Many are the times I would feign sickness to tag along with dad as he went to work.
He somehow knew when I was faking it and still allowed me to get away with it on some days.
We both knew that mom would never have allowed such a thing to happen, but once in a while, dad would volunteer to take me to the hospital when I pretended to be sick, only for me to spend the entire day at his workplace. He was one of the most ethical people I have ever seen. While this was not something I understood back then, I later learned and appreciated it when I started working. My dad worked as a business office rentals agent, and he was always busy as clients walked into his office every other minute. As the head of the establishment, all the big-boss decisions were left for him to handle. Sometimes, clients occupying commercial office space for rent would default payment without notice, and they would be arrogant or dismissive when contacted. Rather than get agitated and angry, my dad would calmly ask to talk to the business owners and communicate the consequences of such actions. By the time he got off the call, the business owner on the other end would have committed to paying the defaulted fee with accrued penalties within a specific period. I still think that he had a magical voice. Every time I would ask him how he did it, he would insist that it was essential to handle people right. He was clear about this so much that everyone owning an office space for rent listed with his company knew that they could trust him. Unfortunately, my dad died in a tragic car accident without teaching me the ropes of this business.