I'm going to throw this out here, and you tell me if you'd be put off: About every other year, my cousin the rich one with the attorney husband and the three spoiled brats throws a thing on Christmas Eve. And every year since the spoiled brats were little, I've spent a ton of money buying them each a gift, which is all right, because they're kids, and I usually ended up buying them Shel Silverstein books. This year, the family tells Mother and me NOT to buy anything, because money's tight for me and Mother cries poor even though she's not.

We get there, we eat, and then it's time for Attorney's side to have their annual grab-bag, and that was cool. But then, Cousin the Rich One starts handing presents out to my aunt, my cousin, the kids, Mother ...(!) Yeah, Mother gets a gift handed to her while I was standing right there. I? Got nothing.

Now, it's not that I'm some sort of present whore or anything, and it's not that I'm not happy that she thought of Mother. But wasn't that rude? Or is it just me?

Mother thinks she got something because she goes with my aunt to the spoiled brats' soccer games and all that rot, but even she was a bit horrified by the blatant ignoring. I mean, I don't go to their soccer games and all that because not one of them has ever asked me to go. Sure, the chances are good that I might be working, but if I wasn't I would, because kids deserve support in those kinds of things. Never been asked. Oh, and then I guess my aunt was pissing and moaning that I never call her. Well, guess what? I don't see her picking up the phone to see how I'm doing raising Mother, but you don't see me fucking complaining. So I tell Mother this, and she tells me that oh, with seniors you (meaning "I") have to bend. To that I said "Bull. fucking. shit" (exact words, too). You get my respect when you give me yours, and I don't give a Goddamn how old you are. Not that I'm going to mow down little ol' ladies or anything, but no one gets to be an asshole just because they turn 65. Yeah, I know you have aches and pains and you can't move around like you used to; that still doesn't give you license to be an ass.

So there you go. Let the commenting commence.