Father Knows Best

The referenced sitcom I actually know little to nothing about. The idea, however, is one I find quite prevalent in today's society. That is the idea that each of us, somehow, knows best for the others. I sadly found even myself holding this attitude recently.
For instance, I went off on a rant about how I would hate to be that 50 year old man managing a McDonalds. For several reasons. One, they seem to have no real conception of how unimportant their "urgency" is. While I do like the fact they recognize fast food service should be...well...fast, I do not think whether the fries are done in 15 seconds quite as important as, say...a surgeon knowing which stich to use when suturing a gaping wound. Yet the typical McD's McManager has McMore sense of urgency than almost anyone else.
It is tragicomic to watch them scurrying around trying to push as many people out the door in as short a time as possible. Seriously, if they had any real talent, would a 40 something person be managing McD's in the first place?
I tend to think not. Who dreams of working at McDonalds? For that matter, who, when growing up, wants to grow up to be a garbageman or a streetwalker or an itenerant circuit riding preacher? Since the last job went out of existence 1 hundred years ago, I am guessing not many, but you get the drift...some jobs few people dream of.
I will cop to having wanted to play basketball or baseball. I mean, can you imagine playing a game for a living? Congress does, but in their game people die. I mean fun games with scoreboards and groupies. (applications to be my groupies are available, by the way. just be hot with low self esteem and you are pretty much in)
But society would look down on you if you wanted to grow up to work in a lumberyard, for instance. That is a job you fall into, or settle for...not something you do because you enjoy it. Who really sets out to be a plumber? "When I grow up I want to whiff other people's feces and clean it up. Yeah, that would be cool!"
No, no...we want people to be doctors, lawyers, policemen, athletes, Hooters waitresses...not for ourselves, of course...that is more for the neighbors hot daughter...those are the jobs that we expect people to dream of.
Why?
In case you miss the significance ot that question, let me repeat it.
Why?
Why should kids not dream of low-paying, low-stress jobs? Why not have the freedom of quitting your gas-pumping job to go on that once in a lifetime trip without worrying about the consequences if you cannot find a like-paying job when you get back?
Some lives may not involve jet skis, bungie jumping in the Grand Canyon and sking in Nebraska, but that does not mean they aren't good. Who am I to declare that your friend Flicka should not dream of a life where she grows her own food in a garden plot, rides a bicycle to the library for her free entertainment, knits her own clothes, spends her time chatting with friends and doing what she enjoys? So what if she can't afford to go to the movies or have a coffeee table...SHE MIGHT NOT WANT THEM!
Follow what I am saying? Society is so set that everyone wants a hig=-power, good-paying job that if someone opts out of that lifestyle we freak out. It is unacceptable.
What if Schmo Jo DID dream of running a McDonalds. It is a safe career choice. You have to be pretty stupid indeed to not have the aptitude to work your way up through the ranks to achieve that lofty goal if you want to...and it is, after all, a reasonably low-stress job compared to, say...deciding whether or not to nuke the Soviet Union. Or make the right incision in a heart surgery. Or defend someone from a death sentence. Or figure out how to mask your steroid of choice so you can continue to cheat and make millions upon millions of dollars without getting caught even though everyone with an IQ over 3 knows what you are doing.
My point is that we should not be so hasty to condemn the career choices of other people. Smurf, if I could figure out a way to do a paper route for all my incidentals so I could just hang out reading, writing, and playing basketball and softball, I would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, previous successes in life preclude that option. If you are younger and smarter, prepare. You too can lead a less stressful lifestyle.