Time To Take Mom To Task

Ever since I was a kid, my mother has always done this thing where she calls me for a favor, and by the time I get there, it turns into many more. Once I become an adult and move to a cheap apartment about a block away, she still calls me to ask for those and still does the same thing. It’s important to mention that I work in a hospital X-ray section, so I work twenty-four straight hours a week.

One day, I get fed up with her doing it.

Mother: “Hi. Could you come here? I need you to do [task].”

Me: “And?”

Mother: “And what?”

Me: “To do [task] and?”

Mother: “No, just [task].”

Me: “Sure, give me a few minutes.”

So, I go. And by the time I arrive, she has, as usual, thought of a few other things she wants me to do. Instead of doing them all, as I used to, I do the first and start walking away.

Mother: “Wait, where are you going?”

Me: “Home. I already did [task].”

Mother: “What about the other stuff? Are you really going to be useless?”

Me: “I’m not useless. If I was, I wouldn’t have done [task].”

Mother: “So, you’re going to leave me alone to do this? I’m frail, you know.”

She really, really isn’t. In fact, she’s always been in better shape than me, since I have literally never cared about that, and as such, I pretty much look like a mix of pre-Serum Steve Rogers, only with his post-Serum height.

Me: “Yes, I’m leaving you alone. Next time, say everything you need.”

Mother: “But you only work a day a week! Of course, you can help your mom instead of lounging at home!”

Me: “I came here. I helped. Be honest next time.”

I keep my word and go home. Ten minutes later, my sister calls.

Sister: “Did you tell Mom to stop asking you for help?!”

She sounds really angry. I almost laugh. My mother is famous in our family for trying to turn people against each other to get her way.

Me: “No, I told her to stop asking for something and then piling stuff on top of it. And you live next to her, so why don’t you help?”

Sister: “Because I’m married and work a forty-hour job?”

Me: “Yeah, no. I’ve complained for years. I moved partly because of that.”

She finishes the call. A few minutes later, my mother calls again.

Mother: “Hi. Look, I’m willing to forgive you. Could you come here and do the rest?”

I immediately hung up. I’d like to say she hasn’t talked to me since, but she keeps calling me for all kinds of help. I still only do the first thing and then leave.

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