Have You Seen This

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

I couldn't help but think back to when I was first starting out, working 80-90 hours a week (and yes, making good OT money while doing it).  I wasn't making a big hourly wage, but I knew I had to work however many hours it took to support the lifestyle I wished to live at that time in my life.  But this isn't about me, other than to serve as a basis for comparison.  This person's view was, from my perspective, completely detached from reality.  The wage expectations alone were so far misaligned with what employers will be willing to pay it was almost laughable (no, it WAS laughable!).  Worse, was their ultimatums.  Their threat, their alternative, to "punish" employers who believed otherwise was to...just NOT work, to continue to live under their parent's roof, paid for by their parents, and to continue to eat food provided by their parents, to get money from their parents and basically to continue being a bottom feeder.  This, was supposed to teach their employer, and all future potential employers, a "lesson" in what is acceptable and what is not.

We only have our experiences for comparison.

I was a single woman carrying for an infant niece, a toddler, and a nine year old nephew. My Mother moved in with me to help me raise the children. In order to provide them with a home in a decent community, and a good education, I worked for thirty-six months, communing to a job that allowed me to do that. I had to get up at four am, and did not return home until ten pm every day, seven days a week for thirty six months. It was no picnic, but it took care of the bills, and allowed to me to provide for the children and my Mother. I did not know the impact it was having on me and the children.

I opened up my own business, and that required much more of my time. My now five year old niece had taken my briefcase and was riding off in the little battery driven car given to her by her Uncle. I told her, "Wait!" "Come back, I need to talk to you!" She screamed back saying, "I don't have time!" "Fax me!" I yelled to her, "Where are you going?" She told me,"I don't have, time I am going to work!"

I still remember that dart that pierced my heart when I heard her words. She was five years old, her sister was three, and all they ever really had seen of me, was darting to work, coming home, and going to bed, just to start off the next morning doing the same thing. I made a promise to myself that I was going to spend more quality time with the children, and I had them involved in community activities, that helped provide healthy use of the their time while they were entertained.

One day the girls asked if they could go to work with me. I thought, "Why not?" The girls started hanging out at work with me, which helped a lot in keeping them busy, helped them learn, and helped them feel the pleasure from being productive, and part of a team. It also gave them quality time with me. The even helped out in some of the other businesses in the building. They loved it, and the other companies loved them. It was a win, win for all of us.

I agree, this is not about you or me, because the old ways do not work with the children today. I believe that parents are going to have to be creative in how they discipline their children. I have no concrete answers for how they do that, because I am sure every child is different, though they are still under the influence of the same mediums.