Because I didn't want "The Wiimake Epidemic" thread to derail, I figured I could make a thread here as a response to WarpRattler's mild retort made about something I said and as an invitation for others' opinions. I would also like to talk about having different mindsets as far as financial and life needs. Sorry if it's tl;dr, but the response just sort of threw me off into a tangent:
...if anyone is still playing HD consoles with composite cables or an 18" curved screen CRT, come join us in the year 2013. You have basically no excuse if you're in high school. Mow a lawn, do a chore, do anything and spend the 250-300 dollars on a moderately-sized HDTV.
And Warp's response to that:
Also, "stop being poor" isn't a viable prospect for a lot of adults nowadays. What makes you think high school students with no degree, no real-world experience, and an existing eight-hour commitment five days of the week (not counting extracurricular activities, time to do homework, et cetera) will have better luck?
Without responding directly to Warprattler (that happens below), I am under the impression that the vast majority of high school students have the time and ability to earn money outside of their existing commitments whether it be from simple chores, manual labor, or a real job (whether it's a normal old job or a little side-business a student might have). Keep in mind I'm talking about a large majority of students; there are special circumstances for some, I know. Overall, an 8 hour high school day for 5 days a week is not that taxing on the mind or body even with any other school-related activities.
As an example of this: I've had a job since I was 17 years old. I would go to school then go to work in the evening working my ass off for my uncle's plumbing business when he was still alive. I would work full days on most weekends, as well. Yes, it was a challenge, but I
made time for what I needed to do and actually sat down and did it. I didn't come home from work late at night and dick around for three hours on the computer just to turn around and cry the next day about not having time to take care of my responsibilities. As of late, I am a full-time student working two different part-time jobs. My day is: get up at 7AM, go to school at 9AM, get out and go to my first job by 1PM, then get out of there at 6PM to either go to my evening film class (if it's Monday), or go to my second job which is 7PM to 11PM-Midnight. Since my second job isn't eeeevery single day of the week, I use any time I'm not working at it to do my homework. If I'm busy all day, I'll do it late at night or early in the morning.
That's why I say there's really not much excuse for a typical high school kid to not be out doing something productive with their time, working, or both. I can sometimes be the laziest dude in the entire world, but I still can at least manage to do what I'm doing now. I bought my own vehicle, I'm paying to maintain that vehicle, I'm paying my bills, and I'm paying cash money for my college. I refuse to take out loans, and I can only hope I earn enough money to take care of the cost of living and go to college without borrowing money when I end up transferring. Without trying to sound like the "SIGH I DO IT ALLLLL" guy, I look at myself and realize I
do do a bunch of stuff and somehow manage to take care of my life and grades, so, as a result, I have a hard time believing a 17 1/2 year old kid or whoever that says he has 0 time to work or whatever, yet seems to spend all his off time from school playing video games or fapping.
Now with my own personal job rant over and to move on to the main subject of the thread, I believe there's a difference between being broke and being poor. I tend to believe it's a mindset. Being poor is, "YEP SAME [dukar] EVERY DAY. THE OLD DAILY GRIND. JUST TRYIN TO MAKE IT OUT THERE. ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AHEAD. JUST WORKIN MY DAY JOB WITHOUT A PLAN OR CARE IN THE WORLD." No, that's stupid. There is a way to change. It's all about whether you want to make an effort or not. I experienced that for a while. I was depressed for a long time and I thought I'd be doomed to a life of mediocrity because of how crippling the day to day bull[dukar] of my life was. I sat around waiting for the perfect thing to come by at the perfect moment and then I realized that, oh wow, no one is gonna give you [dukar] if you don't get it yourself. No one's gonna hand you a good job, a good grade, or a good girlfriend/boyfriend. You obviously have to make an attempt if you want to change. Has anyone noticed that if you don't make an attempt, jack [dukar] happens? The basic philosophy is if you want it, go get it. Go earn it. Then, after your hard work, you reap the benefits of it. It doesn't have to be physical labor. It can be anything that requires some type of effort on your part. That's what being broke is to me: "I know that I don't have a lot of money, but I am not staying this way and I REFUSE to. I know I don't want to be in this situation forever, and I know that I am going to be in a better position in the coming years."
Did I just fall into making good grades or working two jobs? Hell no, I obviously had to put in effort to achieve both of those things. I got the jobs I have now because I put effort into finding them, applying for them, then interviewing for them (and I had at least a small portfolio of previous job experience). Everyone must start somewhere, of course. I stand by the "whatever you put into it, you get out" philosophy so much because it works on every level, big or small. You can directly test it for yourself and it always seems to work. The second I started putting effort into my life, I noticed that I finally got some results, so I ran with it. Now I'm in a much better spot even though I'm making a low amount of money. If I would've stuck with my old, [dukar]ty mindset, I'd be in the exact same position years later that I *****ed and moaned about before.
Direct response to WarpRattler in the context of my post: Just by your response to my post, I am under the impression that you don't do anything after school (not counting homework or extracurricular activities) besides play shmups.
let the flame war begin
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