Josh is totally spoiled. He's not obnoxious about it, but he definitely gets everything he wants. His mother buys him a whole new set of bedding each year. Josh told me this once when we were fooling around and I realized they weren't the same sheets as the last time. If he gets a stain on his clothes or rips something, he throws them out and gets new ones. Josh has more shoes than me and my sisters combined.
There is a special thing in his bathroom for the wintertime, where it makes your towels warm for when you get out of the shower. Josh does not know how to cook anything harder than eggs. Once when I was over making him dinner, Josh offered to help. I told him he could make the pasta and he started trying to figure out how many quarts were needed. Josh goes on trips out of the country multiple times a year. His parents have houses in other places. His family has two Wii's. Josh owns two fancy suits.
So yes Josh is definitely spoiled. He will totally admit it.
I don't want to pay rent for a place after school ends because first it's going to be hard to get someone to agree since I'm not 18 and second I should not HAVE to since I'm not 18! There is no way it costs Aunt Elaine $950 or however much a month of rent would be to take care of us. No way. It would be one thing if I was like 27 and still living with her. Then it would be fair for her to kick us out. But I don't turn 18 until the fall, after college starts.
3 comments:
You're right. As I understand it Craig is your best bet for an advocate. Talk to him. Have him talk to you about your options, and what you can do if Elaine goes through on her threats to change the locks.
Of course you should not have to! That is why we've been encouraging you to let Craig be involved, to contact some legal authority who will force your aunt to refrain from kicking you out, if informing her yourself that you will be out August 15th and holding firm doesn't work.
You, however, seemed resigned to being kicked out, treating that as a given not to be changed and instead focusing on where you would live. You mentioned living in a car. You said that you couldn't ask Josh's parents to start the apartment early because you couldn't ask them to start paying early and you couldn't pay the full rent, while if you were on your own you'd have a rent you could afford.
But whether you rent an apartment yourself, get a sublet, or Josh's parents start the apartment early and only require your share of rent, you'd still be paying rent. The only way for you to not pay extra rent is to stay with your aunt. A housesitting gig could be hard to find. Obviously, living in a car will not work.
It stinks for you to stay with your aunt and her abuse any longer than you have to, but given the finances, it is good that you are back to focusing on how to get her to uphold her legal responsibilities.
If she wants you to move out sooner, she needs to foot the bill.
As for not yet being eighteen and renting, a few thoughts: If you were to become a legally emancipated minor to be the legal guardian of your sisters, not being of age would be moot. Some sublets and rooms for rent, often more informal arrangements, would not be concerned with the specifics of age. And as an entering college student, being under eighteen is less of a consideration; a college student needing an apartment is understandable and quite common, and university housing offices can back you up.
But if you are able to keep your aunt from locking you out and then move in with Josh in August, you wouldn't need to worry about any of the above paragraph.
It sure is a lot to handle, though, any way you slice it.
I tend to think of spoiled not as having to do directly with what a person has but rather concerning the person's attitude about it -- expectation, entitlement, lack of appreciation, lack of understanding the situations of others. Also about actions -- not frugal but wasteful, not generous but selfish. And yes, the absence of ability, but also of motivation, to do for one's self.
I've seen those towel warmers. Pretty neat! Apparently, they also keep the towels more hygienic until the next washing by speeding up the drying after each use, and some can also serve in place of a radiator in a small bathroom.
It would be nice not to have to wear totally ratty clothing, but it would also be nice for Josh to know how treat stains and mend rips, to know that a repaired garment can be suitable for wear.
At least Josh knows to some extent what it is he has. Luckily, he has you to both enlighten him further and to teach him how to cook.
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