Honestly, it’s because I’m well into my 30s that I appreciate them. They give me perspective that I won’t find elsewhere in my life, and make me feel like my job is having a real impact. There are lives out there that are a little better for having me in them, and that feeds back into me, too. And being around them helps me from becoming some jaded old dude.
Obviously some of them annoy the shit out of me, and even the best of them has more energy than I can find over the course of the day. But I only have them until ~3 and then they go back to their parents and I get to relax. I think it’s easy find the good in every type of kid when you know that your time with them is fleeting.
And when I think about getting paid a salary to do this as opposed to anything else in the world? I mean, yeah, it feels like a genuine treat. I don’t have to come home tired and covered in sterilized grease the way I did in college, when I cooked my way through my degree, and I don’t need to come home physically worn and covered in motor oil the way my father did. Saying “I get to hang out with kids all day” is definitely downplaying the real work a bit, of which there is a ton, but at the end of the day, I really do genuinely feel lucky to have this way of living available to me.
Burninator05@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
I’m in my mid-forties and most of my co-workers are in their early 20s. It can be weird but I don’t dislike it.
1984@lemmy.today 16 hours ago
Good. :)
Im sure you are making a difference. Mid-fourties means you have some life wisdom to share also.