Originally Posted by
LexieCat 
...When I was in HS, in Colorado, they had 3.2 beer clubs--3.2 beer was legal to drink when you were 18, but you had to be 21 to buy anything else.
I was there, then! (the Springs.) The AFA cadets used to go to the 3.2 clubs until they got their Trans Ams and turned 21 in their senior year.
Originally Posted by
LexieCat I know, I feel like the old fogey going on about "kids today". My younger son is also not a bundle of ambition, but he has always had jobs and is far better adjusted, socially, than his brother. I have a feeling he will make out OK once he gets his butt in gear.
But I remember getting my first job after college (a tech-writing job). Originally we all were hired temporarily, but six months later we got permanent offers, and the same weekend I got hired permanently I found my first apartment, furnished with all second-hand stuff except for an $89 dinette set I bought new. I couldn't WAIT to be on my own, and I even enjoyed paying my own bills. Heck, even with all my debt now, there's part of me that enjoys paying bills because *I* am responsible for ME. It's a cool, independent feeling. Seems like most young people today feel that they need a new car, and all kinds of new, expensive STUFF before they move out on their own.
*sigh*
I hear you on feeling like an old fogie. It really was a different world then, wasn't it? I, too, couldn't wait to move out when I got my first job, and I, too, still get that "thrill" out of paying my own bills, making the decisions. I didn't have children, but I did hear a lot from my friends who had children, and I've heard a lot about kids getting into computer games and thinking they can do THAT with their lives?? I don't get it - it seems something is missing.
One of the friends with whom I grew up from 1967 (we used to go to those 3.2 clubs together
), came nearby to visit her sister, and my AH and I drove up to see her - first time in 20 years. Her oldest son has never quite gotten it together career wise either, and my friend and her husband stopped paying for his college at one point too. The younger son is just graduating this month from college but no job yet.
She was saying that she and her husband think that the oldest son will have to go through the school of hard knocks before he figures it out.
I can empathize (not sympathize) with your feelings...it sure makes me wish the kids of today could have better experiences like we fogies did...