I found a link to his on the net this morning wile doing a little simple surfing.  If I was only as good a child as I expect my children to be.

Rule #1. Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase “it’s not fair” 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule #1.

Rule #2. The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it’s not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule #3. Sorry, you won’t make $50,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t have a Gap label.

Rule #4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait ’til you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he is not going ask you how feel about it.

Rule #5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren’t embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule #6. It’s not your parents’ fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of “It’s my life,” and “You’re not the boss of me,” and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it’s on your dime. Don’t whine about it or you’ll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule #7. Before you were born your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule #8. Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off. Nor even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don’t get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on.

Rule #9. Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be perky or as polite as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule #10. Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule #11. Enjoy this while you can. Sure, parents are a pain, school’s a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be kid. Maybe you should start now.

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Today I was surfing around the net. I was reading an update to a post I made on MacForums. The forum thread was referring to a video called Merry TossMass. The video tells us about one man’s opinion the the topic of “Merry Christmas”, versus “Happy Holidays”. This topic is nothing new. This year, for some reason, I have taken it to heart.

Here is a link to the video.

I think it’s sad that our society has moved political correctness to celebrations. Let me try to put this thought into words…

Being politically correct should be limited to offensive behaver only. It use to be political correctness was defined by not saying racial, religious, or lifestyle slurs(the “N” word, the “K” word, the “F” word). All are horrible words and should not be used. Is Christmas next? Will it soon be known as the “C” word!

I believe this change in political correctness took place in the late 80’s when some ethnic communities wanted to be referred to as their “pre-melting pot” place of origin(African American, Native American, Italian American, etc). This change threw our social relationships into a whirlwind.

Some people who were born in the United States, from United States born parents, now wish to be referred to as “_ _ _ _ _” Americans? I thought if that’s the case I want to be referred to as a German-Native American. Since I have a little German and Indian in me.

When you wish someone a Merry Christmas the intent is not to offend.

The strive to please everyone has turned us into pleasing no one. No ethnic or religious groups call this time of a year “Holiday”. Aren’t we just offending everyone by saying Happy Holidays and in turn offending everyone. Really we are saying “I could care less what you actually celebrate, but what ever it is have a Happy one”.

That’s just laziness.

This story is amazing to me. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that. The most amazing part of their story is that all the children are teenagers or older.

“The Economides family are aptly named — the family of seven lives a comfortable lifestyle on $35,000 a year, without credit. They’ve written a New York Times best-selling book called “America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money.” (The Economides)“

Here are a few of their ideas

• as a family plan all your meals 30days in advance, then shop for groceries one day per month. Plan 2-3 days per month for cooking. Prepare all the meals and freeze them. Use coupons saved over the previous 30 days.
• shop at thrift & consignment stores for clothing. Don’t be afraid of who will see there, it’s probably on one you know.
• use your local library to borrow movies and music for free.
• do your own haircuts, it’s not that hard to learn. Google search “cut your own kids hair”
• buy used furniture
• stop thinking you have to “keep up with Joneses”

They are a true inspiration to all of us who want to live within or below our means. To read more about them, you can pick up their book at Amazon: America’s Cheapest Family.

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