Before leaving for Boston with Troy for his college interview trip, Brad looked back on a bleak picture of his life. He seems to have a job full of ideals and feelings - running a non-profit organization, focusing on raising funds to help the poor, his wife Melanie working for the government, living in Sacramento, far from the flashy hustle and bustle, this is a kind of comfort life security. But seeing that his former college classmates have grown into middle-aged people, and the mediocre life that dwarfs Brad's nerves, he can only try to avoid facing the familiar faces that frequently appear on TV. But when his son Troy was facing the transition to college, Brad suddenly realized that he had to temporarily break away from the living environment he was accustomed to, and accompanied Troy back to the university campus, which forced him to re-examine the meaning of his life and his past choices. As a result, the journey turned into a life journey that was equally important to him.
What Brad always remembered was his glorious college days, when he was one of the professor's most promising disciples, so much so that years later he still insisted that Craig had fought him openly and secretly during his college days, which led to this. The current "White House celebrity" is at a loss. He was jealous of the achievements of his former classmates and thought he deserved at least the same success, or that he had been ahead of them at a certain time, but now whether it was a White House dinner, an island villa or a private jet, it was as far away as he was. Sea of stars. When did you start slowing down? When you and Melanie got married early, when they moved to live in Sacramento, or when they decided to pursue a career in nonprofits. If all sorts of coincidences finally pushed Brad away from the similar life trajectory as his classmates, who should pay for his current failure. So he began to complain that Melanie's greed for comfort caused all this. After all, she was really too receptive to the status quo. This emotion infected him, and he also became unwilling to be utilitarian, and did charitable causes that did not make money. If he hadn't married her back then... Of course there's no if, their children are already at the age to apply for college, and now this may be the hope for his life to turn around.
Yale used to be Brad's dream of being admitted to the university. Although he failed in the end, when he learned that Troy's tutor strongly recommended him to interview at Harvard, Brad could not hide his excitement, as if Troy had already received Harvard's admission. notify. All of a sudden, his son became a gifted and gifted son of tomorrow, not at Harvard. It seemed that this was what he had been waiting for for years, but he didn't even know which school Troy was going to apply for. . It's so easy for Brad to let his emotions teeter between depression and ecstasy, sometimes a little hope seems to rekindle his enthusiasm for life, and at other times the mood can plummet. rock bottom, and then blame the crux of the problem on others. The stagnant life is due to Melanie's choice of comfort, and Troy's missed school interview has nothing to do with him. He's always justified in blaming others, but subconsciously wants to back down when the solution points to him, and Melanie reminds him that he can call the well-connected Craig and maybe get an extra interview. , so Brad, who was still talking about Melanie's government relationship for a second, immediately became uncomfortable. Obviously, because of his face, he didn't want his old classmates to see his downfall. Even if it was important enough to decide Troy's future, he still needed a little bit of mental construction instead of doing it right away. Even the mere fact that Troy might be admitted to a top prestigious school made him uncomfortable. Troy realized his father's unfulfilled ideal, but it couldn't save Brad's failed life. On the contrary, the more successful Troy was in the future, the more likely he would be. Brad felt a little terrified about the fear of breaking the line with his mediocre family. Troy may be more successful than his classmates put together, but the aura belongs only to himself, and it can only exist in the shadow of his son, which is tantamount to a greater blow to Brad. And these thoughts once again made him jump to the opposite point of view. Rather than becoming a star, Troy is more likely to be a street singer after graduation, so he has no need to take out a loan for him to study at Harvard. One problem, it doesn't seem like a sound investment.
Brad has always been proud of his "honesty". He believes that although Craig has a higher status, it is the result of his speculation, which is something that he, as the core and soul of the college group, will never do. compromise. So he "honestly" kept pouring out his confusion to Troy, gushing out and showing his emotions without reservation, which eventually led to Troy's tiny outburst near the interview, "You're a lunatic, you must be in my interview. Did you tell me this before?". Ananias was right, when Brad tried to give Troy's friend a tirade, she keenly caught the former's weakness. The reason why Brad always complains about the unhappiness around him is to a large extent that he still thinks that the world is revolving around him when he is nearly fifty. Young people are unforgivable. He's been staying away from people he hates, but realizing the fact that they're rejecting him, in turn, makes it hard for him to accept. Brad's slightly immature child-like behavior really surprised Ananias, but the good teacher was taught a lesson by the students, she reminded Brad that it is not good to speculate and compare with others. Making yourself better, letting go of your suspicions, envy, and making peace with yourself is the only way to embrace the good life.
What really made Brad start to re-examine himself was the unhappy dinner with Craig, and Craig, who had always been envious and envious but somewhat disdainful, helped a lot with Troy's interview. The connection to the name of the White House influencer and television regular has earned Troy some sort of preferential treatment. The last time the two met many years ago, Brad felt slighted by the other party, which made him very dissatisfied and cut off contact with the other party. The gap between them has not narrowed since the last meeting, but Brad is still trying to put himself on an equal level with the other party to have a conversation. However, Brad was very frustrated by the restaurant owner's very different attitude towards the two at first. Craig didn't even have to say anything, just sitting there and getting people's respect and preferential treatment, even if his heart was like Brad's The general emptiness of speculation did not affect his status and power in reality at all.
The topic inevitably went back to the past, which might have been the only thing they could have a normal conversation about, because when it came to Craig's current life, Brad probably couldn't suppress the psychology of making comparisons with it. So he rewinds the time to his high-spirited days, admits that he has lost the life race with Craig, and tries to justify his reconciliation with Craig in this way, emphasizing that he accepts reality. But Craig didn't respond, and he didn't think the two had ever had the kind of rivalry that Brad was talking about. It's like you crossed the key points in the game, and an opponent stepped forward to congratulate you, but you don't remember that there is such a person. I'm afraid it's just the difference in strength that you didn't notice him. Unsurprisingly, Brad regarded Craig's attitude as a kind of humiliation to him, and the previous cloudiness disappeared in a blink of an eye. He is always caught in the entanglement of himself and everything around him. In fact, he has never, and probably never will be able to truly accept his current life. A person who cares so much about connecting with other things, once he realizes that he is not actually there. In the field of vision, there will be huge shakes and doubts about past beliefs. The premise of self-reconciliation is to accept his mediocrity. Obviously, Brad is unwilling to admit this in the end. Maybe he can always be stubborn to be himself, which is not a life choice. It is true that most people can only live a mediocre life, but not everyone has to pretend that they accept the reality and pretend not to envy the better life. Isn't this another kind of self-deception? For Brad, self-reconciliation may be an antidote that brings joy to life, but it can also be the poison he takes.
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