While driving home, I thought about what I had said only a few minutes earlier and wondered what I was going to do. There was no way I was going back to the factory; I was done with it and it was imperative that I quit. Turning down my street, I contemplated my money situation. Money would be tight but I could handle it; where there is a will there is a way. And a student loan, that would help.

Walking into the house, mom was watching TV; heading into the TV room I told her about my plan by saying, “I really need a break and time to recuperate before going back to school.” Then I asked if she would stop paying my rent if I quit; dad had made that threat before but she hadn’t jumped to that conclusion yet.

She was concerned and said, “You should keep your job, you need the money… But regardless I’ll still pay your rent because that was the original deal.” In some odd way this seemed like approval, I had convinced the person I needed to convince most.

I decided to call dad and tell him about my ‘great’ idea; I already knew he would disapprove, but I had to make this decision on my own. I had to do what felt right and not worry about what my parents or other people thought. Calling dad, I told him I was going to quit; he wasn’t pleased and said, “If you quit your job, I won’t help you pay for school this year.” I already knew this was going to happen.

Listening to what dad had to say I figured it would suck without his help, but I had to make up my own mind and do what had to be done. I was confident I’d get an OSAP loan anyways so I said, “I don’t care! I’m going to quit.” Dad tried to convince me otherwise by saying, “It’s a bad idea, you’ll regret it.” But I didn’t care I wanted out and could not be convinced otherwise. “Talk to you later, dad.”