Rule No. 1:   Life is not fair. Get used to it. 

Rule No. 2:   The real world doesn't care about your self-esteem as much as your school does. You're expected to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

Rule No. 3:   Sorry, you won't make $75,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both. 

Rule No. 4:   If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. 

Rule No. 5:   Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. 

Rule No. 6:   If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault. Don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. 

Rule No. 7:   Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom. 

Rule No. 8:   Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life has not! In some schools, they'll give you many times to get the right answer. This bears no resemblance to anything in real life. 

Rule No. 9:   Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even spring break. And very few jobs are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule No. 10:   Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. 

Rule No. 11:   Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for one. 

((Turns out, this list is the work of author Charles J. Sykes. The list appeared in some newspapers and formed the basis of his book 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School.)) There were actually three more rules to the list ... 

Rule No. 12:   Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic.