Even the interns… I remember telling an intern that if he/she set foot around here dressed to move furniture I would find them some boxes and furniture to move… I told them that in case they didn’t know, to look at what the lawyers wear and dress the same.

The smart/connected interns just magically seems to know these things and fit in. They quickly got the best assignments. You-know-who didn’t and some even wanted to argue about the unwritten dress code. You wonder what these people are leaning in school nowadays..

Their parents may not know about how to handle things in this environment because some of the parents aren’t professional workers. I do expect the schools to prepare people for these career paths but I suppose that’s too much to ask. But then the schools are the ones with the internship programs who referred these kids.

The non-legacy kids come in frequently not knowing how to behave or fit in, and often don’t have the political skills to fit into the offices. This is another reason why the legacy kids do so much better – and upon grad school application time they have the connections, references and internships that the wanna-bes don’t.

I’m not talking about burger flipping jobs here but I’ll bet there are variations on this theme even for entry level bank teller jobs. Do the educators believe the schools are or should be coaching teens for jobs?

Even 40 years ago when I was in elementary school and worked in the cafeteria, I knew enough to wash my hands, and I don’t remember any signs being posted there at all.

And I would have expected the laws that require the signs to be posted in food service businesses would also have requirements about the language(s) to be used? But I’m not a lawyer, so maybe Nextset can correct me if I’m misinformed.

I don’t remember ever seeing a Spanish-only sign – where did you see it? I think I might want to avoid eating there! And any teens looking for summer jobs might want to avoid applying there, too.

People are bouncing off screens. I can usually coach most people around them, but I’m seeing screens being put up and enforced maybe stronger than before. I’m noticing a more cold and cavalier attitude against people who hit the screens. I’m also noticing a more stupid and clueless attitude in the uncoached – they don’t know that the screens exist or how they work. They seem to think that “I’m a good person” so everybody should just accept them regardless of baggage they carry.

When they hit the screens they are unprepared emotionally for the setbacks. I hear stupid comments about maybe abandoning that industry – refusing to inquire and learn about how things work, minor temper tantrums, etc.

This reminds me of when I worked in a bank briefly and would refuse to approve a new checking account or decline a loan or overdraft. Except now we are talking about barriers to a school, trade, a career or a complete industry. I feel that these barriers are going to get more common and more severe, and that the unprepared are getting more numerous.

The well connected don’t have the problem but they are relatively few or at least I don’t see them trying to get into skilled trades and state licenses. Law school and med school admits favor the legacy applicants anyway. The first in their family applicants bounce a lot.

It’s kind of tiring trying to keep the morale of some of these people up, but, hey somebody did it for me.

Brave New World.