I’ve been hearing lately about some of the crappy things people do to each other.  In a relationships forum I read, people were talking about some of the seriously outdated double standards some men still hold women to.  It blew my mind, really, that people still think that way, maybe because none of my male friends have those attitudes.

Then my coworker Jack was talking about some of the terrible things that can happen to kids with neglectful parents (though, interestingly, he came down on the side of crack rather than alcohol in a “what damages fetuses less” discussion.  I do not believe he meant this as a suggestion, so please don’t take it as such.).  I’m really glad all the parents I know are thoughtful, caring people who, despite occasional challenges, are trying to do right by their children.

It’s important to surround yourself with people you admire, I think.  How else are you going to improve if you don’t have good influences?  But on the other hand, it’s easy to get insulated and forget about all the people out there who are really troubled.  I certainly don’t run into them much in my job; university professors, by and large, don’t have meth problems (though I’ve met a few whom I think are certifiably insane, whether drug-related or not).  Public school teachers seem to deal with the brunt of this, and probably other professions too, but I hear about public school problems through some teachers I know, including Denny’s mom.

It’s such a weird class problem.  Even though we have this mythology in the U.S. that even the poorest person can ascend to great heights, I think it’s less and less true nowadays.  My first job out of college was really, really easy.  It was pretty much glorified data entry, but it paid really well considering how little work I actually did.  I learned how to type in elementary school.  I really did not need a college degree for that job, but if I didn’t have one, I couldn’t have applied because it was a requirement in the job description.  There’s no reason someone who didn’t go to college couldn’t have done that job.

I went to college straight out of high school not necessarily because I had any specific goals (I did have a major, but that had more to do with subject matter I was interested in than a career path), but because it’s what middle class kids do when they’re 18.  I really enjoyed college and grad school, and I absolutely support the idea of learning for the sake of learning, but I have to admit it’s a pretty bourgeois concept.  It seems like my life is the result of a series of small decisions, most of which can be tied back to class issues.  Had I grown up in a different family environment, things might have been very different. Weird.