Photo courtesy Guest Blogger Jean Youn

Have you ever experienced the effects of generation gaps?

First generation immigrants like me, with children who grow up in America, experience a significant generation gap with their children.

A generation that knows what it’s like to go hungry has a much different experience of life than following generations who have never gone hungry. If you add cultural differences on an already existing large generation gap, it can become very difficult for immigrant parents to see eye to eye with their Americanized children.

I read an article about how the “hungry generation” is turning into the “hangry generation,” and I believe that is very good thing.

Hangry is an acronym for Hi-Tech, Amusement, Naturalism, Green, Realism, and You First.

Though it’s true that the advancing of technology (Hi-Tech) has been beneficial to us throughout the passing generations, however, I believe that the remaining five letters of hangry have made it through thousands of year of human history without any change and have remained important aspects of modern human life.

To illustrate what I mean consider clothing; technology advancement has allowed people to created synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, but natural fabrics like cotton and silk have remained top quality fabrics for thousands of years.

Of all the words or phrases represented by hangry, I think “You First” is the most important. It’s the first step to making the world a better place.

I would like our cleaners to be “the cleaners that thinks of you first.” If I can go about business with that kind of mindset, I wonder if that could help bridge the generation gap between my children and me. I hope that would help me be able to see things from their point of view.

I hope that your week will be filled with a “you first” mentality.

###



Jean Youn is the owner of Value Village Cleaners at 912 West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale 91202. For details on services, coupons and more, check out the Value Village Cleaners website  here.

The new school year is only about a week old , but it already has been an ordeal for some Burbank middle school students and their parents. As I first reported on this blog about a week ago, A Burbank city funded, long-running,  and very successful after school program was axed at David Starr Jordan Middle School, leaving some parents scrambling to find a safe alternative for their children.

One parent, I’m keeping her name confidential,  alerted me to the situation in an e-mail and has continued to give me her impressions of what the public is being told vs the reality of what’s going on. 

Last Tuesday, August 17, a Boys & Girls Club official told  me a new after school program sponsored by the club was available at Jordan Middle School. Yesterday, I found the club’s after school program listed on the Burbank Unified School District website.

However, the transition, from the old after school program to the new one, has been very bumpy, according to this parent who sent me an e-mail this evening:

“We signed up for Boys and Girls club today and happily paid our $75. No flyer was given to the children. The only way we would have known of it was through your blog.

I called B&G club about the privileges and the two people I spoke with didn’t know what I was talking about, neither did the person at Jordan so not sure what is involved.

At this stage, just glad I don’t have to worry about my child walking home (a kid was knocked down last week near the school) and am glad to be in a position to pay the $75 (cheaper than a speeding ticket).

So thanks Fronnie as you were hugely instrumental in getting this going. I am sick of paying and paying and getting shafted time and time again. No 13% pay raise for us.”

It’s a real bummer that these parents have been jerked around like this. These Burbank taxpaying citizens and their children deserve better from their city.