I'm starting this long weekend off in not the best mood. Once again, my dad went on one of his rants on my books. To make a long story short, he called books a waste of money, waste of space, etc. If you have seen the show "Seinfeld," our conversations are reminiscent of the scene between George and Jerry about George's attachment to his books that Jerry just doesn't get. I'm George, my dad is Jerry.
We've had this conversation dozens of times. To be fair, my dad isn't wrong in some of his points. Even though I'm good about using the library, sometimes I go a little crazy spending money on books. But then he goes into almost trashing my love of books. Even in his hobbies, like watching shows on any of his streaming apps, he's still spending money. As far as I'm concerned, any hobby costs money. Besides, I'm spending my money, not his.
For whatever reason, last night, it got to me. I currently have a temp job that I really enjoy, but I have to get up super early in the morning in order to make the commute. It being a Friday before a long weekend, I was already crashing by 8pm. Also, I confess I have a tendency to stonewall in tense conversations; I shut down and I can't bring myself to talk. And my dad raises his voice when he gets annoyed, angry, etc. to the point he sounds like he's yelling. That didn't help. I was starting to get upset and walked away from the conversation. I shut myself in my room for a few hours.
Later, when I came out for water, my dad promised to leave me alone about my books and book buying habits. That he knew I had it under control. I said thanks, but I've given up on trying to explain why I love books to him, because he just doesn't get it. I heard what he was saying, but leave me alone.
My dad doesn't understand why I love to collect books as much as I love to read them. But I know he won't be the only one I encounter in my lifetime that feels this way. How do other readers handle people like this in their lives?
by Bookish_Butterfly