Years ago on Thanksgiving I saw my Aunt Rosemarie (my dad's sister) who I hadn't seen for a long time before that day.  She's a nice lady, I guess.  A little rough around the edges but most notably...dumber than a box of rocks.

Or at least that's what I started to think about her mental capacity (or lack thereof) after the heated argument I had with her during that Thanksgiving episode.

So, the argument?

Let's see, the short version of the debate/argument sort of went like this:

Aunt Rosemarie:  "So, Monica, do you cook?"

Me:  "No, I don't have time.  I work 60 hours a week and make roughly $2 million a year so I never quite got around or understood the use of learning how to cook."

Aunt Rosemarie:  "Really?  You don't know how to cook?  Anything?"

Me:  "Well, unless you count scrambled eggs, spaghetti noodles, or a bag of popcorn...basically no.  I don't cook.  Anything."

Aunt Rosemarie:  "Don't you think you should know how to cook?"

Me:  "Uh, no.  Not really."

Aunt Rosemarie:  "But why?"

Me:  "Because I run two companies.  I don't have the time or the interest."

And on and on and on this boring, heated, angry, and unpleasant conversation went.

Maybe I should have poked the hot stoker stick right back into her face.  Like..."Hey, Aunt Rosemarie.  Why don't you divorce that lying piece of sh** husband of yours who is cheating on you and hits you?  You know, the one that gave you an STD recently?  Oh, wait.  

That's right.  Because you can't financially take care of yourself, you're stuck living with the pig until you die.  But...as long as you can cook and all, everything must be A-OK in your simple-minded world.  Hope you like your daily face-punchings from your loser husband.  

You can probably take them better than most people being that you're head is made of rock and all.  Maybe you can cook your way out of your situation."

Sorry to be mean but...no, sorry I'm not mean.

It's odd how someone can try to diminish what someone can't do regardless of whether it's actually important.

It further disgusts me that people don't realize what's really relevant.  Like with my aunt, for instance.  Why would cooking be relevant when she's in a situation that, well...completely sucks?

Maybe it's all she's got.  You know, her only "claim to fame."  And what better way to showcase something you're good at than to diminish somebody else in the process?  Right?

One of the things I instill in my daughter's ripe and growing mind is this, "Learn to take care of yourself.  Become independent of others...especially of needing a significant other to carry you through life."

This applies to both men and women alike.  (Believe it or not, some men are in abusive domestic situations as well!)
Where am I going with all this?

Well, it's Thanksgiving tomorrow and it made me think of a huge reason as to why it's awesome that I get to sit at home with 3 cats and drink an entire bottle of wine while watching movies...instead of the alternative which is doing a bunch of work and spending time with people that suck.

It's also a reason to always be ready, willing, and able to take direct financial control of your life however you can (legally, of course) so you're not at the whim of another person or the economy or being broke and having no choices.  Because that really sucks.  Been there done that, for only a short time before I quickly kicked that life choice to the curb.

And best of all, a direct ticket to creating your own income streams so you don't have to end up like my aunt...only knowing how to cook and...knowing how to argue with those who don't.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com