Flashback:  In Chapter 12:  Bratty McBratFace – College Graduate! Bratty received a brand new backpack from me as a graduation present, and promptly lodged a complaint with SO about not liking it.

During our letter writing campaign the prior summer, Bratty casually mentioned that she had re-gifted the backpack to a friend as he was very outdoorsy and needed one.  I’ve never had someone actually tell me they re-gifted something I gave them but I was over the whole backpack drama at that point.  It just so happens that same friend was invited by Bratty to join her on her road trip vacation. 

Bratty’s friend was scheduled to fly into the Bay Area on a Tuesday.  They were planning to drive down on a Thursday and leave on Saturday morning and drive down to Mexico where they would camp for two nights.  SO and I had purchased movie tickets for Saturday night as we assumed Bratty and Friend would be gone by then.  A few days before they were supposed to arrive, Bratty texts SO and tells him her cousin in the Bay Area was having a small birthday party on Thursday night and she was thinking of delaying her drive down to attend.  She needed to speak to her friend. 

We hear nothing else from Bratty until I finally text her Wednesday night.  I had to go to work Thursday and wanted to know if I would come home to a rando in my living room.  She finally replied and said they would drive down Friday instead of Thursday (I’m sure the Friend was thrilled to spend an evening at Bratty’s cousins party LOL).  I said sure as what else was I going to say at the 11th hour – no don’t come now?  I was finding the constant schedule changes frustrating – Bratty either shows up or leaves a day late from when she made the plans. 

At any rate, Bratty and Friend did drive down and made it to our house late Friday.  I was already up in bed but SO went downstairs and got them settled into their room arrangements – Bratty upstairs in her old bedroom and Friend downstairs in the guest room.  The next morning was a Saturday so I was off work.  I went downstairs and Friend was already awake and talking to SO.

I introduced myself and offered Friend some coffee (SO drinks tea, so I’m the only one who makes coffee in the mornings).  We chatted a bit over coffee and still no sign of Bratty, who was sleeping in per usual.  It was pretty clear from talking to this kid that he was interested in couch-surfing on his vacation as was not a ‘good friend’ as Bratty had said he was.  He actually said they didn’t know each other well but he was enjoying his vacation LOL. 

Eventually Bratty comes downstairs at around 10 am and she and Friend make some sight-seeing plans.  She asks SO what time they should be home for dinner.  SO tells her we had already purchased movie tickets and it would be a date night for SO and I, so they were on their own for dinner.  Bratty was quiet but said ok and everyone went on with their respective days. 

When we get home from the movie, Bratty and Friend are already home but look despondent.  We ask how their day was.  Bratty said it was fine but she realized that she forgot her passport and they were supposed to drive down to Mexico the next day.  Obviously that is a problem.  We all sat around and tried to help Bratty problem-solve.

Bratty’s first thought was she could jump in the car, drive back to the Bay Area, grab her passport, drive back to our house (overnight) and they could still drive to Mexico Sunday morning.  A solid 12+ hours of driving.  This plan was so ridiculous I couldn’t help but snort out a chuckle (although I knew better than to just tell Bratty that was bad plan).  Bratty looks over at me and then asks me ‘What?’ in a really sarcastic tone of voice.  Everyone ignores her, including me, as I knew I told Bratty the truth about her plan it would result in an argument.  Bratty wouldn’t let it go, though.  She kept looking at me and repeating ‘What?’ in a nasty tone of voice.  SO and Friend were talking about options and SO claimed to not hear Bratty.  I continued to ignore her and finally jumped into SO and Friend’s discussion to shut down Bratty altogether.

But I was pissed.  I agreed to let her visit with her rando friend as a favor to her.  I dealt with another last minute schedule change.  And now she’s sitting in my living room giving me attitude?  WTF.  And on top of that, Bratty went to get a mug to make herself some tea and left the kitchen cabinet open.  I had to get up from the living room to close it and she saw me do so (it is open plan) and not only said nothing, but kept doing this the next day as well.  Now by itself this is not a big thing, but sometimes a ton of little things eventually pile up and lead to one really pissed off person, which is what eventually happened as we’ll see later.

Ultimately Bratty and Friend ditched the Mexico plan altogether (which Friend was unhappy about) and left Sunday afternoon to spend a couple of days in another part of SoCal instead.  When they left, Bratty said goodbye but neither one of them actually said thank you, which I thought was rude.  I didn’t expect a parade but a simple ‘thanks for hosting us’ would have been appropriate before leaving. 

The rest of Bratty’s trip went fine, and she stopped back at our house on her way north after she dropped Friend off at the airport.  The plan was for Bratty to go through some of her stuff and take it with her.  I was at work so I didn’t see Bratty and when I got home I asked SO how it went.  He said Bratty was tired and napped for a couple of hours and didn’t feel like going through her stuff so didn’t take anything except for the bike (which I had insisted on).

For some reason this trip really got under my skin.  It really bugged me for a couple of weeks after Bratty left.  I figured it was better to keep the peace and tried to remind myself that the open cabinets were really not a huge crime.  And Bratty would grow up someday and get better at the not changing plans so much.  And maybe she just forgot to say thank you.  And maybe she would pack up her stuff on her next visit.  And maybe pigs will actually fly someday.

I finally unloaded on SO about Bratty’s visit and all the things that bothered me about it.  I also touched on the fact that Bratty never said thank you and I told SO he was blind if he didn’t hear the attitude that Bratty gave me in our living room.  We had agreed in couples counseling that Bratty being disrespectful was going to be a hard line in the sand.  It turned out to be no line at all and I was hurt. 

I felt better once I got all that out and SO and I were moving on with our lives.  Until one day a card came floating in the mail addressed to SO and I.  It was the last straw for me and lead to a Big Bratty Meltdown….coming up next!