An out-of-touch dad faced anger and ridicule on Reddit after he revealed that he tried to pick his daughter’s career for her. The girl had other ideas, though, and he’s not sure where to go from here. This is his full story.
She’s Going to Rock
OP is a computer scientist who loves his job and thinks his 17-year-old daughter has great potential in the field, too.
He sees her as a superstar data scientist in the future.
But She Doesn’t Want To
The problem is, OP’s daughter doesn’t want anything to do with computers.
She excelled in two computer classes as a freshman and sophomore, but she totally avoided tech courses during her junior and senior years.
She Burned Out Quick
Even though his daughter was excited about learning computer science at the beginning, OP says she got tired of it pretty fast.
She Has a Master Plan
Now, OP’s daughter thinks she wants to be a psychologist.
She also wants to study business in college, so she has some definite plans for her future.
He Doesn’t Think She Can Cut It
But OP told his daughter that neither of those two fields suits her very well.
She’s autistic, and OP says she doesn’t have the sort of interpersonal skill she needs to succeed as a psychologist or in business.
She Can’t Even Handle Her Brothers
OP reminded his daughter half-jokingly that she has trouble just dealing with her brothers.
So how does she think she can counsel other people about their own problems?
She Didn’t Even Like It
OP also pointed out that his daughter took a business class in the 10th grade, and she didn’t like it at all.
It doesn’t make any sense to him that now she’s considering a major in a subject she hates.
She Has Her Favorites
Recently, OP and his daughter sat down to look at potential colleges together.
The young woman picked out several schools with business and psych programs that she thought looked interesting.
She Got Fed Up
But OP tried to steer his daughter toward schools with strong computer science programs, as he always does.
They struggled with each other’s choices back and forth for a while until the girl had had enough.
He Brushed Her Off
OP’s daughter asked him if he would support her decision about college even if it didn’t line up with what he wanted.
He laughed off the question and told her to highlight the programs she liked, and they’d discuss them later.
She Was Done with His Advice
But his daughter didn’t trust that OP would have an open mind, and she told him that he shot down every program that wasn’t related to computers.
She put her foot down and said she was done having him try to force her into a tech career.
Would He Have Been Happy as a Lawyer?
And the then OP’s daughter tried to get him to see her point of view.
She asked if he would have been happy if his father had tried to force him to become a lawyer like the older man was.
He Didn’t Answer Fast Enough
After all, being a lawyer is a rewarding career, even if OP didn’t have any interest in the social sciences.
His daughter thought it was a strong parallel to her situation, and when he didn’t answer right away, she stomped off.
He Still Thinks She’s Wrong
Now, it’s finally starting to dawn on OP that he may have pushed his daughter too hard for too long.
He wants her to have the best future possible, and he thinks her tech talent will give her that.
He Needs to Back Off
But OP wonders if he needs to back off, even if it means his daughter picks a career he doesn’t agree with.
He’s Totally Out of Touch
Reddit commenters were all over OP for this one, with many of them calling him selfish, overbearing, and out of touch.
They can’t believe how much pressure he is putting on his daughter.
She Is Her Own Person
Many also accuse him of trying to live vicariously through his child, and some take him to task for suggesting that autistic people can’t make good therapists.
The World Needs More Therapists Like Her
Some point out that the world actually needs more autistic therapists, because they’re the ones who actually understand what another autistic person is going through.
Overall, Redditors think OP should live his life and let his daughter live hers.
He Was Named After a God
Recently, a Reddit user shared a story where he legally changed his name, and as a result, his father threatened him. Here’s the full story. His Father Gave Him a Name That Resulted in Him Being Bullied, He Legally Changed It, and Now His Father Is Demanding He Change It Back
He’s a Family Man
Reddit has again provided a source of entertaining reading. Recently on a subthread, a happily married man told the story about a recent visit to the gym. He Went to the Gym for a Work-Out and Took off His Wedding Ring, She Saw Him, Assumed He Fancied Her and Has a Meltdown
Trashy Habits
In a neighborhood plagued by inconsiderate neighbors, one woman took matters into her own hands – or rather, paws. Her Neighbors Were Abusive to Her Dog, so She Decided to Give Them a Taste of His Fur!
Bucky’s Parking Predicament
In this encounter, Bucky, a veteran visiting a hardware store, finds himself in a parking dispute with a self-proclaimed Captain America. Let’s find out how this entertaining showdown unfolds in the battle for parking supremacy. A Guy Tried to Shame This Veteran Out of His Parking Space, so He Got Some Revenge
The post Her Overbearing Father Wants to Force Her Into a Tech Career, and She’s Not Having It first appeared on Career Step Up
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / fizkes. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit
