Goddarn kids don't know what REAL work is!
Posted on 11/05/2003 7:32:45 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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.
Can you blame them?
Seems to me America has no respect for the work ethic, either.
And it's no wonder; after all, America holds lotteries that award tens of millions to people who do not earn it.
Which makes it official: the American work ethic is not respected by American government.
A fine example for the kids.
Not! Go out and find a real job, or get an education and then get a real job. Flipping burgers gets you nothing.
"Charlie, take a look at these cool 11 rules that Bill Gates came up with!"
A Roman historian, I think Juvenal, once said that "luxury is more ruthless than war."
Young people? I talk like this to ADULT liberals.
...and no, they don't quite get it either.
Liberals are nothing more than spoiled 12-year-olds in adult bodies. The pyschobabble term that comes to mind is "arrested development."
Well,
My boy Ben just turned 14. This past summer he was earning around $100 a week from lawn mowing in the neighborhood. He has picked up some leaf raking opportunities, and with an elderly couple down the street has brightened their day.
I had something to drop of to Miss Virginia this evening, and she just went on and on about what a good boy he was, in doing the jobs they hired him for, including gutter cleaning, as well as yard work. She remarked on how polite and well spoken he was. This is usual input from folks who meet my homeschooled son.
I have another son, who wants to be just like Ben.
In high sclool, I took a part time job working i a shoe repair shop (1954)for a whopping $.25 (25 cents) an hour. Learned a trade and by graduation, was running the shop when owner was out (50 percent of the time) and was earning 85 cents an hour.
That was crappy wages even then, but it made me strong and developed a great work ethic.
Never became a CEO and great wealth is overblown if you have to give up your soul.
Huh?
What is not real about "flipping burgers"?
Often wonder about the great differences when kids turn the corner at puberty and some go in the wrong direction, succumbing to the wiles of the world???
No doubt home schooling played a role but....?
Goddarn kids don't know what REAL work is!
It was a major moment of clarity for me, There I was, doing physical work/gardening w/ the intent of keeping that yard looking great,(besides doing our own house) wanting their approval (at that age) that what I was doing was O.K.---They were hardly ever home and I realized "I really am worth more than this", and they finally said "nope....10.00 a month and no more". I thanked them for letting me have my first real job ( I became quite aware at a young age) and they never once thanked me for any of that work.Ever. Some people unfortunately, are just like that. Because of their behavior, Thank you's became even more of a habit in my life. They still are.
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