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Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:22 am
by Paul Campos
I wanted to "share" this somewhere, and this seems like as good a place as any.
A net friend I've known for nearly ten years since he was in undergrad wanted my advice this week on whether to apply to law school. He got his undergrad degree in sports broadcasting, which sounds awfully unicorny to me, but he's actually been pretty successful in regard to getting into the business. Now in his late 20s, he hosts a sports talk radio show in a major market, in a city with a fairly low cost of living. He's on the air 20 hours per week in a nice time slot (late morning/early PM), and probably works about 15 or 20 additional hours per week, but the non-air work time is pretty flexible, since it consists of things like researching potential topics and the like.
He's going to make around 75K-80K this year. He's single, has no educational debt, and lives somewhere where a nice one-bedroom apartment in a good neighborhood is around 1K per month. He likes his job just fine, but he's thinking about applying to law school, because he wants to do something that feels more meaningful to him than spending his life arguing about whether LeBron James is as great a player as Michael Jordan was, with the kind of people who call into sports radio talk shows to argue about things like that.
Naturally I told him that many and indeed most legal jobs don't feel any more meaningful than arguing about LeBron etc., as well as featuring many severe disadvantages relative to the conditions of his present employment.
But it struck me that this was an interesting little glimpse into grass is greener syndrome, which in turn explains how a lot of people end up in law school (although this seems like a particularly extreme case).
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:12 am
by shifty_eyed
It's probably people from your generation that are telling him law school is a good idea
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:17 am
by ymmv
shifty_eyed wrote:It's probably people from your generation that are telling him law school is a good idea
Yup. I'd say Hollywood glamorization of the profession is also a large part of the problem. Also the entire overarching issue of American Dream type bullshit that colors every life decision here.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:19 am
by 09042014
I would literally strangle two hookers to get his job.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:24 am
by Flips88
If I could make $80k/year to talk about sports for a few hours a day, I'd be fucking ecstatic.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:26 am
by shifty_eyed
Flips88 wrote:If I could make $80k/year to talk about sports for a few hours a day, I'd be fucking ecstatic.
Me too, and I hate sports.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:28 am
by WokeUpInACar
Desert Fox wrote:I would literally strangle two hookers to get his job.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:33 am
by DELG
shifty_eyed wrote:Flips88 wrote:If I could make $80k/year to talk about sports for a few hours a day, I'd be fucking ecstatic.
Me too, and I hate sports.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:44 am
by Fiero85
Paul Campos wrote:
Naturally I told him that many and indeed most legal jobs don't feel any more meaningful than arguing about LeBron etc., as well as featuring many severe disadvantages relative to the conditions of his present employment.
But it struck me that this was an interesting little glimpse into grass is greener syndrome, which in turn explains how a lot of people end up in law school (although this seems like a particularly extreme case).
Yep, this is a classic case of G-I-G syndrome.
Tell him to get a hobby (not being sarcastic). He's apparently got a cushy low hours job with no debt, low expenses, and above avg income, so he can pursue whatever else he wants in his free time.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:00 pm
by jbagelboy
that job is awesome.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:01 pm
by bjsesq
Tell your net friend bjsesq hopes he gets HIV.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:04 pm
by melodically
bjsesq wrote:Tell your net friend bjsesq hopes he gets HIV.
Wow.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:06 pm
by bjsesq
melodically wrote:bjsesq wrote:Tell your net friend bjsesq hopes he gets HIV.
Wow.
No, not Wow. HIV.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:06 pm
by TelegramSam
melodically wrote:bjsesq wrote:Tell your net friend bjsesq hopes he gets HIV.
Wow.
I know. Seriously missed opportunity for a 'those AIDS' joke
Get your shit together Boo
Also: I would strangle
three hookers for that job.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:12 pm
by papercut
bjsesq wrote:melodically wrote:bjsesq wrote:Tell your net friend bjsesq hopes he gets HIV.
Wow.
No, not Wow. HIV.
Trigger warning next time pls.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:16 pm
by jingosaur
I would take out $200k in non-dischargeable debt for a 50 percent chance at that job.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 1:24 pm
by twenty
jingosaur wrote:I would take out $200k in non-dischargeable debt for a 50 percent chance at that job.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 1:35 pm
by prezidentv8
Paul Campos wrote:story about sports radio host wanting to go to law school
Re: Kids today
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:32 pm
by la_flauta
Funny, I know a guy who did the opposite. Went to law school and now hosts a sports talk radio show and owns a sports news website which he started from the ground floor on his own. He's far happier now and makes a steady enough income to travel quite a bit and have paid employees.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 12:45 am
by 84651846190
oh, you kids! *rustles your hair*
Re: Kids today
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 2:15 am
by rad lulz
.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:59 am
by First Offense
If he wants to do something that "matters", he should volunteer in what seems to be his copious amounts of spare time instead of wasting 3 years +200k. He could even sponsor a charity on his show, I'm sure, and raise awareness for his favorite charity in a short, 2-3 minute segment a day/week.
Re: Kids today
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:32 pm
by the_phoenix612
I would tell him to reach out to Clay Travis, who took the exact opposite approach - he went to Vanderbilt Law and then became a sportswriter. The site he started, outkickthecoverage.com, just got bought out by Fox Sports and he is now on TV and everything on Fox Sports 1.
He also does a weekly mailbag, and really seems to enjoy communicating with his fanbase.
Email here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/college-footba ... lay-travis
Re: Kids today
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:34 pm
by DELG
First Offense wrote:If he wants to do something that "matters", he should volunteer in what seems to be his copious amounts of spare time instead of wasting 3 years +200k. He could even sponsor a charity on his show, I'm sure, and raise awareness for his favorite charity in a short, 2-3 minute segment a day/week.
Through this course of action, suspect he would find he spent more hours doing something "meaningful" than anyone I know in PI
Re: Kids today
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:49 pm
by BVest
Desert Fox wrote:I would literally strangle two hookers to get his job.
TelegramSam wrote:Also: I would strangle three hookers for that job.
That won't cut it. Craig James killed five hookers while at SMU and he's not even on the air anymore.