Rules for High School Graduates

The Internet is so funny, everyone acknowledges that Bill Gates did not in fact, make up these rules, but they are listed on google sites as 'Bill Gates Rules' as we have apparently all agreed to call them that. Having just argued with DS about manners and not had an open and accepting response, these rules resonated with me:

RULE 1 - Life is not fair, get used to it. (hence this great photo of a seagull snatching the dolphin's fish away. Those sneaky seagulls are everywhere!)

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 $40,000 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. 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 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 are. So before you save the rain forest from the 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 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.

Okay, some are a little harsh, and in the work place there are plenty of divas and coasters, just like in High School, but the idea of doing something hard for the intrinsic reward of a feeling of accomplishment, that is something I want to inculcate. And if we are creating rules, I would add - be polite, it costs nothing and leaves a lasting (good) impression.