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A caravan of camels was trekking across the desert on their way to the Big Oasis when they came to a mudhole. All the camels began drinking from the muddy water--except for one Young Camel.
"You better drink some of this water," the older camels said.
"Man that's stupid!" said the Young Camel. "Don't you know we're going to the Big Oasis? I'm going to wait till we get there and drink all the clean, fresh water I want instead of that muddy stuff!"
The camels finished drinking and resumed their trek across the desert. They came to another mudhole and once again all the camels began drinking except for the Young Camel.
"What are you guys wasting your time on that filthy stuff for?" he said. "Don't you know we can have all the water we want when we get to the Big Oasis?"
The camels finished drinking and continued their journey. Eventually they came to another mudhole and began drinking--except for the Young Camel.
"You guys are really ignorant," he said. "I'm not going to waste my time on that dirty stuff! I can have all the good, clean water I want when we get to the Big Oasis and I'm going to wait till then."
Finally the camels reached the Big Oasis. There was a big river of pure, crystal clean water. They waded into it and luxuriated in it's wonderful coolness and bouancy. They drank and drank and drank till they could drink no more. They rested awhile, then drank again.
All except for the Young Camel.
He was laying back in the desert where he had collapsed from dehydration.
And the moral is: If you want to reach the Big Oasis you're going to have to drink out of a few mudholes along the way.
There is also the scenario where the muddy water is toxic, and all the camels slowly lose their strength, and right before they get to the big oasis, there bodies have already have enough of fighting illness, and can no longer reap the benefits.
I believe that is what is happening right now. As cost of living is getting more expensive, all the hard work people do is like draining them, and diminishing them. When they get to that age, they realized they worked so hard for nothing.
Like College is those muddy oasis, and the degree and job are the big oasis with the river flowing, but the muddy oasis has put them in so much debt. Imagine if they spent many years in school.
I thought it should be obvious the Big Oasis is the life of success and attainment we all hope to reach and the mudholes were the low-paying, unglamorous jobs we all have to work at on the way there. I am simply amazed at how many young people think that right out of college they're going to be hired as company vice-president or something like that.
Sorta agree, but I wonder if there is a better way to tell the story...
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAllenDoudna
I thought it should be obvious the Big Oasis is the life of success and attainment we all hope to reach and the mudholes were the low-paying, unglamorous jobs we all have to work at on the way there. I am simply amazed at how many young people think that right out of college they're going to be hired as company vice-president or something like that.
I hardly consider any of the jobs I've had a march across a scorching desert. I've changed careers several times, gone back to school for additional learning, switched companies, and done a whole lot of things that were stressful but none of 'em forced me to stick face in an unknown mud hole...
In every job I'd like to think I learned something / helped the organization in some way. I did occaisionally end up financially worse off for a time but generally managed to keep putting aside a bit and over the years did learn that really having sufficient saving to feel "comfortable" meant at various times have a "side thing" to make me secure / learn how investing can work / understood that folks with more money often are just luckier, not always smarter...
Working one's way up is not all it is cracked up to be either. A fairly large percentage of my friends / neighbors have been dumped from high positions for reasons completely outside their control, often when some exceedingly incompetent higher ups force a firm into a bad deal that may make a small number of executives a literal fortune. Very often the chaos tht comes from successive efforts to "fix things" without really understanding the true nature of the problem or having a grasp on what can be controlled results in bankruptcy / liquidation / dissolution. For folks that foolishly thought "moving up" was the goal they have nothing while those that understood having skills that are useful to other firm often were able to move on successfully.
Really no career is all that "glamorous" in itself. While folks like to beleive the junk that floats around in magazines / web sites / TV about all kinds of executives in all kinds of businesses burning through piles of dough on lavish lifestyles the reality is most successful folks are a lot more Warren Buffet who has lived in the same pretty ordinary house in Omaha for decades than they are like some idiot "movie star" that lets hangers-on and "advisors" blow their money on who knows what...
The OP's analogy is pretty accurate for a lot of young people, who have been taught by their parents that they are special and too good for certain things. Too good to live in a place that doesn't have granite counter-tops. Too good to drive a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus. And on and on.
The sad thing is that this actually seems to work for a while as long as mommy's and daddy's pockets are deep enough to keep on subsidizing their kids' life styles. But in some cases the gravy train runs dry; the parents find themselves high and dry in retirement because they have made their little darlings their financial priority. Then those now middle-aged spoiled brats are in shock to discover that there will not be any lavish inheritance because they have already spent it.
Allowing one's children to grow up with a deep-seated sense of entitlement is an abdication of parental responsibility.
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Sorta agree, but I wonder if there is a better way to tell the story...
