Show them a good time he said, you'll have a good time too, he said. But I knew I wouldn't. It's not that I didn't love my cousins dearly, because I did. We had all grown up together and had our love of camping in common, so we went on a camping trip together every year. But this year my dad had asked them to be included on his and my mom's annual trip to visit me and my husband in New York City.
This was going to be a problem.
When we were all packing our own food for the camping trip, it was easy for us all to eat together, but trying to find a restaurant that can fit ten people, accommodate ten sets of preferences and at least five different fad diets (this year Shirley decided to try the alkaline diet), and manage to be somewhere my dad deemed 'nice' was pretty much impossible. So far, there had been at least two people grumbling the entire time and not eating anything (which made them even less fun later).
When the only activities were hiking, canoeing, and rafting, we all could agree on what to do and had a great time. We had no cell phone service so no one was that distracted by their phones (we did take photos of course though). But now in NYC there were far too many options. Greg wanted to go to the Met. Taylor wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. Rebecca wanted to see Times Square. Quentin refused to see Times Square. They all then turned to me to ask what was the best thing to do in New York and I had to stammer out suggestions that I hoped would get at least one person on board. So far I had managed to get them to agree to a haunted tour because we also had a tradition of telling ghost stories around the campfire, but that was only one night covered. They were here for a whole week.
Then there was the problem of where everyone would sleep. With camping, we all had our own tents. Done. It was settled. But now there was some room at my apartment and at my in-law's apartment (which was close by) but not enough to put everyone up. Thus the debates began on the cousin text thread of who should get to sleep where when. Some argued it should be first come first served, some thought everyone should get a hotel room so it was all equal. Some said that we could all fit on the floor if we tried. Ultimately an insanely complex rotating schedule was set up so that no one was paying for a full week at a hotel.
Why my dad had thought this was a good idea was beyond me. He hated camping, but always wanted to be all of my cousins' favorite uncle, so he thought including them on this trip would be the best way to do it. I really think he should've just come on our camping trip.
But thinking of him camping was also a bad idea. He hated the outdoors, complained if he couldn't send texts easily, didn't like making his own food, but also was extremely picky.
But still, we should really just stick to camping, I thought.
(Prompt by Lisa McInerney)
😃😃😃
This was going to be a problem.
When we were all packing our own food for the camping trip, it was easy for us all to eat together, but trying to find a restaurant that can fit ten people, accommodate ten sets of preferences and at least five different fad diets (this year Shirley decided to try the alkaline diet), and manage to be somewhere my dad deemed 'nice' was pretty much impossible. So far, there had been at least two people grumbling the entire time and not eating anything (which made them even less fun later).
When the only activities were hiking, canoeing, and rafting, we all could agree on what to do and had a great time. We had no cell phone service so no one was that distracted by their phones (we did take photos of course though). But now in NYC there were far too many options. Greg wanted to go to the Met. Taylor wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. Rebecca wanted to see Times Square. Quentin refused to see Times Square. They all then turned to me to ask what was the best thing to do in New York and I had to stammer out suggestions that I hoped would get at least one person on board. So far I had managed to get them to agree to a haunted tour because we also had a tradition of telling ghost stories around the campfire, but that was only one night covered. They were here for a whole week.
Then there was the problem of where everyone would sleep. With camping, we all had our own tents. Done. It was settled. But now there was some room at my apartment and at my in-law's apartment (which was close by) but not enough to put everyone up. Thus the debates began on the cousin text thread of who should get to sleep where when. Some argued it should be first come first served, some thought everyone should get a hotel room so it was all equal. Some said that we could all fit on the floor if we tried. Ultimately an insanely complex rotating schedule was set up so that no one was paying for a full week at a hotel.
Why my dad had thought this was a good idea was beyond me. He hated camping, but always wanted to be all of my cousins' favorite uncle, so he thought including them on this trip would be the best way to do it. I really think he should've just come on our camping trip.
But thinking of him camping was also a bad idea. He hated the outdoors, complained if he couldn't send texts easily, didn't like making his own food, but also was extremely picky.
But still, we should really just stick to camping, I thought.
(Prompt by Lisa McInerney)
😃😃😃
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