Success I think...

[rayinpenn]

My high school senior son rolled in at 10:10PM, after a rare 8 hour shift, at a nearby supermarket, in an expected bad humor. "That was the worse... it sucked, it was terrible".

I should first explain that the job was mandated by Carolyn (my wife) and I. We made it clear that sitting in front of his multi screen gaming computer every waking moment was unacceptable. So last May he filled out an online application and he was working by June. (I swear it all comes to easy to this kid.) I blame myself for his lack of involvement in school. This isn't a sports house - I don't watch football, tennis, golf or any of it. It just doesn't interest me. I guess there's no surprise that he is like me in that. His three year tenure in the marching band ended with a promise to get a job and the morning offsite computer class.

C and I are sitting in the front parlor reading when I mention "he should be home soon. He will be in a real mood when he comes in..... With snow in the forecast people will out in force"

Some of his key comments.
"The guy I was working with didn't stop for lunch" I ask was he a full timer? "Yes." I told him the sad thing is he will work really hard for many years and will have little to show for it. (Yes my indoctrination is that obvious)
" I bought dinner from the salad bar $9. I couldn't believe it but it was too late to put it back. I worked a whole hour for that dinner" (yes, bam he's getting it)

My hope with the job is that he would get a dose of reality. He's getting the that in spades... They scheduled him for 5 days this week. He made it clear he and we didn't want him to work more then 3.
This is a kid who only opened the book twice in his entire HS career.
No effort and all too easy...

He made a disparaging comment about the company... I told him most companies are the same. I went to bed with a smile on my face.

Ps we've banked every penny for him...
I hope some day he'll appreciate it.

 

[euro]

Yep, he's doing just fine! Well done!

 

[Marita40]

Besides fast food one of my high school jobs was in a machine factory where I was on the assembly line, sitting and stamping something, all day with lunch and 15 minute morning and afternoon breaks. The full-time people who had been there years cautioned me in strong terms to go to college and never end up in a place like that. I listened...it was an excellent lesson. Hope the same for your kid.

 

[Nemo2]

"The road to comprehension is fraught with consternation."

 

[zinger1457]

Besides fast food one of my high school jobs was in a machine factory where I was on the assembly line, sitting and stamping something, all day with lunch and 15 minute morning and afternoon breaks.

Same here, worked in a furniture factory when I was 15 doing assembly line work, time went by so slow. Saw one of the workers overcome by fumes and fall in a big tub of varnish that the furniture was dipped in. It was all a big motivator to hit the books and go to college.

I watch 'This Old House' regularly and they are really pushing programs to get kids interested in the trades (carpenter, plumbing, electrician, etc.). Not sure how accurate the numbers are but they claim there is currently a shortage of close to 5M qualified workers and it's only going to get worse since so many of those currently in the trades are older workers. For some probably a better option then going to college.

 

[broadway]

I watch 'This Old House' regularly and they are really pushing programs to get kids interested in the trades (carpenter, plumbing, electrician, etc.). Not sure how accurate the numbers are but they claim there is currently a shortage of close to 5M qualified workers and it's only going to get worse since so many of those currently in the trades are older workers. For some probably a better option then going to college.

You can't outsource plumbing, electrician work overseas. Of course, there is nothing to prevent employers from proclaiming a shortage of "qualified" workers and importing them from overseas with H1B visas as the technology companies do or do what Trump does at his Mar-a-Lago establishment and hire with H2B visas.

 

[Sunset]

OP - Sounds like your son will have a choice to make, get an education and a good job/career or quit even trying because all jobs are a waste of time when you have a big inheritance coming.

 

[calmloki]

I'm not understanding. You want your kid to loath work? Where is the joy and satisfaction from a job well done? He is coming home in an expected foul mood - what a miserable way to face the time till early retirement.

 

[rayinpenn]

OP - Sounds like your son will have a choice to make, get an education and a good job/career or quit even trying because all jobs are a waste of time when you have a big inheritance coming.

1) My wife's grandma lived to 100.
2) my wife's cholesterol is lower then my blood pressure
3) my dad lived to be 80 a life long heavy smoker he died of lung cancer. - I don't smoke.


I don't know about that 'big inheritance' but I do suspect he'd grow old waiting for whatever he gets...

 

[rayinpenn]

I'm not understanding. You want your kid to loath work? Where is the joy and satisfaction from a job well done? He is coming home in an expected foul mood - what a miserable way to face the time till early retirement.

Not at all...he understands that this job is merely a stepping stone. We encourage him to be on time and do his job well. Still I want him to appreciate (on his own) that unskilled labor can be both difficult, strenuous and not very rewarding. That's why we say college is so very important.

 

[Fedup]

This thread reminds me of my second kid's first job in college. She never had a job in high school but wanted a job in college. Followed all her roommates, she got a job at a cafeteria washing dishes, cooking pans and stuff, not dishes that people use. After one week all of them quit. On top of that she had to shower immediately after her job. I think my kid usually likes to smell nice didn't like the smell so much.
I don't know what it taught her except that it sucks to be stuck doing this kind of job.

 

[brucethebroker]

Besides fast food one of my high school jobs was in a machine factory where I was on the assembly line, sitting and stamping something, all day with lunch and 15 minute morning and afternoon breaks. The full-time people who had been there years cautioned me in strong terms to go to college and never end up in a place like that. I listened...it was an excellent lesson. Hope the same for your kid.

1+.
One summer on the assembly line at 'Big Motors" was enough. Good pay, but I thought time would never pass each day. No wonder most paychecks of my co-workers went for booze, huge pick-ups, snowmobiles, motorcycles and boats.

Of course, my high school buddy retired at age 49 with a UAW pension and healthcare for life. But I was much happier to go my own path.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I watch 'This Old House' regularly and they are really pushing programs to get kids interested in the trades (carpenter, plumbing, electrician, etc.). Not sure how accurate the numbers are but they claim there is currently a shortage of close to 5M qualified workers and it's only going to get worse since so many of those currently in the trades are older workers. For some probably a better option then going to college.

Mike Rowe has something close to those figures too. For at least the last decade, any school I've been to has either hosted several companies offering internships, or courses to push training in the trades. They're in desperate need for more workers. Had my young dumb brain taken what it meant that someone just out of highschool could be making a pretty good salary, going on obscene a few years later, I probably would have listened more.

I've heard it so often that physically demanding work can wear and tear on the body. I'm not convinced that sedentary work is much better.

 

[calmloki]

A mason who was pretty canny held that all work was equal: a physically demanding job (carrying hod) became easier as one did it every day. An physically easy job with great benefits would result in the employee sniveling because the free lunch didn't include enough variety in the vegan option.

Both employees would bitch about the same amount. Wear and tear had about the same deleterious effects as being slumped in a desk chair all day.

 

[kcowan]

My sons both worked in retail food sales during high school. They both enjoyed it but they could see that it was not for them. They both enjoyed a fair degree of success in their jobs. We had not expected that but were pleased when they saw the limited nature limited opportunity.

 

[street]

Outstanding! My son wanted a job and worked for a beverage warehouse after school and summers. Weekends he would go to grocery stores and make sure displays were stocked etc. I was a lucky one didn't have to force him out to work. I also wanted to work I couldn't stand being in the house and work many different jobs growing up a a very rural area.

 

[samclem]

I don't know what it taught her except that it sucks to be stuck doing this kind of job.

That can be enough. I didn't enjoy some of my college classes, but after working fast food in HS and seeing my good friends still there, I was never attempted to quit school. That's not to say I couldn't have made good money without college (with some luck, work and aptitude), but I wasn't tempted by the alternatives.

 

[Fedup]

I never forced my second kid for a job, in fact I told her not to take that dish washing job as a freshman in college. She was hell bent in taking it despite my reservation, but I'm glad she did and quit when she did. She is not a lazy kid, far from it. But it was kind of a good lesson overall.

 

[427Vette]

I own and operate a small electric contracting business and I can certainly tell that there is a skilled worker shortage. It is almost impossible to find someone who wants to actually work. I don't think most kids going into a trade realize that there is real work involved. Sometimes you might have to sweat, lift, pull or figure out something complicated. I think that most kids now would rather spend their time with double screen video game monitor or their Ipod or one of many other electronic devices than to actually get their hands on something and accomplish a task. It is an absolute tragedy. Everybody wants everything but nobody wants to do anything. I have actually had to tell some younger recruits that it is called work for a reason. If it were all fun and games it would be called happy go lucky fun time and nobody would pay us for it! When we find a young guy who wants to work we make sure to keep him at all cost. Once they have the time and skills in to obtain a journeyman or a masters license the are VERY valuable.


I seem to always get a chuckle out of it when its insinuated that college has to be the destination otherwise you will have no future. I remember hearing this from teachers and guidance counselors when I was in high school more than 25 years ago. The last two guys we have hired have a number of years experience, both are in their late 20's and will make in excess of $100,000 plus all of their benefits which include paid holidays, vacation, health insurance, 401K company work van etc. These guys like many other trades people like them have also been earning this type of wage for a number of years prior to this as well. I wonder if there are any studies showing how much further ahead or behind the average college student is from these types of earnings. I seem to see on this board a lot of discussion on how much college cost has risen and the amount of student loans seems to be high as well. That would have to be a factor into the equation as well. Most trade people have no student loans to cover. Are most college graduates with 3-4 years of experience earning way more than that with better benefits?

 

[Nemo2]

than to actually get their hands on something and accomplish a task.

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-income-earners-according-to-cnn-75651-2.html

Post #33

I posted this just over two years ago...still valid I guess:

Twenty plus years ago, in coastal British Columbia, we had some plumbing work done.......our plumber sent over a young guy, wild green hair, the lot........got talking to him, he noted that the rest of his graduating cohort wanted 'office jobs with clean shirts' while he opted for a profession that would make him pretty good money, for which he didn't have to dress up, and that would likely (in one form or another) always be in demand........smart young guy.

 

[Meadbh]

Another reason to consider a trade: earnings begin earlier in life. If I had a kid with the right aptitude, I would encourage him/her to become a plumber. We will always need bathrooms!

 

[bigcmagor]

My high school guidance councilor told me I wasn't college material and I should consider the trades. I went to college anyway and eventually became a CEO, making the company owners very wealthy. I often wonder whether I would have done better building a company in the trades for myself.

 

[427Vette]

My high school guidance councilor told me I wasn't college material and I should consider the trades. I went to college anyway and eventually became a CEO, making the company owners very wealthy. I often wonder whether I would have done better building a company in the trades for myself.

I am curious. Were the owners that you made very wealthy college educated?

I know that this board seems full of college educated successful people but I personally don't know any college graduates that are incredibly successful. I know some who have okay jobs but they always seem to be the next one in line to be fired, downsized, relocated or outsourced. They seem to make okay money but never seem to create any real wealth. It doesn't seem to be very rewarding or stable way to make a living. Maybe nation wide the average of successful college graduates far out numbers successful trades or uneducated people but in my little corner of the world it isn't that way at all. Of the three wealthiest people I know two are high school drop outs and the third went through a agriculture school program. I asked the one drop out about not finishing HS and not attending college. He said he was very happy that there were so many smart people that wanted to got to college because now he can hire them to manage his businesses and keep track of his money.

 

[HFWR]

I know a fair number of successful people from all realms. A BIL with a HS diploma is a successful remodeling contractor, another friend with a HS diploma w*rks for a major industrial company but also has invested in land, and is worth seven figures. On the other hand, I worked [-]as a[/-] in high tech, and many had MS or PhD, and most made six figures as tech staff members, and higher as group/CC managers.

Associate-type degrees, or trade school degrees, are great ways for those less academically inclined folks to gain a lucrative skill, likely much more lucrative than, say, the college grad with a generic BA/BS. Of course, STEM fields, law, accounting, etc. require the four years plus of university, but at least a successful graduate in those fields can usually count on being employable, whereas the graduate with a BA in sociology might be less so...

But, back on topic, I think there is value in spending time bagging groceries, mopping floors, slinging hash, stacking boxes, or stamping out metal parts, all of which I did in the bad old days. First, it motivates one to get a degree and get the heck out. And second, it tends to engender at least some empathy for how the "other half" lives. It's one thing to clean toilets as a summer job, but another to do it for thirty years.

 

[bigcmagor]

They are an educated bunch. I was just better at the people part of running the business. My point, and one I try to convey to motivated youngsters at every opportunity, is that the real rewards come from ownership rather than working for wages, even at the top of a decent size company.