Who's funding that business of yours? ...Then again, does it matter?

I read a post by BlogTO this afternoon reviewing Tonality Records, an indie record store opened and operated by an 18-year-old named Julian Seth-Wong.  It's a good-looking store with a neat concept (Seth-Wong organizes the records by labels, rather than artists or genres).

I made the mistake of reading the comment section (why do I never learn?) and saw some pretty nasty things being said about Seth-Wong.

One commenter writes, "Cool but.. how does an 18 year old kid set himself up with a store filled with stock?" and is responded to by another commenter who snidely states, "Bank of mom and dad."  There are a couple more comments like this:

Here's the deal.  We don't even know where Seth-Wong got the money to open up his shop.  All of these rude and critical comments are based on assumptions.  And even if he did use his parents' money -- does it matter?  I think we need to step back and re-evaluate this whole deal.

Seth-Wong is eighteen.  Eighteen, you guys.  Do you know what I was doing at eighteen?  Going to university and watching Lost while eating fries in between classes.  I always put off doing my Classics readings until the night before a test and, while I don't think I was unbelievably immature, I was definitely no where near being able to open up and run a business.

Let's say that he did get the money from his parents.  Does that make it right for us to villainize him?  Here's the deal -- the world isn't fair.  Some people are going to have parents that support their business ventures.  Some people are going to have parents that pay for their education.  Some people are going to have parents that pay their rent.  This doesn't necessarily mean that those people are not hard-working, initiative-taking, determined people.  Are they incredibly lucky to have a more cushy landing pad that not everyone has?  Of course.  But some people are born with healthy while others struggle with chronic disease.  Some people are able to skim a textbook quickly and ace a test while others need to study for tedious hours.  It's not fair to hate the healthy and the academically gifted simply for those traits.  I'd do plenty of things to have thick hair or the ability to get a decent GPA, but those things just aren't for me -- but it's not fair for me to hate my friends who do have heads full of gorgeous hair and 4.0 GPAs.

I get that it is frustrating to see other people in better socioeconomic positions.  If Seth-Wong did get the money to fund his business from his parents, it may sting a little, especially if you're in a position where you are working long hours and not making as much and do not have the support that he might have.  But clearly this kid is working hard and is passionate about what he's doing.  He's the one running the business, selling the records, sharing his knowledge, etc.  Would you rather his parents buy him a car or a condo?  Or fund a trip for him to Europe so that he can find himself?

Life's hard and sometimes things seem unfair, but it's important to not project your own frustrations on other people -- especially when you don't know their full situation.

Good on you, Julian, for opening up your business.  We're impressed and we wish you the best of luck with your business!