Aristo! Aristo! A la lanterne!: A private message in public......

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A private message in public......

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Yesterday I got a voice message from the STBEW. Three Hundred dollars is needed for youngest son to have new glasses.

Fine... I left a message in return that I would deposit said funds in her account, as long as it wasn't overdrawn. (I won't dump money in just to have her bank sweep it away in overdraft fees).

This ignited a firestorm. I woke this morning to four voice messages and twelve text messages, from her and all three sons. I also see she spent hours reading over my old blog posts last night.

Apparently I am required to bow as I hand over the money I work hard for, and my response did not equal a deep enough bow. Not one phone call or text message asked my side, nor inquired what I thought. My thoughts and opinions don't carry enough weight to consider... my designated role is to shut up and shovel cash.

So be it. At least... with the 'shut up' part. Any further phone calls or texts will be deleted unread.

Have a nice life.

Oh.... I did deposit money in her account, and the boy did get his glasses.

Robert Heinlein

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please — this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No — and to be rude about it when necessary.
Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"