Short thoughts by David LeMieux
Graduating and getting my first "real" job out of college has been a fun experience. I feel prepared for work and the challenges of the tasks at hand. I know how to research, learn, and use critical thinking to solve the problems presented to me. Good job, educational system, you have made me in to an employable product.
Other than that, though, I have no idea how to be a grown up. I am not an English scholar by any means, but I consider my grasp of the English language to be above average. That said, I have never been so confused as I have been recently thanks to apartment contracts, benefit sign up forms, and all sorts of other stuff you have to figure out in the real world. I have had a few experiences lately that, from my simple-minded point of view are completely ridiculous. Let me tell you them:
1) When calling around to different phone/internet/cable providers to find out about their services, because we had none, I would always ask if the person on the phone could also give me more information about their competitors. Their answer was almost always that I should look it up, on the internet.
2) In the San Francisco Bay area there are toll roads and bridges. (Not to be confused with a Troll bridge, where you have to answer are question.) Unfortunately, many of them are only toll roads in one direction. This has created awkward situations for me when, after driving TO somewhere I find that driving back I am required to pay a toll. Because they want to be sure to get their money, you have to pay with cash. No checks or cards allowed. When trying to explain that I had no idea this was a toll road and that how was I supposed to know and then change my course before it was too late, I am slapped with a fine. It is like some kind of trap for tourists.
3) When trying to fill out my forms for health insurance (and don't get me wrong, health insurance is a HUGE blessing and I am definitely not complaining), some plans require that you provide information about your primary care provider. How is someone, new to the area, supposed to dig up that kind of information BEFORE they know what insurance/plan they will have. It is like a giant Catch-22. You can't get insurance without a provider, you can't find a provider if you don't know your insurance. Very clever, insurance industry. Very clever indeed.
Anyway, I probably sound like a total noob, but lets face it, I am. So, I am going to turn on my voice chat and yell and scream and ask people how I change my weapon and then hit F10 a couple of times before I figure out that it closes the game. So, sorry for being an annoying ranter, but a little heads up before taking the plunge would have been nice. And unlike a video game, there is not really a manual for life. At least I am not aware of one.