Families

[missguided.rose]

It's recently come to my attention that I cant rely on mine for ANYTHING. >.< I'm in America right now (originally from Australia) and to get back home, I need my Birth Certificate as proof of residency to be allowed back in because all I have is a UK passport (I have dual citizenship). So basically I have no documentation saying I live there.

So when I first found this out - on my flight over here, I emailed my family the moment I was here and said "Please send me my Birth Certificate, you have 3 months to do it but please do it now incase something goes wrong and it gets lost in the mail" So.. 3 weeks before I LEAVE my sister finally gets her act together and posts it. BUT she gets the damn address wrong, god knows how >.< and misses out half the street number AND the apartment number.

So USPS sends it BACK to her, and I leave in 2 weeks and have no Birth Certificate lol so unless my useless excuse for a family (oh, I called my mother when I found out and she says "I'll see what I can do" and hangs up) get their act together, I may aswell kiss my country that I call home goodbye.

Wish me luck! I was also wondering if anyone has a family they have alot of problems with.. I'm half wondering if I should just not speak to them when I get back.

[Tone]

Good luck :[

And where have you been staying? Not with your ex right?

[Only-virgins]

It's recently come to my attention that I cant rely on mine for ANYTHING.

It doesnt matter as long as you have money. If I had a shit load of money..man....I wouldnt need anyone to rely on.

[shh!]

Wow - you mean you didn't know you'd need it before you left Australia?

Next time, it would be better to request the birth certificate yourself. You can get a copy by simply phoning the records department of the hospital you were born in. You might have even been able to request it online. Maybe its not too late to do this, and then no one else has to be responsible for doing it for you.

And don't feel bad - I don't count on my family for these kinds of things, either. Just look at it as an opportunity to learn.

[missguided.rose]

Nup, i didnt know =/ I knew when I got to Sydney on my connecting flight to LA when Immigration pulled me over and told me I'd need it for my return trip. And this guy! He pulled me aside and said "We have a problem with your passport, if you'd like to come with me.. and by the way, do you like prison food?" and laughed and I was like you *******! LOL I was so freaked out as it was.

I'll see what I can do about contacting the hospital direct.. thats a great idea, thanks shh!

[TAVS]

Why doesn't your family want to help you? Did you leave on bad terms? Never turn your back on family....

[missguided.rose]

No I didn't actually, we were fine until all this happened.. and it's not like I *want* too turn my back on them, I just feel that they're not helping me out at all.. If a member of your family was unable to get back home I'm sure you'd be doing all you could to help them, they're not - thats my problem.

[Tone]

Why doesn't your family want to help you? Did you leave on bad terms? Never turn your back on family....

Are you serious? You do realize what year it is right? This isn't the 1950's anymore.

[TAVS]

But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be. Values shouldn't change just because the years go on. That's when you get high divorce rates and 13yr olds getting pregnant. Don't forget school shootings.

[Tone]

Shouldn'ts or wouldn'ts aside, that is the world we live in.

[ritehereritenow]

My families are very very close to each other. To my parents, I am everything and they are willing to do anything for me. I am Asian, so this is kinda cultural. But anyway, your family's reaction is really disappointing and hard to understand...If it's really surprising to you as well, maybe you did something that pissed them off?

No I didn't actually, we were fine until all this happened.. and it's not like I *want* too turn my back on them, I just feel that they're not helping me out at all.. If a member of your family was unable to get back home I'm sure you'd be doing all you could to help them, they're not - thats my problem.

[missguided.rose]

But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be. Values shouldn't change just because the years go on. That's when you get high divorce rates and 13yr olds getting pregnant. Don't forget school shootings.

That's like saying even though its the year 2005 women shouldn't be allowed to vote.

[shh!]

Why doesn't your family want to help you? Did you leave on bad terms? Never turn your back on family....

I agree with you , for the most part. It depends on who your family is, though. Some families are so dysfunctional, they NEED to be abandoned. Did you see that movie "Million Dollar Baby"? THERE was a family one could walk away from...

All of this shock at the family is a little much, though. I would say at most it warrants some degree of irritation. It really isn't a big deal to call the hospital and get a birth certificate yourself! Independence is a good thing!

[whaywardj]

Some families are so dysfunctional, they NEED to be abandoned. Did you see that movie "Million Dollar Baby"? THERE was a family one could walk away from...All of this shock at the family is a little much, though.

THAT (Million Dollar Baby) was, essentially, MY family, shh! I walked when I was 14. Don't know to this day (I'm now 55) whether my mother is even still alive; have no clue where my half-siblings might be; and wouldn't recognize an aunt, uncle or cousin if I saw one.

I agree. All the hub-bub over a birth certificate oversight does seem a bit much. After all, misguidedrose, you're a big girl now. Perhaps it never occurred to your family that you, yourself, would overlook such a critical factor and THEY are irritated because you did, and are worried as to why you did.

(I can hear them now: "I thought we raised her to be smarter than that. Where did we go wrong? While on travel, she's not doing something stupid, like taking drugs, is she? What else could explain her not knowing she'd need it to come home? Is this her way of telling us she DOESN"T WANT to come home? Did she subconsciously ARRANGE this? Is she calling out for help? Or is she blaming us us for something?")

Et cetera.

TAVS -- Yeah, tradition is nice. But when a family forsakes the underpinnings which gave rise to the tradition in the first place, they don't rate reaping its rewards and the affected children no longer have any familial obligations to them.

[TAVS]

That's like saying even though its the year 2005 women shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Yea and blowing a stop sign is just like killing someone while DUI. I guess there's nothing wrong with 15-yr old mothers.