Sans Souci
Well-Known Member
Sometimes I swear we have the same family!! My brother didn't ever need bail, but he did almost have to declare bankruptcy and got my dad to bail him out of that jam. He's the same way....spend money as soon as he has it....sometimes BEFORE he has it. And he is an instant gratification person. He can't stand to wait and save up for something he wants. He's got to have it NOW, preferably a few weeks ago. He was working for the IT department at the university, and they were going to buy all the IT people palm pilots. My brother couldn't wait, so he went out and bought the exact model they were getting from work 2 weeks before they were set to come in so "he could learn how to use it" already and then when he got the one from work, he'd just resell the one he bought. Absolutely ridiculous....just wait 2 weeks and you'll have it and NOT have to waste hundreds of dollars on it! He got in trouble with credit cards, because he was an absolute sucker for free stuff and those CC companies target college students by offering a free tshirt or a 2 liter bottle of soda if you signed up for their guaranteed acceptance card. So he ended up with 10 to 15 of those pre-approved CCs that have really high interest rates, just to get a bottle of pop, and then he maxed every one of those cards out and couldn't even afford the interest on them. My dad had to put down a large amount to consolidate the debt so my brother didn't have to declare bankruptcy at 22. He also almost ruined his best friend's credit, because they shared an apartment and the best friend put the utilities in his name because my brother's credit was awful....then the best friend moved out, but let my brother keep the utilities in his name and my brother just never paid the bills. The best friend called my mom and told her he was worried about my brother and could she talk to him and help him. My mom was mad at the best friend for "Leaving my brother in the lurch" with the apartment. He had given my brother NINE MONTHS NOTICE that he was moving out when the lease was up, so my brother could find a new roommate. My brother didn't even look, and didn't tell my mom until a couple of weeks before his best friend actually moved, so she blamed the best friend for just moving out and leaving him without a roommate, and then got mad at me because my brother decided I was the answer to his solution. I had just decided to move in with my fiance at the time, and so my brother decided that I should move in with him instead. I said no, I already HAD a roommate, so my mom called and reamed me out for leaving my brother high and dry so I could live in sin. My BROTHER left my brother high and dry....he had months to find a new roommate. It's his own fault that he didn't look. But my mom always bragged about how smart and how responsible my brother was, he was just this golden child who could do no wrong, and I was such a screw up and my mother didn't know WHAT to do with me. Yet it was my brother who almost went bankrupt, ruined his best friend's credit, and declined to look for a new roommate, while I had perfect credit, a car that worked, and I paid my own way through college, and -I- was the screw up. My brother's problem is that everything was always given to him. He never had to work for it. He got good grades without working at it, so he got a full ride scholarship for college. My dad all but gave him his first car. My mom bought all his basic necessities through high school because he never had money to buy things himself, but I was expected to buy my own clothes, shampoo, my cheerleading uniform and letterman's jacket. We were poor and mom couldn't afford that stuff, so I had to buy it myself. But my brother always spent his money as soon as he had it, so when his pants ripped and he needed new ones, he didn't have the money for them. So my mom would have to buy them for him, but never made him pay her back. He was used to other people paying the bills so he could spend his money on fun stuff, and he was good at manipulating people, making them think they owed him for something. He was never your friend just because you were his friend....it costs you something to be his friend. You're involved in theater? You'd better get him free tickets to whatever show you are in. You're involved in some community organization? He expects your help with some project he's working on. You just got a raise at work? Congratulations....you now owe him dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate, because of course you'd never have gotten that raise without some "favor" he did for you. If you DON'T, he's not going to waste time hanging out with you. He's a classic people-user. If you've read the Harry Potter series, he's Professor Slughorn. He likes his creature comforts, and he "collects" people who can get him those things. If you can't be of benefit to him, he has no time for you. And my mom was the classic enabler. She thought the sun rose and set out of his rear end every day and I couldn't possibly compete with him. She always thought I owed him for everything and gave him credit for my accomplishments. She told me I would never have gotten into college if it weren't for my brother, and she said I'd never have made it through my first year of college if he hadn't tutored me. But I was a music major and my brother knew NOTHING about music. He hadn't tutored me at ALL. I got straight A's my first semester, and I only had 1 B in the second semester, because -I- went and got help when I needed it....and NOT from my brother. But nope, it was actually my brother's accomplishment, so I owed him!
Your husband was totally right....why should you give up your vacation to pay for your brother's mistake? You know he'd never do the same for you! Is your brother older than you? My brother is the oldest, so my mom just thought he was perfect and I was the bane of her existence. I suspect you are right, that your brother will decline the offer, because it's not what he wants. What he wants is for you to just send him money to spend as he wants, not a place to lodge and eat under YOUR terms. He's probably holding out, hoping you'll come up with something more, or he's planning a counter-offer. I don't know if he's like my brother in this, but mine always throws everything back in your face....every favor he's ever done. "I printed out the mailing labels and maps for your wedding invitations! The least you can do is......" and he tends to forget all the favors I ever did for him, like that I got up every day that week to work the pride table for coming out week on campus because none of the actual members of their organization wanted to get out of bed to work the 8:00 slot. He figures the 30 minutes it took him to set the printer up for labels and print them out is worth way more than the hours I spent at that table early in the morning. My mother always reinforced that idea that I owed him and that he deserved more. So he grew up lazy and expecting everyone to do everything for him because he was taught that he was owed it by everyone else in the world. And it sounds like your brother was kind of enabled in the same way by your mom. So he's probably not going to change. If he gets knocked down, whether it's because of something he did or because of a natural disaster, he's going to expect someone else to get him out of it, because they always have.
Is he married? Have kids? I have to say my husband's spouse is AMAZING and has been SO good for him. I won't say my brother is completely reformed, but he does do more than he used to.
I have thought that, too, about having similar families! My brother isn't so much transactional as he is irresponsible. He has always had his messes cleaned up for him and he has always been shielded from the consequences of his poor choices. I think this has contributed to his devil-may-care approach to life.
My brother is not married, he's never been married. He is in a relationship with someone where they break up and get back together over and over again. My husband is on FB and he is friends with my brother and he will tell me, "You're brother is single...today." He seems to prefer women who are emotionally volatile and incapable of long term relationships.