How can something be beneath me?

📖 Note: This post is from the archives. It may reflect outdated views or a previous name.

I was recently involved in a bunch of debates that got me thinking. Teenagers want money, but most don’t want to put in the necessary work to make some. I wanted to write about getting started in the workplace and why being picky (about opportunities) is bad.

For starters — you do not need to dropout to get a job as a high school student. Before leaving school, I worked in a computer store making $10.50 selling electronics. It wasn’t glamorous but I made a little and learned a lot. I also worked on a multitude of freelance projects while going to class. Sometimes I was hired to make small apps and others to replace a dead hard drive. I wasn’t making much, but I made enough to ‘go have fun’ on the weekend.

A lot of these brilliant teenage programmers think they’re better than the average joe. Thinking they deserve to start out as a developer for their first job. Back then, I’d agree with you, but now I believe everyone’s first job should be a menial one. Only because it gave me a sense of respect for those who have to work there regularly.

I’ve learned to always listen to what my elder generation(s) have to say. I don’t necessarily act on their advice, but I always hear them out. I listen because even though they may not be right, or know what’s best for you; they will have their own tales to tell.

​So hence the title — how can something be beneath you, if you haven’t even left the ground.

I recommend that you never let an opportunity get away. Experience is experience. Even if the work you had to do was shitty, you would have learned more about something new. You can’t be better than something, until you have something to be better than.