And that’s why I’m burying tins full of ‘toonies in the backyard.
14 Replies to “The Children Are Our Future”
Young people enter University for a “liberal” education, to learn how to learn and maybe have some fun, to discover who they are. Going to University just to get a good job is a waste of an education to these people.
But when they graduate they are shocked at what an unfair system we have. The real world doesn’t reward people who learned how to learn and had some fun. The real world wants people who can do something.
And the part about hiring kids off farms. Totally true. Hard work is learned at a young age and is natural to farm kids. I’ve never hired a bad one. Same for armed forces. They get up early, they work hard and they drink a lot of beer.
I am a 36 year old “gen x er” I have no problem getting dirty of doing the hard work.I see alot of the guys my age moving onto management positions becasue they can’t be fired, or their daddy works or owns the company it’s pathetic nepotism. I have done so much more than the others around me but i’m not in their circle, i didn’t play hockey, i didn’t have good parents i was poor as f. I just never fit in i was judged, and beaten up and hated for being poor and really not known in my community so i have been told through actions that iam right where i should be.
So i quit now i contract for myself as a licensed engineer. i was in oil and gas but that tanked and i was layed off. Now i am back to being responsible for myself.
I grew up in my dad’s garage – started off pumping gas when I was about 10 or 11 (56 now). I then graduated to helping out inside the service bays doing oil changes and changing good weather tires to snow tires. Balancing wheels and tires as well. Then becoming an apprentice (although my father hated the idea of me becoming an auto mechanic).
Went on to do brakes and work a brake lathe, tune-ups and other basic troubleshooting. All the while I was towing cars, boosting cars, plowing lots and driveways, etc. All this occurred by the time I was 18.
My grandfather, in the meantime, showed me how to saw a board, hammer a nail, solder a pipe and wire a circuit for a light bulb and even a 220/30 dryer connection for my parent’s cottage (when I was 13).
When it came to getting a job, while my formal education was minimal, I had of bunch of basic skills that these kids don’t get – or want to get.
I also was an electronics dweeb in my teens and the whole package allowed me to secure a job in a big multi-national corporation that employs me to this day (36 yrs and counting). That’s also 36 years of experience and on-the-job training.
I have had many pre and post sale jobs over the years and currently I’m part of a Canadian national technical support organization. One of a very few people with that status in the organization. I made my self a decent career and have lived a comfortable life.
Having some basic skills is the only way to go in the beginning. Many of these kids can’t even spell or do basic math but they have that almighty degree in psychology.
Good luck with that….
Gerhard Herzberg, who left Germany for Saskatchewan in 1935 was very pleased with the students who came to him from Saskatchewan farms – better than the students at Darmstadt, he said. They were hard working (as was he), resilient, and inventive, and two or three went on to become eminent scientists.
30 some years ago, I was hired over the phone from 1,200 miles away for my first job. The conversation went something like this.
“What job experience have you had?”
“I worked on the family farm.”
“What type of farm?”
“Dairy, we had 30 cows milking.”
“What time did you get up for morning chores?”
“A quarter to six.”
“Can you be here for Monday?”
My boss later told me “I don’t have the time to teach anyone responsibility, I needed someone who would be on the dock every morning at 6am without fail getting the planes ready. You were a farm kid, so I hired you.”
Well, Ms. McMillan, when the “children” get through with the Canadian dollar, the loonies will be good – as tiddlywinks.
There are good and bad from both the city and the farm, the farm good far out weighs the city good i get that but lots of good parents in cities that teach their kids about the value of a dollar, and the value of hard work and character building. When i started in my trade i admit i was not the best i was good,but not great, other guys were better than me after 9/11 they did layoffs naturally i was buffing my resume nervous ,scared, no one liked me at my job, my bosses layed of the 3 of my co workers, and gave me a raise. My boss has a serious issue with punctuality, the three guys were late 3 out of 5 days missed alot of work. i never did EVER. As noted above i was poor i was on my way up and i had no mom or dad to go home to if i was layed off. I stayed late and worked stupid amounts of overtime. One guy lost it on me after they layed him off he blamed me for him getting layed off.
I was born and raised in Winnipeg, drove my 81 monte carlo with a bag of clothes to calgary the rest is history. I’m a city boy , but my grandparents were farmers.
I remember when both of my daughters refused my offer to pay for an education I was truly disappointed. Funny, I don’t feel that way anymore. They both just went to work and are making their ways, slowly climbing their respective ladders. They have had some great successes and a few sizeable missteps that gave them more education than many classrooms could.
For myself, I couldn’t wait to make money and hit the job market immediately after graduating. After some differing jobs I landed a warehouse job with a medium sized distributor in Calgary. I was loyal and hard-working and was rewarded with promotions and training. At the age of 25 I had a lucrative paycheck, company car, company Amex card and expense account. Funny how a high school education in the 70’s taught me all the quality math and English skills that I ever needed to be successful.
The bottom financial line is, all that money I would have wasted on some useless degrees can now go towards their down payments on their first homes.
“I was born and raised in Winnipeg, drove my 81 monte carlo with a bag of clothes to calgary the rest is history.”
I was born and raised in BC, drove my 80 Camaro with a backseat full of clothes to Calgary and the rest is history.
I mentioned some of the crap jobs I did on the farm on a thread here just the other night. But there was other work on the farm I really enjoyed – operating a tractor or combine, for instance.
And like Brian M above, I had a intense interest in electronics that led me to a career in the mainframe computer business.
All without the benefit of a high school diploma or computer science degree. I did however take an electronics technology course that opened the door to the computer gig, and there was an enormous amount of on the job training in that career. And finally, I did a lot of reading and self learning to fill in any gaps.
This article is unfair. I mean, one day you just might need someone to do a critical analysis of transphobia in “3rd Rock From the Sun”, and if you don’t hire these liberal arts grads where will you be?
I’ve been doing my part to encourage kids that would likely waste time, brainpower and parents money at university by starting a scholarship for grads to join the trades straight from graduation. Given away $10,000 so far and 4 applicants this, the 3rd year. $1k per apprentice. Best tax advantage, short of a political party donation, for the charitable donation. Best part….. not a penny goes to Quebec!
Canadian observer I truly respect that, I made my way alone, as did you. And i think that is really the centre of all of this. If you know you are all alone and you are your only support system it’s amazing what you can and will accomplish, out in the bush trying to survive or on the farm or in a city. It’s nice to have help and i dont discourage that but never ever depend on it. Nice story though canadian observer thats what it is all about. make sure you tell your kids all about your 80 camaro and your road trip to the unknown.
Couldn’t agree more. Bang on!
I was self-employed for most of my working life. My first exposure to the workforce was at the age of 7, with an afternoon paper route. That was followed by more paper routes later on, as well as lawn mowing, caddying, shagging balls, shoveling snow, etc. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to camp, so I paid for it myself. I left grade 8 three weeks early to take a job at a drug store at 25 cents an hour.
I knew the value of work and the benefits that accrue. When it came to hiring staff for my companies, I looked for employees who knew the reality of hard work – not just the theory.
Young people enter University for a “liberal” education, to learn how to learn and maybe have some fun, to discover who they are. Going to University just to get a good job is a waste of an education to these people.
But when they graduate they are shocked at what an unfair system we have. The real world doesn’t reward people who learned how to learn and had some fun. The real world wants people who can do something.
And the part about hiring kids off farms. Totally true. Hard work is learned at a young age and is natural to farm kids. I’ve never hired a bad one. Same for armed forces. They get up early, they work hard and they drink a lot of beer.
I am a 36 year old “gen x er” I have no problem getting dirty of doing the hard work.I see alot of the guys my age moving onto management positions becasue they can’t be fired, or their daddy works or owns the company it’s pathetic nepotism. I have done so much more than the others around me but i’m not in their circle, i didn’t play hockey, i didn’t have good parents i was poor as f. I just never fit in i was judged, and beaten up and hated for being poor and really not known in my community so i have been told through actions that iam right where i should be.
So i quit now i contract for myself as a licensed engineer. i was in oil and gas but that tanked and i was layed off. Now i am back to being responsible for myself.
I grew up in my dad’s garage – started off pumping gas when I was about 10 or 11 (56 now). I then graduated to helping out inside the service bays doing oil changes and changing good weather tires to snow tires. Balancing wheels and tires as well. Then becoming an apprentice (although my father hated the idea of me becoming an auto mechanic).
Went on to do brakes and work a brake lathe, tune-ups and other basic troubleshooting. All the while I was towing cars, boosting cars, plowing lots and driveways, etc. All this occurred by the time I was 18.
My grandfather, in the meantime, showed me how to saw a board, hammer a nail, solder a pipe and wire a circuit for a light bulb and even a 220/30 dryer connection for my parent’s cottage (when I was 13).
When it came to getting a job, while my formal education was minimal, I had of bunch of basic skills that these kids don’t get – or want to get.
I also was an electronics dweeb in my teens and the whole package allowed me to secure a job in a big multi-national corporation that employs me to this day (36 yrs and counting). That’s also 36 years of experience and on-the-job training.
I have had many pre and post sale jobs over the years and currently I’m part of a Canadian national technical support organization. One of a very few people with that status in the organization. I made my self a decent career and have lived a comfortable life.
Having some basic skills is the only way to go in the beginning. Many of these kids can’t even spell or do basic math but they have that almighty degree in psychology.
Good luck with that….
Gerhard Herzberg, who left Germany for Saskatchewan in 1935 was very pleased with the students who came to him from Saskatchewan farms – better than the students at Darmstadt, he said. They were hard working (as was he), resilient, and inventive, and two or three went on to become eminent scientists.
30 some years ago, I was hired over the phone from 1,200 miles away for my first job. The conversation went something like this.
“What job experience have you had?”
“I worked on the family farm.”
“What type of farm?”
“Dairy, we had 30 cows milking.”
“What time did you get up for morning chores?”
“A quarter to six.”
“Can you be here for Monday?”
My boss later told me “I don’t have the time to teach anyone responsibility, I needed someone who would be on the dock every morning at 6am without fail getting the planes ready. You were a farm kid, so I hired you.”
Well, Ms. McMillan, when the “children” get through with the Canadian dollar, the loonies will be good – as tiddlywinks.
There are good and bad from both the city and the farm, the farm good far out weighs the city good i get that but lots of good parents in cities that teach their kids about the value of a dollar, and the value of hard work and character building. When i started in my trade i admit i was not the best i was good,but not great, other guys were better than me after 9/11 they did layoffs naturally i was buffing my resume nervous ,scared, no one liked me at my job, my bosses layed of the 3 of my co workers, and gave me a raise. My boss has a serious issue with punctuality, the three guys were late 3 out of 5 days missed alot of work. i never did EVER. As noted above i was poor i was on my way up and i had no mom or dad to go home to if i was layed off. I stayed late and worked stupid amounts of overtime. One guy lost it on me after they layed him off he blamed me for him getting layed off.
I was born and raised in Winnipeg, drove my 81 monte carlo with a bag of clothes to calgary the rest is history. I’m a city boy , but my grandparents were farmers.
I remember when both of my daughters refused my offer to pay for an education I was truly disappointed. Funny, I don’t feel that way anymore. They both just went to work and are making their ways, slowly climbing their respective ladders. They have had some great successes and a few sizeable missteps that gave them more education than many classrooms could.
For myself, I couldn’t wait to make money and hit the job market immediately after graduating. After some differing jobs I landed a warehouse job with a medium sized distributor in Calgary. I was loyal and hard-working and was rewarded with promotions and training. At the age of 25 I had a lucrative paycheck, company car, company Amex card and expense account. Funny how a high school education in the 70’s taught me all the quality math and English skills that I ever needed to be successful.
The bottom financial line is, all that money I would have wasted on some useless degrees can now go towards their down payments on their first homes.
“I was born and raised in Winnipeg, drove my 81 monte carlo with a bag of clothes to calgary the rest is history.”
I was born and raised in BC, drove my 80 Camaro with a backseat full of clothes to Calgary and the rest is history.
I mentioned some of the crap jobs I did on the farm on a thread here just the other night. But there was other work on the farm I really enjoyed – operating a tractor or combine, for instance.
And like Brian M above, I had a intense interest in electronics that led me to a career in the mainframe computer business.
All without the benefit of a high school diploma or computer science degree. I did however take an electronics technology course that opened the door to the computer gig, and there was an enormous amount of on the job training in that career. And finally, I did a lot of reading and self learning to fill in any gaps.
This article is unfair. I mean, one day you just might need someone to do a critical analysis of transphobia in “3rd Rock From the Sun”, and if you don’t hire these liberal arts grads where will you be?
I’ve been doing my part to encourage kids that would likely waste time, brainpower and parents money at university by starting a scholarship for grads to join the trades straight from graduation. Given away $10,000 so far and 4 applicants this, the 3rd year. $1k per apprentice. Best tax advantage, short of a political party donation, for the charitable donation. Best part….. not a penny goes to Quebec!
Canadian observer I truly respect that, I made my way alone, as did you. And i think that is really the centre of all of this. If you know you are all alone and you are your only support system it’s amazing what you can and will accomplish, out in the bush trying to survive or on the farm or in a city. It’s nice to have help and i dont discourage that but never ever depend on it. Nice story though canadian observer thats what it is all about. make sure you tell your kids all about your 80 camaro and your road trip to the unknown.
Couldn’t agree more. Bang on!
I was self-employed for most of my working life. My first exposure to the workforce was at the age of 7, with an afternoon paper route. That was followed by more paper routes later on, as well as lawn mowing, caddying, shagging balls, shoveling snow, etc. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to camp, so I paid for it myself. I left grade 8 three weeks early to take a job at a drug store at 25 cents an hour.
I knew the value of work and the benefits that accrue. When it came to hiring staff for my companies, I looked for employees who knew the reality of hard work – not just the theory.