Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Way Too Much Information!

When I went on vacation in March, a couple of my friends helped me out by taking care of some of my animals. I, in turn, am reciprocating by taking care of their animals this week. Over the weekend I met up with said friend to pick up her dog. We had a nice visit. The problem I had all weekend was getting way too much information from people.

Friend 1: As I was getting my dog sitting instructions, the conversation turned to Friend 1's new boyfriend. And the active sex life the two of them have. Honestly, I really don't care about Friend 1's active sex life. I'm happy for her that she has a new man in her life, but really folks, I don't need to hear that you are at it like rabbits. Please, keep that information to yourself.  The other half of the conversation centered around how she was finding it a bit of stretch to live in her new home that her parents gave her financial assistance to buy. I found the second half of the conversation annoying since I also know how much financial assistance her parents gave her,which was significant both in terms of cash and helping with the house, what her mortgage payement is, what her take home salary is and what bills she has.  How do I know all these things, Once again, she told me and I really don't want to know, nor did I ask. From my perspective, she should not be stretched on this houses' upkeep, but, hey maybe she has not told the world EVERYTHING. 
Friend 2: I stopped by Friend 2's  house on my way back home and was given an earful about a mutual acquaintances' impending divorce. I knew said couple had been going through a rough patch, I did not know it had escalated to divorce status. Again, since these folks are not in my immediate circle of friends, I really don't need to know the gory details. I'm sorry it's happening, they have teenaged kids and I know there are some assets in the relationship that will have to be divided and or sold, but you what, not my business. Even saying "Oh, that's horrible" and trying to change the conversation did not work. I got the full low down on the breakdown of the marriage. I felt helpless to stop the monologue and left Friend #2's with a slight headache.
Nice Neighbors: Stopped over quickly on Sunday to say hi to the neighbors and got an earful on their latest financial struggle. Not very surprised to hear what has transpired, I could see this train wreck coming for a while. I am very sorry that this is happening to them, but as I've posted before, if you are having a problem paying your bills, you don't go out and buy 52' flat screen plasma TVs (or 40' or 42) or pay for your 20 year old daughters apartment because she still does not have enough money to pay for it and or refuses to get a job to pay for it. They have totally maxed out both credit cards (less $400 they are keeping for a trip they are taking next month), their HELOC and limited savings. They also told me they just paid their mortgage 20 days late so they could give money to their kids. I just don't get it. 

You get the picture. I don't know, maybe there is something tattooed on my forehead that screams "Tell Me Everything!" along with "Doormat". I don't have any answers to most of the above problems and when asked for my advice and opinion, I gave it and I could tell it was not the answer folks wanted to hear. I told Friend 1 that maybe she should cancel one or two of her weekend mini breaks with the new boyfriend especially if she was paying or paying half and put that money towards her new house. They could have "staycations", instead of taking trips like they were taking this week to some resort for 4 or 5 days.  I told nice neighbors that I thought it was time for them to cut the money cord to the 20 year old. The 20 year old has a few choices, move home, get a cheaper apartment or get a real job.  They could not continue to spend upwards of $700-$800 out of pocket on that apartment and it's bills.  Yup, last month nice neigbors spent $750 towards daughters apartment, phone, and utilities and they paid their own mortgage 20 days late.  The landlord bitches at them in person, the bank just sends them a letter, they can avoid the bank phone calls.

I'm going to go into super hermit mode this upcoming weekend so I won't have to be told things I really don't want to hear.

1 comment:

Dawn said...

Yep, you must have had the "Tell Me All" hat on this weekend. Enjoy staying in - I love my hermit weekends!