Hutch,
I believe all your points, because your sample size is much larger than mine, but I am personally VERY surprised by them. I do a lot of interviewing of young adults into my team and adjacent teams, especially now that I'm in the tech space. One of my favorite interview questions is asking about their first job, when and why they had it, and what they loved about it. More than half (at least) look at me like a deer in headlights. I have found VERY few have had jobs, especially not in their teens, none have cars (but live in the city), and in general they all flew closer to the nest than was the norm when I was their age.
Again, going back to parenting... I think we can all teach our kids about hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing, etc, and maybe they like them, maybe they don't.... but the one thing we all MUST instill in them is a work ethic. When a work ethic is engrained, then it makes sense to do things the hard way... I think it explains how we all get out of bed at 230 AM to be the first on the river, why we hike further, row harder, cast farther, and do it the hard way, but also points to the kids who excel, not just in sports, but music, arts, academics, languages, etc... Hunt vs. shop, fly fish vs. video games, sail vs. motor, etc.
I have enjoyed this thread, with 3 young ones, it has been a good reason for reflection.
And finally... in France, I made one true friend (outside of work) who was French. He was the guy who helped me with my sick dog when she was circling the drain. I took him fly fishing there, and he LOVED it, and is still doing it today. His czech wife was a little pissed that the trout were too small to eat, but aside from that, he really dug it. Same for CFR, totally agree, as much as we want to help the future generation, we can also do a lot with our current generation.
_________________ "Fishermen...spending their lives in the fields and woods...are often in a more favorable mood for observing her, in the intervals of their pursuits, than philosophers or poets even, who approach her with expectation." - Thoreau
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