like his brother did right away.

I suspect this is key. I also don't think working your way up always works like it used to. I don't think Mailroom to Management happens much anymore. People, at best, hover around supervisor, and there's this sort of feeling like once you're in a rung, that's where you'll live forever.

I think his taking the convo with his parents seriously means he takes the situation more seriously than as if it were something he is owed.

Yeah, that NYT guy turned down a job that's $11,000 a year more than I make, and I'm 37 and have two Master's degrees. (I mean, if making money was my heart's desire, I could have chosen a different profession, but seriously, let me wipe away my tears with my PLASTIC HAND).

Eh, the job he turned down does not pay all that much for a major metropolitan area. Not that he should have turned it down or been so whaaaaaaaaaa about it, but it's not that much more than my first (underpaying for the industry) FTE offer after college, and that was a while ago.

I had one girl in our Daisy troop who wouldn't eat cookies or Teddy Grahams.

Like, any cookies? That's a new one to me.

Yeah, all three of us kids did the move-back-home thing at various point in our lives. Both my sis and I did a year or so after graduating from college when we were laid off from our jobs, and my brother did two years ago when he separated from his now ex-wife. When Mom told me last year that he wasn't paying rent, she thought I was criticizing her and pointed out that he's just doing what we did in our early 20s. Doesn't bother me--now that she's in her 70s and living alone, I think she really likes having him around, and it eases all of our minds that he's there for her when neither sis nor I are even in the same time zone.

I don't think Mailroom to Management happens much anymore.

I don't know about Mailroom to Management, but in my company, I know of several people who have worked their way up from admin positions.

Eh, the job he turned down does not pay all that much for a major metropolitan area.

It's almost exactly what I make, in NYC, with a kid in fulltime daycare, and I've been out of college 10 years.

[I'm not saying it's a lot, but it's well above a living wage, especially for someone just out of school.]

Yeah, it was a little startling, Jess. I mean, she at least wouldn't eat any cookies I ever offered her. She was a doll, but she was definitely the picky type -- she wouldn't try Maine blueberries or fresh strawberries either. Half the time she just didn't have snack.

The thing that gets me about that NYT article is that it makes it very clear that his father and grandfather paid their dues by starting at the bottom rung of a corporate workplace. Sometimes I think that modern (last 20 years) graduates think they're deserving to start mid-tier instead of entry level. If you've got ambition and can work hard, you can definitely climb the ladder. But it shouldn't be handed to you.

ETA: And as P-C pointed out, it's still possible in a lot of companies to start off as an admin and work your way up. And I know it first hand, because I went from admin to marketing manager at Oracle and then started all over again in the biotech industry 6 years ago. I got a temp job in 2004 as an EA and now I'm a director. So it can be done.

The picky two-year old "sniffed a grape and licked a cracker" for dinner the other night, reportedly.

The NYT guy is also not taking advantage of the opportunities he has, with no need to support himself. If he was really a go-getter, he'd be doing unpaid internships, getting experience for a resume, networking, that sort of thing! I mean, volunteer fire department is nice, but if he wants to be a financial high-flyer, he needs to show some professional initiative.