I spent some time with a friend today. It so happens that the woman was my initial driver trainer during my school bus driver training. She needed help with her computer and it took a few hours because I had to get online for antivirus updates and to load Adobe Reader. So, there was much time for discussion. She seemed slightly taken aback when I told her I expect my son out of the house soon after high school graduation if he is not going on to further education. She didn't understand that it would not be an abrupt transition, that by then he will have held a job for at least a few years, so will be more than capable of seeing his own way in the world. That made a little more sense to her, but still she is unconvinced of the wisdom of my refusal to allow him a place to stay should he need one. I tried to explain to her that, in my opinion, the sooner he is made responsible for his own well being, the sooner he will be a productive member of society. She explained that she would have allowed her daughter to stay at home as long as she needed, but pointed out that her daughter didn't need such assistance for very long because she was responsible even before she left high school. I told her my son will be welcome here as long as he takes responsibility for himself, which means he will seek further education, and be responsible for that education. I told her I believe one is not taking responsibility for themselves while living with the parents and holding a job at the local food joint. I believe parents are responsible for seeing their kids get an education, and acquire the necessary skills to see their own way in the world, then holding them accountable for that responsibility by forcing them to take it. That means kicking them out if necessary. Too often I hear of a kid living at home, out of school with a low wage job, if they have one at all, and relying on the parents for little or no rent and subsistence while they squander their income on stupid shit.

Soon it was time for me to leave, and we got on the subject of past mutual employment with the school district transportation department. She told me that while training me she often wondered what a person like me, with skills and experience far beyond those needed to drive a school bus, would want with such a job. I told her my purpose was to do something constructive while waiting to get into school.

After thinking about it, I realize that her comment demonstrates an attitude that isn't conducive to a healthy society. This is just my opinion of course, but it doesn't seem right when the consensus among society in general is that the charge of getting kids to school safely should be left to persons with little or no skills. I know it is just human nature, but I think society as a whole is taking on more burden that it should have to when they hold manual labor in such low esteem. We don't bat an eye when such jobs are described as 'menial labor', and any sensible person would see it as ridiculous if they really stopped to think about it. There is unskilled labor that must be performed in today's society, or in any society for that matter, if some semblance of order is to be achieved. If manual labor ceased, the activities around the world would grind to a halt.

It reminds me of the film my wife and I saw at the local arts theater... one of those movie houses that shows those off the wall films, the purpose of which isn't necessarily entertainment. "A Day Without A Mexican" it was called. The filmmaker tried to put a humorous twist to the controversial issue of alien labor in this country. The scenario is that all people of Mexican descent in residence in the US simply vanish without a trace one day. California is thrown into a tizzy for a few days, then everything is back to normal when a few days later they just as mysteriously reappear.

So my point is that the 'menial' labor is just as important as the skilled labor, for the simple fact that it is just as necessary. It would seem to me that it's important that the people getting our kids to school possess qualities such as dependability and integrity, and that just because these aren't specifically included in the curriculum of a basic education, that doesn't preclude them from the list of 'respectable' labors.