You would simply not believe now many of my university friends/classmates started smoking while in fucking university. To clarify, these aren’t people who were a little dumb as teenagers and started smoking, and then hadn’t quit by the time they were in university. No, they started smoking in university.
(Sorry for the language.)
In response to the OP’s question, I was going to say “using ‘everyday’ when ‘every day’ is meant” but that seems pretty minor compared to the weighty issues the other posters have mentioned in this thread.
Yes. This. I’m Facebook friends with both halves of a formerly-married couple. They had one kid, were going through a divorce, and had unprotected sex enough to get her pregnant again before the divorce was final. Just about all of the woman’s Facebook posts are about her kids driving her crazy (either humorously-phrased or not) and maybe 5-10% involve passive-aggressive swipes at her ex.
Ditto parents (okay, mothers) who sign their kids up for every activity under the sun, or sign their kids up for traveling teams, and then complain that all they do is drive the kids from one activity to the next. Or people who buy things for the kids and complain that they own them. :smack:
Floating down a river without a life jacket. I’ve been in the business for 20 years; I’ve never known anyone to drown whilst wearing one. All of the deaths have been bare chested.
Using payday loans or check cashing loans. My brother recently got one for $300. By the time my parents bailed him out barely a month later, he had paid over $600 to them and not one cent of it was to principle. I’m honestly disgusted that these places are allowed to even exist in this day and age.
This is a good description of one of the things I came to say. I make sure my kids know the Six Things Guaranteed to Fuck Up Your Life (I know, sounds like something from Cracked).
In no particular order, the List of Six (as I call it):
Having kids before you’re ready or can afford them.
Poor mating choices
Squandering education opportunities
Crime.
Drugs
Unmanageable (or unnecessary) debt.
I have been a volunteer instructor in a remedial-adult education facility for a long time. It’s mainly a last-resort place to try and help people re-start their lives. I tell my wife it sometimes seems like they were given my list-of-six, and thought it was a scavenger hunt. :rolleyes:
I fully realize there are situations where life has kicked you in the teeth, due to nothing but random luck. But after a few years of teaching, I’m convinced the majority of the cases we’re working with have managed at least 2 on the list.
In addition to making sure my kids understand the above, I have an interesting way of teaching them about their cars. I explain thusly: “[pointing to gas cap] This is where the gas goes… [points to rearview mirror] and this is where the town with no jobs goes.”
I’ve never understood why people just stay and wait for financial ruin. It’s always booming somewhere… go there and make money. It seems absurdly simple to me. Mizpullin and I have moved 11 times* in our 33 year marriage. When one place declines, head for greener pastures. How hard is this to figure out? My 23 yr old has worked in FL, NJ, and here since graduation. He’s moving to IN in a few weeks to start a better job. In this economy-of-suckage, he has good pay, great hours, full health/retirement benefits, and is self-sufficient. I’m flabbergasted at the number of his peers still at home with their parents.
*significant moves, to a new state or country. I’m not counting cross-town moves to new digs.
It is one thing to co-sign for a young adult with no credit rating. It is another thing entirely to co-sign for a full adult who has made a mess of his/her life.
Except for Facebook, no you didn’t. All of those other things are quite a bit older than “these kids today”.
Some adults are so monumentally irresponsible and ignorant of arithmetic that they can’t handle a credit card. These people are idiots whose lives are a perpetual circus of fallout from bad decisions. Credit card debt is a mere sideshow to the self-made shitstorm they live in. The convenience and financial flexibility of a credit card is a boon for regular people who can add and subtract.
Full-blown (as in anything above community college?) college/university is a mistake? For who? For people who are only fit for a life of minimally skilled labor, it’s probably too hard. For tradesmen or certain types of technician, it’s overkill. For the vast middle, who don’t want to work with their hands and may not have a clear idea what they have an aptitude for, it’s a really smart investment.
A few:
-riding a bike without a helmet. Your skull is fragile-protect it!
-“Free” climbing ('nuff said)
-not bothering to learn anything about the mechanics of money (loans, compound interest, debt and its implications). Most of my daughter’s friends don’t know anything about this-and this ignorance is NOT bliss
