Before I go off and start ranting, I just want to make a quick note on my last post. I had read the suggestion Munin gave me about taking a damp wash cloth and “massaging” my iMac’s screen. So, I did that; I sat there for like ten minutes or more, lovingly massaging my screen as if it were a long lost lover or something. Turned the computer back on, and the blue line was still there, unfortunately. I also read Mallory’s comments, those were very helpful (thank you) and I plan on trying that next.

Anyway…on to what this post was originally supposed to be about:

Okay, let me start by saying, that I am a really good sister. I do nice things for my brother, such as cook him meals or make him snacks, sometimes I’ll even do his laundry with mine…and I’m always polite to him, and try to have conversations with him and he usually acts like he wants nothing to do with me.

My younger brother is 18 years old, and ever since we were kids, the scenario has always been like this: I’m way too nice to him, and he always treats me like crap. He’s rude, he yells at me, he makes mean, snippy comments for no good reason. Sometimes he treats me like an annoyance, and I honestly don’t understand why. I don’t know what his problem is, but I’m sick of taking this treatment from him, because I do not deserve it. For the sake of trying to somewhat preserve peace, I normally just let him ridiculously rant and rave and let it go. And, even that courtesy is too nice for him because most of the time it doesn’t work…he’ll yell and rant and I’ll be silent, and he thinks he’s gotten away with the mean things he’s said; in other words, it inflates his ego even more by making him think he’s “right”. Although, when I do fight back and stand up for myself, it usually backfires. Generally, he’ll keep on and on, getting louder and nastier, and the incident progresses into a hurtful yelling match until I get tired of arguing and back down. And, again, he thinks he’s right. No strategy seems to work except for trying to avoid him altogether, and since we live in the same house, it’s impossible!

My brother graduated from high school a few weeks ago. He will be attending the same college I am currently going to, in the Fall semester coming up. Because I’ve been going to this school for a long time (admittedly, a bit too long, because I’ve made some mistakes) I wanted to help him sign up for his classes since online registration is now open to the public.

I’ve gone through many semesters, classes, and professors. I’ve had bad experiences in which I learned valuable lessons, and I’ve had bad professors who’ve made taking their class very difficult. I know who the best professors are, and who the worst ones are; I know which classes to take are the best and most enjoyable, and I know which ones are easy and which ones are challenging. So, needless to say, I have a lot of knowledge that to him, a soon-to-be college student, could benefit from.

But, oh no, of course not. He always wants to be in control. He never wants to admit he may need advice or help from someone, and he wants to believe he’s Mr. I’m Always Right. It’s sickening! I casually asked him what classes he was thinking about signing up for, and he proceeded to launch into this holier-than-thou speech, telling me he didn’t need my help and to leave him alone. He also made this hilariously inaccurate comment saying, “Look, I don’t care what professors you think I should take. It doesn’t matter who teaches a class! Who’s teaching me makes no difference in what grade I make, because I learn from the book. I don’t listen to the teacher, because the textbook will tell me everything I need to know.”

LOL, little bro, you are quite WRONG in that statement! Many professors tell you to buy the required text, and often they don’t even teach from the book. Every professor is different, but I’ve found that professors generally teach by lecture. So, you MUST listen to them. You MUST take notes. You MUST pay close attention, or else on the tests and quizzes, you’ll be horribly confused because the questions may not be from the book, but instead from the oral lecture that was given in class. What if the professor doesn’t speak clearly? What if he/she has a very strong accent that’s hard to understand? What if he/she has a teaching style that isn’t suitable for your learning capabilities? All of these factors need to be considered, and since I have experienced all of this, I feel he should take my advice.

This isn’t high school anymore. This is college, where things are not taught only straight from the book.

I tried to be nice, but he didn’t want any part of it.

Oh well. He’ll learn. He’ll make mistakes and learn the hard way.

I just worry about our brother/sister relationship. I see how my mom and her brother (my uncle) do not talk to each other anymore because of their differences. Though my mom has always been kind to my uncle, he has his ideas rigidly set in his mind, and he shuns her, basically. It’s like history is repeating itself. I don’t want to grow up into an independent adult, and be in my forties and not have my brother involved in my life. I want my future kids to have an uncle…but at the way things have been going for all my life with him, it just seems like no matter how nice I am, and no matter how hard I try, we are simply growing further apart.