In the 1967 hit movie ”The Graduate,” college graduate Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, is told by a well-meaning middle-aged friend of his prosperous parents to consider ”plastics” for financial success and a secure future.
So it was with a sense of deja vu that a woman, herself a college graduate the year of that film`s success, recently found herself middle-aged and attending a gathering not unlike the party hosted by Benjamin`s parents. And like the film, the adult conversation centered on financial matters, college-age children and their futures.
”You know,” opined one guest, ”the way to make real money is not to go into some glamorous job but into something that nobody wants to do.”
”That`s right,” another guest agreed wholeheartedly. ”I was recently at a family gathering, and my only millionaire cousin is in the refuse business. He was trying to convince a young family member to get into the same business. `They are still making it. Nobody wants to do it, and they still don`t know what to do with it,` he said. `Get into garbage.` ”