Should I support my daughter’s kid?
Dear Dale:
My twenty-year old daughter is pregnant and the guy who knocked her up has skipped town leaving me holding the bag. What should I do?
Signed,
Always unlucky
Dear AU:
I really feel for you. You are like a guy who, through no fault of his own, gets into a bar fight and accidentally kills a guy. And then you get a hanging judge who gives you twenty years, just because he doesn’t like your face.
For twenty long years you suffer. And then, just as your time is coming to an end, some guy jumps you in the yard and you are forced to defend yourself. And so you get another twenty years. Now it really is a life sentence.
Do you have a shotgun? You could go after the guy. But you might lose your temper and kill him. And then you would have to spend the rest of your life in prison. That’s one way to get out of supporting the kid but far from the best.
Another option is termination. Besides being the most economical solution to your problem, it’s also the most humane. Just think of all the unpleasantness the kid can avoid: school, bullying, marriage. Okay, the last two are the same.
But you get my point. The older I get, the more it seems to me the Buddha was right: all life is suffering. A single day at work will teach you that.
I have to warn you though: women don’t like it. It goes against their instinct. No matter how horrible the circumstances, they want to make babies.
Your best bet is to opt out. Refuse to support the kid. Quit your job if you have to. Spend all your money on alcohol. Don’t come home for days on end. Be the problem not the solution.
Your family will be upset of course. They will expect you to be the man (i.e. the drudge who pays for everything). But you’ve done your time. Twenty years is more than enough. Worst comes to worst, you can all go on welfare.
The doors of your prison have swung wide open. Walk out. You’ll be glad you did. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Dale
Hi. If you’ve made it this far, you probably liked the story. So why not check out some others at my Medium page? https://medium.com/dear-dale
