EVERYONE has their own version of success, and while some versions may be more glamorous than others, it does not mean that it should be belittled as they are working hard to earn their keep as well.
An entrepreneur has shared her experience of her son being looked down upon just for selling burgers.
The mother, Everlyn Ong, overheard a customer tell his grandson to study hard to avoid ending up like her son, toiling away to make ends meet.
“See? If you don’t study hard, you will end up working these tough jobs in the future, you know?,” she recalled the older man’s words in her Facebook post.
Hearing the older customer’s advice to his grandson, she could not help but feel a “twinge” in her heart, feeling sympathetic for her younger son being demeaned for working so hard flipping burgers to making ends meet.
Her younger son, however, remained quiet and just handed the older man his order and went about his business.
Everlyn told Wau Post that she is a single mother with two sons. Her family depends on her business selling popcorn as their single stream of income; hence both boys have been helping her out at her job since they were children.
Now while her younger son sells his burgers at his stall in different night markets in Penang, Everlyn pitches a helping hand while operating her popcorn stall, which is right next to her son’s burger stall.
“Whenever I see him being too busy, I would walk over and help him out at his stall”, she said.
After closing his stall at 8.30pm, Everlyn relayed a few words of encouragement to her son regarding the old man’s words and told him not to be upset by what the customer said as his diligence gets him what he wants at the end of the day.
“Don’t pay attention to what others have to say about you. You are really good! Come on!” she told her son.
Everyln added that she is proud of both her sons as they have always been “independent and capable”, being able to buy their own property and cars.
“It does not matter what other people think about us. It is important that we continue being ourselves and live positively. You are the best version of yourself,” she mentioned at the end of her post.
She then parted some advice, saying that those who are working in every industry, no matter how big or small their position is, deserve to be respected regardless.
