Think back. When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was impossible to envision the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today.

　　让我们回顾一下过去。今天年龄较大的劳动者在他们二十几岁的时候，或许也会暂停手中的工作去给朋友打电话，或者是计划下班以后的事情。在那个时代，公司反对拨打跟工作无关的电话，整天打私人电话的人可能会被炒鱿鱼。不停地收发短信已经成为如今的年轻人的主要交往方式，但在当时却是无法想象的。

　　However, now that these older workers are managers, they're being advised by consultants to accept the changed dynamics, so long as young employees are doing good work and meeting deadlines.

　　而当这些年龄更大的劳动者如今成为管理人员，顾问公司建议他们，只要年轻雇员工作做得不错、能按时完成，就得接受这种变化了的情况。

　　Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are adept at texting with their phones still in their pockets, says 40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, the vice principal, "and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones."

　　教育从业者也面对着家长、学生和教育策略人士的呼吁，希望他们重新考虑相关规定。文首40岁的副校长加拉格尔说，在过去几代人中，学生在课堂上传纸条会遇到麻烦。而现在，学生把手机放在衣服口袋里就可以熟练地发短信，而且他们还能够跟楼下隔三排的某个人交流。今天的学生已经具有根本上的不同。他们会暂时停止下来，但不会放弃自己的手机。