How many of you have relatives living with you? How many of you think about that saying, "Relatives are like fish, they both stink after three days!", when you reflect on the relatives staying with you?
I've had everything from brothers, sister, cousins, to brother-in-laws staying with me and my wife for the last decade, at one point or another. I think that the only one that did anything was my youngest sister. But the others primarily did nothing. And it's been this way since I can remember.
A few years ago, it was my youngest brother. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother more than myself, it's just that I have this thing with laziness. And laziness seems to run deep in the younger brothers. This isn't 100% true, but for the most part, it rings true louder than the constant questioning from your toddlers.
When I think about it, he pretty much lived in the room we let him stay in for almost the entire time he stayed with us. About the only time he came out of the room, was to get something to eat. And even then, it was only to fill up a plate, followed by a glass or can of something, then head right back to the room and vedge out. This went on for years, pretty much.
What could he be doing in the room? I knew you'd ask. Well, he was playing an online game for hours on end. And it was ME that paid the monthly service charge on the character AND the internet for him. I had totally forgot that he was supposed to have taken over payments only one month after we turned on his account. So I ended up paying for it, well over 18 months.
After all of this, what do you think he did to show gratitude for allowing him a place to rest his head, providing food to eat, paying for his character online and the internet + electricity for him to play the character? NOT A GOD DAMNED THING!
He didn't do dishes, notta one, not even his own! We found dishes with fur growing on it after he left. He didn't take out the trash from the house or even bring out the trash for pick-up on tuesdays or thursday nights. He didn't help clean up. Nope, not even after himself. He just grabbed what he wanted to bring with him, and left the rest for us to sift through and trash.
For as long as he stayed with us, he probably held a job for two months. And during that time, he did nothing to assist us with anything.
And that's just the one. Let's get to the current one.
This one is my brother-in-law. It was only right and fair to my beautiful wife, that we bring in her brother and provide the same luxuries afforded my younger siblings during their tenure with us. And so it was, when he was but 14 maybe 15 years old, we paid for his airfare from Guam to Arizona, a round trip ticket that was never round-tripped.
This one we took in because we wanted to get him away from the social challenges of our native island. We truly and honestly cared enough for him to take him out of a bad environment, in order to give him the opportunity to get something in the U.S. that he can't get back home in Guam.
He's now 18, about to be 19 years old. Yes, it's been that long. And what did he do for time he's been with us? NOT A GOD DAMNED THING!
He can get a job, but he seems to always get sick when it's his day to work. He's never too sick to do things when it's his days off, but it's always the moment he's supposed to show up to work. It's like he's allergic to work.
Don't get me wrong, he loves the money he gets to take his girl out to the movies or to buy video games and other things, but when it comes to actually doing the work... hell no! Instead, when he's supposedly too sick to go to work, too sick to perform the duties necessary to stock items on a shelf; he can play video games at home while recovering. He can go out with his girlfriend to wherever, all while recovering. HE CAN DO EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE EXCEPT WHAT IT TAKES TO DO HIS JOB!
When he's at home, he follows in my brothers foot steps and won't take out the garbage unless told... not asked... told to. He won't clean up, not even after himself. He won't do any dishes, not even his own. He won't do laundry, not even his own. He will wear the same underclothes and pants for weeks on end. But... but... he will take a shower.
What gets my blood pressure really rising is the fact that he will take clothes that aren't his without asking, again and again, and lose it then turn around and say he had nothing to do with it. I've lost hats, shirts, socks, and God knows what else to his use.
With both of these brothers, I've had the talk. You know the talk, the one that all older siblings have with their younger ones about what they're gonna do with their lives. And they say that it helps and this and that, but they continue to do the same thing over and over and over and over and...... OVER AGAIN!
And yet what are we to do? Can we kick them out on the street? Most people would say that's what we should do, but if placed in the same predicament, they wouldn't do that with their siblings. At least the majority of them wouldn't.
And so it goes, the blood pressure will rise and I will eventually die a young and early death on the sole reason of my younger siblings.
