Subj : Re: Screens Distract Stud
To   : DR. WHAT
From : Rob Mccart
Date : Fri Apr 11 2025 01:24 am

RM> That's one of those 'in a perfect world' situations. Many people going
RM> into University have no idea what they want to do after graduation.

DW>Then they didn't do their homework.  You should know that before your senior
 >year of high school.

Again, in a perfect world. A lot of people just figure they need a
degree to get a lot of jobs out there, like working for the gov't,
but it doesn't matter what the degree is in. I know that's stupid but
that's how a lot of places work. They are willing to teach you what
you will be doing but I suppose they figure if they reqyire a degree
then the applicant is less likely to be a total idiot, which is how
they end up hiring so many idiots..   B)

RM> students know exactly what they need to take. And college is generally
RM> more for learning a job than a general education, although I guess you
RM> can't speak for all students.

DW>"Career" is probably a better word than "job", but yes.

Possibly I misspoke.. From my own experience trying out several
different occupations through my working life I never thought of
any of them as a career, just a paycheque as long as I didn't hate
working there too much. To my way of thinking a career is more that
you are trained to do just one thing and expect to do it for life
and may be in serious trouble if that occupation becomes obsolete.

DW>But, yes, that's not all students.  I had a cousin who went to college to get
 >her MRS degree (i.e. find a husband).  Others go to take some feel good class
 >that are worthless in the real world.

Yes, I've run into women like that before. They go to these meeting type
places, in my case it was a guided hike and I was there for the hike, but
I met a woman there I ended up dating for a year or so. But it became
immedietely obvious she was there 'fishing for a good catch' to date
and hopefully marry. You can usually tell because the first thing out
of their mouth is asking what you do for a living, which is code for
'How much money do you make?'..

RM> I bought University text books on programming and taught myself. I
RM> didn't stick with it long enough to get into learning the newer
RM> programming langauges though so I became obsolete

DW>Yup.  My first class was in FORTRAN.  Worthess?  Nope.  It got me a summer jo
 >fixing FORTRAN programs at a large auto company.  Another line on my resume.

We started off with Apple computers, actually clones that we built ourselves
that were better built and much upgraded from the genuine Apple systems.
Within a couple of years I was writing software for a company I worked
for and games and utilities for myself and others.

RM> Depending on exactly what they were teaching it could be handy just in
RM> your everyday life, coping with balancing spending and best ways to
RM> save for the things you want or need. There are far too many people
RM> out there who can't balance a check book..   B)

DW>And I would agree with you if that was what the Economics class was about.  B
 >it wasn't.

I see..

DW>Balancing a checkbook and such was taught to me by my parents.

That only helps if your parents can balance a checkbook..   B)

My parents were break-aways from their family, the only ones to get
a better education and better jobs and be able to afford to buy a
house, what their relatives referred to as 'being lucky', the
relatives that paid the rent and then estimated how many cases of
beer they could buy with what was left.

So we were taught to be careful with money and avoid bad habits
which is how I survived in life without having to work full time
for my whole (much of?) adult life.

I think the younger people coming up are somewhat spoiled though.
They are given lots of money so they don't need to get part time
jobs in school to learn about working and intelligent spending.

They were recently talking on the news about a lot of 'careers'
where these days there are more workers in, say, a car plant than
in the past, but they are putting out less product.

---
* SLMR Rob  * The Harris economic plan failed: I still have $3 left
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