Even when working, Oldest has constant issues with coming up with enough money to pay her rent etc. I frequently get a call complaining that she's "short." I never offer to help, by the way. She occasionally asks, but I always say no. She seems to "count her chickens" a lot ... counting on this or that money to come in from this or that source, just in time to pay her rent. In between, she spends plenty of money eating/drinking out, and never has any contingency fund for "emergencies." Frequently, that money she counted on having on a specific day, doesn't materialize.
So, I just got another one of those calls. Seems her paycheck today was lower than expected, which means she is short on her share of the rent/utilities. The reason? She's been docked for a "fire at work." I asked her what fire, and it seems that last week a spatula was left on the stove and caught fire. Her story: It couldn't have been HER that left the spatula there, however, because she had just started her shift, and she was the one that found it burning on the stove, and it must have been left there by the person whose shift had just ended. She hadn't even begun cooking yet when she found the fire. She put it out, and there was minimal damage, but she was charged $70 for replacing the spatula and getting the melted stuff cleaned off the stove. This is not fair, see, because SHE did not leave it there, it was IMPOSSIBLE for her to have left it there, she had just come on shift! But, even though she didn't do it, she offered to split the cost with the person who'd been on the previous shift, she thought that was perfectly fair. She wasn't sure who that person was, though, and her boss won't tell her. In fact, when she called him to tell him about the fire, he didn't even come in to work to check on it for several hours, can you believe that? He did, however, tell her that it might have been a much higher cost if the fire had not been caught so quickly. So see, she actually saved the place from further damage (ok, I added that last part, but she implied it).
Amazing, isn't it?
If this was the first time she'd told such a story, I'd be inclined to believe her, maybe even feel sorry for her. But, it's always something. And that something is always someone else's fault, and she's been wrongly accused, or horribly misunderstood. So, her roommate is mad at her. She doesn't know what her roommate expects her to do, she doesn't even have money for groceries or food until she gets paid again next Friday, let alone her share of the utilities. Now she has to listen to her roommate giving her "stuff" about it. What a horrible day she's having.
Years ago, this sort of thing frustrated me, puzzled me. Now, it just really makes me laugh. Progress?
So, I just got another one of those calls. Seems her paycheck today was lower than expected, which means she is short on her share of the rent/utilities. The reason? She's been docked for a "fire at work." I asked her what fire, and it seems that last week a spatula was left on the stove and caught fire. Her story: It couldn't have been HER that left the spatula there, however, because she had just started her shift, and she was the one that found it burning on the stove, and it must have been left there by the person whose shift had just ended. She hadn't even begun cooking yet when she found the fire. She put it out, and there was minimal damage, but she was charged $70 for replacing the spatula and getting the melted stuff cleaned off the stove. This is not fair, see, because SHE did not leave it there, it was IMPOSSIBLE for her to have left it there, she had just come on shift! But, even though she didn't do it, she offered to split the cost with the person who'd been on the previous shift, she thought that was perfectly fair. She wasn't sure who that person was, though, and her boss won't tell her. In fact, when she called him to tell him about the fire, he didn't even come in to work to check on it for several hours, can you believe that? He did, however, tell her that it might have been a much higher cost if the fire had not been caught so quickly. So see, she actually saved the place from further damage (ok, I added that last part, but she implied it).
Amazing, isn't it?
If this was the first time she'd told such a story, I'd be inclined to believe her, maybe even feel sorry for her. But, it's always something. And that something is always someone else's fault, and she's been wrongly accused, or horribly misunderstood. So, her roommate is mad at her. She doesn't know what her roommate expects her to do, she doesn't even have money for groceries or food until she gets paid again next Friday, let alone her share of the utilities. Now she has to listen to her roommate giving her "stuff" about it. What a horrible day she's having.
Years ago, this sort of thing frustrated me, puzzled me. Now, it just really makes me laugh. Progress?
