masterwordsmith-unplugged

From the book "Dumbing Down our Kids" by Charles Sykes

This is mistakenly attributed to Bill Gates, as a Speech he supposedly gave at Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, California.

It is actually from the book "Dumbing Down our Kids" by Charles J. Sykes, 1995, and is directed at high school and college graduates.

Rule 1:
Life is not fair - get used to it

Rule 2:
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself

Rule 3:
You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both

Rule 4:
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss

Rule 5:
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity

Rule 6:
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them

Rule 7:
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room

Rule 8:
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life

Rule 9:
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time!

Rule 10:
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs

Rule 11:
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.