Terrible ParentingMy parents used to lock my brother, sister and I in the car while they went to the pub for a "quick one" after work. This quick one might last several hours, during which they would send bottles of Indian Tonic Water to us by way of refreshment.
On one particularly cold evening, bored stupid, we lit a small bonfire on the back seat of the car using the cigarette lighter and the contents of the glove box. We owe our lives to passing winos. (BTW: Please no more Maddie or Jesus gags, they've been done.)
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Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 16 Aug 2007, 9:47)
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Man of the houseMy maternal grandfather was an absolute cunt to his family.
He had a demented notion of grandeur and an almighty grudge against the rest of the world because "They didn't give me my due". His once prosperous family had fallen on hard times, as these things happen, but my grandfather was convinced it was all a big conspiracy aimed at him and him alone.
During the 1930's through the 1950's Ireland was very poor with work hard to come by. This didn't stop him from getting the sack on a couple of occasions because of his snobbish "I'll not take orders from the likes of you" attitude. My gran had to gather up her four children, take them down to the foreman's office and plead with him to take my grandfather back on again.
My mother remembers going hungry with nothing but bread and dripping for dinner while my grandfather would sit opposite them eating chops, potatoes and veg smothered in gravy. My gran wasn't allowed to buy cheaper cuts of meat which could have fed everybody as "I'm the man of the house and I say what goes on my plate". They never once went on holiday despite one of my grandmothers sisters owning a house on the coast as "I'll not be owing favours to her or anyone else".
He used to make them all walk for miles every Sunday afternoon while he cycled alongside. Then they'd have to go home to be lectured by him about religion - of which he was a fundamentalist, anti-Semitic, anti-Protestant Catholic bigot and politics - of which he was rightwing, rabidly anti-English and anti-Communism. As proof of this, when my gran died, I went through his collection of books. They were all of that ilk, several of which wouldn't have looked out of place on Adolf Hitler's bedside table.
He had no time at all for us, his grandchildren. The female ones were "useless" and us boys were "weaklings". He died in the early '70's, from a heart attack caused by his own impatience. He couldn't be bothered waiting for my dad and my uncle to get home from work to cut down part of an apple tree in the back garden so he went out to do it himself and dropped dead halfway through the task.
(, Sat 18 Aug 2007, 17:15, Reply)
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