Walterp
Member
- Location
- Pembrokeshire
My youngest brother's nothing like me; he's tall, good-looking and charming, for starters.
Is he bright, as well? Truth is, I don't know: he still can't read books very well, but he can read people like, err, a book - by 16 he was charming his successive girlfriends out of their knickers with ease, and by the time he was 30 he'd had 'em all: nurses, secretaries, housewives, middle class, working class, some with no discernible class at all, white girls, black girls, even a couple of Thai birds (at the same time, naturally, because "it's more fun that way, Walterp, just like mothers and daughters").
But he never found his niche in life; so he stayed in the niche he was born - my father promised my dying mother that he would 'look after' my youngest brother because he was a slow learner and it's the only promise my old man hasn't broken - the family farm has supported my brother through thick and thin. My youngest brother has never worked, and he's now 50.
So the stay-at-home brother had to work even harder, milking more cows, keeping more beef cattle, starting a flock, growing veg, 'cos the bills just kept on getting bigger: first the farm paid for my youngest brother's fuel, then his vehicles, then buying him a house, then paying his household bills, etc - because Job-Seeker's Allowance doesn't go very far, does it? Never was the phrase 'family farm' more apt - now it's paying bills for my brother's natural daughters, as well, and they are proving just as fertile, so that there's a few natural great-grandchildren, too.
No wonder the stay-at-home brother always looks so sour: he never had time off to drink and chase girls, because there was so much work to do. And now he's 51, it's a bit late to start a family of his own.
Despite 35 years of draining expense, my old man quite likes my youngest brother and entourage ("they're just so much fun, see") whilst stay-at-home brother gets faint praise ("sure he's done all the work, but he's just so fudging miserable all the time, and he's got no family, has he?").
I thought I could sort this out, but I failed. My key advice was that father had to retire, 'cos the reason the family business hadn't gone anywhere in 35 years was that it had been too busy supporting the wrong family.
Just out of interest, was my answer incorrect? Or did I simply ask myself the wrong question?
Is he bright, as well? Truth is, I don't know: he still can't read books very well, but he can read people like, err, a book - by 16 he was charming his successive girlfriends out of their knickers with ease, and by the time he was 30 he'd had 'em all: nurses, secretaries, housewives, middle class, working class, some with no discernible class at all, white girls, black girls, even a couple of Thai birds (at the same time, naturally, because "it's more fun that way, Walterp, just like mothers and daughters").
But he never found his niche in life; so he stayed in the niche he was born - my father promised my dying mother that he would 'look after' my youngest brother because he was a slow learner and it's the only promise my old man hasn't broken - the family farm has supported my brother through thick and thin. My youngest brother has never worked, and he's now 50.
So the stay-at-home brother had to work even harder, milking more cows, keeping more beef cattle, starting a flock, growing veg, 'cos the bills just kept on getting bigger: first the farm paid for my youngest brother's fuel, then his vehicles, then buying him a house, then paying his household bills, etc - because Job-Seeker's Allowance doesn't go very far, does it? Never was the phrase 'family farm' more apt - now it's paying bills for my brother's natural daughters, as well, and they are proving just as fertile, so that there's a few natural great-grandchildren, too.
No wonder the stay-at-home brother always looks so sour: he never had time off to drink and chase girls, because there was so much work to do. And now he's 51, it's a bit late to start a family of his own.
Despite 35 years of draining expense, my old man quite likes my youngest brother and entourage ("they're just so much fun, see") whilst stay-at-home brother gets faint praise ("sure he's done all the work, but he's just so fudging miserable all the time, and he's got no family, has he?").
I thought I could sort this out, but I failed. My key advice was that father had to retire, 'cos the reason the family business hadn't gone anywhere in 35 years was that it had been too busy supporting the wrong family.
Just out of interest, was my answer incorrect? Or did I simply ask myself the wrong question?