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[Doc]

Not so much.  Not back then.

In my head that sounds weirdly ominous.

[Arachno-capitalist]

actually at my age he still thought he wanted to go into government, and was working at a job that made him so nervous that he puked in the bathroom, every single day.
weird.

but I do think about the things you just said a lot.
I think this job is changing a lot of my priorities in re: "I want to have a job where I get to make decisions, and earn money."

Yeah I mean, I know you're a smart guy and I've talked to you on the phone so I know you're generally kind, but at some point along the road you were able to say "I'll study anthropology" and remain comfortable. Taking 4 years out of my life to study how people did shit in Egypt wasn't going to pay my bills so I went into finance.

[Arachno-capitalist]

This is mind-boggling to me because this is so clearly the child who grew up to be A-Cap.

Well I know there are some aspiring authors kicking around here. If someone wants to jot down some of my adventures and misadventures I'd be willing to talk to them. I've been told numerous times that the story of my being carjacked at gunpoint is nothing short of a short-film worth of entertainment. (Guys.... I had a gun to my head and I told the asshole he couldn't smoke in the car he was trying to jack... while I was "kidnapped" in the car with him)

[wombat]

In fact my first thought was "I have to use that in a book." Although my second thought was not being sure anyone would believe it.

I mean my mom was great and all, but I think she enjoyed the theater of watching me find new and different ways to do basic stuff.

If this had occurred to me, I might have had children.

[wombat]

Yeah I mean, I know you're a smart guy and I've talked to you on the phone so I know you're generally kind, but at some point along the road you were able to say "I'll study anthropology" and remain comfortable. Taking 4 years out of my life to study how people did shit in Egypt wasn't going to pay my bills so I went into finance.

This reminds me of what a friend of mine said about being worried that her children would grow up without all the disadvantages.

Although, some of us were stupid enough to do that sort of thing even though it didn't pay the bills, which just shows exactly how poor my grasp of finance is. "Oh, they will pay me a stipend that is just enough to share an apartment and buy groceries for five years of grad school? So I can get a degree that qualifies me for, like, five job openings a year in the whole country? Sign me up!"

[CortJstr]

So there are different ways to tie a tie? On the rare occasion I wear one I tie it the way that was in the cub scout handbook circa 1988.

[Nabubrush]

I remember the carjack deal. Those were fun times.

[AugustWest]

wasn't going to pay my bills so I went into finance.

You must have some freaky high bills.

[jay-ell]

I mean my mom was great and all, but I think she enjoyed the theater of watching me find new and different ways to do basic stuff.

If this had occurred to me, I might have had children.

I'm watching my kid figure out how to make words out of letters. It's actually REALLY COOL to see him take a pack of alphabet stickers, sit down for twenty minutes, and then bring me a sentence that is more or less phonetically readable. It is hard not to correct him or offer him a spelling he is struggling with, but I am actively trying to create the "figure it out" experience here, too.

He has got sounding-out down pat, as long as there are no curveballs like silent letters.

Also, I always planned to make my kids pay their own way through college, even if I could afford to send them, but having a kid with autism forces me to rethink that. Attending classes might be all he can handle, if he chooses to go (which, given his strong academic leanings even at Kindergarten-age, I think he will). I don't think there is a significant risk of anything being "too easy" for him, ever.

The girl, on the other hand...

[Nabubrush]

I'm bought my own degree and I think I'm better off for having done it. Maybe especially because my mom could have paid for it, having transitioned from nursing to real estate by taking classes in the evenings as a single mom raising 4 boys. I think that sort of inspired me not to whine much about how hard it all was.

[Carlos del Vaca]

My dad taught me the half-Windsor years ago.  But about 15 years back, GQ or Esquire published an item with four different ways to tie your tie.  I tried them all and settled on the Shelby knot, in which you start with the back side of the tie facing out. 

[greenkoolayd]

I'm bought my own degree and I think I'm better off for having done it. Maybe especially because my mom could have paid for it, having transitioned from nursing to real estate by taking classes in the evenings as a single mom raising 4 boys. I think that sort of inspired me not to whine much about how hard it all was.

my childhood was essentially the same, except my mom raised me and my 3 brothers while going to Penn State-Mon Alto to study Child Psychology and Early Childhood Development, working full time at an agency that helped migrant worker families, AND doing spanish-translation-for-cash on the side.  she wasnt able to finish her degree, though.

[Nabubrush]

That's pretty benevolent. My Mom did deliver food to needy families (feeling the need to stick up for Mom, here).

[jay-ell]

I'm bought my own degree and I think I'm better off for having done it. Maybe especially because my mom could have paid for it, having transitioned from nursing to real estate by taking classes in the evenings as a single mom raising 4 boys. I think that sort of inspired me not to whine much about how hard it all was.

I paid my own way, and in fact am still paying it (thanks, Sallie Mae!). My brother got a scholarship and my parents covered his room and board, so he didn't have to work (it was a soccer scholarship, though, so he wouldn't have had time to get a job even if he'd wanted one, what with soccer practice every night and games all weekend most of the year.)

I didn't get a scholarship, and I chose an expensive private school, so I took out student loans on top of working part-time. Mom and dad offered to cover my room and board, to keep things fair, but I opted to live at home. So they bought me my first car, instead. It seems I got the better end of the deal, actually.

[theinevitable]

Yeah I mean, I know you're a smart guy and I've talked to you on the phone so I know you're generally kind, but at some point along the road you were able to say "I'll study anthropology" and remain comfortable. Taking 4 years out of my life to study how people did shit in Egypt wasn't going to pay my bills so I went into finance.

Like I said (vaguely), my dad was a poli-sci major and worked for the department of education. I still have time to have a change of heart and get an MBA, I guess.

My parents still believe that any college degree will get you a good job. I am trying to explain to them that that is not true anymore, but they do not believe me. Even more so with the idea that people go to grad school and can't get jobs afterwards.
It is not OK for me to say "mom, you have a PhD, how many jobs have you had in the last 25 years?"

the experience of paying their own way through college made my parents swear that they would not make their kids do that. Their view is: what is the point of making money if we're just going to make our kids go through the same shit we did.

I dunno, I don't think I'm a lost cause yet.