The "Happy Meal" Generation Meets the "Chipotle" Generation

A few days ago a bus tour came through the cafeteria. We asked where they were from and they answered: "We're from ALL the states, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and California.

hmmm....perhaps the world really does get smaller for some people.

Anyway, our bus tour guests were all over age 65 and they kept asking for "boxed lunches" to take out.
We tried to help them select packaged sandwiches, wrapped cookies, and bottled drinks, but many insisted on a pre-packed meal, and some were just confused.

I thought about Chipotle, the restaurant which assembles your rice, beans, meats and toppings as you supervise (kind of the way Subway assembles your sub sandwich) Chipotle is a favourite among hipsters, economists, students, teens and young families, but I've never seen anyone over 60. (Maybe they don't like the long lines :)
Chipotle advertises 60,000 possible combinations in preparing your food.
The Happy Meal originally offered 3 combinations (though now they've added a couple.)

Which brings me to this:

Sometimes I feel anxious about the rising generation.
Ok, I admit it--I feel quite desperate.
Teaching middle school will do that to you.
But then I remember,
It's a true clash of cultures.
Jill pointed out that we live in a unique age because we have 4 generations teaching at the same time. The generation before me is still in the classroom all the way down to eager graduates just out of university (so that's age 21 all the way to 65-ish)
the teachers disagree among themselves, no surprise they disagree with the students.

Students in middle and high school will take jobs that haven't even been created yet.

I think the teachers in the 80s who insisted on doing everything
the-long-way-by-hand were not preparing for the present generation of computer programmers and application designers. (how could they?)
We can really only prepare students by teaching them resourcefulness, problem solving, integrity (even when large corporations are NOT transparent), creativity and good people skills.
And those things we CAN teach, across the subject matter, and across the generations.