Words From The Wealthy

I was walking around the university campus yesterday afternoon, and I figured I'd drop by and say hi to some of my former professors. Sadly, nobody was in. Granted, I can't really say I blame them; it was actually quite nice out yesterday afternoon.

I wandered up and down the halls, looking to see who was still there and who had moved on. Some profs had old assignments sitting in baskets outside their doors, others had comics taped to theirs. I ended up coming across one door posting that really summed things up for me right now.

It was called: Bill Gate's Rules for Life.

I have absolutely no idea if he actually said these things, or if it's just an urban legend. Either way, whoever said them is right. So, here they are:

Rule 1: Life is not fair -- get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

As much as I'm a supporter of developing good self-esteem (I've known first hand what it's like to have very low self-esteem), I understand and fully accept that sometimes tough love is the best learning experience out there.

Having someone else take the bull by the horns is like having someone else do your workout for you; you don't get anything out of it in the end.