“The world needs ditch diggers too” -Judge Smails, Caddyshack
Why can’t the answer be that some kids are just idiots, and so are some adults. I have texting children and their money management abilities are already shining through, mostly without provocation. I have a kid that has refused all material gifts since the age of twelve in favor of cash, which is propmtly invested, the kid is still below the legal driving age and can pay cash for a car when the time comes. I actually try to encourage a little frivolity and have asked about buying a toy or other item with a portion of his riches, only to be laughed at and the reply is “in six months I won’t even play with it but my certificate of deposit now yields twice my allowance.” I couldn’t be prouder. The other kid is contantly creating babysitting, dogwalking, and other “pre-legal working age” businesses to the point that it is more work for me to manage the schedule that I sometimes offer to match the profits so we can engage in some recreation as a family. I swear I don’t encourage it but I have been asking them to try and keep it under the table because their investments are complicating my taxes. And about the texting, they have figured out that with unlimited texting it is cheaper to text that to call during peak hours, they are smarter than you think and a lot more like you than you want to admit.
Complain about this generation all you want but some things never change, if you look hard enough you will see that even in the 1950’s there were dumb kids and lazy kids and there always will be, because the world needs ditch diggers too.
