At this age, the sorrow of middle-aged people may no longer be the stagnation of their careers or the pressure of financial burdens, but watching the children they have put their heart and money into raising only get a meager salary in the end. This sadness may be heavier than any material burden.
Having said that, this phenomenon is not uncommon in society. For example, I have a neighbor who is a typical middle-class family. One of the husband and wife is a teacher, and the other is a small leader in a private enterprise, with a combined annual income of 200,000 yuan.
Even so, the child's performance at the end of high school was still not as good as it could have been. In the first college entrance examination, he was only admitted to the junior college, which made his parents feel very dissatisfied. So, they asked their son to repeat the school, and although the score of the second exam improved, it was only barely enough to reach the admission line of three books.
That's not all, in order to let their son have a better future, his parents once again paid for his son to go to a private business school in the provincial capital, and the tuition and other expenses add up to 100,000 yuan a year, and more than 400,000 yuan in four years. This is undoubtedly a lot of money for them.
Finally, 7 years ago, this son-in-law graduated from college. But unlike other classmates, he didn't get a job before graduation. On the contrary, his parents still had to use their connections to help him find a logistics job with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan.
Although this job is not too bad, there are social security, weekends, and the unit also provides free canteens and other benefits, and the work content is relatively easy and comfortable, but compared with his parents' original investment and expectations, this job seems to be a little mismatched.
In the eyes of the neighbors, the job is not something to be happy about, and even a little sad. Their son, after so many years of high-investment education, turned out to be like this. Their disappointment stems from their expectations of this son. In their minds, their son should have better development, higher salary, and better performance. But the reality backfired, and all the investment and expectations seemed to have come to naught.
After graduating from high school, their parents' hopes were disappointed again, and their feelings can be imagined. Faced with such a result, they did not give up, but once again paid more money and time for their son. They believe that the power of education is limitless and that as long as you don't give up, it will pay off one day.
Although the son eventually went to college, he didn't learn much practical knowledge and didn't have any special skills after graduation. In the job market, he has no advantage in the face of hundreds or thousands of job seekers. Young people who do not have an expensive education, but are hardworking or have special skills, find jobs that pay better and pay better.
That's the cruelty of reality. The neighbors and couples give not only money, but also their hopes and ideals. They always believed that one day their son would stand out because of his good educational background, but the reality hit them hard. This psychological gap is more difficult to accept than any material loss.