I have had a life of great privilege. Not the silver spoon kind but best balance of joy and suffering, of opportunity and deprivation, of learning and leisure. My High School did not offer calculus as a class because they had no teacher who could teach it and few students who would take it but I still got a BS in Aeronautical Engineering and unlike many of my classmates I did not need to take remedial algebra classes because my High School education was solid there. I worked on farms growing up. In the spring after plowing and sometimes even after planting we would walk the potato fields ahead of a tractor and pick out the big rocks that would maybe damage the harvester and drop them in the bucket on the front of the tractor (Maine has lots of rocks, thanks to glaciers). My Dad who taught me to make wine built my first model rocket launching pad and launch controller. My peers bought that stuff, my Dad taught me to make my own stuff. I have furniture my Dad made in the 50's and 60's. Much nicer than stuff I have made, nicer than you see in anything but the top end stores.

Being spoiled is not a privilege it is a handicap. This is a lesson I was not able to teach but one of my stepchildren. Three out of 4 insisted they should be spoiled.

TEK