Not bad, unemployment is a two-edged sword, jobs for some, unemployment for others. Maybe highlight this fact a little more. Pretty funny,too.The rich college kid doesn't bother me, that's just how the cards of life are dealt, but how we play them! Overall one of my favorites.

Huffman is actually pretty funny. But now he does need to tackle a more pertinent topic, but without losing the humor. Think Kathleen Parker or Maureen Dowd -- both are quite funny while also having a political perspective. NOT that the winning pundit needs to be a strong voice from the left or the right -- it would actually be refreshing and wonderful if it wasn't.

Boring --

Mildly humorous. Not bad. Not really about anything. What's the opinion, that this student is an idiot. Duh. Rich people are jerks. We know that. I need more.

Very good and humorous. Next task, something serious!

The most entertaining column from any contestant yet, with a delightful tongue-in-cheek sarcastic presentation. While it didnt directly take on any big issues, it peripherally include some interesting topics of discusion in an oblique yet engaging way.

Send this one on to the next round!

Ding! This guy should go on to the next round. But by that time you had better be looking more like Will Rogers or George Carlin than Dom deLuise. We need more humor on this opinion page in the worst way, but we absolutely do not need just another humor column. Good luck in round 2.

Funny and a great perspective into the the millenials. As a mother of a sophomore in college (he does not have a trust fund), I could understand. I am told all the time, "Mom, you just do not understand how busy I am!" Somehow he has time for weekends of Saturday tailgates, football games, at least two evenings of parties with friends, exercising at the gym, playing video games, etc.

funny and clever. i'm not sure how useful or thoughtful it is though.

I enjoy humor as much as anyone else, but I do not believe that many subscribers open their copies of the Washington Post with humor in mind. Perhaps I'm incorrect in making such an assumption, but nonetheless it seems to me that this editorial has no place in a serious newspaper.

Cute, but Zorn? Talk about shooting fish in a barrel.

If Charlie Cooper is a shining example of today's enterpreneurial young population (which I hope not), shouldn't we have him as America's next pundit, instead of Kevin Huffman? It just seems that Charlie is a spoiled prodigy of rich parents who felt that he could stir some airtime (15 minutes of fame) with his crazy ad. Is it something that should concern the CEO of Teach for America, or worth selection as a top 10 entry?

Oh man. Were I editor I would be wincing, wondering about what kind of blowback I would have to deal with from the insults you spread around.

Nobody cares about your experience in college. The want to read about what the kids in college now are thinking.

Shallow, name-dropping, reminiscent!

During the Sixties and Seventies when I lived in D.C....and I mean IN D.C., not the outskirts; it was an utterly fascinating labyrinth of mazes and curiosities.

I had to work while in law school and grad. school; so I looked for both interesting and high paying jobs.

My initial source was the G.W. student employment office...the mother lode of amazing jobs--working on a major antitrust law case, working for a lobbyist for the D.C. Liquor store owners, installing sprinklers around the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture--what did I learn? How to relabel a simple job as a precipitation Technician and get paid three times what the job was really worth; and how to more fully appreciate the qualities of women who worked in the area.

Later I learned that some bars are magnets for 'hot' jobs...if someone you met, like you, and felt you could do the job; and you could start tomorrow morning at some outrageous salary; all the various regulations and thresholds could be waived with the use of magic words like 'temp' and 'provisional hire' and 'completing requirements'.

And then there were the registries, which like lotteries would pay off at the strangest times. The Friday phone call asking if I was available to be the assistant administrator of some pacific trust territory--got my own house, staff and car. Had to fly out on Monday. Now that's the real D.C., bags packed for some adventure half way around the world. WOW!

Or the Peace Corps assignment drafting a Constitution for some long forgotten African country!

Or staffing up PROJECT HEADSTART in a ratty old hotel that was once a call girl 'hot bed'!

Or interpreting MMPI's for all Public Health Corp's doctors, including their extensive psychoanalysis at the Washington Institute of Psychiatry!

No wonder you don't understand Washington; you haven't even lived in the real D.C.!

I was expecting a healthy sampling of everyday America based on how the Post described the contest. Boy was I wrong. A former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, a fellow at the CFR, the CEO of Teach For America, and a Nobel Prize winner. This is clearly not an "everyman's" contest, as advertised. And I'm sure it's mere coincidence that those with the heavy CVs just happened to make it through as finalists.

Reading this through 66 year old eyes I really enjoyed the perspective on today's expectations and "needs" as opposed to way back when. As oldenough2remember said, the subject wanst his mommy, but no responsibilities or rules. I wish I had his money. I hope Mr. Huffman can do a longer piece for the next round.

Now this one is worth considering! BTW, isn't what Charley Cooper really seeking a "mom?"

Finally, an enjoyable column. Certainly not in the vein of David Broder but just as informative and better written. Imagine, an entertaining column unencumbered by insipid political drivel! Gail Collins comes to mind.

congrats on being top 10. I'm still considering it. I need more. I'm interested, but not yet committed.

I read the thing, not all the comments...Give me a break, the WP wants us to submit something serious and you pick this? So sorry, I tried to address Americans dying because of misguided policies, and you give us an interchange between 2 spoiled brats...future humorists, well I doubt even that, but certainly not commentators on the American political scene. Now excuse me, it's halftime in the Oregon-USC game. We Portlanders can set priorities. ps...we're ahead 24-17.

Great article, Kevin!

This is a tough economy!!! I have three kids that are all college grads - Thank God!
Now they are in the same struggle in life that Mom & Dad had to deal with except those jobs are even more critical. Somehow, in a very short time, prices have more than doubled!

Still, we all need your sense of humor in these times. Visiting the mall today, I ran into a telecommunications executive I had done some work for. Now he is selling retail. Wow! Like Jim Zorn, he has to just deal with it to survive.

The administration has to do something to encourage job creation. Spending nearly a year on wresting control of health-care from private insurance to government run health-care isn't cutting it.

Really liked reading your article. Please write more!

Ultimately, this is disappointing. What's his point? That a college sophmore should not need, yet be able to aford a PA? So what?

This is, in short, nothing new or needed in a serious publication.

A for originality; F because it's fluff.

One thumb down; one thumb up.

It's hard to write humor that is sharp but not mean. This made me laugh out loud and not many columns do that. I definitely like this one.

I like Gyamfi's, Huffman's and Khan's entries for this round (not necessarily in that order).

Top two, this one and "addicted to drama".

This was defintely one of the two best!!

Very clever. Cohesive. Current. Entertaining. Of the 10 columns, Huffman's and Gay's are my top 2.

Cute. Would have preferred more examples and less filler. Very DC focused, which may not attract eyeballs much outside the Beltway. I give it a solid B.

Jibberish nonsense.

I wanted to say that after having read all these articles, I enjoyed this one the most.
But I posted that to the nobel physicist column instead, and that was actually my least favorite. I believe a nobel physicist can write his own ticket. Whereas, in this piece, you have depended on creativity and writing talent. There is room in this world for both. But I am in your marketing segment.

I posted a comment to this story, but it doesn't appear so I am trying again. I like the creativity shown by taking a little-noted story and turning it into a political piece. Nice. I am skewed to vote for the other gender but you don't make it easy.

I like the choice of topic and what you did with it. Very funny and enjoyable. But I am skewed to vote for the other gender, so you must work a little harder to earn my vote.

Funny, tongue in cheek humor.

Great humorous column.

He'd better not so closely monitor the guy or gal that buys his 'crack' for him with all his apparent extra money. Those folks are suppose to be at AU, where mommy and daddy can spend, say up to $2,000,000 for a school condo.... well, $800,000 in reality with the extra $1,200,000 going for 'recreational drug parties,' --- but shush ... don't tell them ... not yet anyway. LOL

This is amusing, but it's unfortunate that they only get 400 words to develop a column in. Assuming that this is online-only (sorry, I haven't bought the pulp version of the Post in ages), there hardly needed to be a word limit at all.

Great column! I appreciate the humor and the chagrin! Must be nice to be able to hire someone do to the every day things.