I read a short post by Frank and a couple of comments about the value of part-time work during high school.
I actually think high school classes are far more over-rated than part-time jobs when it comes to educational value. I believe education is a good thing, but comparing my classes – Trigonometry, Literature, American history, Physics – with the lessons I got through work – dealing with people from different backgrounds and ages, handling (somebody else's) money, reporting crimes, cleaning up after filthy people – I have to admit that working was a much more practical education than was school.
During high school I had two jobs: groundskeeper for a shopping center and gas station attendant.
I learned a ton of stuff in both of those jobs, more in the gas station where I was responsible for taking the money and balancing up at night. I did basic bookkeeping for the station and got to make up the bills for the repair work.
Working allowed me to interact with adults in a way I never had before. I didn't call people Mr. or Ms. this or that. I was calling people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and older by their first names for the first time. I was responsible for getting things done in a way I never was (or could have been) at home. These weren't my parents who might yell if I let them down, but would still love me and feed me, etc. These people wouldn't have given a second's thought to cutting me loose if I couldn't handle the position responsibly.
Through my jobs I met people from my town from a whole social strata that I'd never had much interaction with before. Even kids from my school who I didn't know because they were in different classes and not academically inclined or ambitious. A lot of long-haired "metal-heads" used to come in to buy gas or cigarettes and we would talk. I discovered that most of these guys were really nice fellas and a couple of them were fairly smart, but they didn't give a damn about school. It was an eye opener for me to know that not everyone was that worked up about school/college/good jobs.
I'd have learned all this someday, but I've always been glad to have learned these things when I did.
