On Saturday afternoon, as I was checking on my plants, my mom came home after stepping out with her sister, proclaiming she’s buying a restaurant. “What?!” I reacted.

My aunt’s neighbor runs a local Mongolian Grill restaurant and he’s wanting to sell the restaurant and move somewhere that’s less dull than the suburbs of northern Utah. The last time my mom talked to these people was on my birthday when she had invited me to dine at the restaurant. The restaurant is called a “Mongolian Grill restaurant” but it’s actually a buffet of sort. You pick the ingredients and someone will stir-fry the ingredients for you.

My mom reasoned that she’s worried her siblings might be out of work soon, so she wanted to ensure they have an alternative to turn to. Her siblings are currently working at a factory that produces the cookies you see at the grocery store during the holidays like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and 4th of July. Unless people stop eating these frosted sugar cookies, there will still be work for her siblings.

That night, at dinner, my mom asked if I know how to do payroll and taxes. She wanted me to work for free as an accountant when she’s the owner of the restaurant. “No,” I answered, “and if I do, I don’t want to be a part of it.”

There’s no way she’s roping me into another job. Over a decade ago, when I was in college, trying to finish my first undergraduate degree, she roped me into taking multiple jobs when all I wanted was to focus on school. I put my foot down then but she got her sisters to team up and forced me to take on the jobs or else. That caused me to fail two of my courses and my GPA to suffer because I was working three jobs and attending school full-time.

Now more than a decade later, I have a steady job, some fun hobbies, and a semi-okay life, I’m not about to take on more jobs because of her wants. I don’t want any part of this, as the saying goes, “never do business with family.”