<p>It was my regular pedicure session at the parlour. The usual girl was on leave, and so I was assigned another person. My heart sank as she was the one my friends had cautioned me. “She hurts you during the pedicure or manicure.” I was apprehensive, but I did not want this young worker to feel rejected, and, bravely, I settled into the chair. </p>.<p>As the beautician worked on my pedicure, she did small talk about the weather, lunch… And ouch! She hurt me while cutting the nail. A lukewarm apology, and she continued as if nothing had happened. </p>.<p>I had to find out why she hurts clients, and so I began talking to her. Her sister is a beautician, and so her parents seeing how successful their elder daughter was, were determined that she should follow her sister’s footsteps. </p>.<p>Not one to beat around the bush, I asked her, “So you don’t like this job?” No, I hate it. she said. What did you want to be? “I want to be a teacher, I wanted to do a teacher’s training course. But my parents refused. A teacher’s job does not pay as much as the salary and the tips here.” You are young, and you can still do the course, I persisted. “I will and am saving up for the course.” </p>.<p>So, each day was anguish for her and her clients too. Like this young girl, there are many youngsters who give in to pressure from parents. I recall interviewing candidates for content writers, and some of them were trying to get out of well-paid careers they had studied for, especially in engineering, psychology, and medicine. They were looking for jobs where they would happily wake up each morning and go to. </p>.<p>Life is so peaceful when as Confucius is supposedly have said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” As parents, why don’t we allow our children to choose their careers? Not every child wants to be what we want them to be. </p>.<p>As Quincy Jones said: “The people who make it to the top – whether they’re musicians, or great chefs, or corporate honchos – are addicted to their calling … [they] are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.”</p>
<p>It was my regular pedicure session at the parlour. The usual girl was on leave, and so I was assigned another person. My heart sank as she was the one my friends had cautioned me. “She hurts you during the pedicure or manicure.” I was apprehensive, but I did not want this young worker to feel rejected, and, bravely, I settled into the chair. </p>.<p>As the beautician worked on my pedicure, she did small talk about the weather, lunch… And ouch! She hurt me while cutting the nail. A lukewarm apology, and she continued as if nothing had happened. </p>.<p>I had to find out why she hurts clients, and so I began talking to her. Her sister is a beautician, and so her parents seeing how successful their elder daughter was, were determined that she should follow her sister’s footsteps. </p>.<p>Not one to beat around the bush, I asked her, “So you don’t like this job?” No, I hate it. she said. What did you want to be? “I want to be a teacher, I wanted to do a teacher’s training course. But my parents refused. A teacher’s job does not pay as much as the salary and the tips here.” You are young, and you can still do the course, I persisted. “I will and am saving up for the course.” </p>.<p>So, each day was anguish for her and her clients too. Like this young girl, there are many youngsters who give in to pressure from parents. I recall interviewing candidates for content writers, and some of them were trying to get out of well-paid careers they had studied for, especially in engineering, psychology, and medicine. They were looking for jobs where they would happily wake up each morning and go to. </p>.<p>Life is so peaceful when as Confucius is supposedly have said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” As parents, why don’t we allow our children to choose their careers? Not every child wants to be what we want them to be. </p>.<p>As Quincy Jones said: “The people who make it to the top – whether they’re musicians, or great chefs, or corporate honchos – are addicted to their calling … [they] are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.”</p>