Okay, so first and foremost I gotta say that I had a pretty damned good upbringing. Money was tight, but we had a good solid home, food and presents on Christmas. I've only wound up in the closet with electrodes attached to my nipples six or eight times. I'd like to say that my dad did a great job instilling the cheat codes of life into me, but I realized today that he made one mistake that I feel has plagued not only myself but the children of my generation: he told me I was smart.
In the wishy-washy, politically correct society that we live in, raising kids has become more of a "how can I get them to like me" kinda thing than a "how can I make them fear my leather pants-holder" thing. As such, today's parents have taken to putting up with things that parents of the mid-20th century would never have DREAMED. If my dad had told his dad to eff off, he'd have had a mouth full of fist-meat before he finished the sentence. I got my good share of "whuppins" as well, but for the most part my parents were pretty level headed. However, the one bad thing my parents ever told me was "You're such a smart kid, you could do better if you worked harder."
Looking back on my mediocre performance in life, I'd have to say that I was an arrogant little prick. In elementary school I made straight A's without feeling like I had to try. Of course this was coupled with frequent overdoses on rubber cement fumes, so my memory is kinda hazy, but I distinctly remember excelling just by kinda existing. Like a wall or...chair or something. Got put in gifted classes in first grade, and stayed in them til the end of high school. Mr. Hyde came out when I was in middle school, and holy CRAP did things change. For some reason, I picked up this attitude that, since I was smarty pants and smarty pantses don't have to study or really try very hard to pass tests, I'm just gonna give my life to video games because DAMMIT THAT WOMAN IN THAT RIDICULOUS PINK DRESS NEEDS TO BE SAVED REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO MOW MY WAY THROUGH AN ARMY OF POLITE LOOKING TURTLES TO DO SO. I began to do what I like to call "coasting", which is where you basically slack off until you have to try harder or you're gonna freakin fail your final, so your mom forces you to study real hard and you pass with a B. It's always a B because that's what you deserve you little jerk. This idiotic take on life can be represented in the "slacker" lifestyle, one that has become revered among the culture of the 90's and 2000's for some reason. One of the biggest cesspools of this lifestyle is the "gifted" programs in schools
In the gifted program in, you are plucked from the throes of normal childhood and put in with children with the same intelligence level as you. Statisticallitalyness-wise speaking, 40 percent of those people will try decently hard and excel. the other 60 percent (to include me) will become a human slug known as a "slacker". These are kids that had the same damned thing told to them growing up, and now have to be challenged in order to keep awake in class, but could also not give a bigger crap about school. And now I'll get to the point: being told I was smart caused me to catch the human slug disease.
These kids (myself included) truly believe that they shouldn't have to try because nobody ever gave them a reason to do so. Once you get a kid believing that they're smart, they think that the stars will align and point them to success. You've got Asian kids literally killing themselves from the stress of school and all us American idiots can do is to glorify not giving a crap. This apathetic life is perpetuated by the whole "non-conformist" image, as well as almost everyone who ever wanted to "stick it to the man." Pretty sure that hundreds of movies from the 80's 90's and 2000's feature "awkward guy who, through no special talent other than being an average nerd, somehow topples the popular douchebag and steals his girl. Oh he also succeeds at some random crap that he was doing, but basically he gets laid." Hows that for sticking it to the man, you well-muscled bastard? PUT ME IN A LOCKER WILL YOU?!?!
(on a side note....has anyone actually been put into a locker? it just seems...cliche)
The Man is pretty dumb sometimes, but you know what the freaking man does? Signs your paychecks. Unless of course you're one of the people that run their own business, and in that case I guarantee that you lack a slug-slime trail already. Who the hell are you sticking it to? Do you really think that you're making a difference by not trying in life?
The problem with the slug attitude in school is that it sets your life up for failure. I'm not talking about going to college and all that crap, because as many of my friends are finding out, a degree don't mean poo if there are no jobs. What matters is that you have the drive to get a job done. That's the most important thing you can ever learn from school. Incidentally, that's also what half of going to college is about: finishing something that you put your mind to. So you gotta work shoveling poop for a living. Yeah, that sucks, but you better be the best damned poop shoveler there is, because if you give 100 percent then you'll eventually find something better. So take a lesson from someone that screwed up and is just now trying to fix it: don't be a slug. Slugs are just...spongy and gross. And stuff. Ew.
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