Now, no-one's family is perfect, so there are always family things that you do regardless of their vapidity or the general bored disinterest of all participants. It's part of the grease that lets families exist. For the past calendar year we've already performed the normal holiday "since we're co-located at the moment, let's play nice & pretend we care" rituals like:
Aunt: So... when is the wedding?or
Madeline: We were married in April.
Aunt: Oh, well I guess we'll have to get that present right in the mail!
Aunt: So how come you never let us know when you're visiting?So, when I checked my email this morning, the last thing I expected was this:
Me: I called you the last three times I was in town.
Aunt: Oh.
Hi JimIf it's true that it's the thought that counts & not the gift... do they really sell gift certificates that small?
Hope you and Addy are doing fine!
I want to get you both a gift certificate for your wedding gift. Sorry............. this gift is quite tardy, but I am trying to catch up. Where would be a good place for you all to have a gift certificate?
If you are ever in Dallas, give us a buzz. We would love to see you.
Let me know what you think about the gift certificate.
Love, ******
20 comments:
Heh. Yeah, I called them numerous times, too. Shit, I live in the same county as they do... even bumped into my uncle in the elevator at work.
They don't care.
And, of course, they already have been told you're moving to Dallas.
So, do gift certificates come in "backhand?"
"Some of my family actually treat my brothers and I like we're members of the family, and it's really nice"
And who would that be exactly?
I think Dad is starting to get the point now since I refer to them all as 'your family'.
Oh and give my best to 'Addy'
SuperBiff -- don't want to get into names in public, but there are a few. Not that we have much in common, but I'll take a family member who acts like "not as close" family over falsity like the aforementioned any day of the century.
Oh please; I'm sure you can define them via indirect descriptions.. Such as 'the guy who used to be an unbelievable brat' or 'Mr Z', etc..
Heh. Sounds like some of my extended family. Weirdly enough, the ones who are worth a damn are on my father's side, while the one's who are, to quote my mother, "devil people" are on my mother's side...
-- Rufel
It's not that distinctly split here.
There's no secret about who this is, and it's clear that, as usual, the only reason she even bothers is that she feels that it's expected of her. Talk about being too fucking stupid to realize that people notice getting the backhand treatment. There's a reason (beyond the fact that they treated Mom like absolute shit for decades) that I never bother talking to these people, even though they're close enough to drop by every night after work... just because you share a common ancestor (and a very cool one, btw) does NOT make you family.
And a silence fell over the land...
Well, welcome to your very own Blair Moment. :)
Here's your trophy.
Good Luck and God Damn.
I need coffee.
Ah, coffee. Did you even get the gift certificate? And if so, what did you get at Spencer's with it?
And if this isn't a personal question, how did they treat your Mom poorly?
Talking down to her b/c she didn't have a degree, and a large assortment of typically-insonsiderate behavior almost exactly like Jim's quoted, mostly in the "you don't count" category, like setting up family stuff three weeks in advance, and then giving Mom an hour's notice via some well-intentioned third party (if she got any at all). Or, her very favorite, "well, it was a family (decision, get-together, fill-in-the-blank(," to which my Mom's bitter reply was "well, what does that make me, chopped liver?"
It's just something they do -- they think their shit doesn't stink, and are just absolutely convinced people are too stupid to realize when they're being treated poorly. It's all I can do not to bust teeth in when I see them pulling similar shit talking down to Granddad and patronizing him just because he's older and not quite so up on the latest consumer tech. (The irony here being that Gd has got more soul at 10 a.m. on a random Tuesday than these pretentious fucks have on Christmas Morning.)
Blair: no, we didn't, but I rather precluded it with my last email to them...
Begin quote:
> No, seriously.
Actually, I was serious. And I had already spoken
with Maddie about it.
> Larry and I need to get you two a wedding gift.
No, in fact you don't. The wedding was a long time
ago and we're not checkboxes. If you're concerned
about satisfying some point of propriety or something,
please don't be. The idea that tossing some money at
us is going to be meaningful in any non-insulting way
is just factually incorrect. And now that it's over a
year from the day of the wedding, we're under no
obligation to accept presents we don't want.
End Quote.
Needless to say, we haven't heard back from the pathetic jackasses.
In retrospect, perhaps "pathetic jackasses" is a little stronger language than is warranted. Perhaps merely "clueless" would better suffice.
Well put. I liked your Mom, although I didn't know her well. I also liked the checkbox comment. Why is it that only family can be that rude?
And with as generally cool as you guys are, are you even related? You guys don't have aneedlessly snooty bone in your body if at all.
Yeah, we're related. The sad thing is that these are among the relatively less lame of my father's family. At least in my family we don't get into gunfights where no-one hits anything. :o)
Ah, I thought these were your Mom's siblings. It is much clearer now.
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