Your kids can sue you!

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Growing up, we had a much different idea than "we are entitled"! Let me tell you about my dad!!!


My father grew up in Hungary during the war years living in fear that a bomb might one day kill him and his entire family.

At one point, in the middle of the war, the family's ration book was stolen. In order to prevent the family from starving, my father and grandfather had no choice but to steel seed potatoes from out of the fields of a near by farm. They were reported to the gestapo who arrested my grandfather and beat him for 2 solid days.

At the end of the war, things got really bad with the soviet takeover. The Russians wanted revenge on anyone of German decent. It did not matter that my family had lived in Hungary for 100 years, the fact remained that they still were of German decent.

Soviet soldiers were feared simply because they could do whatever they wanted. One night, they barged into dad's home, took anything they wanted, and raped my grandmother. They made dad and grandpa watch at gunpoint.

I only found out about this recently. Who could blame dad for not wanting to share this little episode of his life.

After a number of years, my dad's family was deported to East Germany, meaning that his family lost what little they had left. It happened in the middle of the night, a bang on the door by soldiers and they had 15 minutes to grab what they could carry and get out.

When they arrived in East Germany, my dad began his apprenticeship for a butcher and my grandfather was sent to work in the copper mines. In Europe, back then, apprentices were beaten down like dogs and considered a the lowest for of life. Dad had to get up at 4am to feed the horses, and work did not end until around midnight.

The master of a trade was supposed to take care of the life expenses of the apprentice (e.g. Clothes, Food, and perhaps a bed) and teach the apprentice a trade, but usually the apprentice is simply an unpaid slave. During this time, My dad's bed was a pile of hey in a barn, he was given a new pair of pants (the only pair he owned) once every 6 months, and was given mostly starvation rations of one potato and a thin slice of bread twice a day.

It is understandable that Dad was caught trying to escape to west Germany 3 times and was shot at twice. He finally made it to West Germany only to find that it was swarming with hungry, desperate refugees that would be willing to simply work for food and sleep in a ditch just so that they would not starve to death.

He was lucky enough to end up in a Catholic relief program that shipped refugees to America and paired them with American sponsors. Six months later, my dad ended up in America as a penniless immigrant with less than a 6th grade education.

He set about to learn as much English as he could and as fast as he could and ended up working in construction for a rather kind man.

All this happened by the time my dad hit sixteen years of age.

From my dad's standpoint, he did not owe us kids a darn thing. We were clothed, fed, and housed. We were even given an education. This was a DAMN lot more that he was ever given. In my view, even as a little kid, I always felt he was right about this. I have lived my entire life knowing that I had it easy!

One more note... My father was a refugee in three different countries. Only in America could he have done as well as he did. As long as I have known him, My dad was the most loyal American going. God help me if I didn't rise up during the playing of the national anthem!

This little 18 year old is a spoiled brat that should be kicked out to the street. For shame to this family that is housing her!
 
JohnT, I think all I can say is "Wow" And I totally agree on the spoiled brat.
 
Julie,

From the age of 16 to 21, my father surrendered his entire paycheck to his mother. He did his part to support his family. Once he turned 21, he started his own construction business and gave his father a paycheck.

This is the true meaning of family. You do you part. You support one another. I find it disturbing that this law suit actually went to trial.

Sorry for the long tirade, it just hit a nerve in me.
 
From what I understand, the child (yes....child...age does not an adult make.....by law yes, but not morally or ethically) is also alleging various forms of abuse from both her mother and father.

It absolutely makes me see red. This child cannot fathom true abuse.

I was raised by an extremely abusive parent.
I would have been TERRIFIED to do something like this.
That said, I don't like comparing my life to someone else's life. There is always someone who has had it better or worse than someone else and I don't think it's fair to discount someone's experiences just because they haven't gone through something horrific. I'm glad that most people don't have to go through what John's father had to go through. What a terrible ordeal. It really speaks to his character and what kind of family he came from when you see what he ultimately did with his life.
Back to my point though, what John and his father had, and what I had/have is a certain amount of respect for my parents and a real true understanding of how the world works.

I've been in law enforcement for most of my adult life. I see/hear about abused children every week.
I also see the result of spoiled brats every week. I'm glad the judge has denied temporary financial support and I hope the entire court case is eventually thrown out.
 
Jeri,

you summed it up in one word.. Respect!

BTW,

They got to the bottom of the claims of child abuse. Turns out that the girl claims that her father "inappropriately kissed her". This claim was investigated and, after speaking to witnesses, was immediately tossed out.
 
UPDATE:

Apparently this kid has dropped her lawsuit and has move back home with her parents.

Goes to show you the love of a parent. After all this brat has put her parents through, they still welcome her home.
 
An interesting fact about this story that I hadn't learned until yesterday was that around the time of her leaving, the parents had separated. Though they are now back together, I can't help but think that played a part in some way. It doesn't excuse the kids behavior but it may help explain it.

This kid may have significantly damaged the rest of her life though. Imagine what college admission boards will be thinking when they see her application and Google her name. Same goes several years later, when she'll presumably be looking for employment.
 
John, that is a heart wrenching story, but it did give you an appreciation for life. When I was 13 my parents bought a motel....where I worked till I graduated high school and moved away...no I never got paid, and I didn't expect it. This was a "family" business and it took all my sisters and brother to make it work. It is very frustrating to me to look around and see that all these kids "expect" perks as "rights" instead of privileges. Yet they do not accept the responsibility for their own actions. I am glad my children are raised, it seems to get tougher and tougher as time goes on.
 
two cents

not all young people are like this ,but I don't believe that respect for were we have come from and what it took to get us here the good and the bad, ,isn't taught anymore ,I think all that matters to the younger people is here and now ,not looking behind or thinking ahead, instant gratification is what has been touch via the INTERNET and privacy and respect for others is old hat and not their way, lawlessness is common place and freedom of speech is all but gone.

respect is not in the dictionary anymore.:slp

just my two cents..........................:u
 

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