Too Many Young Americans Have No Understanding Of The American Work Ethic

Are America's young people being properly prepared to deal with the real world? That is a question well worth asking. Indeed, Charles Sykes addressed this point in his book Dumbing Down Our Kids when he established eleven facts that Americans are failing to teach their children.

The first rule is "Life is not fair — get used to it." The fourth one is "You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself." That is followed directly by "Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping — they called it opportunity."

Too many young Americans have no understanding of the American work ethic. You see it in stores where the counter help acts as if they are doing you a favor by waiting on you after they have finished their phone conversation. You see it in fast food restaurants when the waiters and waitresses are unable to process your order efficiently.

Complacency is the attitude that permeates much of the American service industry, particularly the younger workers who often act as if the employer is obligated to give them a salary for the least work possible. That is a sad statement about our society and its lack of concern as to the importance of doing a good job.

No one in this country is guaranteed a job and I fear that many young Americans are about to learn just how "unfair life can be." Americans do not have to be given jobs. Unfortunately, the jobs may move off shore.

Business Week recently reported that more phone service jobs are being located in India. Why? Economics is a big part of it.

Just as important, Indians who work the phones are college educated. They handle requests for service with efficiency and courtesy. They make the customer feel valued.

In contrast, the article noted that most Americans who man the phones have only a high school education.

That may be but I am willing to bet that something else is missing: Good manners, proper diction, and the willingness to apply oneself to do a good and proper job.

Right now, many of us in the conservative movement are concerned that more jobs are being sent overseas, particularly high-skilled industrial manufacturing jobs that pay wages that enable workers to support their families. The American workers who hold these jobs are intelligent, skilled and willing to work hard. It is unconscionable that companies are sending these jobs overseas because it is costing us our manufacturing base. We as a country stand to suffer grave consequences if our industrial base is permitted to erode. Government trade and tax policies should not encourage the sending of American jobs overseas. To the extent that the Federal Government's policies do that, changes must be enacted.

On the other hand, customer phone service jobs are not positions that require a college degree. They are entry-level positions and, if they are not being done right, then that says something about the people who are doing the work incorrectly.

You cannot speak slang. You cannot speak rudely. You need to dress neatly. You must show up to work on time. You must learn all you can about the company you are representing to be of real service to the customer. These are qualities that schools should not have to teach; they are best learned at home by the example set by parents. If their parents are not setting the example and the schools are not teaching it, then life may soon provide them with a hard lesson.

A message is being sent to our young people by the shipping of customer service jobs to India. Let's hope that there are enough smart ones to realize that, as Sykes' rule number eight says, "Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT."

Otherwise, many young Indians will have earned the jobs that Americans could fill if they were willing to put in the effort required to do the job properly.

The promise of American life was the ability to advance oneself through hard work and commitment. Many Americans have played the game by the rules are seeing their jobs sent overseas for the wrong reasons. We will pay a real price for losing those jobs and the manufacturing capability in the long run. Unfortunately, too many young Americans have grown up with a distorted notion of that promise, thinking it meant guaranteed success achieved with little or no real effort. Now, many young Americans may be in for a rude awakening about the world as it really works.

For those who have not seen the original "Life's Not Fair"

Some rules kids won't learn in school

Charles J. Sykes
SYKES is the author of "Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Kids Feel Good
About Themselves, But Can't Read, Write or Add" (St. Martin's Press).

19-Sep-1996 Thursday

Unfortunately, there are some things that children should be learning in school, but don't. Not all of them have to do with academics. As a modest back-to-school offering, here are some basic rules that may not have found their way into the standard curriculum.

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about yourself-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word of burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

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