Tuesday, October 2, 2007
My Dad Doesn't Get It
I just had the most annoying conversation with my dad. See, we rarely talk to each other because I'm here in Davao and he lives in Manila. Now, we're having this big family reunion in December and he wants me to design a souvenir program for the affair. Problem is, I simply do not have time to do it. Apparently, he still looks at me as his bum-son who spends the whole day playing games on the computer. It sucks because I never spent the whole day playing computer games. Sure, I bummed around a bit, but that was a long, long time ago. He found it so hard to believe that I have an honest-to-goodness career going on. I worked so hard to get to where I am today. It's depressing that he can't see that. He even asked me how much I'm making. I gave him a scaled-down figure, but he didn't look convinced. As if he didn't hear a thing, he said he'll pay me a measly P5000 to do the souvenir program. I turned him down, not because of the ridiculously low pay, but because I have responsibilities left and right that I cannot abandon. The discussion ended abruptly when my brother stood up and motioned that we were leaving. Next time we talk, I'm pretty sure he'll still be the same condescending father all over again.
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Them old dogs should be taught that new tricks do earn money, much more than they could imagine.
ReplyDeleteBuy them a car... that'll shut them up... *kidding*
ReplyDeletebeen there. 100% been there. still there, actually. parents keep requesting logos, t-shirt designs, illustrations from me. for work or as gifts...to other people! and i have to feel good about that kasi "proud sila sa akin".
ReplyDeletei always end up being seen as the bad guy when i turn them down, which is all the time. so i just vent to the wife. she's the only one who sees my worklife.
it's tough because a lot of people cannot relate to this new type of work. not your typical clock-in 9-5er. it's a new and an alien concept to the older generation. they just see you at home all day, so it looks like a vacation. add to the fact that i "draw" for a living -- "si macky naga drawing lang bitaw". believe me, i get what you're saying.
your dad seems alot like my dad >>;
ReplyDeletebe thankful that at least you still have your dad. lost mine to diabetes 6 years ago. i thought he was the meanest most unreasonably demanding parent ever...but when he left for good, i thought i'd rather have the meanest most unreasonably demanding father ever than not to have a father at all...
ReplyDeletenice blog.
I'm sorry to hear that, Drew. It reminds me of my Dad too. A lot of parents are so clueless.
ReplyDeleteSorry for gravedigging this post. :D
ReplyDeleteMy mom made me remember your post kuya Andrew. Waaaa, it's happening to me now. I'm on it for the x raised to the y time where x and y are both integers greater than 1!
My mom [and dad] is too proud of me. She [and he] presents my works to her officemates. The end result, they end up requesting for my services without even getting a single cent on some instances!
Tomorrow, they will be celebrating their officemates retirement party and their branch head (DBP General Santos) requested a video slideshow. My mom tapped me and I can't deny her request!
She got pissed off when I told my mom that I'll be doing it later that night! She wants to me to do it right away, without even thinking of my other online activities.
Huhuhu. She also requested me to download quite a number of old songs on our crappy slow dialup connection!
Another thing, I know that our current family income very well and I know it can support a DSL connection [my parents' total taxable income yearly is PHP 64X,XXX.XX]]. My parents still can't understand why I need a fast connection! They see getting a fast connection waste of money.
Huhuhu. Can't post this on my blog, better post it here. :D
LOL! I absolutely feel the same way over here but it's not only my father, it's the whole family. "daghan bitaw ka oras", "wala bitaw ka ginahimo," "nagadrawing lang bitaw" and the list goes on. hay nako.
ReplyDeleteI get sick literally from hearing this over and over again. I'm already exhausted (coz I give my 100%) from work and to be surrounded by a hostile environment, it's going to kill me. I thank God that I still have my sanity, strength (and survive so far) to get up, work and get the job done (it's a MIRACLE!!).
I am praying though that they will soon accept my field of work. (Please Lord, let it be today and if not today, tomorrow will be great. Thank you. Amen.)
Take care everyone and God Bless you.