mel jacobson on mon 5 jun 06
of course it is watered down...in fact it is
a sunami flood.
the perception is:
every kid in america must go to harvard law school.
or, `my kid is going to the best college`.
they start when the kid is ten years old.
college, college, college.
work is rejected.
skill in the work place is rejected.
`bobby is going to read this summer, he does not
have time for lawn work, or a part time job. he has to
study for his s.a.t's.`
try and get a teeny bobber with ipod in her
ears to help you at the mall. ``what do you want?
quit bothering me...i am important...i should not have
to work here...ick man.`
`i am going to get a really plush job at about
100K a year when i get out of college. i am going to
study `buying trends`...and my brother is majoring in
`computer games`.
the reality is a very different story.
what happens in the high schools moves right to
the colleges. everyone is an A student.
a C is a failing grade.
car insurance pressure
college grade pressure
national tests pressure
mom and dad pressure
aging parents now put on a great
deal more pressure...mom and dad are
53 with a 8 year old kid. just one. and, man, is he
precious. `he's going to princeton you know, going to be
a surgeon.` sure, we know that when he is 8.
i wonder how many times in my later years at hopkins high
i had a social worker or assistant principal at my door.
`you know mel, sarah is planning on an eastern college,
her mom called and said she was getting a C. could you
help us out here?` `get the hell away from my room,
i grade 100 percent fairly. tell her to get her ass in gear
and the grade will follow.`
`mel has a bad attitude`.
this is a very sore point with me, i watched it happen...right
before my eyes. in 1955 there was one or two valdics, now 33.
the u of minnesota would have maybe 5 magna cum/now 154
300 suma cum.
it is crazy. you cannot tell me the world just got really smart
over the last twenty years.
reality. the guy that just put in my new front and back door system
is a nice 50 year old, with a pick up truck. he works 4 days
a week. skilled to the nines. we worked together for two days.
got the job done. during our talking i gathered that he had a good
life. new pickup, cabin up north, his wife is a nurse. three kids
out of the house. i said to him...`are you doing ok financially?`
he said.`oh, yah...really well. no debt, money in the bank and
i can make all the money i want.` he went to jr. college for two
years...said it was `not for him`. he makes much more than most
of the guys from willmar, mn.` he said.
`you know, i had about 5 years of making a good living while
those guys were majoring in business. and it cost me nothing.
i have always been ahead of them...and i have no stress.`
nice chat. reality. many never get it.
skill always wins. he is a 14 handicap golfer. nice life.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/ (new website)
http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3 old
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Tom at Hutchtel.net on mon 5 jun 06
>
> this is a very sore point with me, i watched it happen...right
> before my eyes. in 1955 there was one or two valdics, now 33.
> the u of minnesota would have maybe 5 magna cum/now 154
> 300 suma cum.
The same thing that happens in the schools, happens everywhere. I know it's
a rant of yours, mel, and me too. "I'm a master......" fill in the blank.
Master potter, tea master, master whatever.
Reiko Shellum, whom I think you know, 60 plus years old, classically trained
Japanese, sumi and other brush painting techniques expert, once got in this
discussion with me when I called her a master. 'How can I be a master? I'm
only 62' Master has to be earned and can only be conferred by other,
equally skilled people in your trade or art. And it is much more than
simple skill. It is the way of living.
Today it seems someone takes a course or studies in an out of the way place
and then calls themselves a "master". Ya right.
short rant
Tom Wirt
Lee Love on mon 5 jun 06
On 6/5/06, mel jacobson wrote:
> this is a very sore point with me, i watched it happen...right
> before my eyes. in 1955 there was one or two valdics, now 33.
> the u of minnesota would have maybe 5 magna cum/now 154
> 300 suma cum.
> it is crazy. you cannot tell me the world just got really smart
> over the last twenty years.
Mel,
Maybe it was the school you taught at. My daughter went to
H.S. just outside of Flint. Finished salutatorian in her class (only
one valedictorian and one salutatorian.) She received no grants or
scholarships, but only student loans. She was talking about joining
the Army during her senior year, to save money for college.
It was different when I went to school. I was only a B
student in H.S., but had college and expenses paid in full for my
first two years (I worked at UPS through college and on top of it on
campus at the physical plant and public safety in the summer to
support a family.)
It is more difficult to pay for college today.
You have to ask if we can blame the kids for the environment they
have been born into. We helped make that.
--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/
"The way we are, we are members of each other. All of us.
Everything. The difference ain't in who is a member and who is not,
but in who knows it and ho don't."
--Burley Coulter (Wendell Berry)
Arnold Howard on mon 5 jun 06
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
> try and get a teeny bobber with ipod in her
> ears to help you at the mall. ``what do you want?
> quit bothering me...i am important...i should not have
> to work here...ick man.`
>
> `i am going to get a really plush job at about
> 100K a year when i get out of college. i am going to
> study `buying trends`...and my brother is majoring in
> `computer games`.
The teeny bopper with the iPod is a hilarious word picture.
My son graduated from high school two weekends ago. He is
going to college with the goal of joining a police SWAT
team. I told him it was a laudable goal, because by stopping
murderers he would prevent untold suffering of would-be
victims.
When we reach the stage where we realize our own mortality,
I think we no longer push our kids to enter only high-paying
professions.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
marianne kuiper milks on mon 5 jun 06
Bingo, Arnold.
This coming weekend nine of my private music students, some for 14 years, are graduating. They came with questions about their future all year long. Money was always a big issue, from wanting it, bravely not caring, to parents demanding that they pay back and do well.
I tell them one thing:
Money is a necessity unless you can spend your life trading.
How much money you want has much to do with how much your 8-5 life is worth to you. If you want to spend most of your life loving and enjoying what you do, less money is a truly acceptable "compromise" But I pitty the person who hates their work. It's like marrying someone you'd love to get away from.
Marianne
Arnold Howard wrote: ----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
> try and get a teeny bobber with ipod in her
> ears to help you at the mall. ``what do you want?
> quit bothering me...i am important...i should not have
> to work here...ick man.`
>
> `i am going to get a really plush job at about
> 100K a year when i get out of college. i am going to
> study `buying trends`...and my brother is majoring in
> `computer games`.
The teeny bopper with the iPod is a hilarious word picture.
My son graduated from high school two weekends ago. He is
going to college with the goal of joining a police SWAT
team. I told him it was a laudable goal, because by stopping
murderers he would prevent untold suffering of would-be
victims.
When we reach the stage where we realize our own mortality,
I think we no longer push our kids to enter only high-paying
professions.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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Kathy Rhoades on tue 6 jun 06
mel jacobson wrote>
> skill in the work place is rejected.
My husbands a damn good welder. Welds have been xrayed, no holes. Does the job right the first time. He works for the railroad now, they don't like him, he's too slow. they let the other guys do most of the welding. Know what he does all day? He goes back over all the other guys welds and fixes them, they don't hold up! The other guys get more done. Now isn't that joke!
Kathy Rhoades in PA
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