Have you heard the story of Kim, the 22-year-old college student? She was given $90,000 by her grandparents tagged to pay for her college education. Kim was a guest on the Atlanta-base, 'The Bert Show' and told the story of how she went through the 90 large in just three years and now believes she has no way to pay for her final year of college, which will run about $20,000.
Kim's tale is probably not that unusual, the part about how she went through the money anyway. She admitted that she would 'budget' for clothes and spring break or summer travel, figuring that these luxuries were part of her educational experience. She admitted to having gone to Europe for example. It appears that when Kim budgeted for clothing and travel, she didn't follow the usual college student on a shoestring budget travel and clothes shopping stereotypes. It sounds like she went first class all the way. Kim admits that in hindsight she should not have been so extravagant.
Get ready for the face palm; she blames her parents for her fiscal predicament. "Maybe my parents should have taught me to budget or something. They never sat me down and had a real serious talk about it." That might be true but today's colleges and universities actually have classes, that are often mandatory for incoming freshman, to teach them how to budget, balance a checkbook, find an apartment; in other words, how to be a responsible adult. Maybe Kim was a spoiled little rich girl with unlimited credit cards and no responsibility. Maybe her parents did talk to her about it but she didn't listen. Either way, it's their fault.
The tale continues to deteriorate. Her parents said there was nothing they could do for her when she asked them for more money. She thinks they are lying when they say they don't have the money because her dad has "worked for like a million years and they have a retirement account." Of course they have a retirement account, they are budgeting and planning for their future. Maybe you could have asked them questions about how to be an adult and handle money. Maybe you could have realized that while daddy was working and earning money, he was also paying for your home, food, utilities, insurance, mortgage, car... that stuff just doesn't fall to Earth for the special people.
The parents suggested she do what almost every other college student is doing; taking out a loan or getting a job. OMG! That's like so embarrassing. How am I supposed to do that? I have to go inside a bank and get a loan. Honey, you'd better be very good looking and a freak in the bedroom because you are going to need to marry a sugar daddy with a huge bank account. Remember to be nice to the help because they'll spit in your food and leak a video of you doing the pool boy which will activate your prenup and leave you with a paltry $10k a month.
There have always been spoiled, incompetent, entitled, little brats in our world. But what's becoming more and more common is that society, at least the wing nuts on the left side of the aisle, excuses their behavior and feeling of entitlement. They do blame the parents or someone else and encourage the whining little future plastic surgery patients, making them feel like their crybaby attitudes are justified. It's become more acceptable in America to espouse these feelings and not feel ashamed that you screwed up so badly or that you're not taking responsibility for your actions or learning from your mistakes.
Maybe that's what needs to change in America, bring back not only the feeling of shame, but also the expectation that you can and will recover from making bad decisions.