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my mother's friends - by benedict - bene dictio

benexdict.io · 1,488 words · saved by 1 readers

I’ve spent my life selecting into bubbles that are filtered for ultra-effective people, but I think my mother is still the most broadly capable person I’ve ever met. I’ve seen her bully a classroom of inner city kids into behaving (as a 5-foot-nothing ESL Asian woman), comfort a murderer, find a way to mail a letter on a federal holiday, counsel countless depressed high schoolers, and reproduce several restaurant dishes just based on taste. Professionally, she was a highly sought-after software engineer who was paid more than I’ve ever made (and so bored by it that she urged me not to pursue the same career). Unlike practically all of the other super-capable people I know, she consistently chose to use her gifts to help people who would never be able to repay her. I learned an immense amount from her growing up, and I’ve started to wonder why I never wanted to be more like her. Recently I heard an economist speculate that schools and government services ran so well in the 50s due to an

my mother's friends life off of the treadmill benedict Sep 26, 2023 35 9 1 Share I’ve spent my life selecting into bubbles that are filtered for ultra-effective people, but I think my mother is still the most broadly capable person I’ve ever met. I’ve seen her bully a classroom of inner city kids into behaving (as a 5-foot-nothing ESL Asian woman), comfort a murderer, find a way to mail a letter on a federal holiday, counsel countless depressed high schoolers, and reproduce several restaurant dishes just based on taste. Professionally, she was a highly sought-after software engineer who was pa

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