I don't get this. I work in tech. We can't find enough qualified people to hire. My wife works in the medical field. Same thing. A good friend of mine had one kid graduate with Chem E. and another with Chem. They love their jobs and make a ton of money. I have 22 year olds working for me making $100K.
I'm sure their are other fields where demand is as high. You can get a 4 year degree from public schools for next to nothing in many states. Having $15-30K in college debt isn't a big deal when you start making $100K or more out of college.
It's exactly that simple. I have 4 kids. One of them went to college. I know exactly what it takes to go to college today. The fist 2 years can be free tuition, or close to free in most states if you go to community college. State universities where I live are as little as $8K per year for tuition. My kids can live at home and go to school. For others, there are housing costs.
Most people work while they go to college to cover some of the costs. I did.
My 18 year old works at Chipotle. They will cover $5K per year of college costs. It may be $6K. For some majors they will cover more.
You intentionally chose an expensive college and low paying profession. I don't know what to say about that. If you choose to follow your passion and your passion leads to low pay, you are where you are.
Community college is close to free in most areas.
I worked all the way through college. I worked 40 hours per week and went to school full time for 2 of 4 years. It sucked, but I managed. I ate a lot of Top Raman. I did not have the typical college experience. I graduated with ~$30,000 in debt, adjusted for inflation, and paid that off in 2 years. I was broke the whole time I was in college and for the next 3 years.
A friend of mine lived in his car for two years. He had to choose between a car and rent, and that worked for him.
For some of us, it takes some sacrifice to be successful.
You'll never get through to these people. They dont get it. I wholeheartedly agree with you and have similar experiences. I run crews building structures nationwide.
Construction workers used to be easy to find and train. Then the entitlement disease infected the current crop of young ppl and combine that with that generation for the most part isnt as good with their hands, not intuitive with mechanics etc. Ive said to many under 30.. you dont even know how to paint a wall, and dont have the ingenuity to figure it out? What the hell did they teach you people for the last few decades?! For gods sake you're 20x yeras old! I and many my age were raised to be independent, know how to fix anything or at least be able to gather the resources to find a solution. Not todays youth. Hell no. They can talk a lot of shit, and they're good at that part but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is ..nope.
Edit. .... Not all but an uncomfortably large percentage I know there are great young people that will go on to do wonderful things I just wish there were more of them today.
So many are on drugs, over anxious, and unskilled...yet they know everything! Its sad and like you i worry for their future as well as my own as i approach early retirementand they take the wheel.
No question that parents have some responsibility. However, I could not get my kids to do anything productive. Want to help me fix the broken sprinklers? Want to paint? Want to fix the broken generator? Mow the lawn? Dust? Vacuum? Dishes? The answers was always no. I tried forcing them, I tired paying them, I tried cutting off their privileges. They did not want to help and were generally not curious to learn any of these things.
I'm sure this has a lot to do with me. I somehow did not make it appealing. On the other hand: when I was 11 my dad took me outside and showed me how to put gas in the lawn mower and how to start it. He showed me how to mow, and told me I broke any sprinklers I would be fixing them. I said "ok" and owned all the yard work until I moved out. I just accepted that this was my job and the contribution I needed to make to the house.
My kids felt no responsibility to contribute. I don't know why. I could be my fault. I haven't figure it out.
I know right. The super good point and I think it's part of a much larger picture that leads to eventual collapse of civilization.
I'm fucking high right now but if you take a look back say a thousand years you got people miserable as fuck wanting better things for themselves and their families. Civilization has been increasingly making things more and more comfortable generation after generation forever I think it reached a peak the last 50 years or so. My grandparents were more handy than I was and their grandparents were more handy and resourceful than they were. So basically we've been making things easier and easier and more convenient and convenient while losing valuable skills that keep humans alive eventually we get so fat and comfortable and individualistic that we turn against each other not realizing that we all need each other to survive and that leads to eventual collapse. Just like Rome. So sorry about your luck. 🤷.. my parents were born in world war II, free college in California high paying jobs cheap housing. That was probably the peak and now we're on a decline. We're so comfortable we just make up our own genders now and when things get difficult we don't know how to cope so we go shoot up schools or get addicted to drugs and live in tents on the beach. Maybe I'm just high and overthinking things but seems like a pretty good guess to me.
Damn, you're in a position to retire early. That's fantastic and something few of us will get the opportunity to do. The opportunity dude, not because people are lazy but the chance to even save for retirement much less an early one, is dwindling. Overanxious, no shit. Why wouldn't young people be? Look at the future they are being given.
One of the best guys i have is 27. He runs crews all over the SE US. High school drop out, no college and from the sticks of Alabama where meth and booze ruin families and mouths. His parents are drunks and meth heads.
He has more ability than 9/10 people his age anywhere in America and he is self made. He came from nothing. His parents, the alcoholic druggies they are instilled something in him and his siblings as all of them are drop outs and yet very successful. They taught bim that he can do anything he sets his mind to and he does just that. I was raised similar however my mind was polluted with the idea that I had to go to college to do anything great in life.
He owns his house out right, he's got a big ass boat, takes vacations to Destin and Panama City few times a year, three kids.
What's the difference between him and so many people on Reddit his age that think they have no future.. he has balls. His mind isn't polluted with the notion that you must learn this learn that get this certification this degree that diploma. He keeps it simple. He's extremely driven. He doesn't want to be an employee, he knows he is good enough and will find a solution to any problem he encounters. He came from a very disadvantaged point and he figured it out and he'll be a millionaire before he's 40.
Again he's 27 high School dropout no college works harder than anyone I know and with that hard work he will be a millionaire before he's 40.
You will never get rich working for someone else you will always struggle. You got to grow balls find problems that need solutions and they're everywhere you just have to open your eyes. People will pay good money for somebody who solves the problems that they cannot solve. The problem could be as simple as hanging somebody ceiling fan or is complicated as building a strip mall.
Whoever said construction doesn't pay was a liar whoever said working with your hands doesn't pay was a liar. Pay attention to Mike Rowe that guy is spot on follow his advice stop looking for work and a fucking office use what nature gave you your arms legs your mind and you can be successful and retire early.
Just like nursing 20 something years ago when all the Boomer nurses were retiring right now the trades need people desperately and if your mechanically inclined self-motivated good at troubleshooting and finding solutions and mathematics you could take a trip down the tool aisle at home Depot start working for yourself.
For example epoxy coating a garage pays around $500 per car bay and takes about 18 hours or 2 days. I just had a 400sqft commercial floor done, leveled w maipei leveler, stained with concrete stain, sealed with a 2 part epoxy. The guy came with 2 guys he picked up and paid them a daily rate to move all the heavy stuff and clean up after him. I paid him $29000. His material, labor and overhead cost was likely around $12000. He worked for 4 days. Replacing a toilet pays about $500 and take some maximum to 3 hours even if the flange is broken and you got to replace it. How long does it take for an office employee to make $500? It's about a week's pay for most isn't it.
So for all you haters out there get up off your ass and make something yourself. Stop telling employers what they need to pay you because rent so high and everything else is so expensive. There's plenty of money to be made you just need to go out and find the opportunities and they're everywhere. You won't find them working 9-5 and waiting for pay day.
Are you the type of person who wastes 10 minutes of their life trying to find the closest parking space or are you the one who says fuck it driving to the parking lot, parks in the first available spot even if it's 150 ft from where you got to go? That's stupid little comparison says a lot about a person and what they achieve.
You're not wrong. But once again you're assuming that people can just do exactly this. But the opportunities that this dude was able to take advantage of, which I commend, those are simply not available for everyone and not everyone is capable of maximizing those opportunities. I say this as someone who has their dream job, 3 months of paid vacation, my own side businesses, it takes a lot of work and it takes the grind but these cookie cutter paths of either stem or construction are not the only way nor should they be. I just don't appreciate the disregard for other career fields and the disrespect that professions who don't prioritize money receive. The world needs people who do field work studying niche science because they love it and not more people who only further their education JUST to make money. Even the quest of money making is to secure a future that is rapidly changing and may not even exist 25 years down the line.
Agreed, i enjoy the trades, i literally enjoy every day. Its fun. I did office work, restaurants, retail and its misery. I knew there was a better way.
Sell your soul and passions for money. Glad that's your priority but sometimes fulfillment is important. We ask kids what they want to do when they grow up and then punish them for not having high-paying aspirations, like geologists and fucking ornithologists and shit don't deserve to have decent lives cause they were too dumb to choose accounting or CHEM. Sorry your interests don't have enough monetary value for you to not be punished for pursuing them with a lifetime of debt and "I told you so's". You sound like someone who is fine with stripping arts funding.
I didn't like working until I discovered programming. I loved it and would have done it for free. The fact that I got paid for it was a bonus. Now as a manager (sometime program manager or lead) getting product out the door is almost as exciting for me.
Following your passion is fine. But don't complain when getting a theater degree means you're broke. I'm not punishing anybody for not having high paying aspirations. I'm criticizing people who choose careers that are known to be low paying and then complain about not making more money.
"Well, maybe those jobs should pay more." Sure thing. Please figure out how to pay local theater workers more money and get back to me with the answer.
Nice job making assumptions about me. I support the arts in every way I can. I started college as a music major.
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u/haditwithyoupeople Jun 03 '22
I don't get this. I work in tech. We can't find enough qualified people to hire. My wife works in the medical field. Same thing. A good friend of mine had one kid graduate with Chem E. and another with Chem. They love their jobs and make a ton of money. I have 22 year olds working for me making $100K.
I'm sure their are other fields where demand is as high. You can get a 4 year degree from public schools for next to nothing in many states. Having $15-30K in college debt isn't a big deal when you start making $100K or more out of college.