Stay in school as long as you can
Inow have a daughter who is a senior in college, and a son who is a freshman. If that isn’t scary enough, financially and otherwise, the senior seems to think she’s ready for the “real world.”
“I can’t wait until I graduate and am done with school,” she said recently.
I quickly tried to talk some sense into her. “Being an adult stinks,” I said. “Stay in school as long as you can. Or as long as your parents will pay for most of it.”
When you’re still in the arms of education and not fully on your own, all you see is the glory of independence, and not the distasteful responsibilities that accompany adulthood. There are so many things “they” don’t tell us when we dive blindly out of adolescence on our own.
“What do you mean?”
Now being “they,” I told her what I meant. Here’s the condensed version.
♦ Insurance.
Many times during my education, it was mentioned that I would have to pay for insurance, but no one ever really stressed how much I would have to pay for insurance. They also failed to sufficiently convey how many types of insurance I would have to pay for, or that the percentage that insurance devours of my income would increase every minute of every day for the rest of my life.
♦ You understand politics.
Let me rephrase that: You may understand politics.
When you’re young, politics is naively seen as a synonym for public service.
You see someone running for national political office, and say, “Gee, he or she seems like a nice person. I’m glad they want to serve the people. I hope they win.”
But as you wise up with age, you realize that it’s not about public service – it’s about politics. And politics is about money, special interests, and separating people by party alliances. These people who think they are in different political parties really aren’t that much different, but politics wants them to believe that. And has been incredibly successful in doing so.
We just need to rid our country of these political parties that separate us. But that’s unlikely to happen any time soon – which is great for the business of politics, and horrible for public service.
♦ Health.
Before the metabolism halt of adulthood, I could eat four pounds of Rolos at breakfast, lunch and dinner and not gain an ounce. If I did that now, I would myself become a Rolo (which is, by the way, a round candy that doesn’t breathe).
For most adults, your health becomes a major concern as you get older. And you also have to be concerned with your kids’ health, your pet’s health, and then, your parents’ health and well-being. And perhaps others. ♦ Money.
When you’re young, you think having lots of money will solve any problem and make you happy. Unfortunately, most of us never get to find out if that is true.
It seems like everything costs a lot more than you can afford, no matter how much money you accumulate. Don’t get me wrong – I’m very thankful for everything we have. I have all the money I’ll ever need – if I died eight years ago.
Even when you have money, your financial welfare is a concern that doesn’t seem to go away. “What doesn’t stink about being an adult?” “Well, lots of things,” I said. “First, you’re not a dog. For every year you age as an adult, a dog ages seven years. So, you have that going for you.”