What would my peers think?
By Al Ritter
I handed $100,000 to my son who wanted to go to college, we never talked about his hopes and dreams, we never even talked about what subject he would study or what degree he hoped to achieve. Family members criticized me about my lack of imposing goals, or even talking to him about what I expected of him.
His freshman year he played like a child with no rules, he partied at night, stayed out late, and hooked classes. Family members came to me and expressed their displeasure, and told me if something didn’t change, something catastrophic would happen. He bulled on, barely passing his classes, but never changing his habits.
He changed majors in his sophomore year, but his aim of partying hadn’t subsided. He now hooked classes on a regular basis, and had even failed a few. The family pressure was increasing for me to do something, his future was in question. I talked to him and explained that he needed some degree of oversight. He balked at the suggestion, and told me everything was fine, he “knew what he was doing.”
In his junior, he was finally “seeing the overall picture,” had his nose to the grindstone, but time wasn’t in his favor because of his lack of aim in his first two years. His workload was now enormous, and he was feeling overwhelmed.
Pressure was at its highest level in his senior year, as he began to admit to himself, that he couldn’t get his degree in the 4 years allotted. He approached me halfway through the year and told me he needed another year.
I gave in and handed him another $25,000, I never asked him for any performance statement to know if he was succeeding or not. It really made no difference to me, because I got a cash advance on my credit card, and the rate was only 10%, so it wasn’t like real money, just money he might not get as an inheritance.
In his fifth year, he was still struggling, and told me it was merely a product of “bad times,” he reassured me that he knew what he was doing and didn’t need oversight, just more money……$25,000 more, for the typical things that college kids need. As I withdrew another $25,000 on my credit card, I thought back to the first year when I gave him $100,000, and a bit of nostalgia came over me. What could have been if he had received guidance and oversight, he wouldn’t have wasted a year of his life, and his education would have cost $50,000 less. What difference would it have made, he just won’t get it in the end.
The whole story sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? The issues are so ludicrous; it’s hard to believe. I’m glad you feel that way, those of you who know me, know that this isn’t a real story. My son and his education were completed in 4 years, and then went on to get his masters degree. I am very proud of him, and his accomplishments.
The story however mirrors a far deeper problem, the one of our government, I’m sure you recognized the parallels, and can now say how ridiculous the mindset is. We never hold politicians to task, we never gauge them on past performance, we blindly allow them to defraud us, all the time gaining more power, a power that nobody can seem to touch. Throwing money at problems with no oversight, guidelines and rules is foolhardy at best.
Please remember CONGRESS and CONGRESS alone is responsible for spending the money and setting the guidelines.
By Al Ritter
I handed $100,000 to my son who wanted to go to college, we never talked about his hopes and dreams, we never even talked about what subject he would study or what degree he hoped to achieve. Family members criticized me about my lack of imposing goals, or even talking to him about what I expected of him.
His freshman year he played like a child with no rules, he partied at night, stayed out late, and hooked classes. Family members came to me and expressed their displeasure, and told me if something didn’t change, something catastrophic would happen. He bulled on, barely passing his classes, but never changing his habits.
He changed majors in his sophomore year, but his aim of partying hadn’t subsided. He now hooked classes on a regular basis, and had even failed a few. The family pressure was increasing for me to do something, his future was in question. I talked to him and explained that he needed some degree of oversight. He balked at the suggestion, and told me everything was fine, he “knew what he was doing.”
In his junior, he was finally “seeing the overall picture,” had his nose to the grindstone, but time wasn’t in his favor because of his lack of aim in his first two years. His workload was now enormous, and he was feeling overwhelmed.
Pressure was at its highest level in his senior year, as he began to admit to himself, that he couldn’t get his degree in the 4 years allotted. He approached me halfway through the year and told me he needed another year.
I gave in and handed him another $25,000, I never asked him for any performance statement to know if he was succeeding or not. It really made no difference to me, because I got a cash advance on my credit card, and the rate was only 10%, so it wasn’t like real money, just money he might not get as an inheritance.
In his fifth year, he was still struggling, and told me it was merely a product of “bad times,” he reassured me that he knew what he was doing and didn’t need oversight, just more money……$25,000 more, for the typical things that college kids need. As I withdrew another $25,000 on my credit card, I thought back to the first year when I gave him $100,000, and a bit of nostalgia came over me. What could have been if he had received guidance and oversight, he wouldn’t have wasted a year of his life, and his education would have cost $50,000 less. What difference would it have made, he just won’t get it in the end.
The whole story sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? The issues are so ludicrous; it’s hard to believe. I’m glad you feel that way, those of you who know me, know that this isn’t a real story. My son and his education were completed in 4 years, and then went on to get his masters degree. I am very proud of him, and his accomplishments.
The story however mirrors a far deeper problem, the one of our government, I’m sure you recognized the parallels, and can now say how ridiculous the mindset is. We never hold politicians to task, we never gauge them on past performance, we blindly allow them to defraud us, all the time gaining more power, a power that nobody can seem to touch. Throwing money at problems with no oversight, guidelines and rules is foolhardy at best.
Please remember CONGRESS and CONGRESS alone is responsible for spending the money and setting the guidelines.
3 comments:
I definitely think you are right. Even those of us who don’t know ‘really well’ know this would not be an “Al action”......:)
an analogy in real world terms, good article
Your article is a good read, and explains a problem that exists in the peoples "Mindset", the lack of "Faith" in the Gov. along with the belief that it is a "Runaway Wagon" has firmly planted a belief that the people are powerless, and under complete control of a "Ruling Class"--However, they need to be reminded that this nation has faced this before--our forefathers came here to free themselves from "Rulership", and it is the voice of the American people that will free us again--if we have "The Guts" to speak Up!
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