Current mood:

aggravated

Oh, and there's this story of stupidity
I nearly forgot about this one, but it popped back into my head this afternoon.

On my father's side of the family I have a cousin, D., who is 21, lives with his parents, and has never lived in his own place. He has a girlfriend, R., who he recently knocked up. When the news came, his family was happy. They kept talking about how D. had a good job [which he does], and how he and R. have been together for a whole year, and how happy they were that they'd have a grandchild of their own to spoil.

Um...yeah. Great. What about R.? How's she doing in all this?

Oh, R. was just fine and dandy. She'd gone to the county health unit to get checked out by the doctor there, and then she'd signed up for WIC because she couldn't actually afford to have the kid without government assistance.

So, what of D.? Is he going to move out of his parents' house and shack up with R. to raise the baby all proper and all? He doesn't know. He doesn't know. And the family is okay with the fact that he hasn't made a decision in regards to his knocked-up girlfriend.

Did the possibility of abortion or giving up the baby come up? Of course not. D. has a good job. He can help support the baby.

After the family love-in, I was bitching to my brothers about the situation and made a comment about how birth control can be picked up at the county health unit, too. And it's cheaper than having a kid. One of my brothers informs me that according to D., R. was on birth control. And what of condoms? My brothers actually looked at me like I was nuts and said, "Why would you need condoms with birth control?" I smacked them both and pointed out that birth control obviously fails. They tried to argue that condoms don't feel good, and I smacked them both again. My own brothers. Jesus.

The worst part about the whole thing was how happy my aunt and uncle were at the prospect of having a grandchild. Forget that D. still lives at home. Forget that he's never been forced to be responsible for anything in his life. Forget that there's a major difference between a steady fuck and fatherhood. Forget that. They want a grandchild. Of their very own.