Overheard Conversation of a Skeptical Parent
Sometimes I eavesdrop. It’s mostly intentional. So, The other day as I sipped on my iced tea at a sidewalk café, I listened to two moms scrutinize a teenager’s dreams of entrepreneurship.
“But, he’s only 17,” said the blonde lady. “I know,” sighed his mother…”But he wants to learn this business from the ground up. I mean, maybe he’ll become one of those millionaires under 20.” The mom was torn. Should she allow her son, a junior in high school, to spend his whole summer away from her? “Learning about some business.”
“So,” her friend asked… “he won’t enroll in college at all, then?” “That’s what he’s saying,” his mom put her head in her hands. “And I’m not letting him take the car, and I don’t even know how far away this place is.” “But, he’s only 17,” said her friend again. And they both mentioned his age several times. And, talked about the fact that he was ONLY 17 as if he was actually seven.
They were concerned about the “normal” things: his age, the money involved, the fact that he didn’t want to go to college, the fact that it would be his first time away from home.
I never caught on to what business this guy was getting into, and I think that was the point. His mother and her friend did not mention it because they had not deeply considered his dreams. They were worried, as moms often worry, that he would be disappointed if it didn’t work out. That he would waste his time, energy and money, and come home crying for their support.
Listening to them, and relating their conversation to my own life – I got a glimpse into what I must’ve put my own parents through countless times. And yeah, I got angry because I wanted to hear them mention that “he” was somehow passionate, excited or working hard toward his business goal. And, that made me wonder if parents can really see our passions and successes.
I wondered if the conversation would’ve been different if the guy were 27 years old. But, my guess is that parents will always worry about their children. And children will always be children in their parents’ eyes.
Whenever we dare to take risks it creates some tension for those who care about us. Too often we need to tackle our dreams and move forward with what we know is right for us – even if it is without the support of our families.
3 Comments
Eric
June 7th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Entrepreneurship is a hard thing for conventional people to understand. My mom doesn’t get me. My in-laws I fear will NEVER get me. To this day my mother in-law clips job postings out of the newspaper to give to me. I think my father in-law is starting to come around, so there’s hope there…but I know it’ll never quite add up to them. I don’t think it’s so much an age/parenting issue as it is a “9-5ers are from Mars, Entrepreneurs are from venus” situation.
David Askaripour
June 7th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Yeah, my grandma still asks me.. “Dave when are you going to get a real job!?” Ha, entrepreneurship is simply beyond many of our parents — it’s too disruptive of a concept for them to handle. However, many parents out there “do” understand us as well.
lawrence
June 7th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
there’ll always be naysayers - always, even from the people close to you who so-called support you in anything and everything you do
it comes with the territory of stepping into entrepreneur country. needless to say, you must be thick-skinned and perseverent
what kind of business is that boy getting into, that he has to skip college and go somewhere far away? sounds weird, but i wish you - gina, lol..asked the woman directly.
good luck to him anyways.
the day that’ll put the ultimate smile on one entrepreneur’s face is when he/she zips past the naysayers of the past in his porsche, while the 9-5′ers are driving their standard sedan(not that their’s anything wrong with that)
Leave a Comment