Would you like a little cheese with that whine?

I'm not generally a whiner. If anything, I tend to be a bit too Pollyanna-ish for my own good. I figure, I don't really want to hear your whining, why would you want to hear mine?

One of my biggest pet peeves about some of the "younger generation" (boy, does that make me sound OLD) is their strange sense of entitlement. I don't remember where I first heard it, but a favorite quote says "The world doesn't owe you a living. The world owes you nothing. The world was here first."

So if you were a fly on the wall of my office this morning, you'd have heard a loud clatter as my jaw fell to the floor as I read this headline in an online journal I receive periodically:

"New grad can't find job--so sues college"

Are you KIDDING me?!

From Higher Ed Morning.com

"A recent graduate of a New York college is having trouble landing a job. But is it the college’s fault? She thinks so — and that’s why she’s suing.

Recent Monroe College grad Trina Thompson completed her course of studies in April and graduated with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology. But Thompson is still searching for a job, and she says the school hasn’t done enough to help her.

Thompson claims the school’s office of career advancement dropped the ball by failing to give her enough career counseling assistance. She says it’s the school’s fault that her phone’s not ringing with calls from potential employers. “They have not tried hard enough to help,” she claims.

Thompson’s suit has asked that the college be forced to return the tuition she paid – all $70,000 of it. For good measure, she wants another $2,000 to compensate her “for the stress I have been going through looking for a full time job on my own.”

The school says on its Web site that its Office of Career Advancement offers a variety of services to all current students, including workshops and individual career counseling services. It insists the suit is meritless."

Now, I'm a champion letter writer. I could go off on this girl like there's no tomorrow. But my brain, my Master's degree educated brain, my "I've had three full-time jobs in my lifetime and found every one of them on my own" brain, my slightly-addled yet still thinking somewhat clearly Mommy brain?

Simply cannot wrap itself around this insanity.

Does she REALLY think that paying $70,000 in tuition should GUARANTEE her a job? And please don't even get me started on the tuition. Even if she didn't receive a single penny (which I seriously doubt, since Monroe is a private school), it's highly likely that she received loans to cover that tuition.

Hmm...so she likely had someone else covering her school tuition while she was IN school, and now she thinks the College has an obligation to find her a job to make money now that she's OUT of school.

Right.

Yeah, I know the economy's tough. Joshua Persky, an MIT grad, was laid-off from his job and was out of work for a YEAR. He didn't sue MIT or his former employers. Instead, he distributed his resume through the streets of Manhattan while wearing a sandwich board that said "Experienced MIT Grad for Hire" and listed his phone number.

He's now employed.

Maybe she should meet Liz Murray.

But a lawsuit? Seriously, sweetie? You'll be lucky if Monroe doesn't rescind your degree.