People often put on masks outside and when they come home, their true self is revealed. Well, I’m just the opposite. In the arms of my loving parents, I come home everyday having to pretend that I’m fine and dandy. While people outside, my friends, my bosses, my committees and crews see me stress to death and lose my hair, all my parents see is a very busy boy who comes home, shuts the door and does his own shit.

I know I have to spend time with them and put my family first. My dad loves to emphasize on that. It’s easy when he can work at home, start at 10 and end at 5. Your son is different dad. Do you think having the opportunity to speak to 50 CEOs is something that comes without effort? Do you think that leading 2 committees and balancing that with school work is easy especially in my A level year? Think about that. It’s not that I don’t care about my family and take it for granted. Live my calendar for a while and you’ll realize why people go crazy under so much stress and sometimes the all the mind is flooded with the bloody work work and work.

So before you wake at at 3AM to give me a damn lecture about how I should think of my family, understand my circumstance. You are no where near what I’m slogging off everyday just to make my ends meet. If you have reached that level, I guarantee you would say “i haven’t been thinking straight” a lot more times than I did.

You run a business, you know the level of stress. But you run it as a one person company. I do the same amount of work, wreck my brains over the same amounts of problems and worse, I run a 20 person strong committee with a little money to work with. 

I’m a youth. Just a youth. Give me space. Not scold me in my face. Let me learn. But spare me your teaching. Don’t you demoralize me, bring me down or distract me. Because in time, I’ll be more successful than you would have ever been and you’ll thank me for the next house, next car and a better living you’ll be getting from me. Think long term, not complain about my absence in the short term. It’s my last uniformed academic year, let me push the last fight.

I don’t care if i seem selfish and self centered to you now. That’s because I want to ensure that in the future you’ll not be one of those old people staying in one room apartments next time. Your son is slogging to ensure your future provision and a comfortable life. I lose my time as a child, a youth out having fun, and hire 20 over people to drive me up the wall for your sake. Please understand and bloody try to empathize with that.