Dear John: I’d like you to say a few words about a subject that I think is important: college.
For quite a few years now, I’ve thought that the idea of everyone going to college was ridiculous.
I have had members of my own family who have thrown away four good years they could have been working by sitting in classrooms taking subjects that have no relevance to the workplace, all with the blessing of their parents.
These young people are now saddled with debt and don’t have jobs that will allow them to pay off those loans.
This is happening all over the country, as I’m sure you know.
Also, many of these young people think they’re better than many jobs and would rather be unemployed than put their hands to work doing jobs they’ve been taught are beneath them.
Earlier this year my union — Local 631 Ironworkers in Brooklyn — gave out applications for our apprenticeship test. I tried to interest people around here in the test for their sons and young neighbors, but with very little luck.
I approached school principals and they wouldn’t even allow me to give out the applications.
Amazing!
Same with a few local organizations. Nobody wanted anything to do with these applications. Now, I hear companies can’t find men to fill all sorts of skilled jobs.
I know this isn’t your area of expertise, but could you mention this in one of your articles — that hands-on work is honorable work. People read your articles and you may do some good in this area.
After all, there are only a few job openings for CEOs at major multinational corporations to be had for graduates each year. T.D.
Dear T.D. Of course this is my area of expertise. I have two college degrees and my late wife and I paid for three children to go to college. Each is doing fine. But that’s only because we got all of them out of school debt-free.
So, what’s the opinion of this college over-educated dad of three college educated kids? It’s that not everyone should go to college.
Sure, I know college expands your brain, introduces you to things you might never experience, helps you make friends, may give you good professional contacts and all the rest. But so do an inexpensive trip to a museum, sitting on the stoop and watching people go by and being friendly to important folks at your place of worship.
College isn’t for everyone. And for some, it is a waste of four years.
But the most important advice I can give is this: Treat college like every other purchase. Make sure you are getting value for your money.
The last thing a parent should ask a kid is, what school would you like to attend? That’s like asking, what car would you like to drive?
Of course a kid is going to pick the most expensive, most exciting one.
If a kid is truly ready for college, say: Let’s sit down and discuss what you want to do and which college provides the most value in that field of study. If the child doesn’t have any idea of what he or she wants to study, why not delay college for a year or two — or forever?
I’m a hypocrite on this issue. I went to what were considered to be expensive schools at the time. By the time I was a parent, I was a lot more practical. And Rutgers, the State College of New Jersey, turned out to be a great choice for all three of my kids.
Live and learn.
I have no experience in ironwork, or plumbing, or electrical work, or car repair or a lot of things. But any time I need something built or fixed, I know that it costs a lot. So, I have to figure these are pretty lucrative professions.
And without the tradesmen and tradeswomen, our buildings and bridges and roads would be falling down. And our home appliances, computers, TVs and everything else would be broken, or never built in the first place.
What could be more noble than making this country run efficiently?
Anyone want an application to be an apprentice ironworker?
Dear John: Why is an increase in bacon consumption good news? It’s just an increase in slaughtering animals. Not sure what you are celebrating here. K.B.
Dear K.B. Let me first say this: I like pigs. They seem to be very nice animals. But they also probably wouldn’t exist in the numbers that they now do if people didn’t want to eat them.
You are quarreling with a small item I put in the paper about the sale of bacon — pork bellies — rising despite the recent lackluster economy.
And I did mention the rise in bacon — the “candy of meats” — in a celebratory way.
Let’s make a deal: You don’t tell me what to eat and I won’t tell you how to sauté your bean curd. And the world will be a much nicer place.
That reminds me of a sign I saw this morning on the side of a panel truck delivering fish: “Meat Without Feet.”
Okay, let me have it. I thought that was funny. But I’m sure someone has a quarrel about it.