On Reddit, a father recently asked a popular subthread if he was wrong for threatening to throw his son out if he didn’t get a job.
Happy Family?
The Original Poster, Alex, explained that he and his wife have three children, 17, 15, and 10.
Son Has No Ambition
He explained that their oldest son has said he has no intention of doing anything after high school.
An Ultimatum
In response, Alex said he gave the eldest an ultimatum.
Get a Job or Get Out!
The eldest should go to university, get a job, or leave the family home.
A Choice to Travel the World
Alex added that when his parent gave him the same ultimatum, he “…chose to travel the world for two years.
Earn Money and Work Hard
I had a lot of sailing experience, and my father had a lot of friends in that community, so I was able to sail around the world, earning money and working hard. It wasn’t a two-year vacation.”
Alex Didn’t Choose the Easy Option
He explained that his family is well off and so he could have chosen an easy life but didn’t since he didn’t want to disappoint his family.
The Family Business
When he returned from his travels, he enrolled at university and later went to work for the family business.
Wife Takes a Different Line
Alex’s wife has a different approach to dealing with the situation with the eldest.
Is Alex Being Unfair?
He said, “My wife thinks that I’m being unfair to our poor baby boy throwing him out into the world.”
“I’m not. We have the money to pay for his university. We have the money for all three kids.”
Plenty of Opportunities
He continued, “Her and my son think I’m being cruel to expect him to fend for himself at 18.”
“I have offered him multiple opportunities to do other things. He has no interest in anything beyond his computer.”
Grow Up and Be an Adult
Alex said that he didn’t know what to do and that, ” I don’t think I’m wrong for expecting an adult to adult.”
Family Division
He concluded,” My wife is threatening to use her salary to support him. I don’t have any say in that.”
“I won’t actually kick him out of the house but I will stop paying his bills and cut off our grocery budget by 20%. If she wants to work so he doesn’t have to there is nothing I can do about that.”
Redditors Give Their Judgement
The Reddit community responded with their thoughts as to whether Alex was in the wrong or not.
Thirdtryisthecharm response had over 23,000 upvotes. They said, “Not in the wrong, assuming that a trade school, apprenticeship, or community college would also be acceptable.”
Alex replied, “That’s school or a job so yes.”
Blaming the Mother
FeuerroteZora contributed, “I feel like the wife’s attitude probably explains a lot…”
Another said, “Your wife is screwing your son up.”
Lack of Direction
Jinx_lbc said Alex wasn’t to blame but also had sympathy with the son. They recalled being a similar age and not knowing what they wanted to do.
They said, “I had no idea what I wanted out of my life at this age.”
They continued, “Your son may not like it but make him do something. Reassure him that what he picks doesn’t have to be a forever commitment, but he has to pick at least something.”
Overall, Redditors were supportive of Alex. There was some sense that his wife’s contradictory response to the eldest was adding to the issue.
What do you think? Was he right to take the line he was taking? Should he had been more sympathetic?
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The post Dad Tells His Son – Get To Work or Get Out of My House! first appeared on Wealthy Living.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / LightField Studios. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
This post is based on Reddit but the names have been changed.