School Daze

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Let It Roll

Or

Hey Nineteen

        Blow up your TV, throw away your paper, go to the country, build yourself a home; plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches; try to find Jesus on your own (Spanish Pipedream—John Prine) 

        LSU, Tulane, Loyola, Dillard, Delgado etc etc; blah blah blah: you’re heading off/back to school and nobody can talk you out of it, eh? In it for a good time or do you really wanna graduate; party or purpose? Which school? Statistics vary school to school from 11% acceptance and 86% graduation to 87% accept and 17% grad (Google.com), choose wisely Grasshopper, it’s goin’ on your resume.

        It’s every parents dream to have their kid graduate from college, get a degree (or many), become a doctor, CPA, lawyer, or rise in the ranks of the military and you owe them, right? To heck with being a plumber, electrician, chef or Rock n’ Roll star; it’s their money and your debt. With luck they gave you a year off after High School to travel and ‘find yourself’ (rich kids: Europe; poor kids: Gulf Shores). One thing for certain: student debt (no matter what the president says) can hound your heels for the rest of your life, so you’d better pick a major that will bring income; I’ve met many a Political Science major who are now tending bar or slinging hash.

        One thing that schools cannot teach you: becoming a person of worth and value; a person who acts with kindness and sincerity; someone with concern about others and their environment. This can only be done with personal practice. Face it, in those hallowed halls there’s not academia labeled ‘Harmlessness’.

        In motion pictures there are teachers and students that challenge each other’s humanity, humility, self worth and at the end of the film there are epiphanies where all is made clear and the world becomes a better place. That happens in motion pictures, television programs and the final segment of any news program; in ‘real life’ that’s more exception than the rule and it’s all your fault.

        In real life, teachers are generally underpaid, overworked and underappreciated, OR, like some ‘professionals’, just want to get through the day putting up with ‘students’ that don’t care about any subject that they might be ‘teaching’ and only want to get the answers to any tests that might be given, answer any questions that the teacher might pose and get the hell out of the class and back to a life that they believe is the real thing. Sometimes the teacher might get even with that gang of ingrates and impose homework and reading assignments that belie comprehension and time management.

        Do you really want to go to school and learn the tools of a profession that you will be forced to practice for the rest of your life; it certainly is what your parents want. “Find a girl, settle down, if you want you can marry; look at me, I am old, but I’m happy” Cat Stevens.

        As you age you progress through stages: at 17 you’re ready for a radical departure from your, up to this point, life. At 21 you’re more confused than ever and are going through hard times finding yourself. At 25 you’re golden, indestructible and at ease; by 28 you’ve had your ass kicked by life real bad and finally start to get a clue (note: astrologically it is where your moon comes back to the exact spot as the moment of your birth). At 30, you’re catching on and there’s a glimmer of a reflection of the person that you want to become; physically, mentally, emotionally and professionally. It goes on, ad nauseum (40’s, 50’s, 60’s). At each of these junctures there is a birth or rebirth of you the person. Society is not willing to accept this.

        “I was once like you are now and I know that it’s not easy to be calm when you’ve found something going on; but, take your time, think a lot, think of everything you’ve got now; you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not.”  Cat Stevens

        Society as a whole is controlled by people that knew what they wanted to be from an early age, and on becoming that person never changed until they reached their zenith and are unwilling to accept new (for them) ideas and concepts of themselves. The people who ultimately control your life never wanted to run away with the circus (your Mama don’t dance and your Daddy don’t Rock n’ Roll; Loggins, Messina).

        School can educate you on many subjects; school cannot teach you to think. And if you think that going to school is the right thing for you to do; to become a doctor and heal the unwilling; play football until your brain implodes; learn to take other people’s money until you have a bunch of your own--for the rest of your life--then, have at it by all means.

        Or perhaps you just want to enjoy a few more years of freedom until you join your Daddy’s firm, practice or dealership; I say: Go For It!

        However (and here’s the big HOWEVER); maybe you like working on cars, perfecting soufflés, busking on Royal Street, painting sunsets, writing poetry, selling balloons or performing with squirrels at a sideshow. Why the f**k not? It’s your life.    

        Find something that you really like doing that gives you enough money and time off to enjoy what’s left of your life. Listen: there are 393,800 millionaires in this country who are under 30 years of age (millenialmoney.com) 14 are billionaires (Kiplinger.com). Conversely, 3.4% of Americans will not reach age 40 (Quora) out of our population of 341,772,225 (worldometer).

         “The future’s uncertain and the end is always near” Roadhouse Blues: Jim Morrison