HOW TO PREPARE KIDS FOR THAT FIRST JOB

A very  handsome and intelligent-sounding young man finally landed a job – his first job.

He was hired as a security guard. The company supervisor told him to report for work at 8 a.m. the next day.

Our twenty-year-old was excited. He arrived on time. Shoes shined; hair slicked back; uniform pressed and in order; a broad smile on his handsome young face.

“A job at last,” he proudly said to his family as he continued to grin from ear to ear with this major accomplishment under his belt.

Mr Twenty had been pounding the employment path for months with no results. He’d been submitting applications everywhere, it seemed to him, but with no results.

“But now”, he said, “I’m listed in the national statistics as employed.”

                                                           Wow!

Then came the hitch, albeit a seemingly somewhat  small one.

The arrival time for work just didn’t make sense, he said. Not that he really cared about the 8 a.m. thing, BUT his shift really didn’t start until one full hour later.

That first hour was just dead time, so his reasoning brought him to decide there was no real reason to be there at 8:00 a.m.

And so, on the second day of being an employee, a new employee, he didn’t set his alarm clock for the previous day’s early hour. Instead, he made sure to get an extra hour’s sleep as, he reasoned, there was no need to show up at company headquarters since work didn’t begin at that appointed hour.

You already know the punch line to this very sad and unfortunate story. But you may not have guessed that our young man blamed the supervisor for firing him due to what the supe called, “coming in to work an hour late.”

What lessons did Mr Twenty miss during his growing up years?

1)When the person in charge tells you what to do, do it.
a) you aren’t smart enough to have all the answers OR you would be in charge.

2) Life is often a set-up – a test – a challenge
a) when you misstep, don’t blame others, see where you took the wrong turn

How did Mr Twenty’s  parents miss the mark in teaching responsibility?

1) He didn’t learn respect for authority

2) He didn’t learn that he doesn’t call the shots

3) He didn’t learn unfavorable consequences happen when rules aren’t followed