College Kids Concerned Too

Brittany’s first experience voting in a Presidential election reminded me of my first time. We both voted for the loser. On election day she told me that Facebook had a running poll where the people who voted would say who they voted for and she said it was running neck and neck: about 1 million for each candidate. She laughed when she read me one boy’s away message on his profile page, “Gone to vote. Don’t forget those of you who are Obama supporters, your voting day is Wednesday the 5th”!

I don’t know why I was so surprised that the college kids were actually worrying about who would win. But, they seem to have grasped the fact that the outcome would really affect them. I got to thinking about different issues that concern adults and compared our reactions to college kids today.

The economy – It’s always been almost a cliché that college kids never have any money, but I don’t see that today. They may be broke, but they have credit cards and know how to use them. Actually, they don’t know how to use them, which is why I used Brittany’s credit card debt as an example when I explained America’s financial crisis to her. I must have done a good job because she asked me if she should apologize to America for causing the problem.

Having money coming in has never been a problem for Brittany; she’s always had 1 to 3 jobs at a time since she was 16. But, like the government, it’s the uncontrolled spending that’s the problem!

Gun control – Something I never think about, but I found out she’s pretty nonchalant in that area. The Secret Service was having a training seminar at the hotel she works in. While checking them in one of the men asked if there were security cameras where his car was parked. He leaned over the desk to whisper that he had $10,000 worth of ammunition in his car.

When she told me about it she said, “I don’t know why he thinks that’s such a big deal. Doesn’t he know he’s in Cullowhee? 80% of the people drive around with that much ammunition in their trucks!”

Social concerns - Brittany called one day and said “Thank you for being a good mom.” Knowing there must be a reason behind the statement I asked what was going on. Apparently the campus was having an awareness day for all kinds of abuse. She said there were clotheslines strung where students hung up pages they had written about some abuse they had suffered in their lives. She said for a relatively small school there were lots of papers. It made her sad. The group promoting the cause was collecting money and she gave them her last dollar.

Good thing they didn’t take credit cards.