This intrigues me, because your parents have worked in the US since before you were born. I have always kind of assumed that Asian parents who seem obsessed with stability don't understand the American system. They want their kids to pursue things that would ensure personal stability in their home country (such as marriage and a job), not understanding that things are different in the US. In the US, a job doesn't offer much stability; stability comes from things that get you a new job (experience, credentials, and work contacts) after your old job evaporates.
Obviously this doesn't apply to your parents, since they had long experience with the American system. Maybe their fear was moral? Were they afraid that your lack of concern at being "unemployed" meant you were becoming a lazy American? I would be curious to know what form your arguments took and how your parents were eventually reassured.
The jobs obsessive parents push their kids into are usually quite stable. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. Even software is relatively stable if you're good and you're working at a Microsoft or Google.
Teaching is stable, but doctors and lawyers only have stability through their credentials. Clinics fail; firms contract; hospitals eliminate positions. I don't know about the past, but these days law firms are quick to expand to take advantage of new demand and new markets. Surely sometimes they make mistakes. Microsoft and Google seem stable now, but who can predict the future? Plenty of "stable" companies have laid people off, closed research labs, and sold unprofitable pieces to new owners that had no intention of keeping them running.
Comments
This intrigues me, because your parents have worked in the US since before you were born. I have always kind of assumed that Asian parents who seem obsessed with stability don't understand the American system. They want their kids to pursue things that would ensure personal stability in their home country (such as marriage and a job), not understanding that things are different in the US. In the US, a job doesn't offer much stability; stability comes from things that get you a new job (experience, credentials, and work contacts) after your old job evaporates.
Obviously this doesn't apply to your parents, since they had long experience with the American system. Maybe their fear was moral? Were they afraid that your lack of concern at being "unemployed" meant you were becoming a lazy American? I would be curious to know what form your arguments took and how your parents were eventually reassured.
In the US, a job doesn't offer much stability;
The jobs obsessive parents push their kids into are usually quite stable. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. Even software is relatively stable if you're good and you're working at a Microsoft or Google.
Teaching is stable, but doctors and lawyers only have stability through their credentials. Clinics fail; firms contract; hospitals eliminate positions. I don't know about the past, but these days law firms are quick to expand to take advantage of new demand and new markets. Surely sometimes they make mistakes. Microsoft and Google seem stable now, but who can predict the future? Plenty of "stable" companies have laid people off, closed research labs, and sold unprofitable pieces to new owners that had no intention of keeping them running.