I'm a kid of the 80s, but I'm still convinced I didn't start forming solid memories until 1991, when Christina Applegate hoodwinked her way into the hearts of America (and out of the career-long prison sentence that was "Married With Children") by assuming the role of fashion designer and whirling her way through her hip Los Angeles-based fashion company's petty cash in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead." Who could forget her ice-cream-truck-driving boyfriend, Brian, after all? In her role, she was young, she was fresh, she was hip, and she had ideas ... true, most of them were for uniforms for girl scouts, the hospitality industry ... hey! Now that I think about it, that movie really was way before it's time.

Hollywood often has a way of lending relevance to the outside world through film. Sue Ellen showed the world of the early 90s that her age didn't really have much to do with anything. That girl knew what to do with some fabric. Years later, we have gigantic fashion houses designing flight attendant uniforms for gigantic airlines, ad agencies being run by twenty-somethings, dot com ventures making millionaires of unassuming teens ?- and I'm going to call it -- they have Sue Ellen to thank.

More and more, companies are looking for the "fresh face of tomorrow," the exciting new idea that's going to ensure their involvement in the world's future. The average American employee is being bombarded constantly with new digital media, Tickle-Me-Elmo's that move so independently your dog thinks it's the new baby, iPods that make phone calls ... America is growing up, and the proverbial babysitter has passed on to celluloid heaven! Companies are looking from the bottom up for the idea that is going to make them relevant in this paradigm shift.

That's why, more than ever, it's important for the hourly worker to not just be an employee, but a real contributor to their workplace. Today's vice presidents and CEO's are being trumped, not by the reality-TV mogul with a bad comb-over of the same name, but by the associate who said, "Hey, maybe we should make that blue instead of pea green!" Sue Ellen paved the way for the hourly worker to be the next great inventor, the next great fashion designer, the next great toy maker, the next great idea (wo)man. Heck, I'd even go so far as to say Sue Ellen is directly responsible for that amazing cure-all, Airborne®.

Next time you say "I'm right on top of that, Rose!" you'd better mean it.