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 40 thousand dollars 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. He doesn't have tenure.
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 screw 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 paying your bills,
cleaning your room, and listening to you tell how
idealistic you are. So before you save the rain forest
from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents'
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, they'll give you as many times as you
want to get the right answer. This, of course, bears
not 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.
From: "Dumbing Down Our Kids" by Charles Sykes
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