Well, I have lots of things on my mind, as I usually do, but for once, I'm going to take the time to write them all down for your pleasure and enjoyment - don't you love the minty fresh taste?
Okay, first. Last night, I realized once again that I was not raised in polite society. No, I was raised Catholic. I will always refer to priests as "Father," nuns as "Sister," the Pope as His Holiness and will always bow my head for the final blessing. However...when it comes to mingling with the upper-crust, I tend to forget the rules of society. My lower/middle-middle class upbringing combined semi-hippy parents and a religious belief that the clergy are really the only ones who need titles. That said, here's a conversation that could have gone better:
My boss: This is INSERT NAME OF SORT-OF-CUTE BOY HERE. He is the field agent for...
Me: FIRST NAME of an important political figure in the State of California (NOT the governator)
Sort-of-Cute Boy: Yeah...I work for the POLITICAL TITLE
Me (in my head): Yes, your boss refers to this person by first name, because they are FRIENDS, but you, Miss Sarah, are a mere peasant who should remember political titles.
Further proving my point that Cal Grad though I may be, I still can sound like a moron without even really trying. Another conversation:
Me: So, the school I worked at for a semester in Marin City was really interesting, because all of the wealthy people in the area sent their kids to private school, so this junior high had maybe 40 kids. You would think that would result in great one-on-one teaching, but the teachers had pretty much given up on these kids before they even got started...
Sort-of-Cute Boy: Yeah, that's the problem with school voucher programs....
Me: Oh, yeah, people pay for public school by buying pepsi or going shopping, I don't know why they expect to get that money back (in my head: WHAT??!).
Him (trying to salvage the rapidly degenerating conversation): Yes, but they don't realize that public schools turn out people, like you and me, who want to give back to the community.
Me: I went to private school...
Clearly, I should not be let out to wander amongst the upper-crust.
Second, me sounding like a moron aside, I really enjoyed talking to Sort-of-Cute Boy. Of course, I had heard of him before (he's the son of someone I know and the field agent who calls my boss for the political figure...so he was not an unknown quantity, just an unknown face,) and knew that he had a girlfriend. That actually took some of the pressure off (imagine what I would have said about school vouchers if I DIDN'T know he had a girlfriend). We actually talked for about an hour (so I guess I didn't make too much of a fool of myself), and I realized as I stood next to him, talked to him and talked to other people at this gathering with him, that I need to date a guy like him. Someone mature and intelligent but still young enough to make fun of his American Studies major. Someone taller than me in three inch heels. Someone who can carry on witty conversation while also managing to poke fun at a) themselves and b) super-conservative and scary people who actually refer to Civil Rights as "civil rights" (with the quotes, as if they are a theory and not something that people actually deserve). BUT someone who doesn't make a joke out of everything.
All in all, it was fun to talk to a boy my age. I miss boys. I work in an office with a LOT of women, and I miss boys.
And finally, in this ridiculously long post, an article I read yesterday. The author talks about how twenty-somethings now are constantly complaining about being in debt and unable to save anything towards their future. He claims that we're all a bunch of babies (well, not in those exact words), BUT he also mentiones that when HE and his friends graduated college, they felt exactly the same way and all turned out okay. So, let me get this straight. You're allowed to complain about how hard it was when you were 25 and facing the real possibility that you would NEVER be able to afford to buy a house in your hometown (or the surrounding area), but because it turned out okay for you, the new generation can't complain. Okay...I don't get it. Oh, wait, I do. This is the usual "I trecked through six miles in the snow to get to school, so why should you complain?" story, right?
Look, I'm happy with my life now. I have made efforts to improve it, to build on my undergraduate education and to make a life for myself. That said, it's HARD, and no one really mentioned that in college. I truly feel that I was led to believe that after college, things would just magically sort themselves out. I would be INSERT NAME OF CAREER HERE, engaged to INSERT NAME OF CUTE BOY WITH EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE CAREER HERE and on my way to having my adult life in the "real world." That's not what happened. I went to grad school, tried to figure out why my life so did not fit in with my plans, spent a year living like a pauper to pay off THAT decision. My university was no help (much as I love to say GO BEARS!), because nearly every job fair I attended on campus featured employers who laughed in my face when I told them I was an English major. Okay, why do they even HAVE the major if it's going to be completely useless when I graduate? So, that's my rant for Mr. 20-somethings don't have it so bad. You know what, everyone entering the world after college (or even high school) has to struggle, and I think we have a right to complain. When I'm 35, I'll try to remember this and not turn around and tell my cousins and other younglings that they have no business complaining, because I graduated in 2002, when the world was really tough...
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