h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is becoming incredibly hard to convince my parents to let me take out student loans. Even harder than that is convincing them that I should get out of the house and live on campus.

It's downright impossible to keep the house from blowing up under the stress.

Ask them when you should leave the house. Would 35 be a good age to go out from under progenitorial control? How about 60? At least then they wouldn't have to worry about you running off with the first guy you see. I'm sure if they had the chance, they'd lock you in the basement forever...

If they won't let you take out loans, how do they expect you to pay tuition?

The next question to ask would be, if they want you to live at home, when are they buying you a car?

For some reason, no logical argument is working here. I despise the option of going to community college next year. Here's for one last ditch attempt that I have left...

Parents. So stubborn.

*nurses the fat lip she earned herself yesterday from a "discussion" about college*

Ouch. Harsh.

As harsh as it may be... when has logic ever worked for your situation?

Is this a united front sort of thing, or is there division in the ranks? Or to come out and be obvious, what's your dad's take on the issue?

He's more than willing, but the fact that mom openly refuses to co-sign for any student loans tells me that I really shouldn't ask him to help too much, lest I cause even more family strife.

I called UCR and they said my financial aid counselor is availiable on Thursdays. Which would mean dad would have to bring me, and have to take off work early... and he already told me he's willing to do that, so that's a good sign. Hopefully this will help somehow... I don't get into fights with him, but if I talk to him too much he talks to mom and SHE gets mad at me for bothering him. Sigh. It's a vicious cycle.

And you're right; logic NEVER works in my house.

How did I know your mom was the one being unreasonable, and your dad was available for reason?

Good luck. Remember, though... if the whole plan caves in on you, it still won't be the end of the world. There are alternatives. I should know.

What was your planned course of study? Or to be more precise, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Dunno... because it's always that way?

And yes, there are alternatives, I'd just rather not be forced into them.

Dunno exactly what I want to be when I grow up. In the opinion of myself and others, I'm best at writing (like the 40-some page manuscript that keeps growing rather alarmingly) and graphic arts (just got hired to do the choir "Broadway" logo for t-shirts, programs, etc, and put some stuff in a local art show). But what I want to do with this stuff, I really don't know. At UCR my major is Creative Writing (of all the useless majors!) but if I can transfer to UCSD in a couple of years--which I'm hoping--they have an AWESOME interdiciplinary major, Computing and the Arts, a kinda multimedia thing.

I'm just planning on having fun learning, right now.

Creative Writing? Plans to attend in San Diego? Financial plan falling apart due to family? You'd better stop this... I'm having deja vu so strongly I'm about to start having flashbacks.

Geez, you'd think we were related or something...

...

Well, at least mom isn't trying to STOP my last-ditch effort, though I kinda wonder whether her presence today will be more help or hindrance. Certainly doesn't help that she figures it "ruins" her birthday, but otherwise my guess could go either way...

Today I get to take a fun-filled trip to the wonderful campus to negotiate with my financial aid counselor. Sigh. If this doesn't work, nothing will--so it'd better work!

You and I are much too different to possibly be related... right?

Absolutely. For one thing, I'm a boy, and you're a girl. For another, I'm relatively very old. So we couldn't possibly be related.

Hm, I thought you were better than *that* at arguing...

Oh, and I just thought of one more technicality that could really make today not worth living. The mail, if mom picks it up, possibly contains a certain document that makes my academic situation seem much worse than it is...

You know, you'd go a long way to stopping these arguments if those letters stopped arriving at your house. You have to inspire trust before you're going to be given responsibility. A long history of excuse-making isn't exactly inspiring.

You don't need to tell ME that. The short story is, the report card DID get home yesterday, Mom refuses to talk to my teachers so she assumes that I've done absolutely nothing all year, especially homework, when the reality is that I've failed a great deal of quizzes in English. But that doesn't matter. We didn't go to UCR yesterday. And I won't be going. And I won't be in Chamber Singers anymore, either...

The weather outside fits so perfectly with my mood.

You know, my wife and I are attending these classes that teach us how to resolve problems in constructive ways, where everyone has the opportunity to be heard. I can't think of anyone who needs this stuff more than you and your mother.

...though the much easier option is me getting out of that house, one way or another. Believe me, she can manage to be civil to me all she wants in public, but at home it just falls apart. I don't really think a class of any kind could get around her complete, utter stubbornness.

That kind of stubborn attitude is what got me to call her a fool the other week, anyway. And you know what that got me. Now not even dad's on my side.

Ah, fun. Parent-teacher conference this Thursday; me with a rather miserable sinus headache; Chamber Singers almost certainly gone from my life.

I'm working on the last-ditch attempt for college, but the rest of my life is making me not very optimistic. Which is really unlike me, actually. Then again, I usually don't have *this* much bad luck...

I don't like to turn this conversation into a long moaning session, but there's these little things I need to vent. Like yesterday. What happened is that a few weeks ago, my friend and I both entered a local art show. She got an honorable mention, I got nothing, but we both wanted to see what DID win, you know, to get an idea of what passes as good art around here. Well... yesterday my mom makes a point of taking my friend down to the show, and leaving me behind, on the grounds that she figured I *must* have some homework to do (due to the bad grades) when in fact there is nothing I can do at home. NOTHING. So I got to sit at home and stare angrily at the wall while my friend went to see it... and she didn't want to go at that point, but I told her that at least she could TELL me about the show, if I couldn't see it. Still... it rather gets to me, this sort of thing.

Yeah, I know. I've seen her going out of her way to belittle you on many occasions. You'd think she was your older sister.