Paying Back Your Parents
In the news recently was a story about a teenager whose parents asked her to pay back her school expenses:
This reminded me of the story that the artist Ernest Thompson Seton told in his 1940 autobiography (Trail of an Artist-Naturalist). He claimed that when he turned 21 his father presented him with an itemized bill for $537.50, which his father said was what it had cost to raise him, including the doctor's fee for his delivery. His father expected him to pay it.
According to Seton, he briefly considered paying the bill, but then decided against it, figuring he needed to keep all the money he had to establish himself as an artist.
When she was 15, her parents sent her to a private school for a couple of years, convinced she needed straightening out due to her rebellious behavior. Now that she is more mature, they expect her to pay back thousands of dollars in school fees.
This reminded me of the story that the artist Ernest Thompson Seton told in his 1940 autobiography (Trail of an Artist-Naturalist). He claimed that when he turned 21 his father presented him with an itemized bill for $537.50, which his father said was what it had cost to raise him, including the doctor's fee for his delivery. His father expected him to pay it.
According to Seton, he briefly considered paying the bill, but then decided against it, figuring he needed to keep all the money he had to establish himself as an artist.
Ernest Thompson Seton
Comments
Nobody is wondering why she had to be sent to a private school to get her head on straight. NOT that public offspring raising isn't prey to politics.
Posted by John on 09/09/21 at 11:46 AM
Each time I see a story like that, it reminds me of the Italian film about a guy who goes from Paris to Rome to reimburse the debt his father stuck him with. "Son, you are now 18, so before you have your first child, you must reimburse this bill (holds a three-foot-long calculator strip) which is what your mother and I spent to raise you." The son sees a train carriage full of his ancestors' ghosts calculating what they owe each other at one point. Now, if only I could remember the title...
Posted by Yudith on 09/11/21 at 07:11 AM
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Category: Money | Parents