Coasting Through or Past Life.

 On Thursday during my lunch break, one of the younger guys in his thirties, was talking about a family member he is concerned about. She is in her twenties and in love, her boyfriend moved in and is working on living happily ever after. He is working on it more because it's a perfect arrangement for him. She has a good job which is perfect for him because he is one of those special people that is too good to work. His life of sleeping in, playing video games and watching t.v. is too important to be interrupted by work. My coworker is worried that they will get married before she sees the light or worse, he gets her pregnant, then she will have two babies to look after.

 This had people commenting on today's millennials, I hate that to be honest especially when there were a couple of really good employees sitting with us who are in that age group. The truth is they were not born that way, if you do absolutely everything for your child and shield them from every awkward moment until they are twenty one, no wonder they have zero social and work skills. I pointed out the unfairness of the statement, I reminded my coworkers that there were lots of people in each generation, the baby boomers and generation X, who coasted through life.

 I thought of a situation that is really sad, not sad as in the actual definition but sad more like a pathetic waste of a life. I was thinking about a friend of a friend, let's call him Mark,  this guy is a couple of years older than me. Mark is university educated and was often at the top of his class according to my friend. He is from a wealthy family and so understands the finer things in life, friendly, good personality, (he was) tall, dark and handsome. Everything that a young man could ask for to get ahead in life.

 However Mark's life plan is this, live for free by house sitting at wealthy friends who travel most of the year, collect welfare for spending money and wait out your parents in hopes to inherit their fortune when they pass. At some points in time, he has written articles for newspapers and they being totally impressed with his work, many times have offered him a job, which he promptly turns down.

 I find that to be such a waste, especially for someone with many talents. I should also confess that I am a classic underachiever at times as well, so I don't want to appear to be on some high horse regarding this man. I often say as a joke but not a joke, I'm smart enough to know how dumb I am, there are positions at work that I would love to have but I know they are beyond my level. I never want to be in a job where I am know as "that guy", the one who tries hard but is just not that good at what he does. We see it all the time, "I really like Bill but when I need to count on a project being done properly, I always go to Jeff".

 How sad is it that Mark let his life go by, he could have had great adventures but instead has to ask people to lend him money for beer or groceries at times. He's not mentally ill, just chronically lazy it seems. There is also a frustration for him now, when you are a handsome twenty four year old, people see you as a free spirit and still welcome you as a friend, when you are a fifty four year old and haven't changed, people see you as some sort of sponge and want nothing to do with you. I have to wonder with all his intellect, if he ever thinks to himself, "what have I done"? It's a little naughty of me but I also can't help wishing his parents a long, long and healthy life.