Learning to Ride the Bike of Life
When I graduated college I went to work for the same company my father worked for. It was a large national company so, while living on two different sides of the US, I hardly ever ran into my father but I often ran into other employees he had worked with. These employees all had comments about how hard it was to work with and for my father and wondered what it was like to grow up with him. As they told their Joe Cipolla work stories I just smiled and said “It was just like that, but I was used to it.” You see, my father is not what you would call a warm and fuzzy guy. He does not soften or sweeten you up before telling you how it is. If you have a report card with 5 A’s and 1 B, he asks about the B and how you can improve it. He does not just give you credit for showing up, he wants you to take responsibility for your actions. Now, he also does not yell, like ever. He simply explains how disappointed in you he is which has an even bigger impact then yelling. Growing up in this mat