For his birthday, sliceguy wanted nothing more in the entire world than tickets to see his Favorite Band. Said Favorite Band is not, shall we say, a favorite of mine. In fact, of the two songs they have out, I can’t decide which one makes me want to jam a rusty spike into my ear canal more.
Anyway, I got him two tickets and Favorite Band’s latest album(not cheap), telling him that he should feel free to take anyone of his choosing, as I did not have much of an interest in attending. (I did tell him though, that should he not be able to find a concertmate, I would go with him.) He asked one of our friends who had never heard of Favorite Band. He asked another friend who said that, like me, he didn’t really have an interest in Favorite Band. So finally, he asked his sister, with whom he has attended many concerts before. She happily agreed. Great.
Until…
Sister sends an email to some other members of the family asking what in the world my big problem is for not wanting to go and commenting on what a bad significant other I apparently am.
Excuse me, you silly bitch. Fuck you. That is a concert that you are getting to see for free, courtesy of me. I would suggest that you are the one with the problem, you stupid whore. Furthermore, I would suggest that you keep your baseless whining, utterly moronic judgements and not-so-furtive insults to the confines of your tiny mind, because that way, I am less likely to have to kill you. That will be all.
Tell her to her face that it’s none of her business whether or not you like the band or not, much less attend one of their concerts.
Tell her that if it was a band you loved, and he didn’t that the situation would be the same. You wouldn’t force him to go to see a band he really had no interest in.
Tell her that you respect him, which is why you bought him the tickets in the first place.
Tell her she should be proud that he obviously respects you due to the fact that he’s not guilting you into going.
Finally re-iterate that it’s none of her business in the first place, and to remove her nose from your private affairs.
Let it roll off your back. Why should her opinion matter to you? You made the right decision, what someone else says about it only shows their own ignorance of the situation.
Just because she’s being an idiot doesn’t mean you have to, also.
Obviously, I see the error of my ways and am now preparing to set up a very tasteful shrine in my living room, in honor of his sister, the great giver of gifts.
Zabali, I like your suggestion, and shall use it for a script for a scene that I will play repeatedly in my mind while I take Jonathan Chance’s suggestion of ignoring her. I just needed to get my snarkiness out somewhere, and alas, this humble pit has provided the needed outlet.
And yes, spooje, shoes. I shall not even mention last Christmas (her croquet set versus my Lego Mindstorms set).
Time to send out an email. “accidently” hit send all, then send another email saying the first one was not meant for their eyes.
Dear SIL,
Thank you for getting my husband those nice shoes, did you find them tied to the powerlines, or did you steal them from some passed out homeless person? I guess it is the thought that counts, but we would have perferred that you paid us back the bail money we loaned you for that embarrasing prostitution arrest. I hope you enjoyed the concert (and didn’t spend the whole time turning tricks in the men’s room again) and look forward to seeing you again, assuming you’re not in prison.
It’s one of those things that I’m better off not hearing about, that I’d prefer not hearing about. He generally makes good judgements along those lines. In this case, I think he thought I would have a good laugh and just say “indeed, your sister is an idiot. Hardy har har,” but instead, I just ended up being angry/having hurt feelings.
elf6c, I like your style. Part of the reason I’m trying to be civil is that she’s not my sister-in-law yet. (We are flying to the beach one weekend with 10 friends and eloping. Behavior of family members (on both sides) was a key factor in that decision, but that’s a different pit thread entirely. However, whenever I’m tempted to want a big ol’ wedding, I shall remember this–the shoe/concert ticket incident of '03.)
My cousin did the same thing for her then-boyfriend (minus the sister/shoes thing). She bought him two tickets to a Tool concert in Melbourne and told him to take someone else since she hates their music. He took my boyfriend who is also a Tool fanatic - they bought the t-shirts, had dinner, and generally had a great time. Had she gone, she wouldn’t have enjoyed it, and he probably would have been conscious of her not enjoying it, and it would have been a waste.
Has the shoe sister always been bitchy towards you, or is this totally out of the blue?
…and what’s so wrong with shoes? I’ve gotten my hubby shoes as a gift before and he liked them. They were a pair of very nice shoes from Johnston & Murphy.
Hey, I’m getting shoes from my husband for my birthday! And I’m happy about it! These are my shoes. I like my shoes.
Anyway, I’ll never understand the “couples have to do everything together” mindset. I think that was an incredibly cool and thoughtful gift, and it bodes well for your marriage that neither of you feel guilty that you enjoy some different stuff. It’s really great that you got him a gift just for him, even though it’s something that you don’t personally like.
The sister just sounds like a troublemaker. She called you a “bad SO?” Zoinks! Sounds like you are just the opposite!
But bigger.