Austin’s Daily Commentary – December 11, 2023

Austin Rhodes: While it's always fun to remember Christmases of many days gone by and all the toys that I received when I was a child, the family gatherings, just the general festive nature of the event. More and more, I'm beginning to look back very fondly on my days as a teenager, an older teenager when I actually worked my tail off during the Christmas holidays.

That's right. I worked at Key Wholesale when I was in high school for, I think, three Christmases. And man alive were we busy! Lots and lots and lots of activity, as you can well imagine. Keyes was a what we would call a key catalog showroom. It was like a department store, for lack of a better term. It was right across the street, my location from the Augusta National.

There were Keys all over the southeastern United States and several here in the Augusta area. But what training and what preparation for future life those Christmases gave me.

Number one, I realized that while the retail business was incredibly hectic and somewhat fun from my point of view as a kid, it was something that I wanted no part of as a full time occupation. So that kind of got my mind in the right place as far as preparing for other things. But boy, I tell you what, the hard work really, really paid off. Not only do I have money in my pocket, but a lot of self-esteem, a lot of confidence, and I worry about that in today's generation.

How many parents expect their kids to work not to put money on the money in the bank or food on the table? None of that. But just for the experience of showing up for work, learning a work ethic and understanding your place in society doesn't always start at the top of the totem pole. Very, very important life lessons that you do not get in a classroom.

So when your kids start talking about ways they can spend their Christmas vacation, do not underestimate the value of a part time job. And while you definitely don't want them taking their eyes off the prize, getting their education in high school, I got to tell you, sitting around playing video games and just wasting time with each other when there are jobs to be had out there, get your kids together and get their minds together and sit in a professional workplace scenario as quickly as you possibly can, the better the faster they get into a good work environment, the more valuable lessons they learn. And that's the comment, I'm Austin Rhodes, AM 580/95.1 FM News Talk WGAC.