"No Wonder My Mom Complains"

The introduction to this post is a line uttered by one of the many freshmen students I contended with during our annual Reality Store which occurred at the fine establishment that I must attend every day to do a lot of work for a little paycheck. This said establishment is a high school and I am a high school guidance counselor or, excuse me, a "professional school counselor" as the state of Indiana would like us (and all others who care) to refer to ourselves when discussing our occupation. What is Reality Store you may ask? It is a one day event that takes months (and months, and MONTHS) of planning so that our freshman can run around our fieldhouse and use pretend funds to purchase pretend necessities in the hopes that they will have some idea of how to develop into a functioning adult-type person in the next few years. Translation: they pick the biggest house, fastest car, laugh about going broke, and fill out a survey that basically says "This whole thing sucked and you shouldn't have wasted your time." Ahh, freshmen, always keeping me on my toes. During this experience, one particularly bright young lady was in the middle of purchasing her grocery plan when she came to the epiphany which became the very title of this particular post. She was trying to decide between the "moderate" meal plan (ground chuck, some vegetables, and maybe a National Enquirer if the cover is good) and the "luxury" meal plan (sirloin, shrimp cocktail, and an upgrade to Us Weekly) when it suddenly dawned on her- her mother actually has to PAY for her to eat. She has to pay a lot. Like $500 a month. The moment I saw this realization hit her and she opened her mouth to say, "No wonder my mom complains" and followed it up with, "Maybe this is what I am supposed to learn here today" I about fell off my chair and actually thought to myself at least I taught one person something today. I'm not going to say that this one student made the whole experience worth the hours of organizing and planning, but it did hit a nerve which also prompted me to start writing this blog.

Watching this one student realize that her charmed existence as a leech to her parents will one day cease to exist made me wonder when my "moment of clarity" happened. Was it when my parents dumped me in my door room with twenty bucks and a "Have fun" as they ran for the car or when I realized that I couldn't phone home for more money simply because I wanted to go to the bars? I wish I could say that it happened in high school, but I don't think it did. I think I always just expected my parents to give me things when I needed them because, well, that was their job, right? I never got in trouble, got good grades, didn't get pregnant, and admitted to them the ONE TIME I went to a party where there was alcohol (which I left in order to get ice cream) which means that I held up my end of the deal. To me, this meant that I should be allowed to see my boyfriend, receive money for Subway on a bi-weekly basis, and go through life without a care. Sure they made me have sucky jobs, but that was part of the deal. Maybe if I would have had a Reality Store experience I would have realized that life wouldn't be so easy "on my own"; maybe I am blissfully grateful that I didn't have to find out until later.

Since today's theme was "Reality" it really got me thinking- do I really want to be a school counselor all my life? My initial reaction is "Are you crazy? Heck NO!" but the even more overwhelming fact is that I have no idea what I would be if I could be anything. Wait. I take that back. I would be a broadway performer or anyone on Glee or a cast member of the Hills (during the Lauren Conrad Era, post-Heidi fight, pre-living with Audrina and Lo)...something in that vein. Since Hollywood is not beating down my door, I need to explore more "realistic" options. I was having this very "what to be when we grow up" discussion with a few of my co-workers today and every one of them did not disagree that I shouldn't stick with my current profession for the rest of my life. I didn't know whether to be flattered or offended. Should I take that as "You are so totally good at your job that you should definitely follow your dreams and do something that you find totally fulfilling" or "You secretly really blow at this and you should find new work. Immediately." They are all too nice to tell me to my face, so I guess I will have to figure all of this out on my own. Until I do, I will continue being as efficient and kick-ass as I can be in my current profession and hope that, one day, my fairy godmother will knock on my door and offer me my own reality show. I'll let you know how that goes.