No doubt you have heard the old adage:
"NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS."
Once again, this has proved sage advice.
A FAIRY TALE [based on real life]
Once upon a time in a medieval galaxy not far away, there was an old, retired knight and his wife who owned two houses within the Realm of King Skinflint Pennypincher the Third. They lived in one house; the other they rented.
After their grandson got married, Grandpa said, "Why not rent the house to our grandson and his new wife, and give the kids a break."
Grandma replied. "Good idea. We can charge them a fourth of the usual rent for a few years. We can manage without, and they can save up some money to put down on an estate of their own."
So, pleased with their generous decision, they presented the proposal to the grandson and his bride, saying, "All you have to do is keep up the grounds and the house as if it were your own."
Joyfully, the young couple moved in and everyone lived happily ... but not for ever after. Only for about two years. During that time the young couple never visited the grandparents with their new baby. They never invited the old jouster and his wife over to their house, much less for dinner or Harvest Festival. The grounds became overgrown with weeds and cluttered with toys and abandoned barbecues. The house looked worn out, and the young couple spent the Coin of the Pennypincher Realm, called PP3 for short, like Chinese college girls on a Singles-Day spending spree.
One day, a new gold carriage and two beautiful horses appeared in the young couple's driveway.
That was the last straw. The grandparents refused to renew the lease without a rent increase. The haggling went on for a year. Everyone in the family got so riled up that the young couple began to argue a lot and eventually decided to get a divorce. They both moved out, without forcing the grandparents to go to court, thank goodness.
But, alas, this did not solve the grandparents' dilemma. First of all, divorce was not held in good esteem in the Pennypincher Realm. Both the nobility and the villagers gave them a hard time. Soon, both of them looked years older. They were really tired and could really, really use some time without family quibbling.
The same was said by King Pennypincher, who heard daily from one of the family or some offended villager who had nothing to do with anything. He ordered the extended family to get the matter resolved, or they would all be hanged from the city gate.
Terrified, they ceased to speak to each other at all.
The grandson, left with no place to go -- since neither parent, each with a new spouse, would take him in -- ended up moving in with the beleaguered grandparents, who at first thought it might be a good idea to have someone there who could help them in their old age.
Sadly, they quickly discovered that was not the case, and the grandson was eating them out of house and home.
The next blow came when the old couple tried to rent the house to someone else, and the King Pennypincher declared it could only be occupied if it was refurbished.
"Of course," the king added, and flipped his shoulder-length bob, "You'll get a break on next year's taxes when harvest time comes around."
All in all, that turned out to be a very bad deal. The old folks got to work and refurbished the rental house, but in the end, when the old couple took account of the end result, the story was grim indeed.
• 2,000 Coins of the Realm (PP3) had been spent to have for the groundskeepers haul away all the trash, couches, furniture, junk, and filth left behind at the rental house, and pay the dump fees.
• 280 PP3 went to the drudges hired from the village to clean the place, which was filthy.
• 3,000 PP3 had been spent for the village weaver to replace the carpeting.
• 3,800 PP3 went to the royal general-handyman for re-hanging doors, fixing rollers on closet doors, new bathroom fixtures, and a ton of other minor repairs.
• 1,000 PP3 had been paid to the Plumbington Monks for repairing the outdoor watering system.
• The whopping cost of 9,000 Pennypincher Coins to refurbish the master bathroom wasn't really the young couple's fault. The roof had leaked inside the bathroom walls and ruined everything. However, the grandson might have mentioned it two years previously when the light beige tiles of the shower walls started turning bright pink from something leaking through from behind.
He claimed he'd never seen the pink color until that day when it was discovered, but his eyes were good enough to scold his grandmother because he had counted three fleas on her cat.
• Also, the 30,000 PP3 Coins to replace the roof was not the fault of the grandson and his wife either, but the grandparents might have been able to put off the expense another three or four years if the issue had not come to the attention of King Pennypincher... the Third. Once his minions had their teeth in the old couple, there was no letting go.
Of course, both contracts were awarded to Count S.I.L. Skinflint Construction, the initials S.I.L. standing for son-in-law of the King.
THE FINAL H.E.A.
Unlike any good fairy tale, this one does not have a final HEA ending [Happily Ever After]. It is more in the genre of a Family Saga that can go on and on for generations. But worry not. This particular tale ends here even though the events may continue on, undaunted, into infinity.
LOOSE ENDS
The old folk ended up more than $50,000 PP3 Coins in the red. The grandson was judged by the Royal Medical Minions as mentally incompetent to hold a job because of PTSD resulting from these recent, unfortunate traumatic events. Despite having sold the rental to be able to hire a good barrister, the courts saw fit to appoint the Grandparents as Guardians of the poor sod of a grandson, so he continued to live with them.
The Grandparents, alas, found they now had little revenue to live on. The useless grandson still drove them to distraction and ate all their food, but of none of the rest of the family would speak to them much less anyone else in the family.
Desperate, the old couple secretly sold their house out from under the grandson, packed up a few belongings and the family heirlooms still in their possession, and escaped in an Uber in the darkness of night. At the port they boarded the once-a-decade space transport, and immigrated to another galaxy, this one far, far away, where they knew no one and had no relatives.
To date, neither the grandson nor the rest of the family has found them.
THE END
JUST SAYIN'
This is just a fairy tale. The names of people and places have been changed to harass the guilty, and the end of the real story is yet to be written.
Sources:
https://www.medievalists.net/2021/12/medieval-family/
"NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS."
Once again, this has proved sage advice.
A FAIRY TALE [based on real life]
Once upon a time in a medieval galaxy not far away, there was an old, retired knight and his wife who owned two houses within the Realm of King Skinflint Pennypincher the Third. They lived in one house; the other they rented.
After their grandson got married, Grandpa said, "Why not rent the house to our grandson and his new wife, and give the kids a break."
Grandma replied. "Good idea. We can charge them a fourth of the usual rent for a few years. We can manage without, and they can save up some money to put down on an estate of their own."
So, pleased with their generous decision, they presented the proposal to the grandson and his bride, saying, "All you have to do is keep up the grounds and the house as if it were your own."
Joyfully, the young couple moved in and everyone lived happily ... but not for ever after. Only for about two years. During that time the young couple never visited the grandparents with their new baby. They never invited the old jouster and his wife over to their house, much less for dinner or Harvest Festival. The grounds became overgrown with weeds and cluttered with toys and abandoned barbecues. The house looked worn out, and the young couple spent the Coin of the Pennypincher Realm, called PP3 for short, like Chinese college girls on a Singles-Day spending spree.
One day, a new gold carriage and two beautiful horses appeared in the young couple's driveway.
That was the last straw. The grandparents refused to renew the lease without a rent increase. The haggling went on for a year. Everyone in the family got so riled up that the young couple began to argue a lot and eventually decided to get a divorce. They both moved out, without forcing the grandparents to go to court, thank goodness.
But, alas, this did not solve the grandparents' dilemma. First of all, divorce was not held in good esteem in the Pennypincher Realm. Both the nobility and the villagers gave them a hard time. Soon, both of them looked years older. They were really tired and could really, really use some time without family quibbling.
The same was said by King Pennypincher, who heard daily from one of the family or some offended villager who had nothing to do with anything. He ordered the extended family to get the matter resolved, or they would all be hanged from the city gate.
Terrified, they ceased to speak to each other at all.
The grandson, left with no place to go -- since neither parent, each with a new spouse, would take him in -- ended up moving in with the beleaguered grandparents, who at first thought it might be a good idea to have someone there who could help them in their old age.
Sadly, they quickly discovered that was not the case, and the grandson was eating them out of house and home.
The next blow came when the old couple tried to rent the house to someone else, and the King Pennypincher declared it could only be occupied if it was refurbished.
"Of course," the king added, and flipped his shoulder-length bob, "You'll get a break on next year's taxes when harvest time comes around."
All in all, that turned out to be a very bad deal. The old folks got to work and refurbished the rental house, but in the end, when the old couple took account of the end result, the story was grim indeed.
• 2,000 Coins of the Realm (PP3) had been spent to have for the groundskeepers haul away all the trash, couches, furniture, junk, and filth left behind at the rental house, and pay the dump fees.
• 280 PP3 went to the drudges hired from the village to clean the place, which was filthy.
• 3,000 PP3 had been spent for the village weaver to replace the carpeting.
• 3,800 PP3 went to the royal general-handyman for re-hanging doors, fixing rollers on closet doors, new bathroom fixtures, and a ton of other minor repairs.
• 1,000 PP3 had been paid to the Plumbington Monks for repairing the outdoor watering system.
• The whopping cost of 9,000 Pennypincher Coins to refurbish the master bathroom wasn't really the young couple's fault. The roof had leaked inside the bathroom walls and ruined everything. However, the grandson might have mentioned it two years previously when the light beige tiles of the shower walls started turning bright pink from something leaking through from behind.
He claimed he'd never seen the pink color until that day when it was discovered, but his eyes were good enough to scold his grandmother because he had counted three fleas on her cat.
• Also, the 30,000 PP3 Coins to replace the roof was not the fault of the grandson and his wife either, but the grandparents might have been able to put off the expense another three or four years if the issue had not come to the attention of King Pennypincher... the Third. Once his minions had their teeth in the old couple, there was no letting go.
Of course, both contracts were awarded to Count S.I.L. Skinflint Construction, the initials S.I.L. standing for son-in-law of the King.
THE FINAL H.E.A.
Unlike any good fairy tale, this one does not have a final HEA ending [Happily Ever After]. It is more in the genre of a Family Saga that can go on and on for generations. But worry not. This particular tale ends here even though the events may continue on, undaunted, into infinity.
LOOSE ENDS
The old folk ended up more than $50,000 PP3 Coins in the red. The grandson was judged by the Royal Medical Minions as mentally incompetent to hold a job because of PTSD resulting from these recent, unfortunate traumatic events. Despite having sold the rental to be able to hire a good barrister, the courts saw fit to appoint the Grandparents as Guardians of the poor sod of a grandson, so he continued to live with them.
The Grandparents, alas, found they now had little revenue to live on. The useless grandson still drove them to distraction and ate all their food, but of none of the rest of the family would speak to them much less anyone else in the family.
Desperate, the old couple secretly sold their house out from under the grandson, packed up a few belongings and the family heirlooms still in their possession, and escaped in an Uber in the darkness of night. At the port they boarded the once-a-decade space transport, and immigrated to another galaxy, this one far, far away, where they knew no one and had no relatives.
To date, neither the grandson nor the rest of the family has found them.
THE END
JUST SAYIN'
This is just a fairy tale. The names of people and places have been changed to harass the guilty, and the end of the real story is yet to be written.
Sources:
https://www.medievalists.net/2021/12/medieval-family/
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