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Help Yourself

9/11/2017

2 Comments

 
Submitted by Mark Haselmaier
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"This paid off when I was in college."
When I was younger, I got hungry after dinner a lot. So I would ask my dad for something to eat. Sometimes he would oblige, but he usually looked at me and said, “Go get a snack. You know how to make a peanut butter sandwich or toast a bagel.”

As I think back on those experiences, I remember realizing that I wasn't the only important person or thing in my parents' lives. I learned that they had other things that were important too, and I needed to become capable enough to handle some things on my own.
There was no “ah ha” moment or any great realization, but I slowly became aware that sometimes Mom and Dad shouldn’t be disturbed or needed to focus their mental bandwidth on other things. Sometimes I was their highest priority (like dinnertime, when we had something fun planned, or when I was sick). Other times somebody or something else or their work was a higher priority (like when I wanted a snack).

In the end, I learned that if I had the ability to handle something on my own, it was greatly appreciated and generally helped things run more smoothly around our house if I took care of it myself. This paid off when I was in college because I was able to manage most new situations on my own, and my "survival skills" especially came in handy when I moved to Sweden for one semester last year. Now I really like cooking and have progressed way beyond peanut butter sandwiches and toasted bagels. My current specialty is Peanut Butter Chicken Curry.
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​Mark Haselmaier is a partner solutions coordinator for Oracle Data Cloud and the son of working parents. He earned a BS degree in Business Marketing from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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2 Comments
Adair Calder
9/12/2017 06:38:44 am

Interesting insight, Mark. Thanks for posting.

Reply
Kelly
9/20/2017 03:13:22 pm

This is great, Mark! I know your parents and I'm sure they are proud of you.

Reply



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