My very first job was as a trash picker, cleaning up NYC parks. Then I had one as an office assistant, which was actually pretty fun and cushy. Through college, I worked two jobs; as a RA in a biology lab, and as a reading tutor. During post-grad, I did those two jobs, plus worked weekends as a "counselor" at a group home for the developmentally disabled, for a total of 70 hours (on top of my college course load). I used to come home and pass out on the couch, because 15 hour days pretty much wipe you out.

When DD is old enough, I hope that she works retail/fast food/server types of jobs. It is *really* important to see first hand just how difficult those jobs are. She will have the skills to life guard, or teach martial arts, and those would be her cushier job options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always recommend retail or food service. Learn what real work is. How to deal with customers, co-workers, bosses. Work nights, work weekends.

My (now college freshman) did both retail and food service over the two summers before going to college last Fall.

This. Any job that is outside your SES. Where your kid really experiences how people are treated. Then maybe when you send him/her to the top schools and they graduate, they'll understand why its so important to help others.

But this isn't the goal of LOTS of families who send their kids to top schools. They want their kid to know they are better than others. That if they want to continue with wealth and power, they will need to step on others.

Lots and lots of families out there see your empathy as a weakness.