Angsty wrote:
If I did that sort of sh*t to my family, I'd be on my own permanently.
I wish it were that way in my family. My grandparents were always too soft-hearted though; wherever their kids screwed up, they tried to help out.
An uncle of mine has done nothing with his life - married a vile, manipulative *****, had a couple of kids by her, generally did nothing and went nowhere. My grandparents tried to bail them out a few times. Sometimes they sent money (they frittered it away). Once they even bought a piece of property and put a house on it for them (they destroyed it; stupid ***** got in an argument with my uncle, decided driving her car through the wall was a reasoned, rational response, etc).
Wherever they stumble, my grandparents would try to help them out. It's their son. Not having kids of my own, I can't understand it.
The grandparents have been too good about taking care of us grandkids, too. My uncle's two sons have been handed money on the side as they try to get established in life (one's a violent sociopath, the other's just a born loser - working on his second wife now at 24, think he's doing security for a dept store). My aunt's oldest daughter (the cousin referenced above) has been given money, sold a car at next to no cost, etc., to try and help get her on her feet.
My aunt's youngest daughter really has her act together. 17, intelligent, able to take care of herself. As a result, she gets nothing. Same as my brother and I - neither of us has problems, so we receive no particular support.
That part doesn't bother me. We've got it together, we don't need help.
What bothers me is that the help being given has not fixed any problems with the people involved; if anything, it has intensified them, by constantly providing a safety net. No matter how bad things got someone was there to pull their *** out of it and set them back on their feet. Actions have no permanent, lasting consequence.
As a result they have failed to learn personal responsibility. It shows in everything they do.
bleh. Drifting into a rant against a social issue (the nanny society/endless protection from failure). I'll curtail; we've heard all that stuff a dozen times before. I guess I just have a lot of personal examples on which I've based my opinions.
PS: 14 months it is - I'm shooting for that, too. Figuring it'll end in abuse, though I can't tell who'll start beating who first (cousin's bipolar, medicated; one of the reasons she likes Mr. Skeeve so much is because he doesn't require that she take her medicine. Woo!)
PPS: Mrs. Skeeve?
Edited, Fri Feb 24 12:14:22 2006 by Wingchild
I'll have to ask him. 
