i have recently begun trying to floss on a daily basis.
gosh, i hate flossing. i think it's a huge pain in the butt, and it's time consuming. i always feel like there are so many other/better things i could be doing that's more entertaining than to sit here and floss.
but as i sat here, gloomily flossing, i remembered my good friend ina. back in college, i remember how she once told me that she flossed everyday. and i was shocked that she actually did it (she was flossing in front of me as she said it. haha!) but anyway, the reason she did it was bc her dad was a dentist. so he taught her to floss everyday.
so as i was sitting on my bed, flossing so miserably, i thought about how for ina, flossing must not be such a chore, but rather, just something normal - like washing your face, or peeing. it's just a part of life.
so i started thinking, man, ina's dentist father really influenced ina and her fundamental routine in life! maybe if my father had been a dentist, i wouldn't be so averse to flossing myself. so i started wondering, well, what did MY parents' jobs do to influence me?
well, my parents have had numerous businesses, and i think those have influenced me tremendously.
1. my parents owned a deli for a long time. and bc i had to help out at the store, i had to make sandwiches for the customers. after years of working with cold cuts, to this day, i really hate eating sandwiches. just thinking about turkey sandwiches makes me want to gag. any type of deli meat - i would really prefer not to eat it.
2. for a short time, my parents had a lottery machine in their gift store. after watching so many addicted customers, i will not touch the lottery anymore. i saw too many people (poor ppl to be specific) who squandered their hard-earned money on a DAILY basis to the lottery. it made me so sad to punch in their numbers, or watch them scratch another trap of a lottery ticket - knowing that it was truly a waste of their money. it was really heart-breaking for me.
3. in general, my parents have owned a lot of businesses. and most of the time, it involved a lot of self-sacrifice and no corporate benefits. my parents never had the luxury of health insurance, paid time off, regular working hours, etc. they had to work or else there was no money. so as a result, i NEVER ever want to own my business. and i deathly fear that my future spouse once day will want to venture to own his own business as well. i don't know what i'll do if he has such dreams. all i know is that i am very happy to be a part of corporate america - to have a salary and to have company benefits, and not BE the boss, but to just happily be an employee.
i can think of a lot more things about myself that have directly been influenced bc of my parents' jobs. it's kind of crazy to think about that. right now, i work in publishing. if i continue in this field, i wonder how it'll affect my own children? will they be averse/inclined to magazines? if i keep working for health magazines, will my children be prone to eating healthy or working out? (probably not since i don't live out those morals myself. haha!) but yeah... it's strange to think about how my job will directly influence my kids bc essentially, it's inevitably going to happen.
so readers - how have YOUR parents' jobs influenced who you are? i'm curious to know! =)
