I think self-esteem is important for kids, and I had my dreams crushed early by a guidance consular who told me that my dream was unrealistic and that I would never be able to actually become what I really wanted to be – an Oscar Meyer Wiener, due to my poor test scores and OSHA and FDA regulations.
It’s too late for me, but I’ve come up with an idea to help the next generations with their self esteem.
I think it’s the law that when you have a kid you have to name it. If it’s not a law, it’s at least a tradition and it makes claiming them as dependents much easier.
But I think it would be good for parents not to tell their children what their name really is until they’re twenty one years old. That way kids could always hope that they might actually be someone famous. Are you going to be nervous trying out for basketball if you think there is an outside shot that you might actually be Michael Jordon? Hell, no. You might already have hundreds of millions of dollars in shoe endorsements deals already as far as you know.
How embarrassing would it be to flunk science if you turn out to be Steven Hawking? Very embarrassing, so they’ll study more because they don’t want to chance it.
Is a child going to be a skinhead or a neo-nazi if they think they might learn when they’re 21 that they were really Malcolm X all along?
You could also use it to influence their behavior. “Oh, you don’t floss….By the way I read in the paper that Osama Bin Laden doesn’t floss, but that’s probably just a coincidence”.
Of course when they turn 21 and find out that they really are just someone no one (including themselves) have ever heard of, they’ll be pissed off, but they probably should be out of the house by then anyway.
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