If you break something, you're responsible for its repair or replacement; that's really just common sense. Hopefully, you have insurance for such things that would cover you if someone needed you to repair or replace it. This responsibility understandably extends to your dependents, pets, and anything else you should have a responsibility and control over—whether or not you take that responsibility seriously. Still, there are situations where the claimant might end up dealing with a claimant wh…

Weddings are an interesting social phenomenon. For starters, the bride and groom's first task is to literally rank their family and closest friends by order of importance to them in order to form their bridal parties, almost like we're back on MySpace with our Top Friends ranked and audaciously on display… From there, everyone else gets a rank, too, with what table they're seated at the reception, letting everyone know loud and clear “where they sit" on your social ladder. If you're seated at a…

Cruise ships: floating palaces packed with tourists and plague that light up the oceans and terrorize whatever small port they happen to land in. You'd have to consider yourself mighty important indeed to think that one of these floating fortresses would forestall its scheduled course in order to accommodate your unfortunately entitled person... Sure, let's leave 3999 people waiting while the 4000th takes their time making your way back to the dock according to their own time. Sure, it's a toug…

Nobody knows how to ruin a wedding celebration quite like a Monster-in-law.

Baby names are a tricky subject, especially when you factor in familial traditions that you might be expected to uphold, and limitations, judgment, and grievances that might be placed by the people around on the name you finally settle on. Of course, especially these days, many people want their baby's name to be unique. Yet somehow these people all end up naming their kid some variation of the same thing, not realizing it until their kid is one of dozens of “Theo”s in their class when they sta…

When you're legally and financially tied to another person to the point where everything would be evenly split should the relationship end, you really have no business making excessively extravagant purchases without the both of you being on the same page. The acceptability of these slides further when that thing has no bearing on, or positive effect on, advancing your lives or livelihood together. Look I'm not going to be one of those people who starts talking about how collecting “pictures pr…

A gift is given willingly—usually without having an expectation placed upon it. Sure, when you're a kid, you might have gotten away with giving Mom and Dad some direction as to what to get you so that you didn't end up with something that wasn't worth anyone's money or time. For instance, if you asked your parents for just a generic “Gameboy game,” you'd wind up with some blockbuster movie cash grab that was almost unplayable and made by some third-party developer instead of the Pokemon game yo…

Nothing is worse than someone who thinks they are the exception to every rule—especially when that person is your sibling. And, if you think you are the exception to a rule when you haven't been told explicitly such... You probably aren't. It's important here to take a look in the mirror and realize that each and every one of us does this to an extent. It should come as no surprise that a lot of these involve driving. “Speed limits? But I'm a good driver; I can drive 5 or 10 over safely!” or “I…

Imagine finding out that your former fiancé is now living in the house you always hoped to buy one day. Well, that's what happens when you turn down the wrong guy. This woman cheated on her future husband at her bachelorette party, panicked, and called off the engagement right before the ceremony. She ended up marrying her high school boyfriend (who just happened to be at that bachelorette party… not suspicious at all). Unfortunately, this left her ex with an unrevealed wedding gift: the dream…

Sometimes, it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to do something for a stranger, and when that something is moving your mass a few feet in either direction to allow someone else to share access to something that everyone there specifically came to see… you're socially expected to do so. No one owns a public space or viewpoint of desirable scenery—that's kind of the point—and while they don't have an expressed claim to that location at that given time, neither do you have the right to block it f…

Part of having kids and being a parent is showing up for your kids and continuing to show up for them through their lives. So, when you're absent from one of the most important events in your life, what are they supposed to think? Further—when their spouse calls to let you know how much you've let your now-adult child down and you have the audacity to call your child back and declare that their spouse has a temper , don't be surprised when you get completely cut out of their life. This post is…

It's frustrating when someone can't keep a secret, especially when you've literally just finished telling them that secret, and the words are barely out of your mouth before they're sharing it with everyone. Of course, you learn to never disclose your secrets to that person after being burned once by their blabbermouth, but it's a little more complicated when that person is your spouse. It's also never easy living with a family who disapproves of your spouse due to their own haughty bias and pr…

Ladies… leave the fellas at home—really. And this statement applies to anyone prone to bringing their partners to traditionally spouseless events. It doesn't matter if you're attached at the hip for every waking moment of your life; otherwise, when it comes to something like a bachelor or bachelorette party, your spouse should not be involved. Leave the ol' boy at home and go have a night out on the town with the girls. This really shouldn't be a conversation in the first place, but—if it comes…

Ahh, family. Can't live with ‘em… and can’t live with 'em. While being one of the greatest and most fulfilling parts of life, family can also be one of the most toxic and infuriating. For some reason, being around family brings out the worst in us as well. As soon as we're back around our parents, we cease to be the functioning and capable adults we are and instead become our teenage selves, reacting with exasperated vitriol to any attempts our parents make to guide us. Our parents simultaneous…

There are certain people out there who just want all of the attention—all the time. No matter the situation, they need to be in the center of it with all eyes firmly focused on them. These 'Heathers' (just wait, it will catch on) of the world are the sort of people who will try to upstage you at your own wedding, doing outrageous things like getting engaged at your reception. They'll somehow make your birthday party about themselves, and before the candles are blown out on the cake, they'll be…

You would think a bride on their wedding day would just be getting dolled up and beaming with happiness since she's about to be united with the love of her life forever. However, anyone who has ever been a bride or has worked with a bride on her wedding day knows that she is anything but that. She is usually a ball of nerves, stress, and fear. Also excitement and happiness! but having a wedding is no easy task. So, many brides will hire a person that is called a “bridal attendant." This is a pe…