In A Sense.
Art : The Lord.
By Sakuan.
IN A SENSE.
“Honey, you need to come home right now, I’m on my way home too, meet me there immediately it’s important.”
EARLIER THAT DAY.
“How’s your family doing Beth?” Mary asked. They both sat on the beautiful leather chairs at their favorite café drinking coffee as they always did every Tuesday morning.
“My family is great; it was Jon’s birthday last Saturday and we had a really good time. Tom took me and the kids out as he always does on any special occasion that involves the family. It was fun and great, a girl like me could use a change of scenery, sitting at home all day doing nothing can be boring at times, I couldn’t ask for a better family.” Beth said as she sipped on her coffee.
“I’ve has some issues at mine, my oldest doesn’t want to go to college, he wants to be an ‘influencer’ he said, I don’t even know what that is, so how can I support something I have no knowledge of? I feel like I’m being a bad mother to him, maybe I should do some research of what it is, but everywhere I look all I find is red flags upon red flags.” Mary blurted.
A waiter came to their table and inquired if they needed anything else. It was a resounding no from both women, in a form of a headshake from Mary and in a soft low tone voice from Beth. The two women kept on talking as the waiter walked away.
“That’s the beauty of being a parent Mary, you have to hear them and support them in any way you can, that’s what I do with my kids, it’s hard at times. Especially when what they want to do with their lives is hard to accomplish or achieve. It hurts, I know, but what can we do, as parents it’s our job to encourage them to pursue what they love, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their moral values. Why is it that you of all people are scared of him being an influencer? Is it because it’s hard to be successful in that field?” Beth asked. Mary sat back in her chair staring out the café window as cars drove by, with the cup of coffee in her hand she responded.
“No it’s not that, I’m confident in my son and I know he will succeed if he pursues it, and that is my concern, what if he succeeds, I know this makes me sound like a bad mother but, with this internet thing, especially this social media thing, one can gain success and fame in a blink, all you need to do is to go ‘viral’, so he tells me. That right there is what scares me.”
A Chuckle slip out of Beth’s mouth, “success scares you, let me get this right, your son’s success scares you?”
“I know, does that make me a bad mother?” Mary asked.
“Not necessarily, in a sense, yes, some would see you as a bad mother right now, to me you are not, because I know you and I know you have the right intentions for your son because you are a good friend and I’ve been around you long enough to know you’re a good mother. In a sense you’re lucky because at least your son knows what they want to do with their life, not a lot of parents have that luxury. You have to be there for them during this time, help them in any way you can, that’s what I do with mine. I tell them success is inevitable if they work hard but that isn’t what they should be pursuing, I instill in them that they should pursue to be a man of value. Value is something that is always there, anyone can bring in value whether you’re poor or rich. And I agree with you, millions of dollars are being thrown at kids these days, the big companies don’t really care about their mental states all they care about is selling products so they encourage our kids to chase popularity in form of views on social media just so they can throw in ads on their videos, and I assume that is mentally taxing for a seventeen-year-old.”
[Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value” – Albert Einstein]
Mary released a deep sigh before she continued, “the only reason I think that makes me a bad mother is because his father says so, he agrees with everything our son says without questions. I tell him all the time money is not what our little boy should chase but he doesn’t listen to me. I get why he does it, every parent wants their kid to be successful, I just don’t think our little boy is ready to be seen and judged by thousands of people online, and the amount of money that might come with it doesn’t seem to be healthy for a boy his age. I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from, and that’s why I drink coffee with you, you get me. Giving millions of dollars to a teenager doesn’t seem to be healthy. The backbone of a society is currency and that’s why we strive for it, that’s why we spend years and years in school, and in school, we learn a few things, how to be social, how to live with other people, how to articulate our thoughts and ideas. Giving millions of dollars to a person who hasn’t learned any of these and most importantly how to be humble isn’t the right thing to do, in my opinion, and these are words from a concerned mother. People always blame parents for how kids turn out and I think that’s partly true but not necessarily. A good example is my oldest son, he’s twenty-four now and I just found out the other day he smokes, and he’s been doing it for years now, he started when he was fifteen, under my roof, he was good at hiding it. I taught him better, so I thought…”
Mary’s words were cut short with Beth’s phone ring. Beth picked up her phone from the table and answered it.
“Yes, this is her- “Beth’s eyes turned wide, staring directly at Mary, her phone still up against her ear, her body became lose as her back hit the leather chair sat in. She was in shock as she hang up her phone.
“Is everything alright Beth?” Mary inquired. Beth still in shock, trembling words came out of her mouth. “That was my son’s school, that was Jon’s principal, he just told me that Jon was involved in a school shooting.”
Mary’s jaw dropped, and out of concern she asked, “Is Jon fine, was he hurt, I can drive you to his school?”
Beth still in shock, a small voice escaped her breath. “He was the shooter.”
Currently reading [God is Not One by Stephen Prothero]
