Once upon a time ago, I was dating a man who's father was an extremely prominent (in the legal system) in a very large city. I won't name names for anonymity reasons. Anyways, this guy brought his father into the bar I worked at one night so his dad could "finally meet the girl he'd heard so much about." I'll never forget the conversation we had.
"So Rachele, what do you plan on doing with the rest of your life? I know you don't plan on working at a bar forever. You will never get far if that's what you want to do."
"I have no idea. I like working at a bar, it makes me happy. I get to meet new people all of the time, mostly everyone is happy when they drink and I get to hear all sorts of live and up and coming bands. I don't see what's so bad about it and it makes me happy for the time being. If I'm happy, why do I need to change what I'm doing?"
"Well happiness won't put a roof over your head or pay for your retirement. How do you expect to make a living, being happy?"
I was mortified that he would say such a thing to someone he just met. I stood my ground and knew I wasn't born with a silver spoon stuck up my ass. I worked as hard as the next guy and deserved just as much as he did. The fact of the matter is that while I may not have been able to vacation all over the world or go to the "Catalina Ducking Wine Mixer" but I was raised with a strong work ethic, good morals and an appreciation for the small things.
A few weeks ago, I asked my mother if her expectations of me were close to what she thought they were. She said that she always knew I was going to do what makes me happy and to (expletive for intercourse) the rest.
She isn't wrong (she hardly ever is, she's a mom). I may not have the biggest goals, be extremely ambitious or want to takeover the world but what I am counts for 129845x that. I'm happy. I go to bed knowing that I'm a good person, use common sense and try to treat people as I want to be treated because I was raised that way.
That same guy once told me "I own a couple houses, a boat, a motorcycle, a car and I do (won't say for anonymity purposes). I'm going back to school for my masters in (I forget because it was in something that has a long word). Why wouldn't you want to date a guy like me?" I responded with "Well I hope all that keeps you warm at night because with an attitude like that, you're going to be single for the rest of your life."
That was just a snippet of the many arguments we had over the same thing. I may not have been raised with a silver spoon in my mouth (it may have been a spork for all I know), but I was most definitely raised to value things like love, hard work, family, friends and respect. After all, aren't those the foundations for prosperity?
Xoxo,
Riley Writes
No comments:
Post a Comment