Four years ago my husband and I moved from St. Petersburg to Sochi. We were fed up with the rains in St. Petersburg, the summer cold and wet cold weather in the winter. We considered many options, but as we were used to the bustle of the city, we decided to opt for Sochi.
At first everything was great! We bought an apartment in a new building, set up furniture and began to enjoy the southern warmth. However, our happiness did not last long. Already in the second year of our life in the south, people we knew, relatives and friends started calling us. They asked to stay with us for the duration of our vacation.
And if friends and acquaintances came for a week at most and out of gratitude they bought all the necessary products and even left us money for the shelter, then our relatives made our life a living hell without any remorse.
The first to come to us at the end of May was an aunt who lived near Moscow and who had not spoken to us in more than ten years. She had gotten my mother’s address and phone number, but she didn’t even bother to tell us she was coming. Then she called me when she arrived in Sochi and told me that she wanted to come and visit me for a few days. I couldn’t refuse my relative.
I should say that we have a two-room apartment, even though it has an improved floor plan, but when guests arrive, it gets crowded. We gave my aunt a bigger room and we lived in a smaller room. We decided then that we could endure for a few days.
On Monday morning my aunt went to the beach after breakfast and came home drunk by midnight. She confessed to us that after the beach, she decided to sit in a restaurant and there a little bit to drink, but our dinner, she did not refuse.
The aunt stayed with us for over a week. All this time she had fun on a full program and nothing she denied herself, though she ate at our expense. When the second week began, I lost my nerve, and I asked when she was going to leave, but my relative said it was totally tactless question.
The next morning I left my aunt without breakfast. My spouse and I got up early and ate and left her nothing. In the evening she accused us of lacking hospitality and being boorish to her and went home.
The next relatives came in the last month of summer, you understand that in seaside towns – it’s the velvet season, and at this time all the resort towns are filled with the maximum number of guests.
My mother’s second sister, who lived in the Orenburg region and who had not spoken to me for fifteen years, called me and asked to stay with us for a week. At that time my heart wasn’t hardened and I couldn’t say no to the man categorically, so I gave my consent to her visit. When the relatives arrived, when I saw how many of them had arrived, I almost lost my senses. As it turned out, my aunt had come to visit us with her husband, daughter, and grandson.
I asked why the relative hid the fact that she was not coming alone, because we have a two-bedroom apartment, and we can not take in so many guests. To all my protests, my aunt said that they vacation like this every year and she thought my mother had told me about it.
When I called my mother and asked if my aunt had told her that she was coming to visit us with her whole family, my parent said she had not. So it turns out that my aunt decided to shift all the blame on my mother, in addition, she added that they say in the closest of quarters but not in offense, they somehow survive for two weeks.
At that very moment my husband came over and said:
– I’m sorry, but we can not take so many guests, so you better rent your own place.
You should have seen the eyes of my relative and her husband at that very moment. Were they really hoping that their insolence would help them get free housing? The relatives were not confused and began to reprimand my husband and me, calling us ungrateful boors.
I told them that we have a huge number of different hotels in the city, so everyone can find the most appropriate option for themselves. We did not listen to the insults of relatives, and just turned around and left. True, in the morning the next day I found a message on the pavement with obscene language. This incident taught me to say firmly “no” to all requests to come and visit us.
Now we only let my parents and friends visit us and they are always welcome in our home. When other relatives found out about how we kicked out our aunts, they no longer dared to ask to visit us.
