"There’s no shame in honest labor at sixteen or sixty. And a lot of kids really do have to be taught about showing up to work on time, following instructions and being polite to customers."
Precisely. This isn't about "a crap job being better than no job at all". It's about learning how to work. You can only do that by working. I was a fifteen year kid delivering newspapers. Did I make much money? Hell no! But I learned to get up at 4:00 every morning and deliver those papers rain or dark. That job was worth its weight in gold and just as important as anything else that I learned later on.
Precisely.
This isn't about "a crap job being better than no job at all".
It's about learning how to work.
You can only do that by working.
I was a fifteen year kid delivering newspapers.
Did I make much money? Hell no!
But I learned to get up at 4:00 every morning and deliver those papers rain or dark.
That job was worth its weight in gold and just as important as anything else that I learned later on.