I guess I opened a can of worms with my post about the college grad

griping about having to pay back her loans on short money.

Oh, well.

One of my neighbors seems to be doing quite well on an unmarketable degree. He knew it was unmarketable when he got it and got it because that was what he wanted to study, but he had a plan. He stuck to it and has done well.

His plan was to join the army and he did.

The army forgave part or all of his loans and commissioned him as an Armor officer and he spent a few years bouncing around in tanks. After he married and had a couple of kids he decided to get out. Sure enough, he got a number off offers in the business world and now works for a corporation that is into sporting goods. Prior to that he was in some other Fortune 500 company.

His experience as an army officer proved a hell of a lot more marketable than the degree he had.

Businesses look pretty kindly to former military officers for a number of reasons. They know how to get things done, they understand personel, logistics and leadership because they have already  done all of this.

A lot of former officers find themselves fast tracked and I'd bet my neighbor is in this catagory.

Over the years I have considered collecting my credits and returning to school, but for the past 25 years every time I do someone points to my diploma from Hawspipe U and says that I already have my degree which to a certain point is true.

My degree from Hawspipe University was issued by the Coast Guard. It says "License to US Merchant Marine Officer" on it.

My first license cost me 720 sea-days, days spent learning the trade, as a fisherman, sailor and tugboater. Based on a school year of 180 days you can say that there were 4 school years spent earning it, almost all of it hands on. Even the few schools and classes I went to during the process were hands on. In this respect I got a good, practical education.

While that certainly isn't a degree from the college of my choice, it has been pretty instrumental in keeping me well fed.

I know a guy that went back to school when he was in his 60s. He was a very interesting character and I'd sure bet he brought an awful lot to school with him. He had made his career as a commercial fisherman and was a really rough and tumble type of guy. I heard his interview was halarious as they asked him what had interrupted his education.

"World War Two," he replied. "The army sent me on a vacation to sunny Italy. Then when I got back, I got married and had to take a little break and raise four kids. Now I got a few bucks saved and I want to go back to school."

I would have laughed my ass off to see that interview. How long his second college career lasted I do not know, but I'd almost bet that it wasn't very long. My guess is that he probably threw some uppity professor through a closed door or knocked some spoiled brat freshman on his ass and got booted out. He was a student of the Old School and probably would have made a pretty good classmate for Pappy Boyington.

There are simply some people you can dress up but you can't take anywhere except to a waterfront dive.

The Rodney Dangerfield movie most likely wasn't half as funny as to what probably happened in real life.

Anyway, when I posted a couple of days ago I had nothing against getting a degree whatsoever. It is a good thing to have. I just thought that if you are going to go into hock for several years to get the degree you ought to at least figure out how you are going to pay for it when the loans become due. It is called planning ahead.

You don't want to wind up being a college graduate werving overpriced coffee to high school dropouts, do you?


my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/