Dear Queenie,
My mother-in-law is a widow with limited means from the savings her late husband left her. She can’t make it on her own and depends on her children and they all agreed to pitch in to help.
The problem is one brother hasn’t yet given her a penny and in fact asked her for money which she gave him out of what the rest of them had given her, but we see him out and about all the time spending money on cigarettes and expensive dinners and restaurants and even going to adult clubs.
Queenie, if he can afford all that, why can’t he help his mother too, instead of asking her for money?—Angry daughter-in-law
Dear Daughter-in-law,
I do not blame you for being angry. Your brother-in-law is clearly selfish and irresponsible and if indeed he also promised to chip in obviously his word is no good.
However, it is up to his siblings (and his wife, if he is married) to demand that he man up and chip in his fair share instead of making things harder for his mother. They also should try to persuade their mother to stop giving him money she cannot afford.
