Diary of a Tired Milwaukee Black Blogger

Below is an excerpt from the blog of Vincent Vanwontgo, age 42 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is better known as author of the "Diary of a Poor, Black Milwaukee Ghetto Screwup" Blog. It's become a popular blog site as readers live the day-to-day adventures through the eyes of Vincent as he "blog-talks" about his struggle to remain sane and level-headed while dealing with the day-to-day antics, ungratefulness and trifle acts of his monster-in-laws who just won't seem to leave.

Vincent says he's "Just trying to bring good articles and unique and entertaining content for my readers." But I think I speak for a lot of us when I say, we've learned a lot of life lessons and lessons on how to deal with (or not to deal with) our own monster-in-laws.

I think you will find Vincent's blog to a be humourous, down-to-earth and realistic view of the everyday misgivings our families can sometimes bring upon us and relate to his feelings about being used and stepped on.

Check out his blog and subscribe. He will keep you laughing, shaking your head in disbelief and coming back for more. The Diary of a Poor, Black Milwaukee Ghetto Screwup


I don't know about you but i am surrounded by people who hint, hem and haw instead of just saying what they want. The exact type of people who have no problem asking for anything that you have but at the same time can't seem to take no for an answer the first, second or 14th time.

I understand that there is a language of love that we all understand at one time or another in our life times, for example, i know if my girl is under the covers and i walk in to "is it cold in here to you?" Sometimes that means would you go and turn down the air conditioning, i get that.

What i am talking about in this post is the type of secret language where you ask your begging cousin how he is doing and he goes into a 20 minute list of problems just to finally ask you for $2.

I'm like dam, i would have gave you three just to not have to listen to all that other chit. I go through stuff like that allot for some reason. Being around a bunch of begging people will make you stingy. I did not believe it before but now i am convinced.

Just the other day i walk into my kitchen and over hear my girl mother giving away my lemonade. Here's the conversation from where i entered the room.

MIL (mother in law) Get some of that koolaide if you want and mix some of that lemonade with it, it makes it taste better.

Random Visiting kin: I'm cool granny, it has don't drink on it.

MIL: That don't mean nothing, he ain't going to miss it, he rich.
(i forgot if you have a car, cable and own a home you are rich to poor a$$ folk.

Random cousin: I don't want none granny. I'm just going to drink this Koolade.

This is where i come in from a job. This is the first thing i hear and i am hot tired and tired of random cousins that visit my girl mother 10 times a day getting fed heaping plates of food by someone who never buys nothing. I ain't stingy but i just get sick of my girl momma always fixing plates of food for 2-3 people a day that don't even ask. Sound pretty petty right? Well here is an example before i continue on.

I bought a case of shrimp friday, 12 packs of the frozen butterfly shrimp. I leave saturday morning and come back early sunday to find exactly 1 pack left. All the people that actually live in the house were gone, no one was left but the people we are housing "till they get on their feet) 3 people. How the hell do 3 people eat 11 packs of shrimp and all the cake, soda and pizzas (2 pizzas, 2 cakes and 3 2 litre sodas) in less that 16 hours. But somehow they do.

Anyway i ask my mother in law why is she so fixated on my lemonade? This is the rest of the earlier conversation.

Me: Mrs XXXX, can you not give away my stuff? It isn't right to give away other people's stuff like that. I thought we had an understanding about that when you gave my coat away. I understand you thought i did not want it because i hadn't wore it in a while, after i explained that i seldom where it in the summer but stilll want it.

Everything i bring into this house except my bottle of lemonade you can have but every since i mentioned it everything you say has something to do with my lemonade.

MIL: It's only some lemonade, why didn't you buy enough for everyone?

Me: Because i didn't want to. I bought all the food , soda and everything else in the house. Why don't you buy me something sometimes to show your appreciation for feeding you and your two grown kids and they kids instead of nit-picking me to death over a 89 cent can of lemonade?

At this time here church friend, an old lady who hates me for no reason other than my girls mother can't stand me. The conversation goes on because Mrs. xxx hasn't noticed her friends return.

MIL: You don't have to get all snotty about such little things.

ME: Thats what i am trying to say, i do. I say you are welcome to anything you want except the lemonade and you start a mission to bugg me over the lemonade every time you see me drink any. I pay for you and yours to live and you find a way to find a problem with everything i say to you, no matter what it is. You bad mouth me to your church friends for no reason other than i like my house how i like it.

MIL: Thats because they know don't like share.

Me: You tell them i am stingy but do you tell them that you or any of the 6 uninvited people you have moved in without even asking us over the last 5 years have never bought a roll of tissue, bread, soap or anything else? Have you told them that you make about $100 worth of long distance calls a month but never offer a quarter on the bill to whats essentially you and your grown kids phone now?

We never use it anymore because you talk on the phone 4 and 5 hours at a time all day. Do they know that? Did you tell them that you dig through our mail and forge our signature to get homested money four years in a row without ever telling us till the government told us?

MIL: Your wife knew...

Me: No she didn't. She was surprised just like me. The same surprised she was when the city called and fined us $400 after you went to the home owners meeting without telling us. Bet they don't know that.

MIL: "you are something else."

Me: Naw I am just tired, nothing else.

So me and my girl mother is @each other. I told them they have to go and that we would pay the security deposit for her, her son and daughter and her daughters 28 year old son. They have until the 8th of aug. Do you know that since i told them that all our towels have disappeared? Some people you just can't help.

I swear to god hat my girl and her drunk sister had an argument and the chinese food my wife takes to work for lunch actually came up. She actually had resentment that we don't buy her chinese food everytime we eat it. And this from a girl who gets to live in a 120 thousand dollar house for $100 a month with her son and all the free food, cable, transportation and whatever else. Some people just too full of chit to care about.

I give up.