My dad was tired of me lolling around the house all the time.
I took a year off after graduation, before making any life decisions. Dad was okay with that year, but when one year turned into two, two into five, and now I hadn’t worked for ten years, he was disgruntled. I enjoyed staying at home. Mom did all the laundry, the cooking, and the cleaning. I came and went when I wanted, and picked up odd jobs here or there so I could have some fun money. Dad wasn’t having fun with my sitting at home most of the time, and I heard him grumbling to mom about it. I was sure that if I didn’t soon get an actual job; he was going to kick me out. I thought I could get a simple job, but that would not happen. There wasn’t a simple job available that would pay me enough to get an apartment, and getting an apartment of my own was dad’s goal. I was complaining to my friend about my dad, and he gave me an odd look. He told me I was almost thirty, and it was time to grow up. He said they had a class at the local community college, and I could get my HVAC certification in a year. HVAC sounded like a dirty job, but I figured I could try it. I did well in the HVAC classes and easily passed the certification test. I didn’t expect the instructor to invite me into his apprenticeship program, but he did. It took me over ten years to find a suitable job, but I am enjoying being an HVAC technician, and repaying my parents by doing all their HVAC work.