Damn, ND. What did he say? And did his parents call you up to whine about how mean you were to their little muffin?

He stammered a bit and i told him if he was to survive in this field he had best develop time managemet skills.

Mom said she didn't think it was right to fire him. I replied that I dont have time to waste on discussions like this and I will have a new assistant with the same skills within one hour and I hung up.

I started mowing the lawn when I was nine and got $10 a week doing that through high school. It was hard work in Florida, where the grass was thick and grew quickly. Also we had a large lot for our house and the back yard was a hill. Hot, humid weather and physical labor.

On the plus side - muscular calves.

When I was 15 worked after school cleaning up at boat repair place. That's how I paid for my first car.

At college I had a job, first working in the Pit (dishwashing), then making change in the arcade (cush) and also did campus mail (good pay). On top of that I typed papers at $1/page (pre PC days). Sometimes made as much $100 in a week just from typing. I was the typist of choice around the college.

Everybody was on the meal plan at my school, so you'd never go hungry as long as you had your ID. Also everybody had to live on campus in dorms and college owned apartments (for juniors and seniors).

My parents paid for tuition and tickets back and forth. I only traveled home for xmas and the summer. Too far away and plane tickets were too expensive back then. My college roommate Chip took me home for Thanksgiving, which was always great. Viva la Pittsburgh!

My Dad sold real estate on top of his regular job, and my mom took a part time job to help pay for college.

During the summers I worked as a maintenance man at an all-girl Catholic school, and then I did construction work the summer after I graduated.

I had a National Merit scholarship, and since I was an R.A. my senior year, room and board were free.

Called my folks on Sunday from the pay phone in our wing's lounge. Like all the other kids did.

I had a parent of one person contracted in to assist me call about the schedule being excessive. I told the parent I would fix it on the spot. I stopped hiring their child. Called him that night, thanked him for the work he'd done, and as his parents were concerned he now had his calendar free, effective immediately.

I know this shouldn't surprise me, but oh, my. I can remember at my jobs in high school, sometimes I would BEG my mom to call me in sick, and she'd be all, "Nope. You're a big girl. Deal with the situation yourself."

Mom said she didn't think it was right to fire him. I replied that I dont have time to waste on discussions like this and I will have a new assistant with the same skills within one hour and I hung up.

Hardcore and totally appropriate. Exactly what I have done in similar situations. Coddling the coddled is nobody's friend.

eta:

Coddling the coddled is nobody's friend.

Is that even grammatically correct? Does nobody actually have any friends?

Not talking to my parents every day is the whole reason I went away to college! Early, even!

But the whole trend is both noticeable and disturbing -- I see kids every day who get out of class by the time they're out of the building, they're on the phone with their moms talking about whether their lunch was a balanced meal or some such incredibly everyday thing. I would not want to be their mothers! I'd be telling them within a week that they're 18 now and I'm done with picking out their menu every day!

There was a fascinating article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed (which is unfortunately paywalled all to heck) a few weeks back about mumblemumble university library hiring an anthropologist to study the student population and advise them on how to improve reference services. The main thing they found (aside from the unsurprising fact that students access to every imaginable service 4 am) was that the first and main person students go to for help on papers is Mom. Not the professors, the librarians, their classmates, or trying to start their research topic on their own, but straight to "Mom, what should I write my sociology paper about?"... At which point Mom really ought to be saying, "you know, hon, I'm not a sociologist, but you have a university at your disposal...."

Yeah. This was a kid who had just finisee grad school.

This was a kid who had just finisee grad school.

You. are. KIDDING!

I imagined a pre-undergrad on the verge of college. How sad is that?

I admit. I talk to my mom a lot...like every other day, but it's usually logistical stuff. And, I occassionally call dad in between classes at school, if one went poorly...so I can vent about it, and move on and get to my next class.

Here's the thing, it WAS a hard schedule. We were workin into the middle of the night quite a bit. In my line of work thats just part of the job. Just like heavy lifting is part of working most construction jobs. Also, I have been told I am a damned good boss to work for and that with new folks I happily spend as much time teaching and training as I possibly can. However I do no abide by my time being wasted and I have also learned to act quickly and decisively when it comes to potential employee problems. An overactive parent or even spouse would fall into that camp for me.