Show of hands...who knows not to throw gasoline on a bonfire?

[Miles Archer]

Some of you have read my previous posts about my girlfriend's 39 year old son. We did evict him, on December 20th. She continues to hold out hope that he will "learn his lessons" and straighten out his life.

Last night, he was drinking beer and decided he wanted to start a bonfire. So he did. Then he emptied a can of gas onto it.

He called a mutual friend who is staying here with us. He's forbidden to set foot on the property...the sheriff handed him a "no trespassing" order and said "this doesn't expire."

The friend picked him up and took him to the emergency room. He has second and third degree burns on his left arm from his shoulder to his fingertips. He will be out of work for at least a week. He is left-handed, so he basically can't do anything for himself. The friend is going over there today to change his dressings.

My girlfriend said "I hope he learns from this." When he was here, one of his favorite things to do was to drink a case of beer and start a bonfire. And yes, he was trowing gas on it. Finally my girlfriend said "NO MORE BONFIRES."

So when we evicted him and his girlfriend's parents set him up in a new home, he went back to bonfires immediately.

Last night, his luck ran out. What happened was bad, but it could have been a lot worse. All things considered, he was lucky. No idea what kind of permanent damage, if any, he might have caused.

What breaks my heart the most is that every time he does something like this, my girlfriend says "I hope he learns from this." A couple of months ago he got into a fight with his girlfriend behind the wheel of a car while he was driving drunk. She was drunk too. She knocked out six of his front teeth and they both went to jail.

He doesn't "learn." He just goes from one incident to the next. And my girlfriend is his mom, what the hell is she supposed to do other than hope that he'll clean up his act? She has encouraged him to seek professional help. Both he and the girlfriend respond by saying they don't need help.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

1. Pick one: It's just a matter of time before he

kills someone

kills himself

both of the above!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. At least he's out of your house.

I'm sorry your girlfriend is acting like The Queen Of Denial who can't seem to accept the fact that her son is a 39-year-old ne'er-do-well with a drinking problem and too many enablers, and that he'll keep doing stupid stuff until he does himself in. All you can do is try to stay as far away from him as possible and hope he doesn't take anyone else with him when he goes.

[Major Nikon]

3. My dad used to say there are three kinds of people

1) Those who can learn from the mistakes of others
2) Those who must learn from their own mistakes
3) Those who never learn

I’m pretty sure he felt my brother fell into category 3. My brother eventually did get his shit more or less together, but he was in prison when my dad died so he never lived to see it.

The lesson here is that provided they survive their mistakes, most have the capability to get their shit together eventually. It sounds like your girlfriend will never give up hope and there’s probably something to be said for that.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

4. Sorry about that kid.

Really chomps when your girlfriend has kids w issues. Keep your chin up. He's circling the drain.