It’s good to have goals…
It’s good to have goals, particularly if you’re a young, impressionable, gonzo 8-yr-old like Number One Son. Coming up on the end of second grade, he’s declared his major – Pre Med. He’s decided that he really wants to be a surgeon when he grows up. (His idea of a good time is watching "Trauma: Life in the ER" and he can’t understand why none of us want to watch with him over dinner.) Never missing a chance to reinforce a lesson, I told him that he is capable of becoming a surgeon if he wants to – all he has to do is study extra hard and get the best grades in all his math and science classes. I agreed to buy his first set of scalpels if he gets into Med school.
It eventually occured to me to ask him why he wants to be a surgeon. "Well," says my son the doctor, "I want to see graphic blood and gore. Also, I want to give my sister [the Reigning Queen of Pink] a lobotomy so she won’t be so annoying."
I suppose "at least he’s not just in it for the money" is sort of a consolation – sort of like a psychopath joining the army to be a sniper, do what you’re best at. At least he’ll be able to take care of his parents in our old age, or at least get us prescription samples on the cheap.
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