have not kept up with inflation

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

In 1996 I was making $7.15 an hour as a no benefits part-time janitor.

That's only $10.64 in today's money.

In 2002, I started a part-time janitor job that paid benefits, making $10.69 an hour. That's only $13.88 an hour in today's money. Even taking away the 7.5% raise I got for becoming supervisor I would make over $14 an hour for the same job.

So I have kept up with inflation. Surprising, since there have not been raises in years with budgets being tight.

Unless you go back to 1986 when I was a GS-7 making $8.54 an hour, which would be $18.20 in today's money. I see that a GS-7 today only makes $16.28 an hour, about 90% of what they did in 1986.

Still, if I had started as a GS-7 those 11 years ago, I would now be at least Step 6, making $19 an hour. So there are other ways to keep up with, or exceed inflation, and from where I sit, GS-7s still make decent money.

She won't shut her trap!

On and on and on about everything else that doesn't matter (almost like she's trying to showcase absolutely everything she knows all the time) and a CONSTANT need for validation.

We saw a spark in her during initial interviews and I hope she can use that motormouth with current customers and to get new customers.

I really want this to work.

I keep thinking that the consistent inter-generational sniping and complaining about how "they" (insert vilified generation here) took this or started that are from trolls or sub-literate idiots.

I think you're completely right-- this isn't a competition, this is something we're all in together, old, young and middle-aged. As long as we keep sniping at our own neighbors because of their age, we're doing little more than exacerbating the problem.

Her pension and social security and savings were supposed to keep my mother in relative comfort after her retirement, but the social contract was broken somewhere along the line, she was compelled to get a minimum wage, part time job to keep her clothed and fed, and yet the sub-literate simply point fingers at her rather than those who actually broke the social contract, complaining "she took MY job!!!"