Ahh, career day. There's nothing quite as inspirational as inspirational speakers coming into school to tell you how if you work hard, you too could become a lawyer or a doctor or a successful businessman. Not to mention a stripper. Today, parents of Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School are agog and aghast when popular career day speaker William Fried told eighth-graders that being a stripper or an exotic dancer could be a lucrative job (not to mention a great way to meet rappers and basketball stars). We think it goes without saying here, but what will they tell the children?
Fried, a president of Foster City's Precision Selling, a management consulting firm, has been giving his presentation "The Secret of a Happy Life," for the past three years at the school. As part of his presentation, he listed 140 different career choices and under unconventional career paths, he put such jobs as exotic dancing, stripping, pistol shooting, and acting as a spiritual medium. Some curious students saw stripping listed and, well, being 14 year-olds, had to ask. This led to some remarks about what strippers and exotic dancers are, followed by him telling the class that "for every two inches up there, you should get another $50,000 on your salary."
Needless to say, this did not go over well. Principal Joseph Di Salvo is thinking about dropping Fried from future Career Days, not only for the remarks about stripping, but for inspiring one boy to forgo college to pursue his dreams of being a fisherman. And that, of course, must be stopped. Said School Board member Mandy Lowell: "I don't think that your natural or implant-inflated bust size is what our schools aim to nurture…my aspiration is not to have children in this district become exotic dancers." The kids, however, loved him and want him back.
