As I hopped on the trolley last week, the unusual presence of boys and girls, who would normally be in school, reminded me that it was the annual Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day.
I love this event. I enjoy seeing the expressions of anticipation and hesitation on kids’ faces while they follow their parents around and experience what is normally an exclusive, adults only working world.
At the South Hills Village T Station, I smiled when I saw the bewilderment on the faces of two siblings, a boy and girl, as they followed their mother through the throngs of grownups waiting for the next trolley. Maybe they felt intimidated by being surrounded by so many big people with e-readers, briefcases and travel mugs. Or maybe they were puzzled when their mom paid for their ride into town by swiping a blue ConnectCard over an orange panel on the farebox, which dinged and instantly displayed how much money she still had left on her blue card.
Nah, I doubt it. Although MY first instinct was to distrust those electronic boxes and blue cards when they replaced the old paper tickets a few years ago, kids certainly have the advantage of being born and raised in the digital age, which probably means that they can accept and understand technology far better than me. In fact, I doubt any kid over the age of 6 would be fazed by a beeping farebox.
Next, as I entered the elevator at the Grant building, I overheard a mother explain to her shy, teenaged daughter that there were a lot of law firms in the building.
“And accounting firms,” I offered as I got off on the 29th floor, where I still work part time for a public accounting firm. The girl smiled appreciatively.
It took me back to when I used to take my own kids to work. My son, John, used to look forward to “take your kid to work day.” Other than the fact that the school required him to write an essay about his experience in order to miss school without penalty, it felt like a free day to him.
My best memory is when John was about 11, because that was the day that he and Math came to an understanding.
John hated Math. He went to great lengths NOT to study it and was determined to avoid it as much as he could throughout his middle school tenure. He adamantly insisted that at soon as his school days were over, he would never use or need Math for the rest of his natural born days.
So when John came to work with me, I made him do math.
One of my responsibilities was to do the banking, so I had him help me add all the amounts on the checks. I showed him how to fill out the deposit slip and he followed me to the bank, where I let him hand the deposit to a teller.
I admit I wasn’t really trying to teach my son a lesson. I was just trying to get my work done and keep him busy. But when we were going home that evening, I knew his brief encounter with Math had made an impression because he very thoughtfully said, “I can’t believe people actually have to use math at work.”
Of course, the whole idea of taking our kids to work with us is to teach them what it’s really like to work for a living. But working in an office was about as incomprehensible to John as playing a video game is to me, so for him to admit that math was unexpectedly useful was a big win for me and the Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day organization.
Next year, if I see kids standing on the trolley platform, I won’t waste time wondering how tech savvy they are. I’ll be curious to know how they feel about math.
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photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/84213819@N00/1838331340″>Day 306: Money Changes Everything</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>