Needa Bahkali
Does 40 years Make a Difference?
I never knew my life could change so much after just one conversation with my father. As Madison says in American Horror Story:
“I’m a millennial Generation Y. Born between the birth of AIDS and 9/11, give or take. They call us ‘The Global Generation.’ We are known for our entitlement and narcissism. Some say it’s because we’re the first generation where every kid gets a trophy just for showing up. Others think it’s because social media allows us to post every time we have a sandwich for all the world to see. But it seems that our one defining trait is a numbness to the world and indifference to suffering.”
Madison defined our generation as having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance. This is unlike my father’s generation that was more competitive and ambitious. They had a stronger desire and determination to succeed to build their future even in harsh times. I learned this from my father from a conversation we had that changed my outlook on life.
It was a summer vacation before I came to the United States. It was an early morning in August and as usual, we were woken up by the sound of people and traffic on Regent Street in London. While we were getting ready, there were delicious fresh smells that we couldn’t resist. It was a smell of fresh coffee, muffins, and danish pastries. My father and I decided to have our breakfast out. At that moment, I was having a lovely conversation with my father about life. While my father and I were having coffee at small coffee shop that owned by two old couples, we talked about how is my generation is different from his. When he was my age, he had to work efficiently to achieve his goals and to have personal fulfillment. His life was so difficult, he said to me. I still remembered his words and the smell of fresh coffee that surrounded us.
My father suggested that I should start thinking about running my own business. I couldn’t imagine myself at that age running my own business. I liked the idea, but I felt butterflies in my stomach. It was a huge thing to consider entrepreneurship. So, we made a deal. He promised me that when we got back home he would give me financing to start my own business because this was our deal.
Meanwhile, there was a big smile on my face with fear and my father was staring at me with a question mark on his face. I start looking around me and I was thinking about the two couples who owned the café. If they could run their own business, so could I; I could do it. After that, my father took his pen from his pocket and a napkin from the table and he started to write. He wrote some starting plans and how much it would cost and how I could manage it.
Finally, when we went back to Saudi Arabia, I started my own business. I opened a small restaurant as a start and after that, I invested the money from that small restaurant in another two small business. The first one sells clothes for hijab, we call it "Jilal". It’s specialized for prayer and "Hajj". For the other business, I use decoupage as an artwork to decorate items and sell them as dinnerware and trays.
I’m so proud of myself because of what I did in my life and what I learned from my father. I promise to be thankful every day for having the most amazing father in this whole world. Also, I promise to keep my business going whatever it takes, and try to be independent as much as I can. Learning from my father and other people from his generation was an unexpected lesson for me. I learned how to be thankful every day. It motivated me to be a better person in this life. I learned from my father how to be an independent person and to look forward to future as a successful person.
Does 40 years Make a Difference?
I never knew my life could change so much after just one conversation with my father. As Madison says in American Horror Story:
“I’m a millennial Generation Y. Born between the birth of AIDS and 9/11, give or take. They call us ‘The Global Generation.’ We are known for our entitlement and narcissism. Some say it’s because we’re the first generation where every kid gets a trophy just for showing up. Others think it’s because social media allows us to post every time we have a sandwich for all the world to see. But it seems that our one defining trait is a numbness to the world and indifference to suffering.”
Madison defined our generation as having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance. This is unlike my father’s generation that was more competitive and ambitious. They had a stronger desire and determination to succeed to build their future even in harsh times. I learned this from my father from a conversation we had that changed my outlook on life.
It was a summer vacation before I came to the United States. It was an early morning in August and as usual, we were woken up by the sound of people and traffic on Regent Street in London. While we were getting ready, there were delicious fresh smells that we couldn’t resist. It was a smell of fresh coffee, muffins, and danish pastries. My father and I decided to have our breakfast out. At that moment, I was having a lovely conversation with my father about life. While my father and I were having coffee at small coffee shop that owned by two old couples, we talked about how is my generation is different from his. When he was my age, he had to work efficiently to achieve his goals and to have personal fulfillment. His life was so difficult, he said to me. I still remembered his words and the smell of fresh coffee that surrounded us.
My father suggested that I should start thinking about running my own business. I couldn’t imagine myself at that age running my own business. I liked the idea, but I felt butterflies in my stomach. It was a huge thing to consider entrepreneurship. So, we made a deal. He promised me that when we got back home he would give me financing to start my own business because this was our deal.
Meanwhile, there was a big smile on my face with fear and my father was staring at me with a question mark on his face. I start looking around me and I was thinking about the two couples who owned the café. If they could run their own business, so could I; I could do it. After that, my father took his pen from his pocket and a napkin from the table and he started to write. He wrote some starting plans and how much it would cost and how I could manage it.
Finally, when we went back to Saudi Arabia, I started my own business. I opened a small restaurant as a start and after that, I invested the money from that small restaurant in another two small business. The first one sells clothes for hijab, we call it "Jilal". It’s specialized for prayer and "Hajj". For the other business, I use decoupage as an artwork to decorate items and sell them as dinnerware and trays.
I’m so proud of myself because of what I did in my life and what I learned from my father. I promise to be thankful every day for having the most amazing father in this whole world. Also, I promise to keep my business going whatever it takes, and try to be independent as much as I can. Learning from my father and other people from his generation was an unexpected lesson for me. I learned how to be thankful every day. It motivated me to be a better person in this life. I learned from my father how to be an independent person and to look forward to future as a successful person.