Go Away

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. (Either someone in ancient China or Benjamin Franklin said this.)

And it is better to turn the TV cable off than to let her sit there and mock you while watching it (I wrote that.)


I was tempted to shut off the cable because she spends all day watching it instead of working or paying me a lousy $360. And the 18 year old daughter does the same, with a lot of sleeping mixed in.

And I wouldn't really care so much except that they are sometimes difficult to me on purpose.

For example:
On Saturday my daughter and I slept on the boat. She wanted to camp out and we had fun setting up the beds, making dinner, and watching the sunset all on the boat. We had stopped at home first to get our stuff and say good night, but her mother was already gone--not to return until 10:30 AM on Sunday.

But after we told the 18 year old we were sleeping on the boat and then left, she had some friends over. I think she went out first and then they all came back to my house before 3 AM. My neighbor heard them at 3, yelling and shouting. Two guys and another girl. I don't know what was going on, only that they were in my house until the next morning, slipping out before my ex-wife stumbled home from someone else's bed.

Anyway, I was glad that the house hadn't burned down and that apparently no one had a car accident. Anytime there are unfriendly strangers in my house, I feel that my stuff is at risk. And anytime those guys start drinking and driving after being in my house, I worry about my liability (oh, and their safety, of course).

I told the ex that something went down last night and that I'd rather not have guests here when I'm not here. She looked away from the TV long enough to say that there was no event and no one was here.

"How do you know that no one was here? You weren't here either," I said.

She asked the daughter, who admitted she had "people" over. Then the ex insisted that they don't drink, so there wasn't a problem.

Well, I don't know if they were drinking, but I know that it is possible. And besides, I have said on two previous occasions that I don't want other people in the house overnight when I'm not there. Seems simple to me. I asked again nicely so as not to harass her.

"Go away, go away," she tells me in a tired, annoyed, Betty Davis kind of voice, and returns to the TV.


Go away? I should leave? Hmm. Shouldn't she be getting on her broomstick and leaving??


But I did. I left for the store and spent the rest of the day doing yard work. That is when I hatched a plan to shut off the TV. I suppose it is revenge, but it is also an incentive to get the hell out, or at least pay me and respect a simple house rule. Certainly, once the TV is gone, she will respect my wishes and obey my every command.

Or perhaps not. It is more likely that she will increase her destruction. Instead of just throwing out family heirlooms, she will start destroying furniture, clothes, food, appliances, and walls. She is most capable of doing those things. So I decided, with advice from Steve, to leave the cable alone. Besides, I will be away this coming weekend and who knows what will happen while I am away.

In the end, I got a lot of yard work done, the 18 year old and her mother both got their drink on, and my little daughter again wondered where Mommy was all night. Peace was restored.

But if she doesn't move soon, she will be both cursing the darkness (and me) and lighting candles.