Foolish Idiot
This post is along the same lines as the previous one -- it's about getting my little brother another fabulous present. This time though, he shot himself in the foot.
I was away on my trip this past Christmas. My little brother was feeling a bit left out because he didn't go with me, etc etc. My parents decided to get my brother an XBox for Christmas to cheer him up. He loved it. BUT he wanted more, he wanted to get XBox Live so he could play with and against other players all around the world. So, he kept dropping very obvious hints that he wanted XBox Live for his birthday (which is in March).
Now, I have played XBox Live and while I know how cool it is, it's also quite addictive. And, a lot of the players have headsets with which they can talk to other players with -- for ones that don't have a headset, they can still hear the conversations these other players are having. Needless to say, there is tonnes of swearing going on across these headsets. As a result of these findings, I decided that my brother would not get XBox Live. I told him on several occasions not to expect Live for his birthday. He still somehow expected Live for his damn birthday!
The day before his birthday, I ran over to my local Future Shop and picked him up an iPod Shuffle. I bought myself an iPod Mini some time ago and I love it. My brother is also always listening to music on his laptop (yes, he's 15 and he has a laptop. It's standard in his school...every kid gets a laptop. Boy, have the times changed) and I figured he'd really enjoy the shuffle.
That night, I wrapped it up all nice and put it on our dining room table. I instructed my brother that he is not allowed to touch it until he's opening it the following night. He was also not allowed to ask someone else to touch it or shake it for him. Andy was getting very excited at this point, and I kept reminding him that it's not what he's wishing for but it's still as good, if not better.
The evening of his birthday rolls around. We have the entire family over (my mom's sisters and their kids who are the same age as Andy), and it's time to open the birthday presents. He always opens my present last because it's usually the best one of the group.
So, Andy opens up my present, sees that it's an iPod Shuffle and hears our cousin Jimmy saying "Oh cool. COOL!" and he says, "What's this?". I can tell by the look on his face that he's actually angry he didn't get his beloved XBox Live.
Me: "Uhhh, it's an iPod Shuffle. You can listen to music with it."
Idiot: "What am I going to do with this?"
Me: "You can listen to it whenever, they're the best things."
My mom pipes in because she can tell that we're both getting angry. She says, "Andy, you can put it on while you're playing basketball outside!"
Idiot: "No I can't. The bastketball will hit it and it will break. Then what's the point?"
Ok, so my entire family is there watching this scene unfold. And my ungrateful little brother is making a complete fool of himself. I'm getting angrier by the minute.
Me: "I figured that you could listen to it whenever we go riding on our bikes. I'll have my mini and you'll have your shuffle." (When the weather's nice, Andy and I go on some nice long bike rides).
Idiot: "I won't be able to hear the traffic then. And then a car might hit me and I might just die." (WTF?)
At this point, my mom tries to say something again. I interrupt her, grab the shuffle from my brother's hands and say, "Nevermind mom. He doesn't like it, that's ok". Again, my mom tries to say something and I looked at her with the 'just shut up' look and for once, she shut up.
I storm off downstairs, my mom storms off to go offer people food, my brother storms off to...wherever, I didn't really care. He has just mouthed me off in front of company! I am livid (in fact, I get angry thinking about it right now and this was three months ago!).
After I've calmed down enough to know I won't strangle my brother to death the minute I see him, I make my way back upstairs again. I corner the brother where we're out of earshot of the rest of the family and say, "You know what, Andy? I was even thinking of getting you Live for the summer. After what you've pulled tonight, you have no chance in hell of getting it ever. In fact, I think this will be the last birthday or Christmas I ever get you a good present. I work hard for my money and I will not have you playing the unappreciative, ungrateful twit that you were tonight. And if you haven't figured it out in your fucked up head yet, you just said goodbye to the shuffle."
_ _ _
A few days later, my brother and I are heading out to go rent a movie. I say to him, "Oh we just have a quick stop to make before we go rent. I forgot something on my bed, can you just run downstairs and grab it? It's the only thing that's on my bed." Yes, it was the shuffle sitting on my bed. I was going to teach him a lesson.
When he ran downstairs, he didn't come back up for a couple of minutes. I think he must've been composing himself. As he came back upstairs, he was wearing a long sad face. He didn't say anything and I didn't say anything as I drove over to Future Shop. He was holding the shuffle the entire way there.
As I parked my car, I looked over at him and said, "Ok, go and return it."
"What?"
"I said return it."
"But I don't want to return it."
"You should've thought of that the night you got it."
"I was an idiot."
"No kidding."
"Can you just return it? I'll wait here in the car."
"Uhhh. No."
So, Andy and I went in to return the shuffle. He had to do all the talking, and I only tagged along because they would need to reverse the charge on my credit card. When the cashier lady asked why we were returning it, my brother looked over at me and sputtered, "Because I didn't like it". You could see the pain and regret go across his face when he said that. Good. Exactly the reaction I wanted.
I left the Future Shop that night feeling lighter knowing that my credit card bill would be $170 less than originally planned. My brother left feeling heavier knowing that he just lost a really cool toy. We sat back into my car.
"So, I'm never getting any good presents?"
"Absolutely not."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. I think you've learned your lesson."
I was away on my trip this past Christmas. My little brother was feeling a bit left out because he didn't go with me, etc etc. My parents decided to get my brother an XBox for Christmas to cheer him up. He loved it. BUT he wanted more, he wanted to get XBox Live so he could play with and against other players all around the world. So, he kept dropping very obvious hints that he wanted XBox Live for his birthday (which is in March).
Now, I have played XBox Live and while I know how cool it is, it's also quite addictive. And, a lot of the players have headsets with which they can talk to other players with -- for ones that don't have a headset, they can still hear the conversations these other players are having. Needless to say, there is tonnes of swearing going on across these headsets. As a result of these findings, I decided that my brother would not get XBox Live. I told him on several occasions not to expect Live for his birthday. He still somehow expected Live for his damn birthday!
The day before his birthday, I ran over to my local Future Shop and picked him up an iPod Shuffle. I bought myself an iPod Mini some time ago and I love it. My brother is also always listening to music on his laptop (yes, he's 15 and he has a laptop. It's standard in his school...every kid gets a laptop. Boy, have the times changed) and I figured he'd really enjoy the shuffle.
That night, I wrapped it up all nice and put it on our dining room table. I instructed my brother that he is not allowed to touch it until he's opening it the following night. He was also not allowed to ask someone else to touch it or shake it for him. Andy was getting very excited at this point, and I kept reminding him that it's not what he's wishing for but it's still as good, if not better.
The evening of his birthday rolls around. We have the entire family over (my mom's sisters and their kids who are the same age as Andy), and it's time to open the birthday presents. He always opens my present last because it's usually the best one of the group.
So, Andy opens up my present, sees that it's an iPod Shuffle and hears our cousin Jimmy saying "Oh cool. COOL!" and he says, "What's this?". I can tell by the look on his face that he's actually angry he didn't get his beloved XBox Live.
Me: "Uhhh, it's an iPod Shuffle. You can listen to music with it."
Idiot: "What am I going to do with this?"
Me: "You can listen to it whenever, they're the best things."
My mom pipes in because she can tell that we're both getting angry. She says, "Andy, you can put it on while you're playing basketball outside!"
Idiot: "No I can't. The bastketball will hit it and it will break. Then what's the point?"
Ok, so my entire family is there watching this scene unfold. And my ungrateful little brother is making a complete fool of himself. I'm getting angrier by the minute.
Me: "I figured that you could listen to it whenever we go riding on our bikes. I'll have my mini and you'll have your shuffle." (When the weather's nice, Andy and I go on some nice long bike rides).
Idiot: "I won't be able to hear the traffic then. And then a car might hit me and I might just die." (WTF?)
At this point, my mom tries to say something again. I interrupt her, grab the shuffle from my brother's hands and say, "Nevermind mom. He doesn't like it, that's ok". Again, my mom tries to say something and I looked at her with the 'just shut up' look and for once, she shut up.
I storm off downstairs, my mom storms off to go offer people food, my brother storms off to...wherever, I didn't really care. He has just mouthed me off in front of company! I am livid (in fact, I get angry thinking about it right now and this was three months ago!).
After I've calmed down enough to know I won't strangle my brother to death the minute I see him, I make my way back upstairs again. I corner the brother where we're out of earshot of the rest of the family and say, "You know what, Andy? I was even thinking of getting you Live for the summer. After what you've pulled tonight, you have no chance in hell of getting it ever. In fact, I think this will be the last birthday or Christmas I ever get you a good present. I work hard for my money and I will not have you playing the unappreciative, ungrateful twit that you were tonight. And if you haven't figured it out in your fucked up head yet, you just said goodbye to the shuffle."
_ _ _
A few days later, my brother and I are heading out to go rent a movie. I say to him, "Oh we just have a quick stop to make before we go rent. I forgot something on my bed, can you just run downstairs and grab it? It's the only thing that's on my bed." Yes, it was the shuffle sitting on my bed. I was going to teach him a lesson.
When he ran downstairs, he didn't come back up for a couple of minutes. I think he must've been composing himself. As he came back upstairs, he was wearing a long sad face. He didn't say anything and I didn't say anything as I drove over to Future Shop. He was holding the shuffle the entire way there.
As I parked my car, I looked over at him and said, "Ok, go and return it."
"What?"
"I said return it."
"But I don't want to return it."
"You should've thought of that the night you got it."
"I was an idiot."
"No kidding."
"Can you just return it? I'll wait here in the car."
"Uhhh. No."
So, Andy and I went in to return the shuffle. He had to do all the talking, and I only tagged along because they would need to reverse the charge on my credit card. When the cashier lady asked why we were returning it, my brother looked over at me and sputtered, "Because I didn't like it". You could see the pain and regret go across his face when he said that. Good. Exactly the reaction I wanted.
I left the Future Shop that night feeling lighter knowing that my credit card bill would be $170 less than originally planned. My brother left feeling heavier knowing that he just lost a really cool toy. We sat back into my car.
"So, I'm never getting any good presents?"
"Absolutely not."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. I think you've learned your lesson."
posted by Elle at 11:21 p.m.
4 Comments:
you are awesome.
first of all, buy me an iPod shuffle/mini/etc
second of all, you stuck by your guns which in my family rarely happens
Wow, Love you are the best story teller ever. My girlfriend was like "Liam you've GOT to read her new blog entry." The worst thing about the story is that as the youngest in the family (and as a result, a spoiled ungrateful brat for much of my childhood, haha) I used to behave just like him. There's nothing worst than behaving like a little bastard and then getting held accountable for it. You did the right thing. I think you taught him a much needed lesson. Just know that if he does learn his lesson you don't need to hold it over him when he's a little bit older.
what an f-ing brat! Good on ya for teaching him a lesson!
I've heard this story from 3 perspectives:
Andy's: Left out all the parts that made him look like an ass
Jimmy's: Couldn't shut up about how cool the iPod Shuffle was
and Luv's: Which seems to be the fullest story, but it is still told by one perspective... could there be more? (^_^)
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