Some people think that a child should always obey his parents.
Others take strictness to another level, requiring children to clean houses, wash cars, and iron everyone’s clothes to avoid getting hit by a broom.
This Reddit user had to do all that and more. He took to Reddit to share how he was expected to conform to his parents’ plans.
Doctor was the only acceptable profession in this man’s family. They came from a long line of doctors, and his parents expected him to continue the legacy.
However, at the age of 17, he told his parents that he did not want to become a doctor. In fact, he told them that he wanted to pursue a career as an actor or influencer and start a small business.
His parents disapproved of his plan. They thought he was going to get lost and kicked him out of the family home.
For 17 years, they lost contact.
The man’s family moved to the UK so his siblings could become doctors. Much to the joy of his parents, his older brother was admitted to a rare and competitive surgical stream.
He was a neurosurgeon and specialized in the diagnosis and removal of spinal tumors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, his family told him they were moving back to Sydney, where the man lived. They made this decision so that his older brother could have a job paying $750,000 a year.
During the two years they reconnected, his parents never asked him about his career. The man believes they assumed he lived an average lifestyle in Sydney.
His parents weren’t wrong – his acting career never took off. However, he found another career as an investment banker and became a partner in the bank he worked at.
One day, while his parents were looking for a house with him and his siblings, they realized they couldn’t afford to buy a house in the communities where they wanted to live.
Although they are doctors, houses in northern Sydney cost more than $20 million, which is a lot for them.
When they decided to stop there, they asked to see the man’s house before going to dinner. The man agreed and welcomed them into his home.
When the man’s parents arrived at his house, their first thought was that he was renting a room in the magnificent house.
They asked him how much his rent was, and he corrected them by saying he owned the whole house.
Their parents didn’t believe in this. They were furious and accused him of lying to them for years and meeting them to show them his wealth, which was probably acquired illegally.
Then they said they would live with the man rather than his older brother because they couldn’t be seen living in a worse house than their son’s.
The man was amused. He reminded his parents that they chose to care for their other two children rather than tend to his own needs.
He also told them it was more likely they lived with his neighbors than with him.
After this unpleasant conversation, the man’s parents refused to speak to him.
His siblings told him he should have proactively informed them of his financial situation, but he maintained he did not need to do so.
Because his LinkedIn profile was public, but they never bothered to do any research.
The man now wondered if he was being harsh for what he had done. He didn’t feel obligated to help his parents when they cut him off for 17 years and only took an interest in him after realizing he was rich.
