No, 18 is not to young...

[Teefies2]

I hope these girls get their heads on straight (or marry rich) before they end up like my bf, or worse, his brother. I can't imagine being 27 years old, refusing to work, going to college but using that as leverage, and having all of your stuff paid for for you. I mean, he even got his parents to finish paying off his Mercedes because his grant money (and that's bullshit alone because he lives with his parents and doesn't pay a dime for anything, yet he gets thousands of dollars!!) isn't enough to pay off that car. His pill addiction is more important. Oh, and if you can find parents who tolerate your abuse of prescription pills, even better!

Excuse me, but why is he your bf??? Why would anyone want to be with a "loser" like that?????

Edit:

I'm sorry, I misread. He is your best friend ... his brother is the loser. My apologies.

[Mytical]

Think the person that Blas described was the brother of the boyfriend.

[Pimento]

I was doing refrigeration when i was 13. Most weekends and after schools, i made $16 an hour. When i turned 16, i got a job as janitor at the pulp mill in the town i grew up in which was only on the weekends. I still did refrig during the week lol. It was a pretty good job to have that young, taught me about duct work, taught me a lot about electrical troubleshooting and mechanical stuff.

[blas]

Not a problem. My bf is pretty spoiled, but he's not a whining baby demanding his parents still cowtow to him.

[protege]

Sounds like my brothers. They're 29 and 32, and are still sponging off of our parents. Even though they work, they don't help out around the house. For example, when my dad was having health problems last summer, why is it that I had to come down and cut the grass? I don't even live there! Only reason I did it, is that my mother asked me...and I wanted to borrow their lawn mower. No biggie, but still. My brothers live there, but don't lift a finger to help my parents...both of whom are in their 60s, and should be relaxing, rather than taking care of idiots

But, that was nothing compared to when they found out that I'd been given a certain vehicle. Never mind that I'd spent my time and cash putting the car back together--they felt they should get a piece of it. At least my dad put them in their place--he actually said something like "you don't do shit. Protege not only works 5 days a week, but helps out his grandmothers, brings home food occasionally, etc. and we wanted to reward him."

Back on topic though, it's always amusing to see people like the twits the OP described. Sooner or later, they won't have someone to do everything for them...and they'll be totally screwed. Usually, such meltdowns are amusing as hell to watch

[Kristev]

But terrifying as well. My brother hasn't worked in, now it's been nearly a year and a half. On purpose. The reason? He didn't like getting out of bed before noon. His boss believed my brother's shifts started at 8:30 am. He drives mother around, when he feels like it, which takes hours to get him to do. He lives off her and her disability check, with her. I've had to live with her, too, but only for four months, while I was on an unwanted medical leave, but that's different. I was trying to get back to work, actively trying. My brother has only just recently started filling out applications. I suspect it's because mother's going to toss him out if he doesn't work soon.

She's always sick. Now I can't stand to be around her, so I am very, very rarely. However, I don't live there. But I do visit every few days, just to make sure. He doesn't do any housekeeping for her, he doesn't ever cook for her, he won't help her with anything at all. In fact, unless it's at night, when I am over checking on her, he's in bed asleep! It just makes me sick.

As it turns out, we're all bi-polar, but his medications never do quite seem to come out right. He's always got some damned excuse for why he won't bother looking for work. He wouldn't even fill out an application to a list of jobs I found for him until I all but forced him too. He's always saying he'll go to college. I've been for three and a half years. It's not absolution for paying your bills. Granted, a job is not much help with that either, anymore, but . . . At least he doesn't live with me anymore.

[ShadowBall]

Eh shit, I didn't have my first job until I was 23, and that was actually because my mother encouraged me to not work. She felt I should devote 100 percent of my attention to college and not work at all. I have mentioned that job here before - the cold-calling job. Personally, I wish I could have worked sooner, but that may have led to my having a shred of independence and Mom couldn't have me doing that shit. She wasn't done living my life for me, dammit!

Now I'm in a spot where no one will hire me or keep me on the payroll because I have to take off several times a year for weeks at a time for goddamn grad school (which is a total waste). Fun part is the major I'm taking won't even help me get a job - it'll probably make me overqualified for most regular jobs, actually. Good times.

And of course, being encouraged to not work and never ever being given chores leaves me with what I think is a lousy work ethic. Maybe I'm not as bad as I think, but I personally do not feel I am a good worker. I also seem to sometimes get confused easily by simple directions, which makes me feel like a moron...especially if I need the same thing explained to me five different times.

But any work I do now - professional or personal - I do enjoy seeing the end result. Make a Flash cartoon? I may sit and watch the finished product a dozen or more times and see how I was able to bring a character to life on my screen. Client project? I will look through the final pieces and seeing what I had done with a smile.

I giggle at these spoiled princesses who don't know how to go five minutes with no cell phone, but at the same time, it's pathetic and makes you wonder how they manage to breathe on their own. But it makes me feel better about my own abilities.

[DeltaSierra]

WOW. I didn't realize there were people in this day and age that didn't know they can work as a teen LOL. My first "non-babysitting/yard work/paper delivery/etc" job was when I was 13 - full time chambermaid at a hotel with my friend for the summer. Loved it and made a lot of money - that went on to working part time after school doing the same thing from the age 13 - 15 for a local motel lodge, then McD's and assorted oddities from 15 - 21 when I went away to college, & I worked part time then too.

That will be one rude awakening they're in for...

[Mytical]

I know I have it kinda of easy. I work and go to college..I am very impressed with those who add having children to that. I am putting in about 80 (ish) hours a week between classes, studying, and work. Couldn't even begin to imagine having children to worry about on top of that. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. Sure I have health issues as well, but meh.

This week I will be adding 20 hours to that total, as I am working more then normal. By the end of this week, I will be exhausted..barely able to function..but I have the satisfaction that I am bettering myself, providing for my family, and it will one day be a bit better...

The twits like this that have no concept of the real world do irk me a little. It is one thing when you Can't work..it's another when you can't be 'bothered' to work...which is all I will say on that matter before it goes to fratching .

[Mishi]

While I was working, girls like that used to come in to drop off their resumes, simply because "Animals are cute, they must be easy to work with and it's not like its a real job!"

Yeah, when I was 18, I was working 50+ hour weeks while pregnant in a medium-stress job. Before that, I mothered my siblings for over 6 years. Too young to have a fulltime job???

[fireheart]

While I was working, girls like that used to come in to drop off their resumes, simply because "Animals are cute, they must be easy to work with and it's not like its a real job!"

Wait until they discover that they get their tax taken out of their pay every week (just like a real job), they can be fired for showing up late repeatedly, failing to call in if they're sick, lying about being sick (just like a real job), they can be fired for any number of reasons that stem around gross incompetence (just like a real job) and that you can't force people you don't like to quit because you'll get fired too (just like a real job)

And I have not worked in a pet store, but I KNOW that they ain't easy to work with. Hell, even at the Children's Zoo at the Adelaide Zoo, I almost got bowled over by one of the goats wanting the food! (no I didn't have food in my pockets or anything like that, it was one of the bags of goat feed...)

[greek_jester]

While I was working, girls like that used to come in to drop off their resumes, simply because "Animals are cute, they must be easy to work with and it's not like its a real job!"

I'm sorry, my brain just offlined.

My high-school work experience was in a pet shop. I went home dirty, smelly, exhausted, & sometimes bruised/bleeding from the grey parrot whose cage I had to clean out. He was horribly bad tempered, as schoolkids had a nasty habit of tapping his cage, trying to get him to talk. Easy to ride herd on them when it was quiet, but when there was a rush... Poor thing really shouldn't have been kept in the shop as he wasn't for sale, but the owner 'didn't want him to get lonely'. Instead, he got verbally abused & stressed from the idiot customers.

[Sapphire Silk]

My parents actually discouraged me from getting a regular job while still in high school. They considered school my "job" and didn't want me distracted from getting good grades.

I started babysitting in the neighborhood when I was 12, and usually baby sat every weekend for one or another of my neighbors. In the summer time, I baby sat 3 days a week for one neighbor who worked. It was decent money.

My first "real" job was a fast food job that I hated . . . but I learned a lot about the work world and it was a good experience overall. I've supported myself since finishing practical nursing school. Not to say the folks haven't helped me out from time to time: they have. My divorce ruined me financially, they gave me a lot of help then. But I never moved in with them, and I've never been without a job. I've had some jobs that sucked eggs . . . but I've always had one . . . and often more than one.

I simply do not get people who think it is OK to sponge off family and not work.

[tropicsgoddess]

I'm not spoiled, but I had my first job at 19 working at a call center as a temp. I wanted to get a job earlier than that (around junior -senior year of high school) but so many places turned me down since I had no experience but wanted people with experience . Oh well. At least I got to focus more on school though.

[Mishi]

The thing is... they were applying to work in a veterinary surgery, wanting to only do reception work and play with the cute animals. Not going to happen! I was a pet groomer/vet assistant/receptionist and it is a busy surgery, so I got to do and see a little of everything.

My husband's family believes in supporting the kids while they're learning, so that they can get good grades. It worked for my husband and one of his cousins, but the rest of the family try to mooch off his grandparents, even when they're working.