#1576: Helicopter Parunts

"At Florida State University, parents of graduating seniors haggle with job recruiters. They want to make sure Junior gets a good salary and work schedule."
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Aw, for fuck's sake!

I once worked as a manager for a small town drugstore. A lot of our part-timers were teens. Part of my job was to interview, hire (and sometimes fire) said teens.

If a parent came in and asked for an application for their teen, I would ask for the name of the teen. I kept track of these names. If that kid, or the parent, returned the application, they would NOT get called for an interview.

And if I did call a teen in for an interview, if they showed up with a parent in tow (as in wanting to be part of the interview, not just as a ride...I have no problem if the parent waits in the car during the interview), I'd do the interview as a matter of course, but I'd have already decided that this kid would NOT be hired.

I only wanted the kids who'd come in on their own steam, who had their own transportation, with no moos and duhds in tow, for the jobs. I had enough trouble with the kids hired by the manager before me, or should I say, the parunts of said kids.
The good kids loved working for me, as I was fair. The entitlement brats and their parunts hated my guts, but I didn't care. I was able to get rid of them, and assembled a good group of workers.

So, if I was like this about high school kids, I can't imagine what recruiters at colleges, for *real* jobs must have to deal with. If I were in those shoes, I'd still refuse to hire these brats; I don't care WHAT their grade point average was. I would not want to subject others to their spoilt, entitlement-minded ways.

It amazes me that this goes on. I've always gotten my own jobs since I was 16 years old. And when I moved back into my moms house at 19, I paid her room and board, just as you would in the real world. I cannot imagine working with any of these kids. Give me a senior citizen anyday! At least they have been there. Catmommy: that was very clever, to note down the name of said teen. I imagine the other workers would not have enjoyed them either.

Fucking pathetic! I can't believe there are enough idiots out there to make this a "trend"!

Damn, I thought I was pathetic by bringing home dirty laundry to be washed. I would probably die if my mother accompanied me to an interview or called an employer and whined at them to give me decent hours or better pay. I might be somewhat of a wuss when it comes to life, but not so much of one that I would want my mom to "make everything all better". Do these parents really think they're helping their children by continuing to baby them?

Employers who need to get an earful of parents lowing about how their child is more deserving of great hours and pay than any of the other workers will probably make for little more than fodder for amusing conversation.

WTF?

People in my generation could not wait to grow up and make their own decisions. The last thing you wanted was your mommy or daddy controlling your life, and your independence was something that you lovingly earned when you hit 21. Well, 18 now, I guess. Whatever the age, we looked forward to it and celebrated when we reached it.

Personally, I could not wait until I hit 18 and went off to college. Mom and dad told me that it was now sink or swim, and damned if I didn't have to dog paddle sometimes. It made me stronger and more self-reliant, a quality which seems to be in lower and lower regard every day.

Cut the umbilical chord already!

Oh, dear gawd - and they called ME a "Mommy's Girl" because my Mom was overprotective! That was NOTHING compared to this crap!

The more I think about this, the more I believe this is for the benefit of Moo or Duh's ego. How can this help the kid? It can't. They want to brag about all of the accomplishments they've made on behalf of their kid. With the exception of the sissies & losers, these kids are probably mortified that their parents are humiliating them this way. My first job was with the same company that my mom and sister worked for. I didn't want to work there, I wanted to work at the video store. No way. They made me apply, and made sure I was hired. This way, they could "keep an eye on me." I ended up walking out a few months later, because everything I did or said was reported to them.
I used to work with one of these moos. Her daughter was away at MIT, and had to call her every time she left her dorm for anything other than classes. Moo spent a good part of the day snooping through the kid's e- mail, pestering her professors, and checking her grades. It was downright creepy.

BillyC Wrote:
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> WTF?
>
> People in my generation could not wait to grow up
> and make their own decisions. The last thing you
> wanted was your mommy or daddy controlling your
> life, and your independence was something that you
> lovingly earned when you hit 21. Well, 18 now, I
> guess. Whatever the age, we looked forward to it
> and celebrated when we reached it.
>
> Personally, I could not wait until I hit 18 and
> went off to college. Mom and dad told me that it
> was now sink or swim, and damned if I didn't have
> to dog paddle sometimes. It made me stronger and
> more self-reliant, a quality which seems to be in
> lower and lower regard every day.
>
> Cut the umbilical chord already!

Excellent post, BillyC! That's the way it was with me. as well.

I moved out of my parents' home when I turned 18, and have never looked back. My very first job was picking blueberries at some farm in New Jersey, where we lived at the time, and I was 15. I rode my bike out there, on my own, to get the the place to apply for the job. And I rode my bike out there every fucking day in the summer to work, as well.

I felt proud to have earned my own money, with no help from anyone else. I even remember the first thing I bought with the first money I earned. It was a *Fonzie* (from the 70's TV show "Happy Days") T-shirt.

Kids need to learn to earn stuff on their own, and have something to be proud of. Moomy and duhddy are not gonna be around forever!

Wow. I simply can not believe there are so many parents mollycoddling their kids like this. Like the rest of you, I could not wait to get out on my own, and to be honest, I think my parents had a hard time waiting as well. I left for college at 17 and only came back home briefly during a particularly difficult time. I always know my parents will be there for me to help, in an emergency. I would never expect, or want, my parents to interfere in my life otherwise. Hell, we live in the same town and I maybe see them once a week or so and we talk on the phone even less.

This article infuriated me, but didn't surprise me in the least. I've had to live with helicopter parents while teaching. I would have been mortified to have my parents involved in my life at college, and my parents would have been mortified to have known some of the stuff I was doing while away at college! I paid for every penny of my education, by working at a spa, a nursery school, and a library while in college. I have always been very proud of the fact that I put myself through school. Today's kids will never have the same sense of accomplishment that most of us do.

Very trye, BillyC! I could not wait to become an adult and make my own decisions. I moved out when I was 17. I did move back a couple of times but paid rent like Sharon J. The last time I moved out, I was 21. When I divorced my former husband in 1993, my mother and stepfather offered me to move back but I preferred to live on my own. Nowadays, young adults want to remain as small sprogs. What the "H" is going to happen when the parents take ill and pass away? These "kids" will not make it. More parents should tell their adult offspring that it is 'sink or swim'. My mother's generation had to do so.

Sprogless, my mom is great but I would not want to work at the same place with her. Your first work experience was awful. Instead of gaining independence, you were treated like a little baby who had to be monitored at every moment. Reporting everything to your mother and sister was extremely unprofessional. How did this affect your relationship with the two? Even though I am in Florida, I still would not work for the same company as my mom. The hotel she works for pays well and the benefits are great but I feel it still would be crossing that imaginary line where things could get sticky.

I will put a gun in my mouth and blow my head off before I ever, ever, ever go into a nursing home and have any member of this mouth breathing, incompitent, entitlement minded, shit assed generation have any sor tof care taking responsibility over me. I can not imagine a worse fate.