In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Now let me first say that I don't often concern myself with celebrity gossip or entertainment news. For the most part it's a complete and utter waste of time. After all, they are just people like anyone else. However the recent news of the conflict over time slots on NBC made me think a little.
Apparently Jay Leno, who has commanded (alongside Letterman) the late night comedy/talk scene for years, wasn't satisfied with retirement after handing the show over to Conan O'Brian. So, NBC gives him a show during "prime time", right before Conan's show. Now that Leno's show isn't doing as hot, they want to put Leno back closer to his old time slot, thus pushing Conan back closer to his old time slot. Gee, could it be that maybe the reason why Leno's show wasn't doing so great was because people thought it was ridiculous for him to have yet another show after "retiring". Like I said normally I would never talk about something like this but for one, I like Conan a lot better as a comedian, but also this whole situation brings up another more relevant issue.
Many people who retire do so only to go back into the workforce. Now I completely understand people doing this who retire from low paying jobs or otherwise can't make ends meet on their retirement. However, there are a lot of people who would be more than able to live comfortably off of what they make in retirement, yet still go back to work. I take issue with this. In my hometown I recently saw that the city fire chief was retiring....only to take the director of human resources job in place of it. My former band director from high school, whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration for, retired from Ashland High School, only to take a job at Hillsdale High School (a country school near my home town). The problem with this from what I can see is two fold:
A) It takes jobs away from qualified young people who are currently out of work and needing to support families, pay back loans etc... In a booming job market that might not really be an issue, but now-a-days with the job market as bad as it is, every job counts. For example, I personally know people with music education degrees who actually applied at Hillsdale High School for band director positions and were turned down. Shouldn't those applicants been the first people the school called? As opposed to a retired director who apparently didn't really have any interest in getting back in the game at first anyway. Like I said I love the man but I was severely disappointed when I heard he was now teaching at Hillsdale.
B) It stands in the way of progress. Anyone who is from Ashland, Ohio, my hometown, knows that it can sometimes accurately be described as "boring". Now I personally love my home town. I think it's a great place to live and raise a family, but it is true that the leadership of Ashland is not doing much to bring any kind of progress to it. Gee, I wonder why that is. OH! Could it be because the same people have been running it for decades? Many of those serving on the city council have done so for several decades. The last several mayors of the city have been jokes, because they are lapdogs of the local university which seems to think they own the city, and because they only pander to a select "click" of "Ashland-elite". How about having some mayoral debates at election time? How about debates for city-council seats? And, I don't mean debates that go unheard of until after they happen and only then do you see anything in the local newspaper about them. How about term limits for mayors and city council. I'm a firm believer in the statement... "Politicians and diapers are a lot alike...they both need to be changed often and for the same reason". I would venture to say that one of the most prudent laws the city could pass in terms of creating REAL potential for progress would be creating reasonable term limits for the position of mayor and especially city council. Let's get some fresh faces and fresh ideas in city government instead of people who are still learning to use a computer.
Now, don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be disrespectful to our older generations. Quite the contrary. We owe a lot to what they accomplished. All I'm saying though, is that communities need to be looking toward the future and imagining what places like Ashland "can be" and not focusing blindly on what it once was. I imaging that the problems faced by Ashland are being faced by communities across the country. People who are ready and able to retire should do so, enjoy the time they have to themselves and with their families, and allow the industries and organizations they once so admirably served move forward and progress naturally into a new era; don't try to hoard these positions for whatever benefit you get out of it whether it be money, reputation, or even a distrust of younger generations. So that means you Leno!!!!!
Oh yeah and you too Brett Favre!!!
Apparently Jay Leno, who has commanded (alongside Letterman) the late night comedy/talk scene for years, wasn't satisfied with retirement after handing the show over to Conan O'Brian. So, NBC gives him a show during "prime time", right before Conan's show. Now that Leno's show isn't doing as hot, they want to put Leno back closer to his old time slot, thus pushing Conan back closer to his old time slot. Gee, could it be that maybe the reason why Leno's show wasn't doing so great was because people thought it was ridiculous for him to have yet another show after "retiring". Like I said normally I would never talk about something like this but for one, I like Conan a lot better as a comedian, but also this whole situation brings up another more relevant issue.
Many people who retire do so only to go back into the workforce. Now I completely understand people doing this who retire from low paying jobs or otherwise can't make ends meet on their retirement. However, there are a lot of people who would be more than able to live comfortably off of what they make in retirement, yet still go back to work. I take issue with this. In my hometown I recently saw that the city fire chief was retiring....only to take the director of human resources job in place of it. My former band director from high school, whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration for, retired from Ashland High School, only to take a job at Hillsdale High School (a country school near my home town). The problem with this from what I can see is two fold:
A) It takes jobs away from qualified young people who are currently out of work and needing to support families, pay back loans etc... In a booming job market that might not really be an issue, but now-a-days with the job market as bad as it is, every job counts. For example, I personally know people with music education degrees who actually applied at Hillsdale High School for band director positions and were turned down. Shouldn't those applicants been the first people the school called? As opposed to a retired director who apparently didn't really have any interest in getting back in the game at first anyway. Like I said I love the man but I was severely disappointed when I heard he was now teaching at Hillsdale.
B) It stands in the way of progress. Anyone who is from Ashland, Ohio, my hometown, knows that it can sometimes accurately be described as "boring". Now I personally love my home town. I think it's a great place to live and raise a family, but it is true that the leadership of Ashland is not doing much to bring any kind of progress to it. Gee, I wonder why that is. OH! Could it be because the same people have been running it for decades? Many of those serving on the city council have done so for several decades. The last several mayors of the city have been jokes, because they are lapdogs of the local university which seems to think they own the city, and because they only pander to a select "click" of "Ashland-elite". How about having some mayoral debates at election time? How about debates for city-council seats? And, I don't mean debates that go unheard of until after they happen and only then do you see anything in the local newspaper about them. How about term limits for mayors and city council. I'm a firm believer in the statement... "Politicians and diapers are a lot alike...they both need to be changed often and for the same reason". I would venture to say that one of the most prudent laws the city could pass in terms of creating REAL potential for progress would be creating reasonable term limits for the position of mayor and especially city council. Let's get some fresh faces and fresh ideas in city government instead of people who are still learning to use a computer.
Now, don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be disrespectful to our older generations. Quite the contrary. We owe a lot to what they accomplished. All I'm saying though, is that communities need to be looking toward the future and imagining what places like Ashland "can be" and not focusing blindly on what it once was. I imaging that the problems faced by Ashland are being faced by communities across the country. People who are ready and able to retire should do so, enjoy the time they have to themselves and with their families, and allow the industries and organizations they once so admirably served move forward and progress naturally into a new era; don't try to hoard these positions for whatever benefit you get out of it whether it be money, reputation, or even a distrust of younger generations. So that means you Leno!!!!!
Oh yeah and you too Brett Favre!!!
...And Allah Knows Best...
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