My father was always pushing for my older brothers to work in the family HVAC company.
I knew they had other aspirations than being HVAC technicians.
When my brother told him he had won a full football scholarship to one of the top ten colleges, my father said he thought he was going to be an HVAC technician. My brother shook his head and repeated about the football scholarship. Dad brightened and told him to go to college. There would be plenty of time to be an HVAC technician when he graduated. He didn’t get it that my brother wanted to do something other than be an HVAC technician. I watched this happen with every one of my brothers as they got older. Dad got angry and told my one brother he should get out of his house if he couldn’t honor his wish for him to join the family HVAC company. He asked dad why he needed to work for the family HVAC company. He pointed to me and asked if he was going to try to bully me into being an HVAC technician. Dad looked at me and sneered. He told my brother I was just a girl, and I had no business in the HVAC company. I graduated high school and went to HVAC school. I am now working for the top HVAC company in our area, and we are helping to drive our family HVAC company under. Let him tell me that I don’t belong working in an HVAC company. I was one of the top HVAC technicians in our area.