I was excited for my first day of HVAC technical school.
My dad told me how he was when he first went to school, and how nervous he was about making mistakes.
I wished I had listened to him more closely. I knew if I did a good job in school and was awarded an apprenticeship, I could work for the instructor for a year. I hoped to then leave the apprenticeship and work in my dad’s HvAC company. I found a seat in the middle of the classroom, hoping no one recognized my last name and associated me with my dad. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was a cocky kid and already knew everything. Dad made me go to school and he didn’t ask me to work in the HVAC company. He wanted me to make a decision on a career based on something I wanted to do and not because I felt he wanted me to work with him. Everything went out the window when the instructor walked in and it was my dad. Fortunately, dad treated me like a new HVAC trainee and never once let anyone know he was anything more than the instructor to me. It was almost six weeks into class when one of the guys heard me talking to dad outside the class. He walked up and asked why I didn’t tell anyone I was the HVAC instructor’s kid? I told him dad wanted anyone thinking I was getting any special attention. The kid nodded and said I was lucky to have a dad that didn’t single me out like his dad would have.