Saturday 6th December

Well, even taking into account that I was a complete idiot and ran away from home at 17, became a dad at 18 and a single parent at 20, young people do have it remarkably easy these days.  So, I didn’t have to leave home.  But even had I stayed I would have been expected to get a job and pay rent.  Even the idea of me staying on in the sixth form was met with some incredulity.  Now that a ridiculously high proportion of youngsters go to Uni or some dubious college or other in order to gain qualifications so that they can get jobs we once walked into without even experience let alone a bit of paper they never quite leave home.  In Suffolk if you weren’t out of the house and married by the time you were 21 you were either Gay or had stupidly buggered up your life chances by being left on the shelf.

My dear sister has two girls who seem to be taking most of their adult life to actually complete their education and intern-ships and get “proper” jobs.  And when we put an advert in for the most lowly of Accounts jobs we get 25 year olds who are just finishing the last of a long line of courses and who have never worked a day in their lives.  Co-incidentally these same hopefuls expect to be able to retire by the time they are 50 and buy a house and have kids….hahaha.

We have a lodger from China who is mid-twenties and has done two University courses, paid for by Mum and Dad back in Yangste province.  They are still supporting her to the tune of about £1000 per month while she tries (not very hard) to get a job and someone to sponsor her after her Student Visa runs out in February.  She does nothing all day, except pamper herself with face masks, lotions and potions and spends hours in the bathroom doing I know not what.  Her only other occupation is preparing her food, which also takes hours every day and watching stuff on her laptop.

In a way I almost feel sorry for them, these perpetual children – as one day they will have to face the World on their own, and learn that difficult task of actually working for a living and paying your own way.  So, I am not jealous, simply amazed that an existence can be so utterly pointless.