choices

"Ghassan pointed to Hatham. 'Whats your dad's job?'

'Taxi driver,' Hatham said.

He pointed to Ahmed. 'Whats your dad do?'

'Janitor,' Ahmed said.

He pointed to Mokhtar.

'Bus driver,' Mokhtar said.

'Your parents came here as immigrants and they didn't have choices. Do you want to drive a taxi? Clean toilets? Drive a bus?'

Mokhtar shrugged. Ahmed and Hatham shrugged. They had no idea what they wanted to do for a living. They were only thirteen. All Mokhtar could think was that he wanted an Xbox.

'They brought you here so you could have choices.' Ghassan said. 'And you're blowing it. If you want to do something different when you grow up, you're gonna have to get your shit together.' "

- The Monk of Mokha, Dave Eggers