Community Chat

[SaRina]

Just a little OT, but @mtc, @Irshgrl31201, did you hear the news this a.m. about the Peruvian city of Chiclayo being overrun by crickets?  Omg, the pictures are not to be believed! They had to close schools and businesses -- crickets were all over the place by the thousands.

[Irshgrl31201]

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@SaRina wrote:

@Just a little OT, but @momtochloe, @Irshgrl31201, did you hear the news this a.m. about the Peruvian city of Chiclayo being overrun by crickets?  Omg, the pictures are not to be believed! They had to close schools and businesses -- crickets were all over the place by the thousands.

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OMG @SaRina, no I didn't hear about that but this is seriously one of my worst fears. I am not kidding. I have watched nature shows about this and I would freak out if I saw this. So gross!

@momtochloe, bless you girl, you are a stronger person than I am, that is for sure!!

[momtochloe]

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@SaRina wrote:

@Just a little OT, but @momtochloe, @Irshgrl31201, did you hear the news this a.m. about the Peruvian city of Chiclayo being overrun by crickets?  Omg, the pictures are not to be believed! They had to close schools and businesses -- crickets were all over the place by the thousands.

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@SaRina and just when I thought living in IL was a challenge I think we may have been beat in terms of daily life . . . does anyone besides me find the name of the town (Chiclyao) kind of close to Chicago? . . . yikes!

[Irshgrl31201]

I just googled the pictures of this @SaRina and that is so gross. I just can't. I would never leave my house.

[Cakers3]

A youth-bashing thread????  

I must be missing something.

[momtochloe]

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@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

I just googled the pictures of this @SaRina and that is so gross. I just can't. I would never leave my house.

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@Irshgrl31201

@SaRina

Yep, this is exactly what I used to wade through on my way home . . . yay!  After the first couple of blocks it isn't so bad . . .

[Irshgrl31201]

@momtochloe this looks like what you used to walk through? That is insane. 

@Cakers3 I agree. No youth bashing thread at all!

[Happiness Is Inside JOB]

I live outside the Washington DC Area and I'm tell you, some of these kids are NOT even given chores much less getting a job.

I live in an area where the average household income is in the 250,000 range and I am so shocked when I see kids who don't shovel the snow, never work from high school right to the end of their college years and are just assuming their parents will handle everything.

I worked every summer at a different place, one year it was Dart Drugstore, One year is was 16 plus, one year is was CVS.

That experience helped me so much, it taught me that I don't have to stay at one job and be miserable, that I can go work at a wide variety of places and you gain valuable work experience.  You learn to have tough skin and survival skills.

There are some kids working but mostly they are trying to get their volunteer credits and traveling to a lot of places, I was never able to travel to.  Paris for spring break, what the hellz.  I was luck to get out of Maryland.  I did not start traveling until an adult.

We are living in a different world.

[RainCityWoman]

I can't speak for everyone. All I know is the two kids who grew up nextdoor to me have always worked. The boy, who is now 25, had his own writing job online through high school, college, and is still maintaining it while he has a full time job in another country. His sister has been a lifeguard at a pool since she was 16. She did volunteer work at the pool before that. This summer at 19 she is head lifeguard at the pool and has also taken on a part time job at a department store which fits in with her major of fashion merchandising. I HAVe heard that fast food places have difficult times getting help, which used to be the standard jobs for teens. As I said, I can only speak about those about whom I have knowledge.

[chrystaltree]

My girls are in their early 30's and that was the trend when they were in h.s.  My nieces, nephews and friends kids didn't really work summers or even after school until college.  A few did but most didn't, it's different from when I was in school.  H.S. is harder now, getting into college is harder now.  Some kids take summer classes.  And then there are the clubs, sports, internships, mandatory volunteer work.  I suppose that some kids have to work for financial reasons and that's an entirely different matter.  My girls didn't have to work for the money and we preferred that they put their efforts into school....that we were paying tuition for.  We did insist that they "do something" in the summers.  Lying around the house or going to the beach everyday was not an option.  Daughter #1 thinks she was working for our church's summer program as a counsellor.  She worked half days but in reality she was volunteering, we our church the money and they cut her check.  Daughter #2 babysat a friend's 2 school age children.  They did get real summer jobs the summer after they graduated h.s. and they had part time jobs in college.  There was no reason for either them to jump into the working world, there was  plenty of time for that.