The American Dream

Things may have changed in the land of the free but one thing never will - the desire to own a property; to live off the land - and that my friend, is the American Dream. It never hit me till now, but my mum has always wanted the American Dream and it pains me to see that it will be extremely difficult for her to get any decent property and that she will eventually settle for some sub par apartment.

All this time while i’m interstate taking all my expenditure for granted, going out, having fun and frivolously spending her money, she’s working her butt off to support me and give me the better life that she never had as an adolescent, but what of her life? I was shocked the other day when I discovered that a friend of mine had more liquid assets than my mother – assets sufficient to make a deposit on a decently sized and placed house, and this really made me realise the inequality in the world; That a barely adult person can have more than a middle-aged woman who’s spent her entire life studying or working, to single handedly bring me up. It’s the fact that I can’t do anything about it which makes it an even more saddening situation. The fact that I leech money off her, that her savings are going into my study and living fees while I chase my dream, especially as I waste most of the time lazing around or going out with friends and blowing even more money. Sometimes I wish I could already have a proper career so I can support her and give her the dream that she deserves, but I know she’ll be too proud to accept my charity – just like me, she’ll want to know that she achieved her dream all by herself and didn’t simply obtain it off someone else.

I can’t say I’m too much like my mum; in fact she makes a point of bringing it up every time we meet. It’s true though that while she will readily give it all away to help people because human happiness, health and safety is far more important than anything else, I could never be that selfless – my selfishness, a trait she said I inherited from my biological father. Honestly though, even I understand when some people can’t comprehend how privileged they really are. The same day, some of my friends drove because they were too lazy to walk 200m in the sun. I may be lazy but that just seemed unnecessary. I’m not saying I hate spoilt people per se but moments like this really bring to light their attitude to life and indeed, it annoys me. Try your best to not take anything for granted and sure, we all lapse frequently (me probably more than others), but never forget how privileged we all really are. You know what mum, one of my dreams now is to one day get you all the things you want because you deserve it and quite frankly, while I can never repay you for what you’ve done in my life and how you’ve allowed me to chase my dream, I’m going to help you achieve your dream even if at times it feels like i’m not much help.

Cramming for finals so bye.