Andare, Partire, Tornare ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- dog in the manger So, you can call me a dog in the manger. No, really. I'll wait while you do it. Because I pretty much am. My mom - remember her? No income except what she gets from my dad, who lives in Korea and sometimes gets antsy and doesn't send her the money each month, and is either complaining about how broke she is, or else spending money madly? Well, she's done it again. I don't really expect her to lavish huge amounts of money on me. Honest. I would like it - the greedy child in me would love to demand a couple thou here and there. But then, mom also loves this American institution called paying on credit, and that's where everything goes crazy. My mom, who already bought a new Jeep for my sister, and a huge conversion van for herself. got her heart set on buying a Lincoln Navigator. So today, she did. 44 grand on a nice big car that she has no use for whatsoever, expect that she likes being driven in the Navigator more than she likes being driven in the van. Am I totally nuts to be a trifle pissed at this? She's counting on my dad to keep his job, and not drop dead tomorrow, because if his money supply runs out, how will the morgage, the car payment, my sister's college expenses, a plane ticket for her back to the Philippines - all get paid? From the sale of some property in California that all her siblings are wrangling over and which may be in court for the next ten years? And yes, a part of me is entirely bitter that she's getting a super deluxe butt-massaging, champagne in the back seat, drive to the Hamptons sort of vehicle, while I can't muster the money to get an apartment that doesn't need to be shared, or purchase a slightly used Honda Civic. But then, even if I still lived with her, I don't think I'd be too thrilled about it, especially if I knew that big expenses might hit at any time in the future. Frankly, my dad could choose at any time to go back into hiding in Korea, or some other country, and we'd never find him if he didn't want to be found. He could start using his Koreanized name, and just become invisible. And then where would mom and Boop be? Up shit creek, that's where. So anyway, that's the story of today. Mom got a luxury car, and I got a case of the bitters. And now I'm doing laundry in the basement of a house that isn't mine, getting ready to go into a job tomorrow that I love but which will never pay me enough to be totally comfortable. Wah, wah, wah. 9:25 p.m. - 2002-06-02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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