At work, I am responsible (among a few other things…) for moderating the comments on our daily article blog. There is one particular person (I cannot call him a gentleman in lieu of his insulting, condescending and irrational behavior which includes calling Gary a liar on a daily basis in between illogical arguments on atheism based on copy and pasted false information found on the web, which of course we all know is SO terribly reliable in all matters pertaining to actual sense….)….. Anyway, I think I went down two or three rabbit trails there. Sorry. Back on track.
So I moderate the comments. Today’s article was in reference to homeschooling. And the comment this belligerent and ignorant person left on said article was along the lines of “Christians need to homeschool their kids because the rest of us need people to mow their lawns and clean their toilets.”
Well, I’m rather offended. I don’t like to compare myself on a regular basis to other people, but I know of one person in particular who I will look at comparatively.
She was a year older than me and had just graduated from college with a degree in IT. She started working for my company as her first job and seemed smart and as intelligent as any 23 year old can be. Within four months, she had been informally then formally reprimanded for unexcused absences from work, was paying off a $40,000 college loan, had totaled her nearly new SUV in an accident which was her fault, and living at home with her parents because she could not afford, due to her low paying salary, to move out. Why was her salary so low? Because she was in a field saturated by Generation Y-ers – and had none of the certifications that were required (and were also costly) to advance in her career. She quit her job within a few months…. Last I heard she was working at the mall in a department store.
What was I doing while she was in public high school and at her public state college getting a $40,000 debt on an “education” in a field that thousands of others were getting an education in only to learn that they couldn’t get a decent salary without spending still more to get further certifications?
I was socially acclimating myself to the world around me in theatre and orchestras, debate and sports, art and history, traveling around the country and reading over 6,000 “adult level” books (including college textbooks on marketing and management). I have spent time (not just traveled through) in every state east of the Mississippi and some of the ones on the other side. I have seen just about every lighthouse on the Eastern coast, thrown fish carcasses at sea lions, shaken hands with a billionaire (Truett Cathy) and made maple syrup the long, hard, boring way in the dead of a Northeastern winter.
- At my first job, I received the most compliment cards of any employee (Chick-fil-A).
- At my second job, my work was displayed in store and I received several awards for top sales during the month (Lifetouch Photography Studio).
- At my third job, my descendants were offered jobs anywhere my manager and general manager were involved – my manager even let me study his top secret restaurant business plan before he left to be the Director at the country’s oldest hotel (Van Gogh’s, a Fine Dining Establishment).
- At my fourth job, I was next in line for a managerial position and was one of three on the team that broke the drive thru record during lunch (Chick-fil-A; 112 cars in 1 hour!
).
- At my fifth job, I was a receptionist that handled everything and anything for the 20 person staff. If they needed it, I did it or knew how to get it done (Method IQ).
- At my sixth job, my partner and I gained a full docket of continual requests for us to be the only team that cleaned their house within a month (it was almost full in 2 weeks) and we were checking up on teams that had been there longer than we had for accuracy and detailed thoroughness (Maid My Day).
- At my seventh job, I was offered a position as Executive Assistant to the President, based on their experience with me as a receptionist, where I handled all manner of important tasks and confidential matters (Method IQ). Look up the requirements for an Executive Assistant anywhere and you’ll find a degree and usually a decade of like experience required for even being considered for the position.
- At my eighth job, I have been heavily involved with orders, customer service, donations, promotional events and emails, project quotes, wholesale accounts, shipping, setting up radio interviews, design input, event coordination, and marketing projects.
Yes, I have cleaned toilets. And I darn well know when they’re clean and when they’re not. And I know how to clean one within an inch of it’s shiny white life. I’ve had a lot of practice, because I was at home so much and had to do it often. :-)
But my point is this. You can’t compare homeschoolers and public schoolers and come out with a definitive “good” and “bad” or “smart” and “not smart” or “worker bee” and “queen bee.” Every one must be tested on his or her own merits. I happen to believe that how you are educated or where has very little to do with how you actually turn out. I know homeschoolers I would rather endure great suffering and pain than be anywhere near. But don’t look at me and say that because I was
homeschooled I am good for nothing more than cleaning a public schoolers toilet! I didn’t need to endure the halls of public education to come out on top of the world I live in. I’ve proved a homeschooler can do whatever they want in the real world – even if it might take a little longer or might not turn out the way they originally thought.
I’m working my dream job at my dream company. If you had told me at 12 that I would one day work at AV, with Gary…Carol… I never would have dreamed it possible. But here I am – moderating comments from people who think I’m good for nothing but toilet duty. All I can say is, darn right; and it’ll be clean. :-)
