The Cost of Learning

Discussion topic with 3 friends: The price of education.

All four of us are university students and they were curious about the price of education in America.

"I go the cheapest state school in my state, and for a year I pay about $18,000"

Their jaws dropped.

"My sister goes to a private school and hers costs about $50,000 a year," I continued.

"Dollars?!"

"Ha, well of course," I replied.

Normally government owned schools in Turkey are about 1,000 Turkish Lira a year and the most expensive private school in the country is 20,000TL .

So my cruddy state school nears the cost of the top private school in the nation.

Though we were looking at the subject all too simplistically (not mentioning financial aid and what not), Merve asked why a person wouldnt just take that money and start their own business.

I choose to tell her one out of the many reasons why that wouldnt work out well.

Franchises.

America is all about franchises. Its very difficult to keeo up a profitable self-owned business. Unlike the hookah cafe that we were sitting at where the owner is a friend's father, there isnt much of a personal attachment to a business.

Have I ever met the owner of Target, Jewel, Gap, Walgreens, or Chipotle?
No.

Growing up in the suburbs has a very melancholic lonely air because there is nothing unique about the land. Cruising from one burb to another, I've observed the same companies repeat. Its difficult to tell one town from the next.

But walking through town I am in direct contact with the owners.

There is:
- Turan Abi (Abi means big brother) at the photoshop. Eccentric man who sports a ponytail.
- Servet Abi at the sandwich/panini mini-cafe. He has a crappy tattoo from his jail days and calls me his American darling.
- Hasan Abi from the mini-mart. He is a Marxist and named his shop after the famous political activist, Deniz Gezmis, who was killed by the governmnet.
-The guy at the cafe I go to nearly daily, whose name I dont know but always takes the ashtray off my table knowing I am not a smoker.
- Deli Gungor ("Crazy" Gungor) The weirdo ice cream man who has the best mulberry flavored ice cream.


Just the people I come across who own their own modest little business, making modest money, with modest lives. Simple. Likely uneducated. Personal.