如果老爸還在，我現在可能正坐著輪椅。
「從小爸爸都沒捨得讓妳做家事，妳想去英國唸書，他二話不說讓妳去了。現在妳居然說要跑去幫人打掃？！」
七年前，當我決定創立「可潔家事」時，
媽媽沒有祝福我。
她看著我，像看著一個做錯決定的人。
她甚至紅著眼眶丟下這兩句金句：
「筆不好好拿，跑去拿掃把。」、
「小姐不當，跑去當丫鬟。」
她甚至半帶威脅地說：「如果妳爸爸還在，一定會先把妳的腿打斷，看妳還能不能出門去幫別人打掃。」 看著媽媽眼裡的淚光，我只能站在原地苦笑。我心裡明白，她這份看似不可理喻的「狠話」，其實藏著最深的不捨。
受之父母，不敢毀傷
那瞬間，我腦袋裡不自覺浮現了《孝經》裡孔子對曾子說的那段話：「身體髮膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也。」
在父母眼中，我們的生命與肉體皆來自於他們。對他們而言，看著曾被捧在手心送去留學、明明可以坐在辦公室、冷氣房裡，且穿梭國際展覽的女兒，現在卻在充滿油垢與灰塵的角落彎腰流汗，每一滴體力的透支、每一處手繭的磨損，在他們看來都是一種對「身體髮膚」的毀傷。他們心疼的，不是我失去了什麼高尚的職稱，而是那份「受之於親」的嬌貴，如今卻主動要去承受勞動的苦。
還好，老爸不在了。不然大家現在看到的可能不是在創業的我，而是真的被老爸為了「護腿」而打到坐輪椅的我。
從「空中飛人」到「手拿掃把」
我完全理解媽媽的心碎，因為在踏入家事服務這行前，我的生活確實跟「掃把」毫無關聯。從小到大，父母沒捨得讓我吃苦，讓我長成一個無懼且有夢想的人。
2008 年底，我剛從英國留學回來。原本計劃開設兒童美語補習班，但在開了一班後，我發現自己對世界仍充滿渴望。於是我投入了國外業務開發，那正是台灣代工轉向自有品牌的黃金年代。我拖著行李箱在各國機場穿梭，在展覽與工廠間奔波，那段「空中飛人」的收穫，是我人生極其珍貴的養分，也讓我積累了許多像老朋友般的國際客戶。
為什麼是「掃把」？
明明有著這樣的學歷與職涯，親戚朋友都在問，我媽更是不解：「為什麼？」 為什麼放著辦公室座位的體面，偏要鑽進髒亂的角落？
對於父母來說，不讓孩子受苦是他們盡力一生的孝親成果；
也許你也有過這種時候——
你認為你很清楚自己在做什麼，卻因為父母的質疑
卻開始懷疑，那是不是你應該要做的
關於這個轉身，在下一篇，我再好好告訴你們。
If Dad Were Still Around, I’d Probably Be in a Wheelchair!
“Your father never let you lift a finger at home. When you wanted to study in the UK, he sent you without a second thought. Now, you’re telling me you’re going to clean houses?!”
Seven years ago, when I founded KJ Clean, my mother had no blessing. Just a look that told me I was making the wrong decision.
She threw these “golden quotes” at me through tearful eyes:
“Trading the pen for a broom,” and
“From a lady to a servant.”
She even added a half-threat: “If your father were still alive, he would have broken your legs himself—just to stop you from going out there to scrub floors.” Watching the tears glisten in her eyes, I could only stand there with a wry smile. I knew her seemingly irrational “harsh words” were actually a mask for her deepest sorrow.
“Our Bodies are Received from Our Parents”: An Injury in Mother’s Eyes
In that moment, a passage from the Classic of Filial Piety—Confucius speaking to Zengzi—involuntarily flashed through my mind: “Our bodies—to every hair and every bit of skin—are received from our parents. To keep them from harm is the very beginning of filial piety.”
In the eyes of parents, our lives and our very flesh belong to them. To my mother, seeing her daughter—who could be sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned office or navigating international trade shows—now bending over in grease-stained corners is unbearable. Every ounce of exhaustion, every new callus, is seen as an “injury” to the body they so carefully nurtured.
It wasn’t the loss of a prestigious job title that broke her heart; it was seeing the “preciousness” they protected now choosing to embrace the hardships of manual labour. Honestly, thank goodness Dad is no longer with us. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be seeing me as an entrepreneur—you’d be seeing me in a wheelchair, with my legs “protected” by my father’s own hands.
From “Jet-Setter” to “Broom-Wielder”
I completely understood my mother’s heartbreak. Before entering the home cleaning industry, my life had absolutely nothing to do with a “broom.” Growing up, my parents never let me suffer. They allowed me to become someone fearless, a dreamer.
At the end of 2008, fresh from my studies in the UK, I briefly taught English before diving into International Business Development during the golden era of Taiwan’s branding transition. I lived out of a suitcase, navigating airports, trade shows, and factories. Those “jet-setting” years were the most precious nutrients of my life, gifting me with global clients who remain dear friends to this day.
Why the “Broom”?
With my academic background and professional history, everyone asked, and my mother was beyond baffled: “Why?” Why trade the dignity of an office seat for the grime of neglected corners? To parents, keeping their children from suffering is the ultimate fruit of their own filial devotion.
Maybe you’ve been there-
You thought you knew what you were doing,
until someone you trusted questioned it…
and you started questioning yourself.
As for the “why” behind this pivot—I’ll tell you all about it in the next post.
