Richard Kyosaki wrote a book about teaching your kids about money. I'd like to write something about teaching your kids to be computer scientists. One of the pieces of advice I'd have would be to get a job that involves using a sophisticated ordering system in a national chain.

I worked at a video store chain called West Coast Video. West Coast back then had terminals set up against a backroom server. Rentals were taken in there and so were returns. The system had several reports you could run on video availability, daily sales, and overdue videos. You could write notes about customers who always tried to get out of late fees or maybe who not to rent to. I learned a lot about modern information systems just from working there.

Nowadays, these information systems connect all stores in a chain throughout the country. They even let you order over the web when the store is out of stock on some item. Some systems even have cross-selling engines that look at purchase history to generate offers at checkout. For example, burger joints offer a free apple pie for half the price. These systems are geared toward never missing on an opportunity to sell.

There's much to be gained in your early years from working your part-time job and paying attention to the sophisticated information system. Realize thousands of man hours from really smart people have gone into building this system. By doing this, you're on the road to following in their footsteps.