Q: how many archaeologists does it take to ruin an industry?

[Sith]

There is something of a society wide reluctance to start at the bottom though - encouraged by governments who think that university is the only way and is right for everyone. In my day (cue brass band music) a common route into many professions, particularly the "practical" ones, was to start at 16, attend day release college, and begin with menial tasks - running errands, taking drawings to the printers, doing dyeline prints, that sort of thing, while learning first to draw and then what to draw. One suspects that the youth today consider all that beneath them.

Now, please shoot me, I'm sounding like my dad............

I think that t' youth of today does consider 'working' their way up beneath them. Many seem obsessed with the wages of success but ignore what it takes to get there (ignoring those who make it instantly thanks to reality TV).

I remember hearing some urban London youths being interviewed on Radio 4 about a voluntary programme they had taken part in to get a taste of working in the arts. After talking about his brilliant time working ata recording studio, one boy was asked if he planned to go into the music business, perhaps working his way up through a studio like the one he'd been working in. His reply was 'No way! I'm a singer, not a tea boy!'