People who attend college are supposed to increase by their educational pursuit the sum total of their lifetime earnings. That is not to say, however, that those who go no further than high school can’t get wealthy; it all depends upon what line of work they enter.
My advice to a child not wishing to get a higher education would be… learn how to fix inanimate objects. They would be THING doctors. Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major sub-categories: things that don’t work, things that break down, and things that become obsolete.
Plumbers, electricians, and automobile mechanics have us all at their mercy. They can over-estimate, over-bill, and over-fix our malfunctioning things with impunity, since we don’t know the difference.
When the missus brings the aging sedan in for an oil change and George the mechanic informs her with a serious expression on his face that her left fractional widget is about to go, she will be afraid not to buy a replacement for it. Perish forbid it should cease to function while she’s at highway speed, George warns. I’ll let you have it for only $49.99, George tells her graciously, and I won’t even charge you for the labor. What a guy!
Some thing-fixers, of course, are strictly marginal operators. These are the guys with the “handyman” ads in the classified section. Beware of these often likeable fellows. They may not have even finished high school and they bring the same lack of enthusiasm to their present work opportunities. They may or may not be licensed. They may or may not complete the job, especially if it takes more than part of one day. It’s a form, I suppose, of attention deficit disorder, one of the many phenomena treated today as a mental illness that we used to think of as simple laziness and lack of sufficient motivation.
As for things that become obsolete, perhaps the most obvious and timely examples of that would be phones and computers. In today’s technological atmosphere, of course, there are many other examples. So the question is not so much fixing what’s broken but fixing the unenviable situation of having to rely upon a thing that is not THE LATEST THING.
Unfortunately the fixers of things -- from mechanics to refrigeration repairmen -- unlike telephones and computers, do not get half as costly and twice as smart every couple of years.
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Every year, on the first weekend in October, is a time for connection, inspiration, and reflection for the ostomy community. Whether virtually or in person, we hope you join in for Ostomy Awareness Day on October 7, 2023.