Relatives who just don't get it

[MgoSam]

No matter how great the tomato sauce tastes, this is so not how I want to spend my summer vacations.

Yup, I recall a ton of childhood vacations revolving around spending time at various family members where I was essentially told to be visible but silent unless any of the uncles and aunts wanted to tell me how to live my life. Then I was expected to lap up whatever commands they gave and not say a word that could be considered against their advice.

My sister was organizing a cousin get together since we are all spread out over the country. She was planning to do it at a Mexican resort next Christmas. But the adults in the family found out and now it is a family reunion. I've already messaged her that I'm not going to go and she's responded by saying that she understands.

[Roadrunner53]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

[Just Joe]

By all means leave! Let me help you gather your things! I'll throw it to -errr, put it on the sidewalk for you (from a distance). ;)

[BJacks]

These kinds of children (men) who leach may be more common than we think. My coworker has a 20s yr old son like this and the family just seems to enable it. He's been in involved in drugs, etc. Family struggles to support him financially. In and out of rehab, changes jobs like the rest of us change clothes. Debt, problems and more problems.

I know a several more of these kinds of guys unable to launch into adulthood despite being halfway through their lives. Parents just keep footing the bill.

You just described my brother and my father's relationship. My brother is 23 and lives with my dad. Does who knows what kinds of drugs and is an alcoholic. My dad is worried that he'll end up killing himself or get deeper involved than he is if he kicks him out. So he lets him stay.

Brother doesn't pay rent but is under the delusion that he is doing my dad a favor by staying there and apparently my dad would 'lose the house' if he wasn't there to 'take care of things'. Our grandparents carry the mortgage and my dad literally build the house. I don't think he even mows the lawn.

If my brother makes it to 25 at this point he'll be lucky. He is dealing with one DUI and it's just a matter of time until the next one. We did not have it rough growing up but the way he tells it he had a horrible childhood and everything in his life that could go wrong has.

[Roadrunner53]

These kids are beyond spoiled rotten. I think the father has a bit of a guilt trip because the mother was a raging alcoholic and her shenanigans of embarrassment happened when they were teens. The father finally divorced her. She was a menace and was thrown out of bars, lost her license, cracked up her car, picked her kid up at school drunk, arrested a few times and put in jail. Got kicked out of a bar, fell down in the parking lot and broke her teeth. Went to rehab so many times the insurance wouldn't pay for any more times. But the father isn't doing these guys any favors if you ask me guilt trip or not!

[Apple_Tango]

If my brother makes it to 25 at this point he'll be lucky. He is dealing with one DUI and it's just a matter of time until the next one. We did not have it rough growing up but the way he tells it he had a horrible childhood and everything in his life that could go wrong has.

I've always wondered about that... Honestly I'm a sheltered person so I don't know anyone who does street drugs (statistically I probably do...I do know alcoholics and one person who's addicted to pain pills due to bad health problems). But on the tv show Intervention, there is usually a story about abuse or trauma in childhood and the kid turns to drugs to cope with it. And yet there might be siblings who went through the same thing that are stone cold sober.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

Funny-- my 18-year-old daughter threw a tantrum on the 25th of December when I was unwilling to give her money she hadn't earned. She announced she was leaving and that I'd never see her again, and my response (now that she's 18) was "that actually works for me". Since then she has not returned.

I'm not a fan of being verbally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, financially, and occasionally even physically abused. Until she turned 18 the law required that I not respond in kind and that I support her financially and allow her continued access to my home regardless of her behavior. The conditions of our adoption also required that I never lay a hand on her even in self defense. However, once she turned 18 I was no longer required to be a punching bag or ATM.

If having a positive relationship with me isn't important to her, I refuse to allow it to be important to me. My fucks stepped right into a row (how grateful I am to have them well trained) and I began executing Escape Plan Alpha.

It was too late at night to make a hardware store run, but I changed the locks the next day and got myself off the car title and alerted the neighborhood watch the following day. On the third day my ego rose from the dead because I got all her belongings boxed up and moved to a storage shed. In exchange for her signature on the storage shed contract, I gave up the hostage I'd taken: the last of the money I'd saved for her college (which she hadn't yet succeeded in stealing and spending on lowlifes). She's still on my health insurance for the calendar year and I paid for her wisdom tooth surgery earlier in January, however I'm no longer paying for any vehicle related expenses. I've had no further contact from her aside from a phone call after her wisdom tooth surgery to thank me for making it happen (I can't imagine who put her up to it-- this brat doesn't experience gratitude much less express it; of course she was on pain meds so that could have changed her behavior).

Since then I've been gradually restoring the house to its pre-brat condition. Five doors need to be replaced due to having been irreparably damaged, one jamb must be replaced due to having been ripped entirely off and snapped. I'm doing drywall repair, filling in multiple holes she bashed or gouged in the walls. A room will have to be entirely repainted and the carpets in two rooms removed and replaced. I was able to temporarily salvage the blinds and curtain rods although all are damaged.

The Venomous Spaz Beast and I are living happily ever after. I haven't hosted any big dinner parties yet but had a couple people over for dinner yesterday evening. Gradually things are falling back into place. I'm replenishing the 'stache at the same time. Overall I expected to bounce back a lot faster however shock is real. The VSB is still adjusting and will have to repeat the Canine Good Citizen test, but seems to be happier with my daughter gone and more attention and lap time for her.

[Sibley]

Sibley, Hahaha, that would have been great to see the green house demolished! Unfortunately wife would have never divorced him. She was a doormat. He was a monster who used her first son who was born before they married as his personal slave. He made him pluck weeds all day long in the summer while the other kids were playing baseball. He wouldn't take the kid to any sports that he adored. If he wanted to play he had to walk or bike home probably 7 miles each way on a busy road. The mother never drove. Typical 1950's household. The man also had anger problems and if he didn't like his dinner, he would toss the plate with food on it across the room and it would smash on the wall. Yep, what a monster and if this kid was in a household like this today, they would have removed the kid and put him in foster care. The kid bought this jerk a Happy Father's Day mug from his paper route and the monster put a crappy mug in the paper bag and tossed it against the wall and broke it. The kid thought his mug was in the bag. This broke his heart forever. The monster thought it was FUNNY. What some kids go thru is just horrible.

Sounds like my broke-ass, monster brother.  A few weeks ago, he took my mom's cell phone and then, pretending to be her, texted me late at night saying that my brother (meaning himself) had slit his wrists.  He had not actually self-harmed.  He later told mom that he wanted me to suffer with feeling like I caused him to kill himself because I hadn't answered his phone calls that day, even though I did respond to his text message.  Anyhow, I guess this is a forum for disclosing bad money management, not lack of self-control and abuse.  So, I will add that at 30 years old, this guy was given $6k from my parents so that he could move across the country and work on his "dream."  He promptly spent ALL the money before he even reached the other side of the country and then asked to "borrow" money from me and my other brother.  We did give him a "last chance loan," which he amazingly did pay back a few years later.  The next few years involved more emotional/psychological coercion by him to "loan" him more money (only mom is the softy who gave more), and lots of mistreatment of his then-girlfriend.  Eventually, he couldn't manage staying there anymore, which is why he trekked back across the country last year to live with mom and leach off of her entirely.  She is still working full-time-plus hours in her 60s to support herself, meanwhile able-bodied man in his prime can't lift a finger and collected a very generous unemployment benefit till it just ran out.

Reddit. Look for JustNoMIL, JustNoSpouse, JustNoFamily, and Raised by Narcissists. I'm sure there's others, but those are the ones I know about. If any of it applies to you, I'm so sorry but there's support out there.

[Sibley]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

Funny-- my 18-year-old daughter threw a tantrum on the 25th of December when I was unwilling to give her money she hadn't earned. She announced she was leaving and that I'd never see her again, and my response (now that she's 18) was "that actually works for me". Since then she has not returned.

I'm not a fan of being verbally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, financially, and occasionally even physically abused. Until she turned 18 the law required that I not respond in kind and that I support her financially and allow her continued access to my home regardless of her behavior. The conditions of our adoption also required that I never lay a hand on her even in self defense. However, once she turned 18 I was no longer required to be a punching bag or ATM.

If having a positive relationship with me isn't important to her, I refuse to allow it to be important to me. My fucks stepped right into a row (how grateful I am to have them well trained) and I began executing Escape Plan Alpha.

It was too late at night to make a hardware store run, but I changed the locks the next day and got myself off the car title and alerted the neighborhood watch the following day. On the third day my ego rose from the dead because I got all her belongings boxed up and moved to a storage shed. In exchange for her signature on the storage shed contract, I gave up the hostage I'd taken: the last of the money I'd saved for her college (which she hadn't yet succeeded in stealing and spending on lowlifes). She's still on my health insurance for the calendar year and I paid for her wisdom tooth surgery earlier in January, however I'm no longer paying for any vehicle related expenses. I've had no further contact from her aside from a phone call after her wisdom tooth surgery to thank me for making it happen (I can't imagine who put her up to it-- this brat doesn't experience gratitude much less express it; of course she was on pain meds so that could have changed her behavior).

Since then I've been gradually restoring the house to its pre-brat condition. Five doors need to be replaced due to having been irreparably damaged, one jamb must be replaced due to having been ripped entirely off and snapped. I'm doing drywall repair, filling in multiple holes she bashed or gouged in the walls. A room will have to be entirely repainted and the carpets in two rooms removed and replaced. I was able to temporarily salvage the blinds and curtain rods although all are damaged.

The Venomous Spaz Beast and I are living happily ever after. I haven't hosted any big dinner parties yet but had a couple people over for dinner yesterday evening. Gradually things are falling back into place. I'm replenishing the 'stache at the same time. Overall I expected to bounce back a lot faster however shock is real. The VSB is still adjusting and will have to repeat the Canine Good Citizen test, but seems to be happier with my daughter gone and more attention and lap time for her.

I'm so sorry. People can be real shits sometimes. Hopefully she'll straighten herself out and become a decent human being.

[Gronnie]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

Funny-- my 18-year-old daughter threw a tantrum on the 25th of December when I was unwilling to give her money she hadn't earned. She announced she was leaving and that I'd never see her again, and my response (now that she's 18) was "that actually works for me". Since then she has not returned.

I'm not a fan of being verbally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, financially, and occasionally even physically abused. Until she turned 18 the law required that I not respond in kind and that I support her financially and allow her continued access to my home regardless of her behavior. The conditions of our adoption also required that I never lay a hand on her even in self defense. However, once she turned 18 I was no longer required to be a punching bag or ATM.

If having a positive relationship with me isn't important to her, I refuse to allow it to be important to me. My fucks stepped right into a row (how grateful I am to have them well trained) and I began executing Escape Plan Alpha.

It was too late at night to make a hardware store run, but I changed the locks the next day and got myself off the car title and alerted the neighborhood watch the following day. On the third day my ego rose from the dead because I got all her belongings boxed up and moved to a storage shed. In exchange for her signature on the storage shed contract, I gave up the hostage I'd taken: the last of the money I'd saved for her college (which she hadn't yet succeeded in stealing and spending on lowlifes). She's still on my health insurance for the calendar year and I paid for her wisdom tooth surgery earlier in January, however I'm no longer paying for any vehicle related expenses. I've had no further contact from her aside from a phone call after her wisdom tooth surgery to thank me for making it happen (I can't imagine who put her up to it-- this brat doesn't experience gratitude much less express it; of course she was on pain meds so that could have changed her behavior).

Since then I've been gradually restoring the house to its pre-brat condition. Five doors need to be replaced due to having been irreparably damaged, one jamb must be replaced due to having been ripped entirely off and snapped. I'm doing drywall repair, filling in multiple holes she bashed or gouged in the walls. A room will have to be entirely repainted and the carpets in two rooms removed and replaced. I was able to temporarily salvage the blinds and curtain rods although all are damaged.

The Venomous Spaz Beast and I are living happily ever after. I haven't hosted any big dinner parties yet but had a couple people over for dinner yesterday evening. Gradually things are falling back into place. I'm replenishing the 'stache at the same time. Overall I expected to bounce back a lot faster however shock is real. The VSB is still adjusting and will have to repeat the Canine Good Citizen test, but seems to be happier with my daughter gone and more attention and lap time for her.

So sorry it has turned out like this for you. My uncle adopted a bunch of "problem" children (Native American children where mother was on drugs and all had fetal alcohol syndrome). For the most part, the ones he got young enough are turning out great, but the older ones all are just terrible people. Expect to have an infant dumped on your doorstep at some point.

[Roadrunner53]

TheGrimSqueaker, WOW, just WOW, she will realize one day what she threw away. I hope that day comes and you all can have a peaceful reunion.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

Funny-- my 18-year-old daughter threw a tantrum on the 25th of December when I was unwilling to give her money she hadn't earned. She announced she was leaving and that I'd never see her again, and my response (now that she's 18) was "that actually works for me". Since then she has not returned.

I'm not a fan of being verbally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, financially, and occasionally even physically abused. Until she turned 18 the law required that I not respond in kind and that I support her financially and allow her continued access to my home regardless of her behavior. The conditions of our adoption also required that I never lay a hand on her even in self defense. However, once she turned 18 I was no longer required to be a punching bag or ATM.

If having a positive relationship with me isn't important to her, I refuse to allow it to be important to me. My fucks stepped right into a row (how grateful I am to have them well trained) and I began executing Escape Plan Alpha.

It was too late at night to make a hardware store run, but I changed the locks the next day and got myself off the car title and alerted the neighborhood watch the following day. On the third day my ego rose from the dead because I got all her belongings boxed up and moved to a storage shed. In exchange for her signature on the storage shed contract, I gave up the hostage I'd taken: the last of the money I'd saved for her college (which she hadn't yet succeeded in stealing and spending on lowlifes). She's still on my health insurance for the calendar year and I paid for her wisdom tooth surgery earlier in January, however I'm no longer paying for any vehicle related expenses. I've had no further contact from her aside from a phone call after her wisdom tooth surgery to thank me for making it happen (I can't imagine who put her up to it-- this brat doesn't experience gratitude much less express it; of course she was on pain meds so that could have changed her behavior).

Since then I've been gradually restoring the house to its pre-brat condition. Five doors need to be replaced due to having been irreparably damaged, one jamb must be replaced due to having been ripped entirely off and snapped. I'm doing drywall repair, filling in multiple holes she bashed or gouged in the walls. A room will have to be entirely repainted and the carpets in two rooms removed and replaced. I was able to temporarily salvage the blinds and curtain rods although all are damaged.

The Venomous Spaz Beast and I are living happily ever after. I haven't hosted any big dinner parties yet but had a couple people over for dinner yesterday evening. Gradually things are falling back into place. I'm replenishing the 'stache at the same time. Overall I expected to bounce back a lot faster however shock is real. The VSB is still adjusting and will have to repeat the Canine Good Citizen test, but seems to be happier with my daughter gone and more attention and lap time for her.

So sorry it has turned out like this for you. My uncle adopted a bunch of "problem" children (Native American children where mother was on drugs and all had fetal alcohol syndrome). For the most part, the ones he got young enough are turning out great, but the older ones all are just terrible people. Expect to have an infant dumped on your doorstep at some point.

Note to self: 9 months from now, program CPS into speed dial.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

TheGrimSqueaker, WOW, just WOW, she will realize one day what she threw away. I hope that day comes and you all can have a peaceful reunion.

I'm envisioning a healthy but distant relationship. As much distance as is necessary to be healthy. With an extra side order of distance.

[Roadrunner53]

Understand completely! I have a brother in law that is EVIL like his father. He is the spawn of the devil like his father. He caused so many problems over the years that we no longer speak to him. It has been probably 18 years. Sometimes you just have to let go to save your sanity. No need to be a martyr and be subjected to theses people's rants and raves that make your life miserable. Most of the family is dysfunctional except one sister. Hahaha, liked your comment on CPS on speed dial! FUNNY!

[former player]

@TheGrimSqueaker Do you have any advice for anyone thinking of taking on foster children? On a strictly temporary basis (emergency placements, respite placements, and so on)?  I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and there is a desperate shortage of foster parents in my area, but on the other hand I'm fond of my home and its inherited antiques.  If you couldn't make it work, I strongly suspect that I couldn't.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

@TheGrimSqueaker Do you have any advice for anyone thinking of taking on foster children? On a strictly temporary basis (emergency placements, respite placements, and so on)?  I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and there is a desperate shortage of foster parents in my area, but on the other hand I'm fond of my home and its inherited antiques.  If you couldn't make it work, I strongly suspect that I couldn't.

Yes. My advice is: do it if, and only if, you plan to get into fostering as a full-time employment activity for at least one of the adults in your household. Unless you've got someone who can keep his or her eyes on the kiddo(s) 24x7, what you have is a disaster waiting to happen to your home. Absolutely zero children are in foster care because they want to be. They're mad at their bio-parents, mad at family, mad at social workers, and likely to take it out on whatever is convenient. Somebody, somewhere, destroyed something valuable of theirs and the odds are that they'll eventually lose it and pay it forward to you or your home. Especially if (as is the case with emergency care) you're dealing with freshly snatched children who have just been ripped from their homes. They react like kidnap victims because that's what they are.

When you foster, your entire life must revolve around fostering. At least one parent should be present full-time. Even if the child doesn't commit shenanigans, you'll have to deal with multiple appointments. The first two weeks I had my kid, there were something like 15 mandatory appointments on the other side of town. I took two weeks off work just to deal with that, and I was one of the lucky ones: I didn't have to take the kid to mandatory visitation. Visitation is when you take time off work during the school day, pull the kid out of school, drive him or her to the social services office, wait around for a parent who may or may not show up, deal with the resulting meltdown, and generally lose a day's worth of schooling plus the day before and the day after when the kid can't concentrate. This happens once to twice per week. Then there are all the tutoring and Special Ed appointments due to the fact the kid is now behind in school. Add that to medical and psych appointments (you will have at least one medical/dental/psych appointment OR related emergency per week) and your work will invariably suffer. To avoid unemployment it's best to have, or be, a full-time homemaker. The system is set up to reward people who foster full-time. To be financially viable, it generally requires a home to house about three to five foster kids per adult.

Adoption out of foster care works (sometimes) as a byproduct of foster care when a foster placement leads to loving family bonds. I've seen that happen several times. Sometimes when a placement isn't a good fit you'll see a kid blow out of a home and be placed somewhere else such as in a respite or temporary home. (Is this what you're volunteering to do? I don't recommend it.)

There's a big push to try to get hard-to-place kids adopted out. Age, incidentally, isn't a barrier to placement or bonding by itself. The biggest risk, overall, is a one-sided bond like what I ended up with. I bonded with the kiddo enough to overlook her multiple previous placements and to believe the shrinks and professionals who swore she'd changed. As a result I got exactly what I deserved: trapped in a situation in which a fully-grown, violent person with significant documented mental health problems had the right to (a) decline treatment for those problems, and (b) access my home and resources at any time. That ain't fun.

I do recommend charitable ventures and service projects involving kids, which might range from youth sports to volunteer tutoring or community based mentoring.

[former player]

That all makes a lot of sense, thank you.  I haven't heard it set out so clearly in any other information I've seen.

I think a "toe in the water" approach by trying mentoring might be the best option, and then see how it goes.

[kaypinkHH]

Compared to the above posts this post is very light, but I wanted to share.

Over the past 3 months I have lived with my in-laws. I am very very fortunate that they let us stay with them, and they have been feeding us etc. while Mr.HH and I look for a house. We owe them big time. (I'm considering writing them a cheque, but they probably won't cash it...they are hard to shop for.)

That all being said, there are small things that they (early 60s) do differently than us (30), that make us chuckle. (Note, they seem to be happy with their lives, and we haven't complained/critiqued any of this, again we are grateful, but just interesting to see how they live their life vs us!). They are retired, FIL from disability back when he was 51, is now 65. MIL retired at 57, but still works part time. Both have some sort of pension.
 
- They buy so many options of things (not just 1 or two types of fruit...but ALL THE FRUIT), and then cook huge meals with so many options (not just turkey, but HAM, and SAUSAGES!) and have leftovers- but then don't have a plan for the leftovers. I can't imagine how much waste they are producing.
- My MIL came home from her part time retirement gig planning she was going to host people for dinner, and bought pre-shredded cheese for tacos because she was SO TIRED and "it was easier to deal with". Mr.HH and I were around to help! FIL was home ALL DAY, he could have prepped the dinner.
- They buy a lot of pre-cut/pre-washed veggies/fruit, single packages of food, keurig coffee- all these "costly" short cuts that totally make sense if you have little kiddos at home/working full time etc. But nope...we have two retired folk who watch a crazy amount of TV, who think of all these things as good deals!
- Which leads me to- SO MUCH TV. Omg it is on all the time. That is their main hobby.
- Very little recycling.  My FIL doesn't believe in recycling, thinks it actually hurts the environment, and it is all a government scam. Don't get him started on green energy and electric cars!
- Stress over things they can't control: They watch the news, or see a story on facebook, and are PERSONALLY IMPACTED by these stories. Driving around the city/traffic is stressful, weather events are stressful. EVERYTHING IS STRESSFUL.
- Tolerance of things: In the past 3 months my FIL has purchased the following items- New computer (his old one was a bit slow), new dryer (old one was acting weird, probably a loose door latch), new snow tires for the car (old ones were new, just not good enough). He will start looking for a new car soon (he trades in his car every 3 years and continuously carries a loan). Meanwhile MIL works the part time gig to save money to visit her other son and grandchildren across the country.
- FIL is very unhealthy (severely obese, shortness of breath, joint problems, high BP etc. etc.), but considers himself an expert on health, and critiques anyone who is active. MIL/FIL were very concerned when Mr.HH came home from the gym slightly stiff from working out. Comments like "you shouldn't push yourself so hard!" and "so and so started working out, and then died of a heart attack!" are common.
- Meals are mostly meat and carbs, with a few veggies (FIL skips those because he is concerned they may cause kidney stones??), everything is covered in ketchup/dressing/sugary sauces.

I want to say some of the difference are age/generational, but my BIL and his wife have a lot of the above habits (even though they live far away)! It would have been interesting to see if Mr.HH and I hadn't moved away for 6+ years, discovered MMM, decided we cared about our health/the environment, if we would be the same?

[dandarc]

Does read mostly age / generational, but at the end - that's actually true about certain vegetables causing / contributing to kidney stones.  Once you've had kidney stones, they'll generally advise a low-oxalate diet.  The answer of course isn't "MEAT AND POTATOES ONLY!", because as with any dietary approach, there's a lot of factors to think about.

[Inaya]

Not sure of the context, since this was overheard as I got on the elevator... but it says a lot about this person's views on consumption. "Microwaves are pretty much disposable anyway. They're really cheap."

[kaypinkHH]

Does read mostly age / generational, but at the end - that's actually true about certain vegetables causing / contributing to kidney stones.  Once you've had kidney stones, they'll generally advise a low-oxalate diet.  The answer of course isn't "MEAT AND POTATOES ONLY!", because as with any dietary approach, there's a lot of factors to think about.

Yah, I researched this briefly after being told by my FIL that he couldn't eat Edamame (because it was green).  He has a lot of steps he could be doing to reduce his risk (he has a high sodium, high sugar diet), the veggies (spinach and beets from what I could find) are the LAST of his worries.  He probably watched a Dr. Oz review about it, and heard "some greens can impact kidney stones, here is a miracle cure!" and what he chose to take away from that is "ALL VEGGIES ARE BAD". He probably just doesn't like veggies.

[ketchup]

Not sure of the context, since this was overheard as I got on the elevator... but it says a lot about this person's views on consumption. "Microwaves are pretty much disposable anyway. They're really cheap."

It feels very wrong, but I'm going to defend this in the proper context.

My GF once threw away a perfectly fine several-days-old microwave.  It was a small shitty $35 one from Walmart that she bought on a business trip so that she could reheat her food.  She thought the hotel she was staying at was going to have a microwave, but it did not.  She used it to reheat all of her food from home she packed for the trip, then dumped it before returning her rental car and flying home (no space to pack it to bring it back).  She left it by the trash in the hallway at the hotel.  Hopefully someone picked it up.

[MgoSam]

- FIL is very unhealthy (severely obese, shortness of breath, joint problems, high BP etc. etc.), but considers himself an expert on health, and critiques anyone who is active. MIL/FIL were very concerned when Mr.HH came home from the gym slightly stiff from working out. Comments like "you shouldn't push yourself so hard!" and "so and so started working out, and then died of a heart attack!" are common.

I got this from my parents when in high school all the time. Back then I LOVED running and would come home from school and pound out 3-6 miles daily. Then they started inquiring as to why I stopped running in college...this was because I started drinking beer and eating pizza at 2 am and not working out and as a result gained a ton of weight. When I jokingly told them, "Because you kept telling me to stop running," my mom flat out denied ever making such jokes or comments.

My dad is still in the camp of telling me not to exercise. He'll couch it by saving, "Don't push yourself," or "only do what you can handle." I've told him how much it gets on my nerves and so he tries to stop saying it.

[Just Joe]

Not sure of the context, since this was overheard as I got on the elevator... but it says a lot about this person's views on consumption. "Microwaves are pretty much disposable anyway. They're really cheap."

Remember the early "Radar Range" ovens? We had them well into the 1990s and 2000s. 

Even my discount store M/W oven is still kicking at ~25 yrs. Now it is my microwave at work.

[Sibley]

Not sure of the context, since this was overheard as I got on the elevator... but it says a lot about this person's views on consumption. "Microwaves are pretty much disposable anyway. They're really cheap."

Yep they are. We only get 25+ years out of them in my family... We had a couple well into the 1990s that were branded as "Radar Range" and purchased in the early to mid-70s. Even the discount store special we bought when DW and I got together is still alive in my office at work and 25+ years old.

Buy reasonable quality. Get your money's worth.

Not always. My parent's house the power isn't steady. Not really a big deal for the lamp (though I think their bulbs die faster), but it's very hard on electronics, etc. Their microwaves only last a couple years. Even with line conditioning it's a problem. They've actually killed a number of surge protectors/line conditioners, not with big swings, but a lot of little ones. Their area has a very old power grid that hasn't been maintained. It shows. Now, because the maintenance hasn't been done in forever, the entire power grid needs to be replaced.

[Just Joe]

You ought to check to see if the neighbors have the same problem. I know someone who kept blowing up electronics. Power surges that seemed to affect them but not the neighbors.

In the end it was a problem specific to their house. Bad grounding revealed after minor fire.

[Sibley]

You ought to check to see if the neighbors have the same problem. I know someone who kept blowing up electronics. Power surges that seemed to affect them but not the neighbors.

In the end it was a problem specific to their house. Bad grounding revealed after minor fire.

Way ahead of you :) House isn't perfect by any means, but the whole neighborhood has the problem too. It's the grid. They did do something to the grounding a long time ago which helped, I'm guessing the box wasn't properly grounded? So instead of spectacular deaths, they get slow electronic deaths.

[BJacks]

If my brother makes it to 25 at this point he'll be lucky. He is dealing with one DUI and it's just a matter of time until the next one. We did not have it rough growing up but the way he tells it he had a horrible childhood and everything in his life that could go wrong has.

I've always wondered about that... Honestly I'm a sheltered person so I don't know anyone who does street drugs (statistically I probably do...I do know alcoholics and one person who's addicted to pain pills due to bad health problems). But on the tv show Intervention, there is usually a story about abuse or trauma in childhood and the kid turns to drugs to cope with it. And yet there might be siblings who went through the same thing that are stone cold sober.

In our case we grew up pretty sheltered as well with a stay at home mom and a lake out our back door. My dad had a good job and we never worried about money. We were homeschooled until my mother went back to work and that’s where things went wrong for him. You hang out with drug addicts and losers and you will become a drug addict loser. His addictive personality and need for validation combined with the people he started hanging out with and my parents used to him being an overachiever resulted in him being a ways down the wrong path before anyone realized it. There’s something wrong with him mentally but we don’t know what or if it was something that the drugs made more obvious or if he’s fried his brain at this point. The way he thinks is not linear or even logical at times and he’s become some sort of conspiracy theorist. He can fake normal just fine when he needs to.

I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was garage sale-ing with my mom last year and he called her, swearing to and at her, that he had just gotten into an accident (his fault) and expected her to drop everything and magically appear at his side like a freaking genie. When she didn’t even react to him cursing her out I realized that was how he spoke to her regularly. Since then it’s only gotten worse. He started driving a motorcycle (drunk) so at least his odds of taking someone else out with him aren’t as high. He got his DUI when he over corrected (due to being drunk) and wiped out. He didn’t hit anyone and didn’t get hurt himself but he was too drunk to realize that his bike was fine and the cops ticketed him. We hoped it would knock some sense into him but nope – more playing the victim.

I have two other siblings, one is a Marine and the other just finished her teaching degree debt free.

[Spiffy]

These kinds of children (men) who leach may be more common than we think. My coworker has a 20s yr old son like this and the family just seems to enable it. He's been in involved in drugs, etc. Family struggles to support him financially. In and out of rehab, changes jobs like the rest of us change clothes. Debt, problems and more problems.

I know a several more of these kinds of guys unable to launch into adulthood despite being halfway through their lives. Parents just keep footing the bill.

I think this kind of thing is getting more common. I know several people still supporting their adult children. A coworker has two children, one has a high paying job, other lives with the coworker's mother. She pays for both of their phones, car insurance. etc. Also buys all of the grandkid's school supplies and clothes. My FIL supports my half BIL completely. BIL (and random girlfriend) lives for free in house owned by FIL across the street and can't even be bothered to mow the lawn. FIL walks across the street to do it for him. FIL also adopted BIL's child because he can't be bothered to take responsibility himself. Another much older friend in his late 80s was bemoaning the fact that he still send money on a monthly basis to his adult daughter who his married with children. I about died when I heard him talking about the grandkids' planned visit this summer. He said " I sure hope the nanny comes with them."

[mm1970]

The father of these guys proposed that they start paying some of the utilities and the two of them had a hissy fit and 'threatened' to leave! Hahahha, then told the father all the places they could go and live for free! OMG, I would have told them to pack their bags and GO, GO, GO! This was several years ago and they are still there.

Funny-- my 18-year-old daughter threw a tantrum on the 25th of December when I was unwilling to give her money she hadn't earned. She announced she was leaving and that I'd never see her again, and my response (now that she's 18) was "that actually works for me". Since then she has not returned.

I'm not a fan of being verbally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, financially, and occasionally even physically abused. Until she turned 18 the law required that I not respond in kind and that I support her financially and allow her continued access to my home regardless of her behavior. The conditions of our adoption also required that I never lay a hand on her even in self defense. However, once she turned 18 I was no longer required to be a punching bag or ATM.

If having a positive relationship with me isn't important to her, I refuse to allow it to be important to me. My fucks stepped right into a row (how grateful I am to have them well trained) and I began executing Escape Plan Alpha.

It was too late at night to make a hardware store run, but I changed the locks the next day and got myself off the car title and alerted the neighborhood watch the following day. On the third day my ego rose from the dead because I got all her belongings boxed up and moved to a storage shed. In exchange for her signature on the storage shed contract, I gave up the hostage I'd taken: the last of the money I'd saved for her college (which she hadn't yet succeeded in stealing and spending on lowlifes). She's still on my health insurance for the calendar year and I paid for her wisdom tooth surgery earlier in January, however I'm no longer paying for any vehicle related expenses. I've had no further contact from her aside from a phone call after her wisdom tooth surgery to thank me for making it happen (I can't imagine who put her up to it-- this brat doesn't experience gratitude much less express it; of course she was on pain meds so that could have changed her behavior).

Since then I've been gradually restoring the house to its pre-brat condition. Five doors need to be replaced due to having been irreparably damaged, one jamb must be replaced due to having been ripped entirely off and snapped. I'm doing drywall repair, filling in multiple holes she bashed or gouged in the walls. A room will have to be entirely repainted and the carpets in two rooms removed and replaced. I was able to temporarily salvage the blinds and curtain rods although all are damaged.

The Venomous Spaz Beast and I are living happily ever after. I haven't hosted any big dinner parties yet but had a couple people over for dinner yesterday evening. Gradually things are falling back into place. I'm replenishing the 'stache at the same time. Overall I expected to bounce back a lot faster however shock is real. The VSB is still adjusting and will have to repeat the Canine Good Citizen test, but seems to be happier with my daughter gone and more attention and lap time for her.

Well, this makes me sad and happy at the same time.  Sad at what you went through, and sad that she is the way she is.  Because: why?  Sometimes what happens early in life can completely fuck up your life.  And you can't MAKE someone want a normal life.

But happy that you and VSB have peace.

I was 30 when I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  Those drugs are some good stuff - I was HAPPY.  EVERYONE was my friend and I wanted to thank everyone.

[BeautifulDay]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father co-signed brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to co-sign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

** modified to change consigned to co-signed

[mustachepungoeshere]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father consigned brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to consign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

White sheep of the family. The only one with their act together.

[PMG]

I am mystified by parents helping adult kids!  Ive been helping my parents financially since I was a teenager.

I have noticed, with friends who live with four family units on the same property, kid raised by grandparents. Grandpa doing all the work, paying all the bills from both her and Grandma's salary. Grandpa has some seriously manipulative control over everyone. 39 yo daughter got a job and he was pissed that she didn't think he could provide for her. She desperately wanted something that didn't come with strings attached. He didn't speak to her for a year, used her 10 year old kid as a go between.

[jinga nation]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father consigned brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to consign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

White sheep of the family. The only one with their act together.

Black Sheep is the correct term. @BeautifulDay is probably the only one in the family with bank accounts in the black, credit rating super high.

It's high time that we Mustachians regard ourselves as the black sheep in consumer culture, the outliers, the mutations from $pendypant$ World, the recessives who got a double dose of frugality genes.

[ixtap]

My parents appreciate that I can take care of myself and pamper them occasionally. Imagine my surprise when they first expressed this appreciation in words while I was in grad school!

On the other hand, the ILs just don't know how to have a relationship with us if we don't need anything from them. We have had two visits from them in 8 years, which bring the running total to 3 since they helped DH move for his first job after college.

[Dave1442397]

You ought to check to see if the neighbors have the same problem. I know someone who kept blowing up electronics. Power surges that seemed to affect them but not the neighbors.

In the end it was a problem specific to their house. Bad grounding revealed after minor fire.

Way ahead of you :) House isn't perfect by any means, but the whole neighborhood has the problem too. It's the grid. They did do something to the grounding a long time ago which helped, I'm guessing the box wasn't properly grounded? So instead of spectacular deaths, they get slow electronic deaths.

They could install a voltage regulator to prevent the issues that damage electronics - https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/product-range-presentation/63377-surevolt-%E2%84%A2automatic-voltage-regulator/

[Just Joe]

My parents appreciate that I can take care of myself and pamper them occasionally. Imagine my surprise when they first expressed this appreciation in words while I was in grad school!

On the other hand, the ILs just don't know how to have a relationship with us if we don't need anything from them. We have had two visits from them in 8 years, which bring the running total to 3 since they helped DH move for his first job after college.

It happens. It works that way in my family too. If you read the whole thread here there are some sad stories.

[accountingteacher]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father co-signed brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to co-sign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

** modified to change consigned to co-signed

Thank you for sharing this.  It has taken me almost 8 years but I have finally convinced my husband to embrace his 'black sheepishness'.  Stories like yours help.

[Sibley]

You ought to check to see if the neighbors have the same problem. I know someone who kept blowing up electronics. Power surges that seemed to affect them but not the neighbors.

In the end it was a problem specific to their house. Bad grounding revealed after minor fire.

Way ahead of you :) House isn't perfect by any means, but the whole neighborhood has the problem too. It's the grid. They did do something to the grounding a long time ago which helped, I'm guessing the box wasn't properly grounded? So instead of spectacular deaths, they get slow electronic deaths.

They could install a voltage regulator to prevent the issues that damage electronics - https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/product-range-presentation/63377-surevolt-%E2%84%A2automatic-voltage-regulator/

I'll be perfectly honest, given some of the other problems that my family is dealing with, we don't have capacity to do anything about the power. It's not bad enough to rise to the top of "needs attention" pile. Getting old sucks.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Well, this makes me sad and happy at the same time.  Sad at what you went through, and sad that she is the way she is.  Because: why?  Sometimes what happens early in life can completely fuck up your life.  And you can't MAKE someone want a normal life.

But happy that you and VSB have peace.

I was 30 when I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  Those drugs are some good stuff - I was HAPPY.  EVERYONE was my friend and I wanted to thank everyone.

That would explain it.

I had mine done at around age 20. Three of them froze properly. The last one did not. It wasn't the worst pain I've ever experienced: I rated it as only a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. There are probably still finger marks in the chair arms, but it wasn't from the discomfort, the blood and bits of bone everywhere, or the TMJ joint on one side of my jaw unhinging like a python's. It was because the dental surgeon started humming and singing show tunes while he worked. Now, he'd been setting off my gay-dar for quite a while and when he started belting out Eponine's big solo "On My Own" from "Les Miserables" he pretty much removed all doubt. I really didn't care about his personal life, and his singing voice was actually pretty good, but his choice of repertoire was giving me TMI problems to go along with the TMJ problems. I got through the experience by fantasizing about all the different ways I could take his scalpel away and use it violently. But to this day I have flashbacks every time I hear that song.

From a superstitious perspective I kind of set myself up for the experience by agreeing to have the dental surgery done on the 13th day of the month, but since it was a Wednesday in April instead of a Friday in October I figured I was probably all right. Realistically, there's probably no such thing as a good day to pay someone to gouge teeth out of your jawbone without sewing up the holes left behind.

Afterwards I drove myself to university to turn in an assignment and take a test; it was safe to drive because all they used was injectable local anesthetic which wore off a couple hours later. I drooled a bit until that happened and probably looked kind of ridiculous sitting in the class. There were some pain pills to start in the evening, but after trying one and realizing they don't work on me I ignored the rest because I decided they were placebos so I ignored them. Oil of cloves worked much better. Subsequent surgeries, including two ACL replacements which I rate as a 4 and a 3 on the pain scale, I handled with basic ice and Ibuprofen.

I find that opiates, for me, have zero effect on actual pain and in my opinion just make it more annoying. One of my mutations, I suppose, or maybe it's my lack of faith making the placebo effect not work. I get all the unpleasant side effects including nausea, constipation, cognitive impairment, and the desire to cause massive physical and verbal damage to others. But not one bit of the joy.

[Sibley]

I find that opiates, for me, have zero effect on actual pain and in my opinion just make it more annoying. One of my mutations, I suppose, or maybe it's my lack of faith making the placebo effect not work. I get all the unpleasant side effects including nausea, constipation, cognitive impairment, and the desire to cause massive physical and verbal damage to others. But not one bit of the joy.

You are not alone there. Though they do make me fall asleep, or maybe lose consciousness? Regardless, I'm out.

[ixtap]

Closer to Grim Squeakers story without the adoption, I keep an eye on a teen mother. She always forgets to take diapers out and about, but we are spending today sitting in the courthouse because Dad brought the kid back with a diaper rash. I hand the kid a sippy cup, only to notice large cubes in the cup. Mom is chipping up vegetables to out in the sippy cup. And recently told me the kid will never have cow's milk while feeding the kid Alfredo sauce.

The kid is doing as well as any kid in the situation, and has a slew of caseworkers, but I am learning just how judgemental I really am.

I have also mastered not carrying any cash or plastic so that it is easier to say no to requests. Just dropped a hint about buyer her lunch, but gee darn, I had to take my purse out to the car because I couldn't bring the form from my own lunch in.

I do buy meals occasionally, I just won't be manipulated into doing it.

[Cressida]

I had mine done at around age 20. Three of them froze properly. The last one did not. It wasn't the worst pain I've ever experienced: I rated it as only a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. There are probably still finger marks in the chair arms, but it wasn't from the discomfort, the blood and bits of bone everywhere, or the TMJ joint on one side of my jaw unhinging like a python's. It was because the dental surgeon started humming and singing show tunes while he worked. Now, he'd been setting off my gay-dar for quite a while and when he started belting out Eponine's big solo "On My Own" from "Les Miserables" he pretty much removed all doubt. I really didn't care about his personal life, and his singing voice was actually pretty good, but his choice of repertoire was giving me TMI problems to go along with the TMJ problems. I got through the experience by fantasizing about all the different ways I could take his scalpel away and use it violently. But to this day I have flashbacks every time I hear that song.

oh my god, I would be in jail for homicide if this had happened to me. I admire your coping skills.

[Prairie Stash]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father consigned brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to consign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

White sheep of the family. The only one with their act together.

Black Sheep is the correct term. @BeautifulDay is probably the only one in the family with bank accounts in the black, credit rating super high.

It's high time that we Mustachians regard ourselves as the black sheep in consumer culture, the outliers, the mutations from $pendypant$ World, the recessives who got a double dose of frugality genes.

Black sheep means you're a non-conformist. Its not derogatory or bad, it means you stick out for being unique (some people consider being unique bad I guess). If you look at a flock of sheep, the black are noticeable, the white ones are boring and blend together. This is from historical times when everyone had white sheep because it was easier to dye their wool. Black Sheep have wool that changes colour with age, its harder to process so they were less likely to be kept as breeding stock.

Would you rather be like everyone else and a white sheep? Or stand out from the crowd and be the black sheep? Being the black sheep is a compliment, being called a white sheep in a family of spendypants is an insult.

[Abundant life]

Lots of shame to pass around today...

Call my mom and she tells me that my father consigned brother 1's home loan a while back.  In the last few months brother 1 got behind on his mortgage because wife wasn't able to work temporarily (emergency fund???).  Missed payment(s) hurt father's credit.  Yesterday father was trying to consign a loan for niece - daughter of brother 2.  Brother 2 can't cosign because his credit is crap. He can't pay his bills and is always borrowing from father while living a super spendy lifestyle. Father is turned down for the car loan because of brother 1's missed house payment.

This makes me crazy! Father is in his 80s. He will never retire because of this shit.

These two brothers aren't the only sibling mooches.  Big family and lots of mooching.

Sure hope my siblings have kids who will pay for their retirement.  I'm not going to help them.

To make things worse loan application required dad to drive to my town where brother 2 also lives.  Dad didn't even mentioned that he was coming to town. I've lived here 8 years and dad has come to see me twice.  But he comes up all the time to see brother 2.  I'm treated like a practical stranger.  My best guess - I'm not needy.  Often referred to as the black sheep of my family.  My big crime... doing my own thing i.e. Taking care of myself.

White sheep of the family. The only one with their act together.

Black Sheep is the correct term. @BeautifulDay is probably the only one in the family with bank accounts in the black, credit rating super high.

It's high time that we Mustachians regard ourselves as the black sheep in consumer culture, the outliers, the mutations from $pendypant$ World, the recessives who got a double dose of frugality genes.

Black sheep means you're a non-conformist. Its not derogatory or bad, it means you stick out for being unique (some people consider being unique bad I guess). If you look at a flock of sheep, the black are noticeable, the white ones are boring and blend together. This is from historical times when everyone had white sheep because it was easier to dye their wool. Black Sheep have wool that changes colour with age, its harder to process so they were less likely to be kept as breeding stock.

Would you rather be like everyone else and a white sheep? Or stand out from the crowd and be the black sheep? Being the black sheep is a compliment, being called a white sheep in a family of spendypants is an insult.

Or as they say in Mexico, the black rice!

[SwordGuy]

You ought to check to see if the neighbors have the same problem. I know someone who kept blowing up electronics. Power surges that seemed to affect them but not the neighbors.

In the end it was a problem specific to their house. Bad grounding revealed after minor fire.

Way ahead of you :) House isn't perfect by any means, but the whole neighborhood has the problem too. It's the grid. They did do something to the grounding a long time ago which helped, I'm guessing the box wasn't properly grounded? So instead of spectacular deaths, they get slow electronic deaths.

They could install a voltage regulator to prevent the issues that damage electronics - https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/product-range-presentation/63377-surevolt-%E2%84%A2automatic-voltage-regulator/

Voltage regulators are great.   Kept my electronics going when I was in Ethiopia for a year.   

[eliza]

Since I hijacked another thread to post about my spendypants sister and BIL, I thought I'd share my favorite recent story here.

My BIL like his toys.  A lot.  (My sister also likes to spend money, but this particular story isn't about her.)  He has a BMW, a top-end Harley, a half-dozen expensive guitars, every video gaming system known to man, a giant TV that he had to have that is way too big for the size rooms they have and is pretty much unwatchable, etc, etc, etc.

His newest thing: he's going to buy an airplane. Because, "It will be cheaper and easier than traveling by car for weekend getaways (that are ~four hours away)."   

WTF?  I find that hard to believe.

[kaypinkHH]

@eliza I'm just waiting until my BIL says something similar.

Mr HH's brother and his wife are living the big life! They have a financed LAMBOURGINI, 2 giant jeep things (also financed),  a McMansion, giant tvs (at one point they had 6 tvs in their house..for 2 people). All nice high end furniture, and appliances. Now they have 2 kids, and their house is FULL to the brim with toys, will probably need a new house soon.

They own a rental property but it is currently vacant (looking for new tenants).

Their monthly burn rate at the moment must be INSANE.

But yet they can't afford to move back to a LCOL area to be near family because the decrease in income will be too much to bear. #priorities.

[Roadrunner53]

We have a factory in our town where machine operators were making $80K and up depending on OT. A lot of these people were married (both working in the same department) and were living the life you describe: McMansions, BMW's, exotic vacations, motorcycles, boats, you name it, they bought it. Well, one day, without any notice they closed this department down. Not the whole factory but there were too many people to absorb so they all got laid off. BOOM! Where do you get a factory job where both husband and wife can make that kind of money per year? Rude awakening. A lot of them had to have a serious lifestyle adjustment. They probably didn't save in the 401K's either. If they did, they probably drained it dry to get by. Jobs come and go and the gravy train doesn't run forever.

[MgoSam]

We have a factory in our town where machine operators were making $80K and up depending on OT.

 Jobs come and go and the gravy train doesn't run forever.

Yup! It's really unfortunate how many manufacturing jobs have gone away over the past few decades but what really annoys me is how little many of the workers saved for such a downturn. I know a guy that went to ND and was bragging about how much money he was earning. Well he's back and just as broke because while he was earning a ton of money, he was spending it just as fast and is in roughly the same spot he was in.