A Question Worth Thinking About.

oh look, another personal one.
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As my soothing bliss of Summer sails away towards the horizon, the new boat I like to call 'School' starts floating into it's place in the harbor I call life.
It's a lazy and hot day where I live in southern California. The sun and heat of a true, blue, Summer is still over us. It feels weird as we're expecting the bipolar weather that usually comes around this time. "Bipolar?", you ask. Yes, where I live, the weather is infamous for it's sudden drops in temperature; As most of the population wears shorts 24/7, it is not very appreciated.
Anyhow, It's a lazy and hot day in 5th Period AP United States History. Second day of school. Our teacher calls up a few students, myself including, to sit in front of the classroom. He says that we're going to be talking to a "few important Americans." Well, by now we know that the 6 of us up front are going to be in for some kind of interrogation, but all goes well until we get to question number 6.
Mind you, this is not the part where I get up and start bawling because it's a question that affects me personally. Rather, it's a question that torments my insides, forces me to look into my future, and makes me answer the question on a whim.



This grand question happened to be,
"Do you think you will come out to be better than your parents?"
Wow, even looking at it now makes me want to rethink everything I answered earlier today. Of course, I won't, because when you usually answer on a whim, it means that most of the time, the answer is 99.9% honest. What I had answered was something along the lines of a Yes/No. For the first half, I think financially I will. No, this is not the stereotypical thought that every kid says "Yes!!" to. Rather, when I compare where my parents have come from, and how I am learning compared to my education, I see a more financially better situation for myself. As of now, we're thoroughly middle class, bourgeois. Though America's economical situation isn't the best in the world, and has a great dark cloud over it's head, I have a feeling I will hopefully reach past, or be in a slightly better state of 'middle class'. Of course (for a lack of a less trite saying), I cannot count my chickens before they hatch.

The other side, or the 'no' to the answer is more clear to me. Luckily, I am not uncomfortable with this part of my answer. My parents are very controlling, they have clearly set out a path they want me to go in. And I feel no urge to break out of that path, even though I am not eager to become, per say, A doctor, or an engineer (okay, I may break out if they force me to become that). I told my teacher that I'd let my child (if I ever had one) to make his own path,something my parents would be horrified at, and thus making me a slight less better than my parents in the caretaking factor.
He replied with an amused "cooool", causing myself and my classmates to laugh. He then gets serious, and asked me: "So, would you let your kid have wiggle room? Or just be a lazy parent?" Of course, I wouldn't be a lazy parent. Allowing more wiggle-room is something I'd favor. It's something I wish for even now, as I love photography, but my parents are completely against taking something so generic to be a plausible career. (They don't think being a wedding photographer is good enough to earn me a couple meals every day). Being more trained to accept the thought 'Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life', meant that the weight of carrying 'You must do something that is money-earning and good for the whole family' on my shoulders might as well perish on my future child's. Of course, there will be times I will have to intervene and mold a bit of the path, but ultimately, any child of mine will be free to become something reasonable that they will love.

Anyway, I also had a good time listening to the answers of my 5 other classmates. A few people said 'yes' overall, one said 'no' completely, and another friend and I mentioned the 'yes/no' answer.
Then, that peculiar feeling we call 'curiosity' weaved in the middle of me making a post, and here I am now, about to write the finishing lines:

There will be some who might be slightly offended or uncomfortable to answer to this, so I am not going to force you or anything (not that I ever would). And this isn't really insulting our parents, as my mom rolled her eyes at the question and exclaimed 'You should be better than us!' (as did a couple of my friends').
And so, I am asking you the same:
Do you think you will come out to be better than your parents?