When my uncle was married, he and my aunt asked me to sit at the guest book at the reception (I was ten years old at the time). When they first asked me to do this months before the wedding, I asked my uncle (a big joker) what I needed to do, and he told me, "Charge everyone a dollar as they come in the door".
As one of the guests came in, he asked me, "Is there an admission fee?", and I laughed and told him, "Uncle Bruce said to charge everyone a dollar". He thought this was hilarious, and fished a dollar from his wallet, despite my protests that my uncle was only kidding. He told me, "Just tell your uncle that's my wedding present!", and went in. My mother came by to check on me later on, and asked me, "Where did you get this dollar from?". I told her that a man had asked if there was admission, and I had said Uncle Bruce had said to charge a dollar, so the man had given me a dollar and wouldn't take it back even though I told him it was a joke and tried to return it. My mother freaked out and began yelling at me in front of the whole procession of guests, because she jumped to the conclusion that I hadn't realized this was a joke and had been asking everyone for money. Asharah's comment: Well that was really mature of you Mom!
Being ten, and with the way my mother had acted, I thought that I had done something terrible and unforgivable, so as soon as she walked away, I proceeded to put my head down on the table and sob as the rest of the guests filed in. Naturally, this was not the pleasant welcome that my uncle and aunt had planned for, and it raised a lot of questions from the guests as they entered the receiving line (a few asked me themselves, but of course, I couldn't bear to tell them about the "horrible thing" I had done, especially since I might risk obtaining more dollar bills as a result!). I overheard one woman ask the mother of the bride, "What is wrong with that girl?", and my uncle's new mother-in-law replied, "She gets very emotional at weddings"! (Nice cover!)
Finally, my grandma came to see what had happened, and I hysterically poured out the story of how the dollar had been forced on me, mom was very, very angry, and the wedding is ruined. Asharah's comment: If anybody ruined anything, it was Mom with her stupidity! My grandma then went to find my mother and told her that since she had made me cry, she better get me to stop crying fast. My mother returned and presented me with an entire pack of Lifesavers, but instead of telling me that it was not my fault, she told me that the only way I could salvage what I had done was to give the dollar to my uncle and apologize for my actions! Asharah's comment: Because otherwise she would have to admit that she was the one who screwed up! Later on, I presented the dollar to him when we danced together, and told him I was sorry that I had "ruined his wedding". He felt so bad at how upset I was that he offered to let me keep the dollar, at which point I nearly had a panic attack saying that mom had told me that the only way to make it right was for him to take it. Asharah's comment: I think somebody should have walked OP over to Mom and chewed her out for being an idiot over a stupid dollar and upsetting her daughter for no good reason! Fifteen years later, my entire extended family still refuses to believe that I wasn't hustling everyone at the wedding for money. Asharah's comment: All because Mom doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. Witches0713-03
