AWA/Otakon

[Azurel]

Fuck!

My parents are morons.

Some of you may know that I've always had issues with coming down to AWA, being in Maryland and having the parents I do. Now, the reasons for which my parents won't let me go down are understandable. We don't know these people, we aren't there to watch you, parent stuff like that. I accepted that after a few arguments. HOWEVER, they are letting me go to Otakon up here in Baltimore and let me tell you why this pisses me off.

--I'll be going with a group of kids she's never met before (whereas I'd be going with Lews to AWA and he's basically a family friend) and she's not even going to bother to meet them and make sure they're responsible enough (which they aren't and again, whereas she'd be contacting Nacht and probably Doot to make sure everything is alright).

--Baltimore is a hellhole. I've seen maybe 3 white people there in my entire life, and I live around the area. Now, I have nothing wrong with black people, I've got plenty of them as friends. But these are the rock-hard ghetto types that would rip your face off if you so much as looked at them the wrong way. I know, I'm stereotyping, there are good people that come out of baltimore, but I'm just saying it is NOT a safe place to walk around with a bunch of anime fans.

--They don't want me to go to AWA because they can't "get to me" if anything happens. Yet the only thing they really see as a threat is me getting kidnapped (yea, they're weird like that). But if you think about it, if I get in trouble anywhere, they won't be able to get to me, so that's a really stupid reason.

grr, that's about it for now.

[Ming]

Not that I'm siding with anyone, but I can hear the words of my parents reverberating in my mind, "Just wait until you're a parent". Whatever I'm saying, the point is that they probably feel more comfortable with you staying locally, regardless of how much sense it makes in their mind, and how much sense it DOESN'T make in yours. Parents are weird like that, and often do things that make sense in their own minds, but not in anyone elses. I learned that its best to just deal with it and not let it bother yo. I'm sure we all won't understand until we're parents ourselves.

[reaper]

Are you 18 yet? cause if you are you can just say suck on it I am going.
When I turned 18 I started doing what I wanted basically. I just told them if I am old enough to be drafted into a war I am old enough to make my own decisions.

[Azurel]

I'm still 17, I turn 18 in august, but I'm too spoiled by my parents. If I rebelled too much than I'd be cut out of a life pretty much.

I also forgot that it'll be cutting into school, but that's not a huge concern on either party.

[Faye]

Not necissarily Reaper, because if he does that then he could come back after AWA and not have a home. Haveing been in a similar situation before, I recall the words "If you live under my roof, you will abide by my rules." Don't get me wrong, I still think its kw33r that they wont let him come, they just have a little bit more say so in it then we would like to give them credit for.

However.... I might have a solution for you, though it is a long shot. Tell your parents to get to know us. Give them our email addresses, phone numbers, get on skype and let us talk to them..... anything. I for one am willing to try for the sake of getting to know someone with the same passion about anime and games as I do. Now I know I am not the only person here that is a "repsonsible" adult so why dont we at least atempt to give Azurel a hand. They could say they dont want to have anything to do with it, or even that it is completely out of the question..... but its worth a try.

[Excel Zero]

heh heh!

I got the best idea!

Let them get to know me...then they will be scared of me...then tell them that I am going to Otakon and your only chance for safety is to escape my clutches and go to AWA

booyaa

seriously though...that sucks

[Azurel]

See, I tried that with Nacht (she'd basically be my caretaker for the trip) and it was fine with them for a while, then my mom started worrying more and more.

This is how it always is with every situation. My dad, after giving me a stern talk-to and breaking down the rules, will generally let me do a lot of things because he knows that if I'm even willing to ask them instead of running off and doing them that I've actually thought long and hard about whatever it is I'm asking. He knows I'm not the most responsible child in the world, but he's known for the longest time that I make my own decisions.

My mom, on the other hand, isn't so lenient (sp?). She doesn't work, she cleans and drives us places (til I get my lisence), and cooks. Now, I appreciate that she does the household chores while my dad brings in the money and everything, but the fact that the only other thing she ever does outside of that list is watch soap operas and think about every bad thing that could possibly ever happen. When I drive, she's scared to death even though the only time I've even come close to having an accident was today when I went to pick up Lews. But because my mom does all the chores around the house and has "better connections" with me and my sister, she usually persuades my dad out of letting me do a lot of things that me and my dad feel I'm ready for.

I'll just use this example (because I'm also mad she won't let me get my lisence).

Dad: Rob, you know Giant's hiring.
Me: Eww, I'm not working there.
Mom: Even the girl he likes has a job.
Dad: -disappointed face-
Me: I'm going to get my lisence first anyway, Mom's not too reliable when it comes to driving places.
Dad: So why haven't you gotten your lisence?
Me: Because you won't fucking let me!
Dad: What? I'll take your ass up there right now.
Mom: I don't feel he's ready.
Dad: Aww sure, he's driven me places, he's fine.
Mom: Bobby...
Dad: ...Fine, I want you practicing driving more.
Me: What?! You just said I drove fine.
Dad: Quit arguing, go downstairs.
Me: -isolates myself further into my basement-


Ok, the AWA rant has turned into a life rant, I know, but I'm a little touchy about the two-sided government in my household.

Off of that topic, my dad is only worried that if I managed to get hurt, they wouldn't be able to send medical info to a hospital soon enough. My MOM thinks that AWA is a group of five to ten fat, sweaty men trying to get me and Lews down to GA so they can videotape us getting raped. Yes, she is on pills, they don't help much. I told her to talk to some of the people, she thinks that they'd pay girls to get on the phone just so it sounded like she was actually talking to someone sincere. (now, mom might have been joking about that one, but she still refuses to talk to anyone because she comes from a family that thinks "getting to know someone" is to meet them and talk to them for weeks on end about details)

AWA is also my fault admittingly. If she came, then it would be fine, but I refuse to let an adult come with us. It would ruin the entire thing. A) as much as a burden as I would be to whoever I'd be staying with, I'd rather be there and having fun with people late into the night/early morning rather than in a hotel room. B) Lews would be with us and also miss out on point A. C) My mom would just be sitting in a hotel all day because she doesn't like to get out and see sites and I wouldn't want to put her through that, it's just rude.

these are pointless rants anyways, I'm going to Otakon this year without any problems. I'm planning on grabbing a group of 9-10 people, 5 of which I've already contacted and set plans into motion. I might see an old best friend and an old love interest, and we usually hit it off pretty well, that'll help me relax. (my "friend with benefits" doesn't have any problem with me messing around with girls because we aren't technically going out yet so I should be good to flirt around with)

I'm talking too much, I'm just gonna walk that way. Any advice is still welcome and thanks for the ones already given. I really appreciate it Faye, but you should take all that personal stuff down (trust me).

[Sakura]

-frowns upon your parents- You can always get Doot to talk to them xD

That's all I have in mind

[Faye]

Ah well, it was worth a try. The offer still stands though if you think it will help. I remember a couple of years ago begging used to help well. My mom would usually agree with me just to get me to shut up about it. Now she doesn't care as long as she knows where I am and I have my cell phone so she can reach me. Not to mention the fact that she has no say over where I go or what I do. Good luck and I still hope to see you at AWA, however unlikely it is.

PS BTW, this is my 100th post. Yay me.

[Zane]

I can understand what you're going through. I'm having problems trying to find a way to AWA, but right now it's mostly setting the who, what, where, and how's of it, not the permission. For me, if I have everything set before I even ask, it helps boost the chances like a whole lot more than me just asking and having nothing to back it up with. I can see that you tried this out so I wish you the best of luck. Andif you can't find a way, well there's always next year!