What about saving my money from *working* flea markets at *13* and *14* sounds like a life of privilege? What about loading the truck and trailer the night before (Friday night) then getting up at 5AM to drive to the flea market and set up the booth (this was in the days of drive in movies where they held flea markets on Saturday mornings) at 5:30AM then sit in the heat all day selling crap that I never quite got why some of the people would bother to buy for 10% or $20 whichever was greater sounds like a life of privilege? I had some weekends I took in a couple hundred dollars and others that I only made the $20. So 8 hours worth of work for $20 an hour at 13 years old.

There was also the lawn mowing I did during the week in the summer that got me $5 profit per typical yard (gotta take out the cost of gas and oil for the old 2-cycle push mower) or about $30 a week there.

So what about being 13 or 14 or 15 (I did all of these for those three years until it was legal to get a summer job at a company) and working for all your spending money is a life of privilege.

Sure, you can spend 15 dollars for a "salad" covered with meat, cheese, and ranch dressing.

Or order a garden salad with a light vinaigrette. You hate such weird things.

"So what about being 13 or 14 or 15 (I did all of these for those three years until it was legal to get a summer job at a company) and working for all your spending money is a life of privilege."

Were you paying bills? Why should this impress me? As you admitted, this was all for spending money to buy luxury items like fancy musical instruments which can cost $6000+.

My personal favorite is a Caesar Salad, hold the croutons, with shaved parmesan cheese. Add a cup of broth based soup (cream soups are too fatty and sugary) and you have an awesome meal that is reasonably healthy as well.

Putin, you think anyone that has a wallet is rich, don't you?

It doesn't impress you that a child worked to pay for an instrument and all his spending money? Shouldn't a champion of the worker be all for that?

"Or order a garden salad with a light vinaigrette. You hate such weird things."

Point me to how many 'garden salads' they have at Chilis, Applebees, O'Charley's, etc. And why the hell would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for a salad you can make at home for 2 dollars.

Keep blowing your money so that you can wait for your food at a dirty public place. I don't care.

"Putin, you think anyone that has a wallet is rich, don't you?"

Boom.

"It doesn't impress you that a child worked to pay for an instrument and all his spending money? Shouldn't a champion of the worker be all for that?"

Champions of the worker should be in favor of kiddies working for spending money to blow on toys? Why?

"Were you paying bills? Why should this impress me? As you admitted, this was all for spending money to buy luxury items like fancy musical instruments which can cost $6000+. "

Were you paying bills at 13-15? I doubt it. And my trombone, at the time, cost me $1250. Instruments have gone up a bit in the last 30+ years. And considering I went in the Corps with an MOS of trombonist, that was a career oriented purchase at the time. I really planned to be playing in a Symphony Orchestra and moonlighting with a Jazz Quartet as my career. Things change and I found something else I was good at: software development.

In short, when your career plans are to be a professional classical musician, buying a quality instrument is not a luxury item.

""Putin, you think anyone that has a wallet is rich, don't you?""

People who blow money on overpriced sandwiches & salads aren't hurting for cash.

"Point me to how many 'garden salads' they have at Chilis, Applebees, O'Charley's, etc. And why the hell would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for a salad you can make at home for 2 dollars."

There are restaurants that aren't Chili's clones. It's very, very easy to get a healthy meal at a sit-down, non-bar food restaurant. And people spend that kind of money because they're on dates or out with friends or coworkers.

I guess Putin33's an asocialist?

"Champions of the worker should be in favor of kiddies working for spending money to blow on toys? Why?"

A trombone isn't a toy. Playing an instrument is a fantastic thing for a young person to do. Is music something you hate too, in addition to fiction writing?

You don't have 'career plans' when you're 13. Your family were upper middle class. Who cares how you got the money for your toys? You weren't struggling just because you had expensive tastes in hobbies.

People that blow money on overpriced sandwiches and salads are the people that are giving me the money to someday blow on overpriced sandwiches and salads. People that blow money on overpriced sandwiches and salads are often the ones helping the poorest class in this country (generalized as restaurant workers - not all but plenty) get out of poverty with a decent job and helping them get valuable experience with people. Just because a kid in another country is too poor to afford it doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to if I can. That doesn't mean I don't have all the sympathy in the world for that kid, but I'm only one person and I'm gonna live my life, privileged in some aspects as it may be.

Putin, you claim to be a world-class educator (but I hope you don't treat your students that disagree with you like you do us), you know how impactful music is to a young person.

Then again I thought reading was good for young people too but fiction is an abomination and all of those books should be burned.

Draugnar can feel free to tell his story of 'struggle' to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. I'm sure they'll sympathize that he got paid double in the 1980s what minimum wage workers get paid in 2013 so he can save money to live his dream of playing in a symphony, all while living as the son of a well-paid engineer. Yeah, buddy. Maybe he can read them some Shakespeare while he's at it.

"Point me to how many 'garden salads' they have at Chilis, Applebees, O'Charley's, etc. And why the hell would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for a salad you can make at home for 2 dollars. "

http://www.chilis.com/EN/Pages/menuitem.aspx?CatId=C841269
Bottom right corner has the house salad at Chilis.

http://www.applebees.com/menu/appetizers/sides
Applebee's has a Caesar and a house garden salad.

http://www.ocharleys.com/menu#anchor-284
O'Charley's Blue Cheese Wedge (you can get any dressing on it). And while it isn't listed, they do small versions of a house salad or Caesar salad including a soup and salad combo for lunch. that is where I go to get my favorite lunch mentioned earlier.

so what was that about garden salads on the menus at these places? You really should think before opening your fucking mouth and proving yourself a fucking, shit sucking, gaping asshole Putin.

"You weren't struggling just because you had expensive tastes in hobbies."

If Draugnar was good enough at trombone to get a bass trombone then it wasn't a hobby. It was a passion, and a well placed one at thatif he was good enough to play in the Marines for a time. I also played trombone, funnily enough. I, however, was dreadful.

For someone who complains about school funding so much this hatred of playing a musical instrument is wildly out of character. But I guess we should know by now that the only things that are legitimate in this world are things that Putin33 is personally interested in and agrees with.

"You don't have 'career plans' when you're 13. Your family were upper middle class. "

To the first part I say bullshit. Classically trained professional musicians typically *do* know they are going to go that route as do gymnasts and figure skaters. They don't wait until high school to decide "I think I'll play music for a living" or "I think I'll be a professional skater." No, they know early on.

To the second, I said we were middle class until my dad broke through that barrier. He didn't break through it until I was in the Marine Corps. So, no, I *didn't* have an upper middle class "life of privilege".

"A trombone isn't a toy. Playing an instrument is a fantastic thing for a young person to do. Is music something you hate too, in addition to fiction writing?"

Most kids who play trombone don't have personal trombones. They use the school's trombones. Because the instruments are insanely expensive. Me thinking most kids can't afford their own bass trombone is not "hating music", although you geniuses will surely interpret it as such.

Look out, bo, Putin will tell you that buying a high end baseball glove is a frivolity and that you couldn't possibly plan to play ball for a living someday as you are too young to have career plans.

Draugnar couldn't afford it either. Until he worked for it. Working is how you get money. What's wrong with what happened? I see nothing. His parents paid for his food, clothes, and shelter, and when he wanted something more he had to get the funds himself. That's EXACTLY the sort of thing you should like!

Please let me know what charities are out there for the sons and daughters of engineers in suburban Cincinnati, so I can write them a check.

"Bottom right corner has the house salad at Chilis."

Yes, covered in croutons & cheeses. Calories - 330.

"Hold the croutons. Oh, and no cheese, please. Thank you."

"Most kids who play trombone don't have personal trombones. They use the school's trombones"

I can't speak to today, but when I started playing trombone in 5th grade, there were no school instruments in elementary school or junior high. And in high school the only school instruments were high end percussion (like timpani), French horns, tubas and their marching equivalents (marching flugelhorn, and sousaphones).

You assume schools provided as much then as they do now. You simply continue to prove you are a shit sucking fucktard.

"His parents paid for his food, clothes, and shelter, and when he wanted something more he had to get the funds himself. That's EXACTLY the sort of thing you should like!"

He's claiming he didn't live a life of privilege. Which is bullshit. The issue is simple but apparently you have a hard time understanding. Working to buy a bass trombone is not a life of struggle.

You really don't make any sense when it comes to Draugnar's trombone, Putin33. Lord knows I like to mock the guy every chance I get, but your writings here really don't seem tethered to reality at all.