
Inadvertently becoming the change you wish to see in the world - ingve
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20170904-00/?p=96927
======
pierrebai
I'm appalled at the responses to this story.

Yes, role-models tend to be people who are well-known. Yes, Bill Gates is
rich. No, not every single dad started to drive their children to school.

The stroy is still about choosing to do something you were not required to do,
being a precursor, and initiating change that others emulated.

The secondary harmonics of the moral of the story is still that people are,
dozens of years after the fact, holding grudges and bias toward Bill Gates and
Microsoft.

------
tbirrell
In one of these situations, it is someone making a choice to inconvenience
themselves in order to do something they believe should be done.

In the other, it is someone inconveniencing someone else because they don't
want to do something.

------
ricksanchez45
Beyond the lesson that is taught here, am I the only one who thinks 30 minutes
isn’t far at all? I drive an hour to work each way and I don’t complain about
it. I’m more worried for the influence that kind of thinking impacts a child
than I am about a stay at home parent complaining of having to leave their
house.

~~~
dionidium
If I lived more than 20 minutes from work I'd be actively working on a plan to
shorten that time.

~~~
noxToken
For a lot of people in the US, the two options are either make more money, or
move to a bad neighborhood. There are $30k-45k houses for sale that would turn
my commute 14 minutes via bike, but it's not somewhere I would want to live.

------
yawz
Even though rich and famous people will undeniably have more leverage, we all
have the power to move the people around us and improve our surroundings. And
this becomes even more important when one's a parent and/or a leader. We can
all lead by example.

------
jordanlev
I wonder how much of this (other fathers driving their kids to school) had to
do with the chance to see and/or talk with Bill Gates :)

------
Red_Tarsius
I fail to see the value of this post. The story implies that the middle-class
dads were lazy because they didn't bring their children to school before going
to work. If, let's say, I'm the sole provider in a one-child household that
doesn't seem fair at all. It's the right message, but the story is shallow and
dismisses real issues faced by the average family.

~~~
imron
> The story implies that the middle-class dads were lazy because they didn't
> bring their children to school

I highly doubt it was middle-class dads.

~~~
munchbunny
Knowing the private schools in the Seattle area, it was likely a mix of middle
to upper class. I went to one of them, and maybe 1/3 was squarely middle class
or lower.

------
shearnie
If I were the unfireable billion dollar CEO I'd be able to take time out of my
job to drop off my daughter to school also. I'd also be able to afford the
million dollar house close to work so my 30 minute trip to school would be a
dream compared to the 90 minute commute to work.

------
razorunreal
I was expecting something like "so we sent her to the local neighborhood
school and did what we could to make our own community better", but no,
apparently the change you want to see in the world is that Dad should do
everything?

~~~
loopbit
And that's not even a change they wished to see, there was no "I wish dads
were more involved in the education of their kids", if anything, there was a
"I can't be bothered to drive half an hour to take the kid to the school you
want, so you do it".

~~~
markdog12
I don't get it. Shouldn't it be obvious the parent who's not working drive the
kids? This is coming from a dad of 2 who gets the kids up, feeds them, dresses
them, drives them to school, picks them up after work, feeds them, etc...

I also work full-time. If I wasn't working you can bet your ass I'd be driving
the kids to school without complaint. (I don't complain now)

~~~
euyyn
I don't understand your comment. You drive your kids to school without
complaining, but if you weren't working you'd also drive your kids to school
without complaining?

~~~
markdog12
Melinda Gates is staying at home (at the time) with the kids, but gets her
full-time working partner to drive the kids instead? I just don't get the
moral of the story.

~~~
euyyn
So you think Bill should complain or refuse, but you do the same and don't
complain?

~~~
markdog12
No, I think the non-working parent should drive the kids to school. Two
working parents in my house.

------
VeejayRampay
Regarding the footnote, no need for the author to justify himself. I mean,
does Bill Gates really need shills at this point anyway?

~~~
msla
Ask people who used to work for Netscape.

------
nkohari
So, in order to create real meaningful change in the world, the first step is
to achieve celebrity, and then do a thing that people want to emulate?

I understand the message that he was trying to portray with this post, but
man, does it miss the mark.

