Family business
 

Don't see anything like this so far. A place to either vent about yuour family or talk about how much you love them. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents --- even those people perhaps back in the mists of your family history that you are either really proud of or ashamed of. But mostly, I would think, your living family.

Do you get on with all your siblings/parents etc? Have you gripes about them? Are there things you would like to say to/about them, good or bad?

Obviously, use assumed names if you wish, and I'd expect everyone to treat the posts of everyone else with respect, given that we don't know who your family is or what your relationship to them is.

I've a lot to say (when do I not?) about my family, but rather than be seen as just using this as an excuse to start going on about them, I'll step back and hold off for a while if someone else would like to talk about theirs.

Never lend family or friends money (unless you're ok w/ never getting it back) b/c it never ends well.

There are a lot of black sheep in my family, unfortunately. Would take a few posts to talk about them lol.

most of my family is awesome. my grandfather on my mother's side however... not so much. he's 80 years old. came here from croatia in the 60s. got a job as a machinist/millwright at chrysler. lost half his leg in '83. with the money he got from that, he built a shop (like, from the ground up, by himself) which houses some pretty insane machinery. it's behind his house. he works in there on average about 12 hours a day. he's done this since forever. this means that he spends the majority of his time alone, in a world that he created alone. he also speaks terrible english. he's mad that i can't speak croatian (hrvatska) because it's hard for the two of us to communicate. he honestly believes this is my and my mother's fault, and the fact that he's been in the country long enough to secure a position as an english professor has nothing to do with it. he actually says "english is stupidity" on the basis that it's all stolen from other languages. he thinks it's dishonest, and the fault of the jews. i told him that we admit to stealing the language, as can be observed in any decent dictionary, but he doesn't hear it. i also told him that most languages (save the ones being used in remote tribes and such) - including croatian - have roots elsewhere. again, in one ear and out the other. i think on this matter he's actually just frustrated that he didn't take time to learn english, which, when coming from a germanic background, is understandable because we use letters that you can't hear and blah blah blah.

he enlists my help in his garage quite often. my hands are relatively small and very dextrous in comparison to his enormous meat-hooks, and i'm obviously more mobile due to both my legs being in tact. when i moved to the city he lives in recently i was kind of excited. i thought me and my g-pa could spend time bonding and he would teach me things and we would laugh and tell stories and so on and so forth. i had no idea what was ahead of me.

for one, he doesn't ask for help. he basically says that it's going to happen. being that i don't want to cause ripples i just kind of go along with it. i just do whatever he says that i'm to do. he's my grandpa, and as much as i'm not so fond of the patriarchal model, he's 80. the only reason that he's even alive is that his work creates within him the will to keep living. for some reason, i respect his will to live and don't want to infringe on it or make it harder.

for two, he talks to me like a total *sshole talks to his dog. he never asks for anything. he demands it and commands it. he's basically a dictator. he waves his hand in dismissal of anything i might mention that is of interest to me. when i talk about my ex, he says "forget her. all women are whores." when he needs something he says "zach you come" and when i've arrived he describes what i'm about to do for him, whether it be making him a coffee, going to get him a pack of cigarettes, or moving wood he's making a bench out of that i'm not allowed to nail together... as though i don't have a decade of experience in the trades.

for three, he's racist, sexist, and blames everything on the jews. i wouldn't even call them "the jews" were it not for my constant subjection to the term. i do understand that if one looks into it, there is a heavy zionist presence in the underlying workings of the world, but f*ck. oh yeah. he also hates gays. one time he was talking about how women don't like "sex in the rectum" because their nervous system isn't wired like that (which i disagree with, but didn't say so because i didn't want to get into my sexual history with him). he said hitler used to line homosexuals up and shoot them down because what they were doing was so wrong... or whatever. i asked him if he thought that was right. he looked at me like i was out of my mind and said "well yeah" and then reiterated the fact that women aren't wired to have anal sex... as though the only reason people are gay is that they like getting f*cked in the ass.

anyway. thanks for the thread trollheart. i've entered a new chapter in my life where i'm in very close proximity to a man i'm supposed to love who is made of pretty much all the things i hate. this is a good place to vent. muchos gracias.

Um.. "heavy zionist presence in the underlying working of the world"? As opposed to what.. the not-so-heavy non-jewish presence?
I see that you've looked into anti-semitism but it sounds like you own it now.

Also, I'm pretty sure gramps is gay. Straight men don't complain about women who like anal sex that much.

Christ, you've somehow made me happy that some of my family are only suicidal maniacs and not bigots. Fun thread.

Pick it apart.

I have wonderful parents who have supported me for a long time. They took care of me after the earthquakes and I'm not longer dependent on them for money. I am an only child (which some may have already guessed) and only have one grandma left. The only trouble I've had with family was with my Aunty who liked to force her opinions on me. I've gone through periods of not talking to her for over a year. But we are fine now and she respects my life a lot more. Although, recently I saw her and she freaked out over me wanting to buy a slice because it's sooo unhealthy and I'll gain weight. Luckily my metabolism can handle it!

:)

Hrmm..my family I wish I could say I had a wonderful
family. I fully recognize the jealousy I feel when
others tell me about their awesome family...I stay away
from mine for huge blocks of time, hoping that when
I resurface they will be the people I want them to be
instead of the dysfunctional bat **** crazy beings they
are...Well I have to say I am comfortable enough
with the mb community to reveal a few things...
When I was a little girl my mother passed away,
I was raised by her sister...so not only did I feel like the
odd girl out to make matters stranger I grew up in a cult.
Which when I was younger I never knew we were different
my teen years were spent abroad so I never really grasped
why people in my home town shyed away from me..
When I turned 18 I left and didn't look back...But as I
got older I discovered what "normal families"
were like and mine became a HUGE source of pain and
shame... They say you can leave this type of background
that you once you make up your mind you can be free
I've been "free" for about 11 years .....but I have never
really been free...its always there the ghosts of the past...
so I guess I have a love hate relationship with my kin...
I hate them because of what I was forced to belive..but
I love them because they are my blood and like it or not
they are mine....

Nice post.

Both of my granddads are bell-ends as well to be honest. One is dead and the other shares a few traits with yours. He came over from Ireland in the 50's I think, he's racist and absolutely hates the English, I'm talking a real burning hatred, he is from Belfast, so I think there is reason for it. Still stupid though.

I'm closest to my dad out of everyone, look up to him loads. I remember he told me that when he was dating my mom, two of her brothers (who are wankers) beat him up. Makes me rage thinking about that, I wasn't even born, would love to punch them though.

Most of my family are great though to be fair. I have two great parents and a big sister (who I didn't get on with growing up, but since we got older I realise I love her, haha)