Former Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, was interviewed by Andrew Denton one night, and he said that his parents had the attitude, "If you have an opinion, express it."

One thing that my mother did to me that was wrong was forcing me to see a doctor she knew I didn't like. On the one hand, it was poor planning on her part (she wanted me to see a doctor, but she also wanted to get my brother's haircut. If she, instead of getting me to have a shower when I came home from school, had said to my brother, as the barber's shop was a hop, skip and a jump from my father's work, "Okay, I'll give you the money to get your hair cut and drop you at the shop. I should be right to get you before 5:30pm, but ask the barber if you can wait there, or go down to your father's work." Two months later, I had to see the dentist, and my brother was getting his hair cut at the same barber. Okay, the dentist was a few doors down from the barber's shop, but the dentist wanted to talk to my mother for a minute, and the dental nurse went out into the waiting room to call her in, and she wasn't there. She asked if there was someone waiting in the car, and I said that my brother was having his hair cut, so the nurse had to go down to the barber's shop and call my mother back in. What happened was, the doctor was running a little behind schedule and the doctor I didn't like had come back early, and the receptionist asked my mother if we wanted to see this doctor instead. In my view, my mother should have asked me, and my feelings should have been considered by the receptionist. Okay, my mother didn't have to get down on her knees, but she should have said, "Okay, Peter, I know you asked me not to, but we can do one of two things. Either you can see the doctor you don't like, or we can wait say, 10-15 minutes and if your preferred doctor still hasn't come out, then we'll reconsider." To just ride roughshod over my request was terrible.