Letters to the Editor
dendrio
Published Letters: 200 Editor's Choice: 27
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Apparently this isn't so uncommon!
[Read the article: I'm a gifted high achiever who wants to be a flight attendant]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Judging from all the other letters. Let me add mine: I'm pursuing the ultimate "Too Smart For" career: teaching. And even people who give me a pass for that but then find out that I'm not an English teacher like my husband, or a Science or Math teacher, but that I'm in fact the lowest of the low, a Social Studies teacher (dude, they don't even test that for No Child Left Behind!), well, I've gotten some incredulous looks. I had the private school education, the honors college, the study abroad, and the entire time everyone kept telling me how smart I was and how far I'd go. Until I graduated and then they were like, "Get in line." There are 80 bazillion gifted, well-educated over-acheivers out there.
Teaching excites me. I've definately had experiences where I don't really relate well to some others in my profession, but I didn't go into it to socialize.
As long as you can make a living wage, do whatever you want. Your education will be a treasure for you no matter what you're doing. And just because you're a flight attendant now doesn't mean that in 5 years you can't do somehting else. Best of luck too you. Next time someone tells you that you're too smart to do *whatever*, tell them that they're too stupid to possibly make that judgement. Most of the "too smart for" jobs are jobs that were traditionally held by women, and the stigma against them is entirely due to gender-role stigmas. Out-dated and ignorant. Who needs that?
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Hey, Salon...
[Read the article: Daddy dilemma]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How about an article about the many many many American couples who'd like to have children but can't imagine having the financial ability to do so? I wish I was in this dude's position, with that stylish New York DINC lifestyle that is so incredibly fun and amazing that he can't imagine messing it all up with kids. He represents a minute (and continuously shrinking) percentage of the population. Congratulations.
Now, how about talking to the dual-income families who, despite working every waking moment, can't afford to buy a home, can't afford to have children, can't afford to take a vacation, and can't afford to have $10 margaritas in the East Village? The ones who can't have kids because they don't have health insurance? You know, those ones? The ones who are actually facing an actual problem?
These would be the people I could relate to. I would actually like to have a child. But our financial position is so precarious, I'm not sure we could manage it. And what would I do about work? Taking away one of our incomes would put us frighteningly close the poverty line. But who can afford child care? This article did nothing but break my heart. These people have what I so desperately want.
This continuous string of stories about priviledged people living charmed lives is really getting old. I understand that every person's personal problem, to them, is the biggest problem in the world. But in journalism, perhaps a little objectivity is called for.