The Billionaire’s Boy

And the farty old man

Marlon Tusk was determined to make the most of his day. He had hardly slept but didn’t mind. ‘Who needs sleep when there are millions of dollars to be made?’

His son, Marlon Jr, looked at him curiously as he sat down to eat some caviar for breakfast.

“Can’t we eat normal stuff, dad?” he said quietly but with slight annoyance. “My friends all eat cool stuff like star shaped cereal and hot cross buns.”

“The future is star-shaped. By the time you are grown up, we will all be living in futuristic cities scattered around the galaxy.” Dad looked pleased with himself when he said it.

Marlon Jr sighed and nibbled at another chunk of posh fish eggs. The distaste on his face was obvious.

“Dad, we never go anywhere. You’re always working or round that old guy’s house. The round guy with the attitude problem.”

“Relax, son. You will live forever. Plenty of time to explore. Imagine spending decades travelling around the Solar system.”

Marlon Jr was eight years old. He’d seen enough TikTok videos to know that his dad was not paying him enough attention and definitely not taking him seriously.

“But Dad! Most kids get to have fun with their dads. We never do anything fun. You just work and I hang around, bored. Also, don’t you find the old guy smelly? He farts all day long.”

“Stop being offensive!”

For a moment, Marlon Jr thought he might have hit a chord. Maybe he had chiselled through his dad’s armour. Whatever the case was, he certainly wasn’t prepared to stop yet.

“Have you done your homework? Are you up to date?”

Marlon Jr decided to play a game. He was going to pretend to ignore his father for a bit.

Marlon glanced across the table at his son. “Can you hear me? How’s the homework coming on?”

The boy stared into his cup of English finest tea ignorantly.

Marlon did not persist. He wasn’t that bothered. There were deals to be done. His son would thank him one day.

Marlon Jr started to tap his fingers onto the tabletop. The tapping was gentle at first but gradually he began to ramp up the volume. Soon he was banging so hard on the table, it sounded like he was drumming.

“Are you attention seeking, son?” asked Marlon, peering over his bespoke spectacles.

“Maybe we can have some music on or even the radio while we eat,” said Jr, knowing full well his father would reject his idea.

“The media is all fake. It is full of people telling lies. Don’t waste your time listening to the radio.”

“So what about putting on the TV? Cartoons maybe?” Jr was starting to become restless as well as frustrated.

“Son you are acting like a spoilt brat today. You should find something to focus on. Perhaps a business idea or a marketing strategy. You could even start to set up a startup business. I’ll transfer you some money to play with.”

Marlon Jr was well and truly hacked off. He suddenly launched into a screaming session.

“I don’t want to start a business. I want to play games and have some actual fun WITH MY DAD!”

Marlon stared at his son weirdly. Jr started flapping his arms around and jumped onto his chair. He finally had an audience and he was going to play to it.

“I just want to be a normal boy, making mud pies and climbing trees. Playing football and playing practical jokes on people!”

His dad smiled awkwardly and typed something into his iPad.

Marlon Jr stood still. “Are you finally listening to me, Dad?”

Marlon senior frowned. He put down his iPad and crossed his arms.

“If you are going to be a successful businessman, you will need to experience hardship. You need to do what I did. I am sending to you to boarding school on the other side of the world. Then you will start to appreciate me and your heart will harden. You will come back a cold-hearted businessman like me.”

Marlon Jr knew this was not a done deal. His mother would be back soon and she would put Dad in his place.

“Mum will have something to say about that,” he said, menacingly.

“Oh shit, you’re right. Fk it. Come on then. Let’s go and play pranks on the old guy.”

They both walked off, happy to be united in the task of finding ways to undermine and ridicule the farty one.

 

Honesty Is Honestly THE Best Option

The idea of being an honest person is an interesting one. Humans seem to have it in their DNA to tell lies. We all do it, albeit often only what can be considered as white lies. Yet some people, as they grow up, become increasingly used to telling lies and these lies grow and grow until they become habitual, almost instinctive.

Are You Lying To Yourself?

I have been lied to my whole life, often for my own good (apparently). My father was a scum bag, so my Mum protected me from knowing about him by saying that he was dead. He isn’t dead but he is definitely dead to me. I feel as though that particular ‘white lie’ was full of good intentions.

For me, lying is something I steer well away from. Even a ‘white lie’ can be hard to disguise. Don’t tell me you are planning a surprise party for someone I see every day. If you do, then that is likely to be all I can think about when I am spending time with them, and I will be at pains to not announce it awkwardly, probably much to my own surprise.

There are, however, people I know who cannot help themselves when it comes to lying. They are often lovely people but get into such a mess because of their lying habit. I remember a friend having an affair with a married man. She was enjoying retelling her experience to her friends but also mentioned it to her daughter by mistake. She overshared and the daughter went on to jeopardise that relationship, telling the man’s adult daughter who then sprang one of her meet-ups in a hotel room.

Similarly, I have an acquaintance who often lies about their financial troubles and is too stubborn to ask for help until it is too late. He carried on going to work after being let go of, despite losing his job through no fault of his own. He continued parking his car every day in the work car park so that his wife thought he was still at work. Things spiralled and when he eventually came clean, the bills were piling up and everything was in a right mess because he had not been earning for seven weeks and the wife realised they were struggling to pay the bills.

So, I guess the question is this:

How much do you lie and what is the impact of your lying?

Honesty Is A Valuable Asset

To me, lying is worrying. I have seen some of the extents to which people have gone to cover up lies and it is stunning. I value honesty above anything else.

Having dealt with cheaters and, indeed, having been cheated on in the past, I struggle to forgive anyone who has lied to me, unless the lie was something incredibly good such as a surprise birthday present or dinner out.

For another of my thought-provoking posts, check out:

Are Some People Work-Shy?

Are Some People Work-Shy?

Or Is Society Getting Lazier?

Work should be valued, not avoided

 

There has been a lot of discussion in the News about work and some people’s reluctance to do any. Despite plenty of jobs being available, some are choosing not to work rather than settle for jobs that they believe to be beneath them.

Picking and choosing seems to be the name of the game. However, this should not be at the expense of taxpayers, some might say.

It is a tricky mess. Some argue that they could earn more from state benefits and Universal Credit by not working jobs involving cleaning, serving customers and looking after people in care homes.

Is Society Becoming Picky?

As people live longer and the care industry grows, it seems odd that many care homes are really short staffed. Similarly, the number of cleaner vacancies unfilled seems to be rising. Even in my own workplace, we are forever advertising for cleaners.

Yet many people are out of work who are physically and mentally fit enough to do so.

It makes no sense. According to the BBC ( Who are the millions of Britons not working, and why?) 1.6 million of the 9.4million economically inactive people do want employment. This is peculiar as there are plenty of vacancies right across the board.

Some have spoken out about how working would effectively mean a drop in income for many, as their benefits would be higher than working for the national minimum wage.

So, are people choosing to stay at home for this reason? Are we going to continue to see lots of unfilled vacancies in the care industry, retail and cleaning?

It all feels peculiar. A few years ago I had some debts to pay so I worked in care homes every weekend on top of my full time job in education. Previously I held down several jobs all at once, a combination of well paid and low paid roles. I cannot believe that the welfare system is prepared to support people who are fit and healthy to not go to work while multiple job opportunities present themselves locally.

Perhaps A Work Ethic Is No Longer Trendy

I have friends who have families and work more than one job to support their families, while still finding time to bring up their children and keep their households organised. They wouldn’t think twice about accepting any job that meant they could earn an honest living whilst avoiding placing a burden on the welfare system.

Are we really in a society where people can pick and choose between free money and hard work? Surely the satisfaction of going to work outdoes the feeling of depending on taxpayers without justification.

I would love to know what you think on this subject. Are we now living in a society where some jobs are beneath us?