<p>There is not opportunity cost. 50 hours in your teenage years is not that valuable and who is to say the time spent learning how to drive is “wasted”? Do you not gain memories and bond with who ever is teaching you?</p>
<p>Even to add to that, I can say I spent more time driving around. I wish me and my friend did try to drive around and follow where the fireworks where coming from that one night. I wish me and my sibling did hop in the car and try to find a secluded area to see the Super Moon that one time at 3 in the morning. </p>
<p>Just because you have a deep hatred for driving does not make the time out into to driving or time out into driving itself is entirely wasteful.</p>
<p>Have you ever traveled in the U.S. outside major urban areas, CF? Cars are not a “sentence,” they represent freedom to many people who are not served by public transportation.</p>
<p>Some of my best memories with my kids have been in the car. You can learn a lot listening to them and their friends, and they open up more than they do when they’re at home, sitting across the table. For that reason alone I am glad I had to shuttle them everywhere when they were younger.</p>
<p>Why yes, Sally, I have traveled in the US outside major urban areas. I’ve ridden my bike across the US. Twice. To me, cars represent being caged, and bikes represent freedom.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of emptiness in the US. </p>
<p>I’m planning my third trip, this time on dirt. Great Divide, 2015. It’s going to be fantastic.</p>
I’m getting the impression you spend a lot of time consuming misleading propaganda from radicalized talk radio. </p>
<p>Once you get beyond the sensational headline you reference, you will learn (from Fox News, if that makes you feel better) that the ONE time a lemonade stand was shut down, it was because two adolescent girls were operating one inside a country club during the Reno-Tahoe Open golf tournament right alongside other vendors who had paid fees to sell similar goods.</p>
<p>It was the other private vendor businesses - not the government - that repeatedly complained to public officials and requested the girls’ lemonade stand be shut down because the girls (or their parents) had not paid the same $38 vendor fee that helps ensure vendors do not spread foodborne illness.</p>
<p>As the county official said, they do not normally regulate lemonade stands. “We applaud the girls and their cooperation and encourage this kind of entrepreneurship,” he said.</p>
<p>What’s changed since we were growing up is the rise of ideological media that pumps these false ideas in some people’s head about a vast government take over of our lives, leading you to throw your hands up and tell kids it’s not worth even trying. </p>
<p>The reality is it’s even easier to start a business today - kids have the entire internet at their hands rather than relying on the neighbors, family friends, or passersby.</p>
@romanigypsy - That’s a good point. I think it’s safe to say that once an area has invested in the automobile as its primary mode - either by choice or simply by being more rural and not having the infrastructure - I think there’s no choice but to use a car, whether one loves it or not. It’s just a fundamental requirement for so many jobs in those areas.</p>
<p>I don’t know why it has to be either love or hate cars. I love road trips and driving for a special experience, such as with friends and family. I don’t love sitting in traffic to buy groceries or to go to work everyday. I’d rather walk, bike, or take a train to do that daily grind. But, not everybody has that luxury.</p>
<p>Right, apple. I agree with that- that once it’s relied on, there’s no going back. Considering most of the US popped up post-cars, most cities were designed with cars in mind (“cities” including suburbs, too). Very different layout than when I lived in say, England, where clearly many of the cities were laid out longgg before cars haha. I just dislike when people do the correlation = causation thing. </p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be love or hate cars. Most people don’t think of it that way. (I’m not one of them… I love, love, love my car. She has a name and I would much prefer driving than pretty much any other form of transportation). To me, cars are very freeing. I don’t think of them as cages. I think of it like a warm, cuddly room. I would ride a bike more but it really hurts my knee… and I hate being cold so that limits it to about 3 months a year in MI where I find it acceptable to be outside any longer than I absolutely need to be.</p>
<p>Where I live, a lot of kids here have cars. Almost all of them had their parents buy it for them. I started working when I was 14, and I bought my first car a week before I turned 15. I’ve never crashed my car, and I’ve put about 25,000 miles on it just myself since I bought it. I’m now at 140K miles. I’m 18 years old, finished with all of my college applications, and I still work. I’m a line cook at a local upscale restaurant making about $22+/hr at about 30 hours a week. I have completely average grades and an average life, but I have almost absolutely ZERO EC’s and stuff like that. I barely have any service hours too. If I never had a job, I’m sure I still would’ve bought a car around the age of 16 because I save all of my money, but my GPA would definitely be much, much higher. If I could go back in time, I would have never gotten a job.</p>
<p>I’m 18 and a half years old and I still haven’t taken the permit test because I didn’t really feel the need to go out that much. That being said, I live in LA but I’m not really into partying or any of that stuff and I coach tennis within walking distance so a car isn’t really a necessity for me at the moment.</p>
<p>That’s damn good for an 18 year old. Good job dude. </p>
<p>In my opinion, you’re much better off with a job like that and average grades than you are with spectacular grades and no job. If college doesn’t workout for one reason or another, you have a job you can live off of, a work skill that you’ve developed and will continue to develop, and general valuable experience. Don’t doubt yourself here, sounds like you made the right choice.</p>
<p>I recently found a place to live where I’ll work, about 12 miles away so I’ll obviously be driving. It’s simply necessary for low-cost rent. There is literally nothing for under $900/month within 2 miles of the office, but 10 miles away there’s plenty of housing for under half that. The office itself seems to have driven up prices tremendously in the immediate area. Rent can force (or I guess in my case at least - strongly incentivize) to commute.</p>
<p>It’s a good job…but personally, my mom would have me stop working so many hours if it started having a negative effect on my grades. I know when I worked 30+ hours a week it was hard for me to focus on my classes and get work done; not to mention it wasn’t fun. </p>
<p>Better to do well in school than work tons of hours.</p>
<p>I could see trying to reduce them to 20 if possible. I know when I worked in high school occasionally I’d get more hours than I wanted. I quit when it because defacto full time (they made sure we stayed just under 40 a week) because of a hiring freeze (though that magically went away when I put in my 2 weeks) but I didn’t get paid anywhere near that. Unless you’re studying Math, Econ, Engineering, or Business, there’s a very good chance you’re not going to get a job in your field straight out of college paying that. I strongly recommend you don’t give it up.</p>