Counting on Others

Is it bad that I don't trust many people to follow through on what they say they will do? Maybe, but I know if I say I'll get something done -- or if I have a responsibility to do something -- I will take care of it. And sometimes I think I'm the only one who will. This is both good and bad; it's good in the sense that I do take deadlines seriously (even if I often bump right up against them), and bad in that it might not be mentally healthy to think I'm the only one who can get anything done. I don't really believe that, but on the rare occasions when I entrust a responsibility to someone else, I'm proven right at least eight out of ten times. I remember how annoying it was when my grandmother used to go behind people to do what she'd asked them to do, being sure no one could do it right but her. I don't think I go that far.

I'm being more mysterious than I suppose I need to be, but I don't usually write about family matters in my blog. Tonight, I'll break my rule. My brother and I are co-executors on my mother's estate, and I've been taking care of the homeowner's insurance -- and all the bills for that matter -- since she died. The estate account ran out of money some time ago, and it isn't cheap to insure an empty house with an in-ground pool. I've paid at least the past six months out-of-pocket; we figured we'd just settle up later. So he told me he would take care of the latest renewal. I made sure he had the paperwork. In today's mail, I received a notice saying the policy was canceled on December 4 for nonpayment of premium. I'll spare you the cursing I spewed when I saw that. I sent him a civil email "confirming" he had taken care of it, and saying he should probably call the insurance company to sort it out. But seriously -- shitfuck! (Sorry, I feel better now.)

The worst thing about co-owning any kind of property (and I would imagine it's similar in a business situation) is that both people are held equally accountable regardless of who is more responsible. I can count the people I can count on on one hand (yes, I realize that's awkward syntax), and three of them are my children. That may be a slight exaggeration, but only slight.