Easy Way Out

Kids today. . . .some, not all, look to take the easy way out in life.  Education, jobs, wealth, status . . . all things requiring focus and hard work to attain.  It's a bitch to get there.  Sacrifices.  Long hours.  Lots of studying whether in school or on the job.  Don't forget ya gotta brown nose to get somewhere, too. 

Today short-cuts seem to be the name of the game.  Entitlement part of that game.  Cheating yet another. 

I could write a book on the subject having witnessed every Tom, Dick and Harry scheme possible all in the name of not doing the work.  Period.  Not doing the work.  Even our girl Gracie has exhibited a bit of taking the easy way out in her studies.  The other day it was asking to read more books with a lot of pictures.  Damn, if she doesn't get that from her grandfather.  Learning her multiplication tables has been much the same. . . looking for an easy way and not mastering the tables through memorization.  Are they important to know by heart?  Dam right they are.  Ask any middle school math teacher and they'll tell you that students who fail at that level do not know their times tables.  Multiplication mastery is the foundation for the next steps in math, algebra, geometry and so on.

When kids fail or get older they wanna get lazy and look for alternatives. Taking on what seems a high paying job when living at home is logical.  No bills.  No rent.  Apart from out of pocket money for eating out, it's always free with mom and dad. 

In-N-Out advertise starting burger flipper wage as being ten bucks an hour.  That's two bucks over California minimum wage.  Forty hours of flipping grosses $400 a week.  Not bad for a kid living at home.  Lease a BMW and lots left over.  Be livin' high on flipping burgers. 

Add a family that relies on those wages and that creek you just went up a couple of years ago. . . hello?!  You're now up a creek without a paddle and without an education that brings a living wage.

This summer we hired a "kid" for outside landscaping grunt work.  I would have busted my ass doing what he did and probably ended up in traction.    The kid is 26, married with one child.  Did some jail time.  Has more than his share of tats.  One of the best guys you ever want to meet . . . good heart, hard worker, smart. . . .. And a "kid" who woke up one day to realize he had taken the wrong fork in the road. 

So The Kid went back to college this past spring.  And says he won't quit until he has not only an AA degree but a BA or BS, too.  Unlike high school studies, The Kid says that college is fun and he's enjoying learning. 

Apart from the obvious the good news in this story is that The Kid woke up at age 26.  Some "kids" don't wake up until they're middle aged without a pot to piss in. 

Bottom line:  Everyone has an inner switch when it comes to actualizing the "be all you can be" in life.  How to turn the switch from off to on varies from person to person.  Some are born with an on switch while some of us . . . let's just say it takes an "ahhh ha!" experience to wake up and exclaim, "Now I get it!" 

And for those who don't, fuck it, they become strippers.  Somebody has to do that job, don't they?