Life is not fair

I have never been a fan of Bill Gates but apparently he recently gave a talk at some school and these were his points. I certainly respect his message. As I am a parent, I think these are very valid and would want to deliver the same sort of message to my kid. Most kids are brought up to get reward just for participation. Their expectations are totally out of reality. All parents know that it is much easier to spoil your child then not to. Anyhow I think these actually apply to many adults also !

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The  world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good  about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high  school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn  both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till  you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called  it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so  don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as  boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,  cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you  thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites  of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.  

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and  losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing  grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right  answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real  life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't  get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you  FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life  people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up  working for one.