There are two major reasons why I am really, really not a fan of this stance here. The first is that we're equating high school performance to life performance

There are two major reasons why I am really, really not a fan of this stance here. The first is that we're equating high school performance to life performance. High school in America is a joke for a variety of reasons (lack of funding, gentrification etc) and I don't think highschool performance represents how well a person does at all given how many different circumstances can affect that at a young age. Second, 'missing too much work' in America can mean things such as 'taking time off because you're sick' or 'having to deal with familial emergencies', all of which many jobs do not at all allow any leeway in. The person in the article made multiple efforts and worked hard to try and get a better job/life for his family. The fact that you immediately isolate out the things he's had to deal with make me wonder if you've experienced poverty or had to deal with shitty jobs in the past.