Guilt trips, especially of the family variety.
My dad pulled a tremendous one because I won't come visit him in a few weeks...crying included, followed by the sighing "I understand".
It's not a matter of not wanting to visit, it's a matter of I'm a completely freaking broke due to several clusters of craziness that have completely depleted any and all savings I had, plus some I didn't have. I cannot get blood from a stone. We've already had to scrap our vacation plans for earlier this year. And yes, while I technically have the time off, it's only because I was forced to put in a five consecutive working days worth of vacation time, prior to the end of the year, by the powers that be. It was just an arbitrary week I picked, I just opened up the calender and found a week that wasn't yet claimed. There is no way I could have imagined that the vacation time I picked would be the week he wanted me to visit.
Goodness knows, I looked every which way I could to see if there was anyway I could scrape together the funds. I priced out every option available, from flying, bus, and driving. At minimum I'd need at least $500, to be really comfortable, closer to $1000 (and that was only 3-4 days). Due to my asthma and severe allergies, I'd have to stay in a hotel. Both he and my stepmother are heavy smokers. The last time I stayed with them I ended up with bronchitis that turned to walking pneumonia and my doctor flat out told to stay away from cigarette smoke. Even if I was crazy enough to chance staying with them, I still wouldn't have enough money to get there and back.
He doesn't have the extra money to help me either, so I don't know what he expects me to do. I can't snap my fingers to travel several states away. I feel guilty because I want to be there, but there is zero chance of me making it there.
