The most unreasonable request that's been made of you?

[Kayeby]

Mine is pretty mild as things go. Several years ago a fairly good friend of mine were really into buying and selling clothes on eBay. She was very needy, very competitive and, as I later found out through experience, had a habit of borrowing money to buy designer clothes and refusing to pay it back.

Anyway, I had loaned her a couple hundred dollars to buy a pair of jeans and was having trouble getting her to repay me. Our friendship was very definitely strained and then she messaged me online saying that she had purchased some clothes from a US seller and they only took PayPal so she needed my credit card to pay her. I was a pussy so I went the non-confrontational route and lied about my credit card being maxed out. So she said, "well the seller is really annoyed that I haven't paid her yet. Can you give me your dad's credit card number?"

What?!

I told her that I was absolutely not comfortable with giving out my dad's credit card number and that if she was so desperate for a credit card she should sign up for her own. "I couldn't do that," she said "I don't trust myself with one." So she didn't trust herself with a credit card but still wanted my/my dad's credit card details so she could go on an online shopping spree! She was annoyed that I wouldn't budge, and to this day she probably doesn't realise how unreasonable her request was.



So what's the most unreasonable/entitled/inappropriate request that has been made of you, and what was your reaction?

[Freudian Push Up Bra]

Not made of myself but of an aunt's friend. Mandy is a loving mother to her two children, six and four. Being a mother of two, it's reasonable to believe she has her hands full. Not so, according to another friend, Allie. She also has two kids, eighteen months and five. She is always asking Mandy to babysit her two children, who are fine in their own respects but Mandy works from home!

My aunt couldn't believe Allie always asks (and gets!) Mandy to babysit her kids when Mandy has two kids of her own and work to do.

[Siam Sam]

I was (at least once) told to go screw myself. It should have been perfectly obvious that it doesn't bend like that.

[Manatee]

A student came up to me on the last day of class and said "Um, I haven't been to class in the past few weeks; could you tell me what I need to know for the final?"

Me: "So you want me to sum up five weeks' worth of readings in five minutes?"

Her: "Um...yeah?"

Me: "Bwah ha ha!"

Several students waiting to ask real questions joined in on the laughter.

[Zulema]

My friend was going through a divorce and had to sell her house and have a garage sale. She called me up the night before the weekly realtor tour, crying because she couldn't get certain things done in the house in time. I went over because I felt sorry for her that her husband wouldn't help.

I get there and her teenage son is playing on the computer and she won't make him help her and I find out that she had been out late at the bar every night for the past week.

The night before her garage sale she calls me crying because she's not ready. I go over to help her and find out she's been at the bar every night for the past week. I would have gone either way, I'm always finding things she has borrowed from me at her garage sales and it's my only chance to get them back.

Same friend calls me crying because she wants to borrow money to pay her rent. Well, I know that she has made some fairly large frivolous purchases over the past few weeks that more than add up to what she wants to borrow. I said no.

One weekend a long time ago I'm watching her dog at my house while she goes on a family vacation. She asks me to return a movie for her and I agree. I ask her if I am returning it to her usual place which is out of their way but I usually go by every day and she says no. It was borrowed from a place they are driving by on their way out of town. They just don't want to stop.

Same friend. I babysat her kids for a week. She comes to pick them up Friday, the day I am to get paid, and tells me about $80.00 worth of illegal fireworks they just bought. She then asks if she can pay me the next week since they don't have enough money to pay me right then.

Same friend. I'm helping her move and she has one small carload of things left to take. We are in the parking lot talking and I am about to go home. She whines "Aren't you going to help me get the rest of the things?" This is on top of all the whining about how tired she is from moving. I have done more dragging around of stuff than her and I am tired of her moving too.

I realize I have many example all from the same friend. The only reason I am halfway good natured about it is that she would do all those things for me but I would never ask.

[Rigamarole]

Some homeless woman wanted to store a bike and a bunch of other shit in my apartment for 6 months. I was speechless, just kind of raised my eyebrows at her. Then she asked me for money like every other degenerate around here inevitably does. Should have known better than to give her the time of day.

[Cicero]

SP 2263- you must be a very forgiving person.

[Rigamarole]

Originally Posted by SP2263

My friend was going through a divorce and had to sell her house and have a garage sale. She called me up the night before the weekly realtor tour, crying because she couldn't get certain things done in the house in time. I went over because I felt sorry for her that her husband wouldn't help.

I get there and her teenage son is playing on the computer and she won't make him help her and I find out that she had been out late at the bar every night for the past week.

The night before her garage sale she calls me crying because she's not ready. I go over to help her and find out she's been at the bar every night for the past week. I would have gone either way, I'm always finding things she has borrowed from me at her garage sales and it's my only chance to get them back.

Same friend calls me crying because she wants to borrow money to pay her rent. Well, I know that she has made some fairly large frivolous purchases over the past few weeks that more than add up to what she wants to borrow. I said no.

One weekend a long time ago I'm watching her dog at my house while she goes on a family vacation. She asks me to return a movie for her and I agree. I ask her if I am returning it to her usual place which is out of their way but I usually go by every day and she says no. It was borrowed from a place they are driving by on their way out of town. They just don't want to stop.

Same friend. I babysat her kids for a week. She comes to pick them up Friday, the day I am to get paid, and tells me about $80.00 worth of illegal fireworks they just bought. She then asks if she can pay me the next week since they don't have enough money to pay me right then.

Same friend. I'm helping her move and she has one small carload of things left to take. We are in the parking lot talking and I am about to go home. She whines "Aren't you going to help me get the rest of the things?" This is on top of all the whining about how tired she is from moving. I have done more dragging around of stuff than her and I am tired of her moving too.

I realize I have many example all from the same friend. The only reason I am halfway good natured about it is that she would do all those things for me but I would never ask.

Wow, some friend!

That sorta reminds me of this nutcase girl I used to know. She left a message on my machine one night sobbing uncontrollably, and mumbling something unintelligible. I seriously thought someone had died, or she had been in a terrible accident. I called her back to find out that the reason she was sobbing was because she had a law school exam coming up, and she couldn't get the software she needed to study with to run properly on her laptop. But that's not even the crazy part.

Despite the fact that I was actually about to go to bed, being the nice guy that I was, I offered to bring my laptop over to her apartment (I had to tredge through the ghetto late at night to get there) and see if I could help her get it running. When I finally get there, she is completely calm and composed as if nothing happened. She tells me not to worry about it, because she realized she can go to the computer lab tomorrow and run the software there. "But thanks for coming over", she says as she turns me around. (no, there was nothing romantic going on between me and her, as a matter of fact she was paying me to be her "personal assistant")

[SurrenderDorothy]

It's about 10:30 on a Thursday night and I'm doing homework

My little sister comes up behind me with a bundle of shiny pink fabric and some pretty gold ropey stuff

"Izzy."
"hmm... oh, that's pretty..."
"Mom said you'd make me a costume for my prayer service."
"oh she did, did she? when's your prayer service?"
"tomorrow."

grrrrrrrrrrr. So I roll my eyes because I'm a brat and that's what I do and grab her fabric.

"what are you wearing underneath it? you want like a toga thing or what?"

"I'm not wearing anything underneath it. I want a dress."


okay now first of all, nobody in my family sews and so I'm not one of those girls who sewed my dolls dresses at five. I've learned a few basics by helpig with costumes and sewing up my dance shoes and such. I cannot create a gown out of slippery material with no pattern in one night. I know some people are that magical, but the fact that I can stitch up a zipper backstage or sew the ribbons onto my toe shoes doesn't mean I'm able to make my sister a dress from scratch just becuase it happens to be a costume. And it CERTAINLY doesn't mean I'm willing. Particularly when I have my own homework to do.


... I ended up finding a little white nightie and draping and safety-pinning the pink fabric to it. She cried becuase I didn't make her a brand new costume dress. oh well.

[Zsofia]

Well, at work I once had a patron blow all up at me on the phone because I wouldn't do what she asked. She was sure that the article she was looking for was in the newspaper sometime in the 20's or 30's, and she could describe the picture to me. Why on earth couldn't I just sit down and look for it in the microfilm?

She called my boss after to complain about how rude I was. She wasn't even a county library card holder!

[Fugazi]

Recently, my wife and I seperated due to her thinking having another guy would be a great thing. So he borrows her car, drives to Colorado Springs, gets drunk, and totals it.

She asks me to co-sign for her to get a new car. She also wanted me to put her new car on my insurance.

[OneCentStamp]

<OneCentStamp drags a five gallon office water cooler full of "FUCK YOU" into the thread.>

Here, everybody, help yourselves. Here, have a cup, SP2263. You too, Fugazi. Everyone line up and get a cupful. OK, everyone got some? Now please distribute this to your friends.

[DeVena]

I work for a State environmental agency. Once upon a time, I was dating a lawyer and he asked me to get him copies of a certain company's files. "Umm, sure. But wouldn't it just be easier for you to come down and go through the files and just copy what you need?" No, silly girl. He wanted copies of the "secret" file. The stuff that the public doesn't see. "All documents go in the files. Nothing is kept separately. All files are public records. The public can see whatever they want." Then he gets mad and says I'm being unreasonable, unfairly keeping him from the information he needs to win a lawsuit against the company.

Sweetie, that's just wishful thinking. This agency is poorly funded, barely able to keep up with governmental mandates, and all the smart employees get real jobs in the regulated community and leave us as quickly as possible. I've got an assistant who truly can't understand alphabetical order. In what world would we be so organized to be able to keep up with both a "secret" and a public file?

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by DeVena

I work for a State environmental agency. Once upon a time, I was dating a lawyer and he asked me to get him copies of a certain company's files. "Umm, sure. But wouldn't it just be easier for you to come down and go through the files and just copy what you need?" No, silly girl. He wanted copies of the "secret" file. The stuff that the public doesn't see. "All documents go in the files. Nothing is kept separately. All files are public records. The public can see whatever they want." Then he gets mad and says I'm being unreasonable, unfairly keeping him from the information he needs to win a lawsuit against the company.

Sweetie, that's just wishful thinking. This agency is poorly funded, barely able to keep up with governmental mandates, and all the smart employees get real jobs in the regulated community and leave us as quickly as possible. I've got an assistant who truly can't understand alphabetical order. In what world would we be so organized to be able to keep up with both a "secret" and a public file?

And if I read this right, he never bothers to take a look at what's in the real file to see if there's something really damaging that the public CAN see?

[Redfrost]

"Hey, get off the SDMB and do your job lameass!"

Yeah, as if...

[fuffle]

Mine's small, but it still makes me mad years later. My friend and I were planning a two-week trip together which then expanded to include her best friend, who I had never met, as well as some other folks. When we arrived at the island where we would be staying, we found that it was a long trek from the boat to the cabin and we all had bags. Best friend turns to me and says down her nose at me, "I need you to carry my bag."

This girl is neither disabled nor injured in any way. She does not have more luggage or a significantly heavier bag than any of us. I had a bag of my own. And I had just met this girl! I didn't want to make a scene, so I just mumbled something like, "Um, no, I've got to carry my own bag." And she glares at me furiously and hisses, "Friends are supposed to help each other." And she would barely speak to me the whole rest of the trip. I guess I should've helped my friend.

[Aguecheek]

One of my roommates in university wanted me to shave his (unnaturally hirsute) back for him before he left for reading week in Florida.

I laughed at him.

[vivalostwages]

Originally Posted by Manatee

A student came up to me on the last day of class and said "Um, I haven't been to class in the past few weeks; could you tell me what I need to know for the final?"

Me: "So you want me to sum up five weeks' worth of readings in five minutes?"

Her: "Um...yeah?"

Me: "Bwah ha ha!"

Several students waiting to ask real questions joined in on the laughter.

Good one!

Here's another: (from a student in a class that meets at 8am): "Professor, didn't you get the email I sent you with my paper attached and my explanation about why it was late? I wanted you to check it over for me."

me: "No. When did you send it?"

Student: "Two a.m. this morning."
---------------------------------------------------------------
When my SIL was taking an online course, she would email her papers to me around 11pm and ask that I check them over because they were due at midnight.


Sigh.

[Buckwheat]

A co-worker was packing up to move across the country. When he went to rent a trailer they told him his vehicle was too small for the trailer, and would not rent it to him.

So he asks if he can borrow my truck just long enough to rent the trailer and then he will go ahead and use his own vehicle to tow it.

I said "What? No way, because if anything happens it will be MY license plate number they have!"

His response: "We could swap license plates when I rent it."

[Mr Jim]

My friend came to visit fr the weekend. We were having our last meal in Chinatown on a lazy Sunday night and then she was going straight to the airport. As we finished dinner she realised she had forgotten her make-up bag. She asked me if I would run home, pick up the make up case and meet her at Heathrow. When I declined, she asked if I could ask my flatmate to bring it since she was already home and it would only take her round trip 3 or 4 hours. She almost had a nervous breakdown at the thought of going to work with no make up. I advised that she could pick up some basics for under a tenner and that I would post her the bag (at my own expense) by next day delivery so she would get it Tuesday. Never did receive a thank you!

[PoorYorick]

I rented a moving truck to move my things out after a very unamicable break up with my girl friend. The kind where we're not speaking to each other the entire time I'm packing up, yet she's following me around to make sure I don't steal any of her stuff (as if I ever did anythig like that before). Very uncomfortable.

After I finished and was about to drive away, she asked if she could borrow the truck. When she saw my jaw drop, she said, "We'll you've rented it for the whole day. Why should it go to waste?"

Now, I've been know to be a door mat more than a few times, but this one just had me shaking my head.

[Tully Mars]

Y'all should meet my Good Neighbor Dennis. No request is too unreasonable. I've learned over the years that I'll spend less time if I just do whatever it is he's asking about and get it over with.

The most egregious example that comes to mind: I returned to my suburban home from my country estate about 8:30 P.M. one summer Sunday evening. I had worked in the hot sun most of the day, followed by a three hour drive. I was exhausted, seriously dirty, and dehydrated to the point of muscle cramps. When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed his dishwasher sitting on his patio and the patio door open where he could see my driveway. He was waiting, like a hungry lion waiting to spring his ambush. While I was gathering up my dirty clothes totake into the house, he sprang.

"Can I ask you a question?"

With much trepidation, "Sure."

"Do you have any of that white stuff [teflon tape] you use to put around the thing that hooks up to the water thing? Can you come over and look at this to see if I'm doing it right."

Well, he wasn't doing it right or wrong because the new dishwasher was just sitting there. All he had done was taken it out of the box. I didn't ask if he had been waiting all weekend for me to come home.

I didn't say anything, I just went back to the truck and got the tools. Within an hour, I had the dishwasher installed. Just how I intended to spend my Sunday night.

Just last Saturday, he asked me about trimming his tree (a story worthy of its own Pit rant). I got out my pole saw and started to hand it to him. Then I realized that the cutter on it did work because he broke the spring on it the last time he borrowed it. Then (the unreasonable request part) he asked to borrow my chain saw. I had to refuse that request because the saw is a heavy, high compression, professional saw with no safety features. When I offered to trim the tree for him, so said he had to go to work soon. So, that task is still pending.

[tdn]

An ex once read in Martha Stuart's magazine that botanists had developed brown roses. As they were new and exotic, they'd cost about 4 times as much as red roses. Ex insisted that I get her a dozen on her birthday. Not the day before, not the day after. Her birthday was on February 14. Estimated cost on that day? About $300. In the weeks prior, I practically killed myself visiting every florist in the city. Not one of them had heard of such a rose. I bought what looked close as samples, but they weren't them and they weren't good enough. Ex warned me that if I didn't come through, things would get rather chilly in the bedroom.

Which was fine by me, I'd lost all attraction to her anyway.

Come to find out, no such rose has ever existed.

[amijane]

Yesterday: an elderly friend of mine has emphysema, and possibly lung cancer (she has patches on her lungs, biopsy not back yet). She lives off her small pension. She has a prescription for nicotine patches (and she can fill prescriptions free) but choses to still smoke as she's "too old to try giving up now". She still spends the majority of her weekly pension money on smokes. That's her choice and I'm not about to lecture her on it as she's an adult.

She asked me over especially yesterday just to ask if I can give her - not lend, give - £400 for some bills she's behind with. She's elderly, not eating very well due to spending all her money on smokes, her health is getting worse, and I'm her only emotional support available as her family all lives on the other side of the country. Her phone, cable and net connection have been cut off due to non-payment. Her refridgerator's just broken down and is not working. Her kitchen is bare of food. So, to my friend? Thanks just a bundle for putting me in the position of having to say no to a sick, possibly dying, emotionally and physically fragile old lady who is going hungry every day when you know darn well I don't actually have £400 right now. That felt just marvellous. Hey, how about not spending all your money on cigarettes and giving those free nicotine patches a try, then buying some food?

[Dung Beetle]

Originally Posted by tdn

Ex warned me that if I didn't come through, things would get rather chilly in the bedroom.

Forget the roses, where do you find these crazy women?

[corkboard]

Originally Posted by tdn

An ex once read in Martha Stuart's magazine that botanists had developed brown roses. As they were new and exotic, they'd cost about 4 times as much as red roses. Ex insisted that I get her a dozen on her birthday. Not the day before, not the day after. Her birthday was on February 14. Estimated cost on that day? About $300. In the weeks prior, I practically killed myself visiting every florist in the city. Not one of them had heard of such a rose. I bought what looked close as samples, but they weren't them and they weren't good enough. Ex warned me that if I didn't come through, things would get rather chilly in the bedroom.

Which was fine by me, I'd lost all attraction to her anyway.

Come to find out, no such rose has ever existed.

I have a much cheaper solution to coming up with some brown roses for someone with such a sense of entitlement. It involves a dozen red roses, and fiber.

[descamisado]

In my mid-twenties, I met a very attractive guy in a gay nightclub. After seeing each other maybe 3 times over two weeks, he comes over one Sunday afternoon.

He ended up asking me to co-sign a loan at the bank for him for a serious amount of money.

He somehow got the impression that he needed to leave soon thereafter.

And I'd didn't even get any.

[A.R. Cane]

There's a rental house next to me. A few years ago a couple moved in and the guy made friendly gestures, usually coming over everytime he saw me outside. It was OK at first, but got old pretty fast. Then I didn't see him for awhile and he was noticable in his absence, pleasantly so. Then one day his wife catches me out working in my yard. She goes into this long tale about his having been unfairly arrested. According to her he was walking in a warehouse district, something about his car being broken down, and him looking for a phone, when the police arrest him for B&E. I've hardly ever spoken to this woman before, now she's telling me all this. Next comes the hook, can I lend her the bail money, a couple thousand, to get him out. WTF, I can't believe she's asking this. I tell her I don't have it....and then, believe it or not..... she tells me that I can put my house up as collateral???
I never saw him again and the house was empty a few weeks later.

[OneCentStamp]

Originally Posted by A.R. Cane

There's a rental house next to me. A few years ago a couple moved in and the guy made friendly gestures, usually coming over everytime he saw me outside. It was OK at first, but got old pretty fast. Then I didn't see him for awhile and he was noticable in his absence, pleasantly so. Then one day his wife catches me out working in my yard. She goes into this long tale about his having been unfairly arrested. According to her he was walking in a warehouse district, something about his car being broken down, and him looking for a phone, when the police arrest him for B&E. I've hardly ever spoken to this woman before, now she's telling me all this. Next comes the hook, can I lend her the bail money, a couple thousand, to get him out. WTF, I can't believe she's asking this. I tell her I don't have it....and then, believe it or not..... she tells me that I can put my house up as collateral???
I never saw him again and the house was empty a few weeks later.

Where the hell do these people COME from? I would be hesitant to ask this of my best friend. Scratch that. I would rather sit in jail than ask this of my best friend. Ditto for most of these other requests.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Dung Beetle

Forget the roses, where do you find these crazy women?

I do seem to attract women with a sense of entitlement. Just two months before, she "asked" for earrings for Christmas. Pearl. And not just any pearl earrings. Tiffany. She practically pushed me out the door to go buy them. And this was while she was living with me and not paying a stitch of rent.

She was better than the previous GF, though. I'd often offer to make dinner for her (I'm fabulous in the kitchen, babe). Usually I'd need about $10 worth of food from the supermarket down the street. I knew I was introuble if she offered to go with me. Every single time she'd remember a few things she needed for herself. And by "a few", I mean an entire shopping cart full of steak and caviar. Of course, since it was me doing the shopping, I got to pay for all of this. If I asked her to chip in a little, she'd blow up about how "no one else treats me like this."

[Pixisis]

Here's some documentation you can read on the plane. Now fly to Texas to train people on some software you've never seen.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by McNew

I have a much cheaper solution to coming up with some brown roses for someone with such a sense of entitlement. It involves a dozen red roses, and fiber.

The actual solution to this involved far more that a dozen red roses. In the week before Valentine's Day, she got a job at a florist. Her lust for roses was quickly cured.

[InappropriateHumor]

Dang, people never cease to amaze me, in a bad way.

My best friend from grade school, whom we'll call Mimi, since everything was about her, is one of the Entitled Ones.

When I would get money for my birthday or as a reward for good grades or for chores at home, Mimi would insist we compare the amount of money each one of us had. If I had more, and I usually did, she would insist that I give her some until we were "even". I was a complete idiot, so I did. This was a roughly biweekly occurrence.

High school came and Mimi would insist we "get ready" (primp) to go out together. This was so she could use my bedroom as a staging area while she commandeered my cosmetics, clothes, mirror, etc. Then she would bitch at me after her hour-long primping session that I wasn't ready yet. You're wearing my clothes, ya' butt!

After graduation we "lost" contact for a few years. I got a phone call from her out of the blue one day. She wanted to ask me for a little favor. She had married some money and they had a nice big house and a sweet little boy. Mimi's neighbor had a dog that would bark all the time and had come into her (Mimi's) yard while her son was outside. She had talked with the neighbor, and they for some reason had agreed to get rid of the dog. The neighbor had put a "free to good home" ad in the paper. Mimi's idea was that I would answer the ad, get the dog and take it to the pound. I told her no, but used a whole lot more words, and that was the last I heard of her for many more years.

I see her occasionally now and her speech and mannerisms are so affected it makes me sad. She calls me "darling" for God's sake.

[henrijohns]

My brother in law was shocked when I turned him down, then went to all my relatives to complain and ask them to make me reconsider
His request: I should let him keep his pet bird in my house uncaged and crapping on my carpet.

The nerve. And he never caught on why I would turn him down.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by henrijohns

His request: I should let him keep his pet bird in my house uncaged and crapping on my carpet.

Well, if you barbecued it first, there wouldn't be a problem.

[Ellen Cherry]

I've had to forgive this woman for these actions, or else I'd be eaten up with hatred. But it bothered me terribly for years.

My first child was born with a heart defect, and required open heart surgery. I scheduled to take off work several weeks. Just prior to leaving, someone several steps above me in rank began micromanaging the work of our department. Unhappy with a piece I'd produced, she suggested I take it along to the hospital and proof/edit/write on it so I'd have "something to do" while hanging around the boring old hospital. Where my only child was ill--where I would have plenty to do, for God's sake, not to mention how out of my mind I was with worry and fear. Later, after the child's death, I came back to work, and after a few weeks I wanted to bury myself in work. I took on freelance jobs in addition to more work in my office. Seeing how consumed I was in work, this woman praised me for the good job I was doing and particularly how she appreciated me not "playing the poor mother."

Yes, I said I forgave her, but it makes me upset even now, 13 and a half years later.

[Batsinma Belfry]

When my husband and I first started dating, his paternal grandmother died. We were at the funeral home for the viewing. A little background info: My husband and his parents were not close with his dad's people. Infact, they had spent years avoiding them. My FIL's childhood was filled with abuse and neglect and his people give white trash, slack-jawed, incestous, cretins a bad name. At the time, I was 19 years old, quiet, shy, and would rather die than think of offending anyone. Within an hour of meeting these people, one of my husbands aunts pulled me aside and asked for a favor. The grandkids and great grandkids of the deceased, decided they wanted granny to be buried holding one of the roses from the arrangement they had bought. But, nobody actually wanted to touch dear dead granny. And it would mean sooooo much to them if I would place the rose in her hands since it wouldn't bother me. I really thought I had to do it, and was almost in tears when I found my husband and told him. He was livid, as was his mom. But, the others just couldn't understand why a total stranger would have a problem touching their dead granny.

[nashiitashii]

Originally Posted by Ellen Cherry

Later, after the child's death, I came back to work, and after a few weeks I wanted to bury myself in work. I took on freelance jobs in addition to more work in my office. Seeing how consumed I was in work, this woman praised me for the good job I was doing and particularly how she appreciated me not "playing the poor mother."

I'm not a parent, but this would have had me outraged if someone tried to "compliment" me by telling me they were proud of me by not playing a victim role when someone that close to me had recently died. That woman's got some serious problems if she didn't understand that "burying yourself in work" after a death like that means "trying to avoid overwhelming grief" and she should have been supportive in a less offensive way.

[Scarlett67]

Mr. S has a sister that he . . . avoids. Her first husband went to prison, and her second has barely avoided going there. Their life is a big white trash soap opera.

One day she calls up out of the blue and want to know if her teenage son (whom we've never laid eyes on) could come and live with us for a while, because we're in a different school district and he's been having trouble with getting picked on by some possible gang kids.

Oh yeah, bring that right on! We told her about the Wisconsin school choice law, by which you can send your kid to any public school district you want. And I think some other options too.

Jesus, we'd have to think long and hard about taking in a non-problem kid that we KNEW and LIKED. Not so much a total stranger!!

[Count Blucher]

Originally Posted by tdn

The actual solution to this involved far more that a dozen red roses. In the week before Valentine's Day, she got a job at a florist. Her lust for roses was quickly cured.

I'm way too late to post it, but it was technically possible to give her the brown roses she craved (and without all that messy fecal matter too). The trick is to buy them in early January, boxed, and leave them in the box. Then just have the box delivered on Feb 14th.

Of course, the trick would be to find a suitable matching card. And to have your locks & cell # changed prior to delivery.

[Count Blucher]

One of Many:

I was told by my EBS* this Spring that a distant third cousin who had just turned 50 had died suddenly. I was reminded that 'someone from the family' should put in an appearance, because he was very nice, but that it was too long of a drive for her ( Manhattan to Falls Church). The viewing was that night at 7pm. I told her I'd think about whether I could attend. My watch read 10:30AM.

I then moved Heaven & Earth to reschedule all my work, take the rest of the day off as a Personal day, get home & into a suit, and then get back on the road heading south before noon. I'm about 50 miles out when I decided to call her and tell her that the guilt trip worked & I was on my way.

"What? You're going? Aren't you going to drive me...?"

If she had balls, I'm sure she could have rolled her way on down there and arrived an hour ahead of me.


*Evil Bitch Sister

[Anne Neville]

Originally Posted by Count Blucher

I'm way too late to post it, but it was technically possible to give her the brown roses she craved (and without all that messy fecal matter too). The trick is to buy them in early January, boxed, and leave them in the box. Then just have the box delivered on Feb 14th.

Of course, the trick would be to find a suitable matching card.

You write a card saying, "I hate you. Drop dead.", of course.

[brendon_small]

Mine compares to the ones already mentioned here, of course, in comparison, it is less severe than most.

I worked for a hotel and the manager was wonderful. She interviewed me and two days later called to offer me the job. I had never met the owner yet, but she was given the right to hire me, so she used it. I worked 40 hours for the first 3 weeks, doing good and learning quickly. I was rather proud - I re-organized the way we did nightly paperwork and was given a raise for my good work. After this came Easter - I worked 11pm on Saturday until 7am on Sunday. The girl coming in at 7 had never come in, so I was hanging around the desk at 10. The owner called me and asked me to stay until she got in town and I said sure. I thought she was at her house in town, apparently she was in Tennessee (sidenote: I'm in Ohio). About 9 that night she showed up and I went home. I said, "these things happen, so it's not a huge deal, as long as it doesn't happen often."

I kept working there and was clocking about 50 hours a week, which I never complained about because I needed the money. My problem came in the summer. I was a full-time student at 20 hours, but summer quarter I dropped down to 12 credit hours, so I was right at full-time status and needed to do good in those classes. I was doing well, but work was rough. The manager who had hired me had just left, and the boy who had started working there a month before me took over as manager. I wrote all that to write this - we lost another worker and were down to two of us. I was alright with it, my boss asked me to work 7pm-7am all week (80 hours) and she would hire someone that week. I said "well, you've been good to me as far as work, so I'll try to work this out and we'll be okay"

The completely unreasonable part - the other guy was working the 12 hours a day I was off. On Thursday, he called me at 5pm, while I was sleeping, asking if I would come in early. I asked what was wrong and such, and he explained.

"I haven't had a chance to eat dinner yet and I'm stuck behind the desk so if you would come in and work I could go eat before I go out with my friends tonight."

Brendon Small

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

Mine can't hold a candle to some of these, but it still strikes me as totally unreasonable.

About a year ago, I went to a board game evening with my housemate, Bob*, and some other people, mostly people I knew from work. I met a guy there, Joe*, who had recently started working at the company, and who knew my housemate from some other social activities.

Joe mentioned that he was looking to do some furniture shopping, and had heard I had a large car. Could I help him out with that? I asked when he planned to do this and what furniture he wanted. I was a little uneasy at the imposition, but I figured that I could certainly take an hour of time and help out the new guy in town. It turns out he didn't have anything picked out (he doesn't drive), but just wanted to go around to various places and see what they might have. And there might be a table, and a couch, and some other stuff involved, so it would take multiple trips. I told him that I wasn't wild about spending a whole afternoon on that, but if he could convince Bob to do so, Bob could borrow my car and go with him.

I don't think it ever happened.

*Not their real names.

[StGermain]

My father was dying of lung cancer. He was in the end stage, in a coma. Everyday the Hospice nurse would come and say he couldn't last the night. I was out picking out a grave site for him. I stopped by work to give my boss an update and she told me I needed to come into work, because you just never know how long someone like that will linger. Right, I'm supposed to leave my dying father's bedside to come in and sit behind a desk and process paperwork. It didn't happen.

StG

[Johnny Hildo]

I'm the family computer doctor for my technologically-unsavvy clan. A few months back, my mother asked me if I could go online and pick out a computer for her brother, a man with whom I was never close. He'd never had a computer before and was even less knowledgable about them than my mother (now that's saying something). I said I would, thinking it would be easy enough to buy a standard Dell package for a n00b user. Then mother says, "If we have it delivered here, do you think you can drive to his house and set it up for him?" Oh, did I mention her brother lives in Montana?

[Clothahump]

Originally Posted by DeVena

In what world would we be so organized to be able to keep up with both a "secret" and a public file?

Quite obviously, this one. Just ask any conspiracy theorist, because you know the gubmint has all these secret plots against us.

[OneCentStamp]

Originally Posted by iamthewalrus(:3=

Joe mentioned that he was looking to do some furniture shopping, and had heard I had a large car. Could I help him out with that?

Reminds me of a sticker on the back window of my old bass player's pickup truck:

Yes, it's mine. No, I won't help you move.

[lisacurl]

Originally Posted by StGermain

My father was dying of lung cancer. He was in the end stage, in a coma. Everyday the Hospice nurse would come and say he couldn't last the night. I was out picking out a grave site for him. I stopped by work to give my boss an update and she told me I needed to come into work, because you just never know how long someone like that will linger. Right, I'm supposed to leave my dying father's bedside to come in and sit behind a desk and process paperwork. It didn't happen.

StG

A coworker experienced a similar unreasonable request at one of my previous places of employment, except it was the Finance Director demanding she leave her dying mother's bedside to come in and process the credit accounts so patients could get refund checks "because she was the only one who knew how to do it." Because the girl was a single mother with three kids and unreliable child support from their fathers, she felt she had to come in and do it. Her mother died while she was at work.

I was furious *for* her, because I was the IT trainer/main support person and I knew the system inside and out. *I* could have run the damn credit accounts if that stupid bastard needed them so badly. I hope he lost all the rest of his hair from his square head.

[PoorYorick]

Originally Posted by lisacurl

I hope he lost all the rest of his hair from his square head.

Hey, as a bald guy with a squarish head, I resent that.