Parents' Pickin'
"Wait. You have to shift to get married around here? You cannot wed until you go beyond feral?" Shanku asked in surprise.
Huata shook her head sadly. "No, not to Dakota. Not as his First Wife. A match must match."
"And if she doesn't manage it by spring, the next dam in line will be his," Kanguq said with mild disgust as she sat back down and propped her cheek on her fist.
"What does Dakota have to say to that?" Shanku asked. "And... 'first wife'?"
"It's the way it is. He doesn't have much choice in the matter. Our matches are mostly arranged by our parents and the clan. We may choose our first if we wish, but if it doesn't work out with the ones we pick and they do not live up to expectations, our parents arrange our matches and our final decision is made for us," Huata explained. "A first wife is self explanatory. Those you marry first are the most important in your life. You may have other husbands and other wives, but all children belong to the married couple and you show greatest loyalty to each other."
"And I thought my clan was cruel," Shanku shuddered. Innugati trilled in concern.
"It's not so bad," Kanguq shrugged. "I'm married to my parents' pick."
"What was wrong with you?" Shanku asked.
"I was too much for that cute little mouse! He said I was too hard to handle. He was so shy and soft spoken, I could have eat him up! And I am fully ascended. He got stuck at feral," Kanguq sighed wistfully. "My husband is a good guy and a fine fellow, but he's too brash and outspoken much of the time, about as much as I am!"
"A perfect match," Huata teased.
"We match too well!" Kanguq exclaimed.
Notes & Commentary
July 3, 2014, Thursday
Parents' Pickin'
Kanguq sounds unintentionally naughty in that seventh panel. Oops.
It all depends on what you're used to. I knew a lady who met her husband on her wedding day. She said after they had time to get to know each other, they were very happy, and later had a son together.
I have a fresh irritation this week! I am $100 short. And it's not my fault. When you can't afford to drive all over town to pay your bills in person, and you can't afford $5 per transaction to pay on the phone, and you don't dare use your debit card online because of all the database hacks that have happened lately, what do you do? You write a check. Simple enough, right? People write hundreds of thousands of checks every day. I write a $40 check to pay my Charter bill, so I can keep doing commissions since I only get work online and there is no cost efficient way to do an online business for me outside of the home. And I'm having no luck job hunting despite putting in applications every week for jobs I'm qualified for.
So, out goes my check to pay my internet bill. Charter cashes my $40 check for $140 and overdraws my bank account. And isn't giving me my $100 back. I've called them, I've argued with them, I've sent in two faxes showing bank records that they did indeed take $140 dollars because apparently they don't have records of what they charge their customers. Still no refund. 3-5 business days for them to "process" the request, who knows how long to MAIL IT BACK (Seriously, Charter? You cleared it digitally, send it back digitally!), and if they deny it then they'll just "credit my account for the additional hundred dollars". My baby is out of diapers. I have cloth diapers, but they're easier to wriggle out of and he's wetting the floor. (Oh the joys of potty training when they think they can pee anywhere.) I have two insurance payments due next week I have to pay, and a power bill the week after that. I can't pay them now! I only make about $450 a month right now, so I kinda need for companies to comply with my budgeting and keep their greedy mitts to themselves. Do you know how hard it is to support a family of three on $450/month? I've had rent payments in the past that were more than that!
Currently posting to Facebook and Twitter. I'm not asking for emergency commissions since it takes several days for Paypal to clear the bank and it'd still be too late to pay my insurance on time, but feel free to repost Charter's theft!
Characters - Shanku Ravenwing - Huata - Kanguq -
Tags - Just Another Day -
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