I suspected something would go wrong when my younger sister Ariel offered to organize Grandpa’s 90th birthday, but this was not what I had anticipated. The site for the gathering was the first strange thing I noticed.
Ariel knew full well that Grandpa disliked sushi, so she picked a sushi restaurant for the celebration. Worse, most of the guests were boisterous pals from university. Grandpa’s family and friends? Not that she invited them.
She dismissed my worries when I questioned her during the celebration, claiming that Grandpa was “happy to hang out with the youth” despite the fact that he was obviously uncomfortable.
Grandpa appeared to have been content to sit in a corner while Ariel hosted a party for her pals. I was really sorry for him.
Then, as if things couldn’t get much worse, Ariel gave Grandpa the bill.
“You’re all set, Gramps! Cheers to your birthday! It’s time to make your payment!” She laughed without realizing the catastrophe.
I couldn’t hold back.
“What are you doing, Ariel?” “Grampps ought not to foot the bill for his own birthday!”
Gramps, who was always the peacemaker, volunteered to pay, but I grabbed the bill.
“Don’t worry, Jocelyn.” He remarked, “I can manage it.”
That was not going to happen.
“Gramps, let me handle this,” I grinned. “You’ve done enough for all of us.”
I then asked the bartender for the aux cable while Ariel went back to her pals. I made up that I wanted to play Grandpa a special song.
Rather, I connected the wire to my phone and listened to Ariel’s voicemails, in which she was furiously criticizing her pals. The same pals who were seated just in front of me.
She yelled, “I can’t stand my roommate!” into the empty space. “Her partner is the worst, and she constantly invades my personal space. She’s just as horrible as he is, what a slob!”
I remained silent while Ariel’s pals gave her a wide-eyed stare and dropped their jaws. Her buddies soon went, and she was left alone to sit there.
Ariel was aware of the reason I had played the tape, but she lacked the courage to address me.
That’s when the ever-sage Gramps turned to face Ariel and said, “Ariel, you have to own up to your mistakes. We don’t handle friends or family like this.”
“I’m sorry, Grandpa,” Ariel said.
It didn’t take much for Grandpa and me to explain to her the error of inviting her friends to Grandpa’s birthday celebration and then expecting him to cover the expense. Karma had served its purpose, and I had no doubt that Ariel would never dare act so immaturely again.
