Education is about options

[Brewman_Jax]

I saw an old HS classmate last week. He is the deli manager at my local supermarket. He recognized me as I was looking at the dinners in the case. He said I look like my HS photo, (That's almost 25 years ago ) except for the hair. We're both a bit thin on top.

He wasn't a bad kid, but he was a slacker in school. By his own admission, he spent his time goofing off, chasing girls, and getting high. If not for band, I'm sure he would have dropped out years earlier instead of his senior year. He got his GED, and went straight to work. He's spent his whole career in supermarkets, and a part-time band member. He's got very limited options, he can't change jobs. He said that he'd like to work at Publix, but they don't hire managers from the outside and he can't afford a pay cut to get time in service to become a manager there.

I didn't goof off in HS. I look back and see that I was a nerd and not cool, and didn't chase girls and be a slacker. I graduated college (Ga. Tech, 4-year NROTC scholarship, BS in Applied Physics (that's another story ;) ) I'm a product evaluator for a major telecomm company. I like my job, I have options.

The moral of the story: not fucking off in HS wasn't such a bad thing after all.