I once dated this guy who was waiter with the self-esteem of a doctor. I tried to understand where all the self-assurance came from. Did we both live in North America in a state that basically sponsors higher education? Confused, I asked what his parents wanted for him and he said his mom always told him “do whatever makes you happy son.”

There’s two ways to view this, from the immigrant perspective at least, to look at this: his parents are stupid for having such low expectations or damn he is so lucky to have no pressure to be a high performer. 

If I had gone home and told my mom that my big dream in life was to serve croissant, she would probably have put me on the first plane back to Iran and told me to only come back when I truly understand just how lucky I really am.

Before anyone gets too upset, I want to point out that I do not look down upon being a waiter. Having worked in restaurants and the night life for many years myself, I truly respect it as a...