I feel a long wall'o'text coming on - apologies if you've been quoted here and most of this doesn't apply to you...lots of shit to cover.
I've been through all that & lived a life most adults haven't. I'm more mature than you think. I'm much younger than my siblings yet people always think I'm the oldest. You can't stop me from caring about people. Not fearing what they think.. but having empathy.
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I thought the same thing once. Started working at 12, started my first company at 16, bought my first house at 18 and was bringing in six figures by 19. Owned 2 houses and made my first million at 20. By 24 I was the fastest-promoted junior executive in the history of a $15 billion regional banking conglomerate and had 60 people working under me in 7 offices across California, which I was frequently traversing via business-class jet and company-paid Marriott to survey. That didn't put me through life.
By 28, the company had been forced out of business by the FDIC, I'd been downsized and had a wife and stepdaughter to take care of with nothing down the road but 3 months' severance pay and a 401(k) I'd end up paying dearly to cash in ahead of its time. I had to fight without tools to rebuild my family's real estate company that the Great Recession left in a shambles, learning (literally) to pick up a hammer, drill, and screwdriver and fight my way through the trenches where there were guys 10 years younger with more experience and smarts than me.
When I was 22, I was convinced my hard work and success defined me as a man. At 33, I've learned that surviving failure through hard work to get back what you've lost does much, much more for the character than an early and easy route to the top ever could. It's impossible for me now to imagine what a naive clown I was - perhaps you'll get there, perhaps you never will. But don't discount those of us who've lived more life than you have - we really have seen more than you, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you'll become one of us who respects the fact that none of us will ever know it all.
When I was 17 my dad used to tell me why don't you leave now while you still know everything. Lol
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Mine told me that all the time - then I went out and rented an apartment with my girlfriend who was 19 and old enough to sign a lease, and he grounded me until my 18th birthday. I left his house at 7 a.m. that day and didn't take his calls for 3 months.
To the op.
I vape in my car and my home with my children. In the car I crack the window, blow it straight out the window (we never smoked in the car with the kids) and it never builds up on my windshield. I sit in the same room as my children and vape, I blow it towards the wall or floor.
If someone is asshole enough to blow smoke, vape, or anything else straight in someone's face child or not, they don't deserve respect back imo because that's disrespect to the max.
And as an aside with kids and safety, from day one with the cig alikes, we told our kids very firmly they were never ever to touch, look at, even smell our vapes or equipment or anything else we may have left out. They were 2&3 at the time and you know? To this day they never ever have touched them. Even when their chores include cleaning off a table or something with a pv on it, they will tell me to move it so they can clean.
I never had to tell them twice not to touch it because I warned them it was extremely dangerous for children and would make them so sick they'd have to go to the hospital. Maybe I'm an ass for unnecessarily scaring them but it worked and we've never once had an issue
I've got to admit I've been the same way - I'll vape in the general vicinity of my daughter, but I'll never blow a cloud at/near her. And I've warned her how dangerous my and Mom's gear can be - she's done the same thing with the "Dad, I went to clear the table but your vape is there and I know I can't touch it." I think she understands I'm overstating things a bit, but I appreciate that she respects my not wanting her near the stuff. And we both smoked until she was almost nine, so she definitely appreciates that we're no longer going outside and asking her to stay a few steps away from us while we puff.
College is a waste of time today. Brain washing and creating more liberal robots.
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I didn't start missing the fact that I missed college until it was way too late to go back. But just keep throwing bombs along the "I hate liberals" line and you'll do well to get back in the good graces of a lot of the membership...
also, a very large part of my job marketing and social media strategist) can be done from home but nothing forges a solid working relationship like scheduling face to face meetings once a month if their schedule permits it. apparently i'm one of the very few freelance workers who do that. everyone else prefers to hide behind an email
One of the fringe benefits of work (aside from being a real estate/mortgage broker and rental property site manager I'm also a semi-relevant local journalist) is being bombarded by young women fresh out of j-school asking to take me out for coffee or cocktails! Keep it up - just make sure you've got an angle as to how you can help your targets, because no amount of schmoozing is going to get me as a hard-news writer to publish a promo piece for your client's awesome new eBay-for-teddy-bears website.