Some cultures expect children to be obedient followers of their parents. Some take strictness to another level, demanding children to clean houses, wash cars, and iron everyone’s clothes to spare themselves from getting hit by a broom.
For one man, he had to do all this and more. He was also expected to conform to his parents’ plans regarding his career. Being a doctor was the only acceptable profession in the man’s family. They came from a long lineage of doctors, and his parents expected him to continue the legacy.
However, when he was 17, he told his parents he wouldn’t be a doctor. Instead, he told them he wanted to pursue an acting and social media career and other small business endeavors. His parents disapproved of his plan. They thought he was up to no good and kicked him out of their family home.
For 17 years, they lost contact. The man’s family moved to the United Kingdom so his siblings could become doctors. Much to his parents’ delight, his older brother got into a rare, competitive stream for surgery. He was a neurosurgeon who specialized in spinal tumor diagnosis and removal.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, his family told him they were returning to Sydney, where the man lived. They decided this so his older brother could pursue a job that paid $750,000 a year.
In the two years they reconnected, his parents never asked him about his career. The man believed they assumed he lived an average lifestyle in Sydney.
His parents weren’t wrong – his acting career never took off. However, he did find an alternative career as an investment banker and became a partner at the bank he worked in.
One day, while his parents were house-hunting with him and his siblings, they realized they couldn’t afford to buy a home in the communities they wanted to live in. Despite being doctors, homes in northern Sydney cost upwards of $20 million, which was a lot for them.
When they decided to call it a day, they asked to see the man’s place before heading out for dinner. The man obliged and welcomed them to his home.
His Parents’ Reaction to His Home
When the man’s parents arrived at his home, their first thought was he was renting a room in the gorgeous house. They asked him how much his rent was, and he corrected them, saying he owned the whole place.
His parents were in disbelief. They were furious, accusing him of lying to them for years and meeting up with them to rub his “probably illegally gained” wealth in their faces. They then declared that they would be living with the man rather than his older brother since they couldn’t be seen living in a worse house than his son’s.
The man scoffed. He reminded his parents that they chose to support their two other children, not him. He also told them they had a better chance of living with his neighbors than him.
At that point, his parents threatened to cut the man out of their will, to which the man shrugged, unbothered. “I reminded them of the fact that they can’t even afford to buy in my area, so their will and assets don’t really matter to me,” the man explained.
What Did the Man Choose to Do?
After the unpleasant conversation, the man’s parents refused to talk to him. His siblings told him that he should have proactively told them about his financial situation, but he argued he didn’t need to, as his LinkedIn profile was public, but they never bothered to search.
The man now questioned whether he was harsh for what he did. He didn’t feel obliged to help his parents after they cut him off for 17 years and only showed interest in him after realizing he was wealthy.
What would you have done if you were in his situation? Would you have done the same thing, or would you have reacted differently?
