Challenge #07: Inspired
He sat up straight and attempted to arrange his face in somber thoughtfulness while the pastor described his father’s work, how great of a man he was, and how deeply he will be missed all while towering over the open casket.
Afterward, during the reception at his father’s home, he stood awkwardly in a corner as people paraded in front of him to share with him their feelings off the current situation. They were all terribly apologetic and awkwardly sympathetic and most were gobbling up the free hors d'œuvres with unabashed liberalness.
“I’m sorry to hear about your father,” one woman said as she greedily grabbed a piece of cheese on a platter in the center of the table.
He shrugged and made a little grunt in the back of his throat. He never knew what to say when people said that. Yeah, me too? No, no it’s fine that my father’s dead?
“It came as such a surprise,” she continued as she stuffed a cracker in her mouth. She patted him on the shoulder and continued to the next table laden with food.
Being an only child and with his mother having passed a few years ago, he was the center of attention. He felt suffocated by all the same condolences. In that brief second when one person was passing him on to the next, he quickly and quietly excused himself. He walked straight through the house and out the back door.
When he was little, he and his father had built a tree house in the huge maple tree in the corner of the backyard. This was, of course, before his father became CEO of the company and began working 60 hours a week. For some reason, his father had never had it taken down. Right at that moment, though, he didn’t care the reasons; he was just immensely relieved that his old hiding spot was still there.
Even though he was a grown man of thirty-two and dressed in a dry clean only suit and tie, he climbed up the dirty rope ladder and pulled himself through the hole in the floor and into a little room whose roof was only a few inches above his head as he settled onto the floor.
But he was too late. Someone else had thought to hide here first. Sitting in the opposite corner was a little girl about eight years old.
She looked up and smiled a toothless grin. “Hi! My name is Samantha. What’s yours?”
“Jack,” he replied slowly.
“What do you do?” she asked.
“I, uh, sell electronics,” he said, not sure how much the little girl would understand about the business world.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“Not exactly,” he said plainly.
“Then why do you do it?” she asked innocently.
“Because I have to,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Who says?” she argued.
“Well, no one exactly. But I know I have to or it will upset people, like my parents.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If I don’t want to play with my Barbie dolls, I don’t. I play with what I want to play with, like my stuffed animals. My parents don’t care which toys I play with,” she shared.
“Life’s a little more complicated than that when you’re an adult,” he said sadly. But the truth was that this little girl had a point. He wasn’t happy doing what he was doing and with his father gone, he was next in line to be CEO and he would never be able to leave the company. But this company was all he knew, too. As a teenager, he would distribute mail and make copies. As soon as he was finished with college, his father hired him on as an assistant. To be quite honest, he wasn’t quite sure that he knew how to do anything else.
“What do you want to be when you’re grown up?” he asked the little girl.
“I want to be a veterinarian and a singer!” she exclaimed.
“Which one of your parents is a vet?” he asked skeptically.
“Neither,” she said confused. “My mother is a teacher and my father is a lawyer.”
“And you don’t want either of those jobs?”
“No, silly! Why would I? That’s what my mother and father do, not me.” Again, she had a point. But, also again, real life was more complicated than that. What would his parents have said if, at eighteen, he’d declared he wanted to be a doctor or an engineer or, god forbid, an artist or garbage man? From the moment he was born, he was destined to be the CEO, just like his father. To turn his back on that would have been the equivalent of turning his back on his family.
But he hated it. Every single minute of it.
He quickly said goodbye to the little girl and jumped out through the small door in the floor of the tree house. He brushed off his pants and hurriedly strode into the living room, where guests still mingled. He grabbed a spare glass and a spoon and knocked them together. As everyone began to look up he asked for their attention.
“First, I want to thank you all for coming today. It means a lot to me and it would have meant a lot to my father that so many people took time out of their own busy lives to remember him,” he said confidently. “Second, I want to make an announcement. While I know everyone believes that I will soon take over the company as CEO now that my father is gone, I wanted to make it clear that-” his voice broke as everyone patiently watched him. “I, uh, wanted everyone to know that I, uh, will not be returning to work for the company after the completion of this fiscal year.” He stood their awkwardly as whispers erupted around the room.
Finally, one woman stood up and yelled over the commotion. “What will you do instead?” she asked.
He gave a small little shrug in response. The truth was that he didn’t know. All he knew was that he didn’t want his father’s job. He didn’t even want his own job for that matter. “I think I’ll take a vacation first,” he finally said. He wasn’t sure he had ever taken a proper vacation before. “Then,” he continued, “I think I’ll take some classes. Maybe some art or literature classes. Maybe some electronics or psychology classes. I’ll volunteer. I’ll find some hobbies. Golf. Jogging. Writing.” He paused. “I’m really not sure yet,” he added quietly.
Now, the room was silent. Everyone was staring at him dumbstruck.
“Thank you!” he yelled as he ran out of the house and into his car parked in the driveway. He didn’t need to explain his choice to anyone.
Afterward, during the reception at his father’s home, he stood awkwardly in a corner as people paraded in front of him to share with him their feelings off the current situation. They were all terribly apologetic and awkwardly sympathetic and most were gobbling up the free hors d'œuvres with unabashed liberalness.
“I’m sorry to hear about your father,” one woman said as she greedily grabbed a piece of cheese on a platter in the center of the table.
He shrugged and made a little grunt in the back of his throat. He never knew what to say when people said that. Yeah, me too? No, no it’s fine that my father’s dead?
“It came as such a surprise,” she continued as she stuffed a cracker in her mouth. She patted him on the shoulder and continued to the next table laden with food.
Being an only child and with his mother having passed a few years ago, he was the center of attention. He felt suffocated by all the same condolences. In that brief second when one person was passing him on to the next, he quickly and quietly excused himself. He walked straight through the house and out the back door.
When he was little, he and his father had built a tree house in the huge maple tree in the corner of the backyard. This was, of course, before his father became CEO of the company and began working 60 hours a week. For some reason, his father had never had it taken down. Right at that moment, though, he didn’t care the reasons; he was just immensely relieved that his old hiding spot was still there.
Even though he was a grown man of thirty-two and dressed in a dry clean only suit and tie, he climbed up the dirty rope ladder and pulled himself through the hole in the floor and into a little room whose roof was only a few inches above his head as he settled onto the floor.
But he was too late. Someone else had thought to hide here first. Sitting in the opposite corner was a little girl about eight years old.
She looked up and smiled a toothless grin. “Hi! My name is Samantha. What’s yours?”
“Jack,” he replied slowly.
“What do you do?” she asked.
“I, uh, sell electronics,” he said, not sure how much the little girl would understand about the business world.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“Not exactly,” he said plainly.
“Then why do you do it?” she asked innocently.
“Because I have to,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Who says?” she argued.
“Well, no one exactly. But I know I have to or it will upset people, like my parents.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If I don’t want to play with my Barbie dolls, I don’t. I play with what I want to play with, like my stuffed animals. My parents don’t care which toys I play with,” she shared.
“Life’s a little more complicated than that when you’re an adult,” he said sadly. But the truth was that this little girl had a point. He wasn’t happy doing what he was doing and with his father gone, he was next in line to be CEO and he would never be able to leave the company. But this company was all he knew, too. As a teenager, he would distribute mail and make copies. As soon as he was finished with college, his father hired him on as an assistant. To be quite honest, he wasn’t quite sure that he knew how to do anything else.
“What do you want to be when you’re grown up?” he asked the little girl.
“I want to be a veterinarian and a singer!” she exclaimed.
“Which one of your parents is a vet?” he asked skeptically.
“Neither,” she said confused. “My mother is a teacher and my father is a lawyer.”
“And you don’t want either of those jobs?”
“No, silly! Why would I? That’s what my mother and father do, not me.” Again, she had a point. But, also again, real life was more complicated than that. What would his parents have said if, at eighteen, he’d declared he wanted to be a doctor or an engineer or, god forbid, an artist or garbage man? From the moment he was born, he was destined to be the CEO, just like his father. To turn his back on that would have been the equivalent of turning his back on his family.
But he hated it. Every single minute of it.
He quickly said goodbye to the little girl and jumped out through the small door in the floor of the tree house. He brushed off his pants and hurriedly strode into the living room, where guests still mingled. He grabbed a spare glass and a spoon and knocked them together. As everyone began to look up he asked for their attention.
“First, I want to thank you all for coming today. It means a lot to me and it would have meant a lot to my father that so many people took time out of their own busy lives to remember him,” he said confidently. “Second, I want to make an announcement. While I know everyone believes that I will soon take over the company as CEO now that my father is gone, I wanted to make it clear that-” his voice broke as everyone patiently watched him. “I, uh, wanted everyone to know that I, uh, will not be returning to work for the company after the completion of this fiscal year.” He stood their awkwardly as whispers erupted around the room.
Finally, one woman stood up and yelled over the commotion. “What will you do instead?” she asked.
He gave a small little shrug in response. The truth was that he didn’t know. All he knew was that he didn’t want his father’s job. He didn’t even want his own job for that matter. “I think I’ll take a vacation first,” he finally said. He wasn’t sure he had ever taken a proper vacation before. “Then,” he continued, “I think I’ll take some classes. Maybe some art or literature classes. Maybe some electronics or psychology classes. I’ll volunteer. I’ll find some hobbies. Golf. Jogging. Writing.” He paused. “I’m really not sure yet,” he added quietly.
Now, the room was silent. Everyone was staring at him dumbstruck.
“Thank you!” he yelled as he ran out of the house and into his car parked in the driveway. He didn’t need to explain his choice to anyone.