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01 June 2008

What in the fuck. tl;dr vent inside, feel free to share your own[More:]

So. My parents are at Disney for the week. Anniversary. Yay.

Anyway, since they've been gone both my sisters have stockpiled dishes in the sink. Ew. I left a note asking them to take care of it because, y'know, it's nasty, but also because it'll probably attract ants like we've had in the past.

I wake up to find that the note, on the sink full of dishes, is gone, the dishes remain of course. But also my computer has been shut off, and my mouse's USB stick is missing.

....um. What?

So I ask both my sisters if they have seen it. They both say no. I doubt my little sister would do it, this sounds like the super trained-by-my-mother passive aggressiveness of my older sister.
So I call her phone several times, as she's out, and she doesn't pick up. Figures. I knew she wouldn't anyway.

So I say fuck it. I go up to her room and look on her desk. No USB stick. But, I do find something else. A shitload of Post-It notes, all stuck to each other. Well that's odd. I look at what is written on the only one I can see. "I'm taking your shitty graduation present as a sign that I should move far away from you."

What in the fuck?

My sister graduated from college this month. She received pearl earrings and a pearl necklace from my parents. She later confided to me that she is not, nor has she ever been, interested in jewelery. Oh. And now I see this stack of post it notes, which I assume all say sentiments like that. There was one other within plain sight that said in all caps and underlined "I'M SELLING IT."

So now I'm pissed. One because I know it's her who acted like a 5 year old and stole something I need to use part of my computer and is now lying about it, but also because she's apparently completely not appreciative of the sentiment/$$$ that went into the gift she received, but instead of talking to my parents and saying "hey I appreciate the thought but I'm not sure a gift like this is much use to me, do you think we could exchange it for something else?" (my mother told her if she didn't like the gift she could do just that, though I'm sure she was thinking in terms of jewelery), she is apparently "taking it as a sign that she should move far away?" What the fuck ever you ungrateful twerp. Our parents don't owe you shit, they paid for your college education, and now I hope you have a ton of fun repaying the federal loans.

Grrr. If you can't tell, she's the kind of person who says that they hate where they're from solely because it's where they're from. She's got this grand plans to move to Britain, but you'll excuse me if my cynical nature predicts that will never happen.

Blah. Needed to vent. Certainly not going to tell my parents about the stupid notes, but I had to tell somebody. Anyway I just sent her a text telling her I'm going to start looking for the USB stick in her room in 15 minutes. Hopefully I'll hear back from her. :)

How's about you guys?
Oh I Hope she moved to the UK and ends up in a dingy super expensive one-room flat in Brixton which has both mice and ants, costs and arm and a leg, is as drafty as a swiss cheese in a tornado, and requires only 50-p coins to operate the gas heater, which will work for exactly five minutes on each coin and only heat the five inches in front of it. The sink has seperate hot and cold taps and no plug for the drain and by teh way hot means "scolding third degree burn" and cold means "pure icecycle". I also hope she gets a soul crushing job as a clerk somewhere where you have to wear nylons all day and the boys in the office make those smart alec ironic jokes that fly well above her head because she just can't understand neither British humor, slang, nor their intonations just yet, and I hope she cries her way to sleep wishing she was home every night.

How's that for passive aggresive? ;)

* Full disclosure to all Londoners, I so hated London at the beginning for the aforementioned reasons, but once I was over the strangeness hump, I loved the hell out of it.
posted by dabitch 01 June | 11:48
But, I do find something else. A shitload of Post-It notes, all stuck to each other. Well that's odd. I look at what is written on the only one I can see. "I'm taking your shitty graduation present as a sign that I should move far away from you."

That's kinda creepy.
posted by cmonkey 01 June | 12:22
Wow. That's pretty awful. I second what dabitch said.

I have a rant, but I already posted it here. Passive-aggressive people suck so very very much.
posted by elizard 01 June | 12:38
Haha wow dabitch. London strikes me as the New York of Europe, so I doubt my sister would last very long there.

Cmonkey, you're telling me.

Update: I go in the shower, hear my sister come home, go up to her room, come down and back up again. I also hear her knock on my little sister's door and whisper something. My little sister laughs. Little sister leaves to go do something, older sister is now in her room. Hmm. I come downstairs and OH LOOK MY USB STICK IS BACK you immature bitch. But the laughing... there was no reason for her to laugh unless my older sister took/did something else. You can call me paranoid, but you can't tell me it's not reasonable to think it.

I thought I--the only boy, middle child, and the one with ADD--was supposed to be the annoying/immature one?
posted by CitrusFreak12 01 June | 12:40
Great, I'm pretty sure she took my wallet. Finally caved and texted my mom asking if she could do anything. What the fuck, is this all because I left a note about the dishes? Fuck them!
posted by CitrusFreak12 01 June | 12:47
Your wallet? Your WALLET?!?!?!? What the fuck? Who does this sort of thing? I feel for ya, CitrusFreak. I'd be bordering on violence by now.
posted by elizard 01 June | 12:49
She took your wallet? I've been in enough crappy roommate housing disputes to know that escalating the situation isn't a good idea, but I think she's just pushed you into "fish oil embedded into her the mattress" territory.
posted by cmonkey 01 June | 12:55
Found wallet, it was underneath a pile of my magazines... where I... didn't leave it? Whatever. Perhaps it was done with ill intent, perhaps not. I decided to let that one go. But here is the conclusion (hopefully) to the saga. I wanted to know why she took the damn thing, so I went and asked.

::knock knock knock::
Her: Yeah?
Me: You're taking my stuff now?
Her: What?
Me: You took my USB stick.
Her, obviously lying: I didn't take your usb...
Me: Yeah, you fucking did, and you gave it back after I threatened to go through your room to find it.
Her: Did you go in my room?
Me: No (there is no way I am opning up that can of worms, forgive me for lying), I figured the threat alone would make you give it back and it did. Don't. Touch. My. Shit. ::slam door::
Her, yelling over the door in passive aggressive "really pleasant none of that just happened" tone: Could you do the dishes K thanks!
Me: Oh fuck off!

To those of you with children: please, PLEASE while you still can, tell them that passive aggressiveness is NOT the answer! Same with violence of course but still, both kinda really suck.

Y'know what? I WAS going to do the dishes tonight if they were both still there. I really was. But now? Fuck her. She can do them.
posted by CitrusFreak12 01 June | 12:59
Hide all the clean cutlery, plates, glasses and cups in the house tonight. Win passive aggressive war!

London the New York of Europe? I moved there straight from New York which is probably part of the reason I had such a hard time adjusting. Very different mental ways but both huge cities.

I have a soft spot for London, but really huge crush on NYC still. I wouldn't move back to London. NYC on the other hand, could be doable (but the expense, aargh)

Keep in mind I lived there when the was no decent cappuccino to be had except for one place in SoHo , nearly every bar closed at 11 still, and nothing was open on Sundays.
posted by dabitch 01 June | 13:54
Keep in mind I lived there when the was no decent cappuccino to be had except for one place in SoHo , nearly every bar closed at 11 still, and nothing was open on Sundays.

Not much has changed.
posted by essexjan 01 June | 14:01
Do bomb scares and "leaves on the track" still throw the underground out of whack?
posted by dabitch 01 June | 14:18
Oh totally. And the big scary one is things left on the train. From time to time the army blows up somebody's forgotten sandwiches to make sure the terrorists don't win.
posted by essexjan 01 June | 14:28
*long, rambling post, deleted*

CF, I hear you. My currently bitchy stepdaughter(see here) took her computer, but left the cord to plug it into the wall. She's planning on moving to Texas to be with some boy she doesn't really know, though she doesn't drive, hates to work, and expects everyone to do for her. She's 18 in years but about 13 in behaviour.
posted by redvixen 01 June | 14:44
Just do the dishes and seize the moral high ground.
posted by mullacc 01 June | 14:50
That sucks, dude. I'd put a lock on my door, hop in the car, and take myself out to dinner somewhere decent. Fuck'em.
posted by BitterOldPunk 01 June | 15:07
mullacc has a point actually. I had two roommates who left piles and piles of dishes in teh sink every weekend (when I was away) to greet me on my Sunday night return. I did funny notes signed "the wicked witch of the west" (we lived in the west village, i was sooo funny. not). I did the dishes anyway, beacue jesus, I need my cap like nothing else in the mornings so if all cups are dirty I need to change that.

The moral highground, which I took by doing that (and not even realizing) actually paid back in spades months later when one roommate tried to cheat me out of half a months rent, and the other roommate, equal slob who would normally side with him suddenly siad "dude, she did all your fucking dishes for siix months now give her the fucking money!"

he promised to send me the money, but didn't, and just a week or two later he was beaten so badly that he had to have his jaw wired shut for five months. I think Karma kicked his ass.
posted by dabitch 01 June | 15:41
Feh! The moral high ground be exploded! Fuck the moral high ground. In this case both of them expect me to do their dishes and one of them took to hiding my shit and both lied about it multiple times, apparently to get back at me for... for... I dunno, leaving that note? She lied to my face about taking and then returning my USB stick (oh it must have just left and returned all on its own, odd how it coincided with you leaving and arriving, eh?). It won't be the moral high ground, it'll be "jeez took you long enough to do those dishes." Why she escalated this to hiding my stuff is completely beyond me, other than the fact that she's older than me and is apparently somewhat out of her mind what with her hiding in her room all day writing angry notes to my mother that she'll never give her, so I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time?

Now, doing the dishes after sticking her toothbrush in the toilet? That's something I could get behind. Though I doubt I'll do that. Very unsanitary. Just give me more than the "moral high ground" and I'll gladly do the dishes.
posted by CitrusFreak12 01 June | 17:07
Dude, you're a great target. I kinda wanna fuck with you now too.
posted by mullacc 01 June | 17:47
Dude, this is the childish type of "We were only joking!" bullying that they should have outgrown in grade school. Really. How old are they? 12?? I'm pissed off on your behalf (and glad to be an only child).

Personally, I'd do the dishes, install a lock on my bedroom door and tell them in plain, clear, calm short words that you're not taking this shit from them. And if the childishness continues, put all your stuff in your room, lock it, and proceed to fuck with them. A make-up "present" of fresh post-it's should do for sister No 1.
posted by ninazer0 01 June | 18:34
Like ninazer0 I was thinking "12" as well.

Really though the thing is when your parents get home it's going to be left to your Mum probably to sort the dishes out. She's just been on holiday and then comes home to chaos. That is so damn demoralizing to face - especially with 3 "adult" children in the house.

I would just do the dishes and get your karma points.
posted by gomichild 01 June | 18:50
More like 23 and almost 17. My mother will most certainly not do the dishes, I promise you that.
Grr. Karma points. I guess. Maybe. Depending on how much I drink tonight.

Ninazer0, that post-it note idea is hysterical. I'llhave to remember that one...
posted by CitrusFreak12 01 June | 19:19
hehehe, once playing truth or dare I made a jordie crawl around Cannes with his own toothbrush up his ass.
I remember his shriek the next morning, when he needed to get ready for the bus to the airport or something, he was brushing his teeth and suddenly just yelled out: NOOOOOOOooooOO!
my fault, sorry
ps - never play truth or dare with me, ds.
posted by dabitch 01 June | 20:16
Sorry. My point was: take your sisters out to truth or dare. they suck but they are your blood. They should learn NOW that the only person that will stay in their lives no matter what is blood. I suck BTW,. You seem like a very DAMN COOL brother if I may say so.
posted by dabitch 01 June | 20:23
Actually, why didn't you just do the dishes if it bothered you so much? Sorry, but I'm with mullacc here - if you put a post-it note on dirty dishes telling me to wash them, you would consider yourself lucky if you just got your USB stick stolen and not shoved up your arse sideways.
posted by dg 01 June | 21:26
My (various) thoughts on this:

You guys are grouped too closely together, age-wise, for there not to be tension... and this dynamic may continue (to some degree) all of your lives. I'm seven years older than my sister, so this kind of thing would never have happened, just because the "power structure" (for lack of a better word) and give-and-take was very clearly defined for us. I was her protector, her teacher, her babysitter, I bought her special things with my own earned money... and I was also a teenage pig, and she was a little neatnik - and she would have done the dishes. Between the three of you, I imagine that there has always been a struggle to define your relationship, and a lot of sparring, competition for attention, maybe this kind of grouping of two on one in different configurations, depending on the situation.

The problem there is that this sort of energy reduces all three of you to your lowest common denominator, in terms of maturity. The least mature or thoughtful attitude or action from one of you, as long as you are all together, evokes similar behavior from the other two, either in support or reaction, so that you are all operating well beneath your optimum level. Once you recognize that, you might be able to circumvent the vicious cycle (at least for yourself) by refusing to lower your own bar.

And just a general thought here - nobody likes complaining notes. They pretty much always make people mad. Whenever possible, confront a situation head-on, in person, and if you need to leave a note because you won't be seeing them, try to make it non-accusatory. For example, instead of a note saying "If you drink all the milk, BUY MORE MILK, so the rest of us can have breakfast!!!!!!!!" try something like "I have classes until 9, so I'll see you tonight. If you get a chance, could you pick us up some more milk? Thanks, CF".

But that's the kind of note you leave if you just really want milk, instead of to vent. Did you really, really think that your sisters would see your note and then wash the dishes? I bet you didn't. You've known them all your life, and probably have some idea of what to expect. You might have said (in person) something along the lines of, "we're getting behind on the dishes, and I'm worried about the ants coming back, so I'll do these to get us caught up, and then let's each try to just wash our own dishes as soon as we're done so mom and dad don't come back to an ant farm." This is about trying to solve the problem, and it might or might not work, but it doesn't drag you down to tween-level interaction. If they won't do it after that, they won't do it. Wash your own, and hope they'll eventually follow your lead.
posted by taz 02 June | 00:01
dg: ??? well that's reasonable.

Taz, to be honest, I thought I had a 50:50 shot with the note. I really did.
Sound advice. I'll do the darn things. If only to spare myself the aggravation when my parents get home, see the dishes, and tell me to do them anyway. :P
posted by CitrusFreak12 02 June | 00:46
A note on gift-giving and how that relates to attention:

Speaking as the younger of two sisters, I somewhat empathize with the girl who thought her family would have known that she doesn't wear jewelry and was disappointed when she got something that didn't jibe with her interests. For one of my birthdays post-college, my three-years older sister got me a "Pretty Princess Party Pail" or something similarly named which was a bucket filled with enough stuff to give five people mani-pedis and invitations for the mani-pedi party. WTF, I said/thought to my sister because at that point, she had always known me to be a tomboyish geek. Her response: "Well, you and your friends might have a lot of fun with a girly party." No, me and my friends would have a lot of fun watching MST3K DVDs, or playing in our GURPS game, or talking about fan fiction, or going to amusement parks.

In my mind, I conflated that into the argument that my sister never understood me, and she wants to chaaaaaange me into being the same kind of girly-girl she is when I really want to be my own kind of girly-tomboy-y-girl and why didn't she just get me books or a gift certificate to a book store and italics and DRAMA and WOOOOOOOEEEEEEE....

My sister and I have since reached an understanding. She gets me stuff from my Amazon.com wishlist, I give her a choice of inexpensive girly soaps and different kinds of books and geekish DVDs and some other non-geekish things to choose from, she's come to understand that I'm just different from her, and I acknowledge that she's different from me.

Mind you, we're both in our 30s now, so you may have a bit to wait till your sis gains that kind of clarity.
posted by TrishaLynn 02 June | 07:01
Man am I glad I don't live with my siblings anymore. There were four of us, and while none of the specifics have much to do with anything, oy the generalized flashback horror.
posted by cortex 02 June | 10:09
If someone steals your wallet, you call the police. Get all worried about the wallet. Express concern that the house has been burgled. Pick up your phone, with at least 1 sister present and dial time and temp, or a friend. Report the missing wallet. Express frustration that you have to go downtown to fill out forms. Your wallet's gonna reappear. Never, ever, let on that it was a faked call. If it doesn't, call the police for real.

Your sister sounds kind of screwed up. Ask her is she's okay. You're at a good age to start being a support to sibs.
posted by theora55 02 June | 10:27
I thought I--the only boy, middle child, and the one with ADD--was supposed to be the annoying/immature one?

See here's the thing to really get to know: what you wrote there, about the ADD, is backwards. It is because you've the ADD and are the middle child that they are pressing your buttons. They are ignorant children that need to fuck with their brother's head to feel any kind of self worth. It's pathetic but true.My father is just like this. What he thinks is an amusing game is always really just messing around (passive-aggressively)with his children to feel superior. (Oh how I could tell you stories!)

You can love them deeply but still realize they are assholes. In fact, you'd be more likely to love them more if you just faced that one fact because you will be freed-up to simply accept them and move on.

Lock on the door and do what you have to, to be the person that you want to be. If that means having to clean the dishes for mom, then do it for her and NOT for them.
posted by MonkeyButter 02 June | 22:02
Baby Bunny! OMG! || Sharing my good mood:

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