Woman charges boyfriend $50 fee for coming home late

How would you feel if your mother/father/boy or girlfriend fined you money for coming home late or breaking a rule?

If someone in your family is always breaking a rule like today’s topic then how should they be controlled?

A woman gives her boyfriend $50 penalty whenever he doesn't come home on time after a night out drinking with friends. Why did she give him this penalty?

It all started because she used to go out and drink too much. So she stopped going out and got sober. Now he has started staying out late most weekends and she's unhappy with the "double standard.”

She said she has tried to explain why she disagrees with his actions but he continues to go out. So she made a rule for late homecomings.

"If either one us aren't home by 4am, we have to give the other $50 and no one can be angry," she said.

"My thinking is that he will get tired of paying the $50 and come home on time. Or he will give me the same understanding when I come home late."

Many online comments say they are both the problem. One user said:

"Your issue is trying to punish him to change who/what he is. His problem is ignoring your needs.”

"You don't seem to be able to talk about your feelings to each other, or he just doesn't care how you feel," another wrote.

One said: "This is a really stupid and childish game both of you are playing."

She said “I'm naturally a homebody. But, when we first stated dating, I had a drinking problem. After moving in together, I was still fighting with my drinking problem. Sometimes I would let my phone die while I continued drinking. I didn't understand how much of a problem it was because the bar was only 5 minutes walk from our apartment and in the same bar that I went to every time. Every time, my boyfriend said that he hated this. He hated me staying out late and he hated the dead phone. Finally, it seemed like such a big deal to my boyfriend that I just stopped staying out late, and stopped drinking.

“Now, it's over a year since I last stayed out or really drank. My boyfriend got new friends and now he stays out mostly every weekend until 3-5am. I don't ask who's he's with or what he's doing before he leaves. I don't bother him while he's out. I want him to have his free space because humans need that. But, it still bothers me that he's late only because of the double standard. He says that it’s okay because "he'll answer texts or call at any time.”

"At first, it made me angry. Then, I thought I should just calmly explain to him why I disagree with his actions. But, after almost a year, he still does it. He tells me he'll be home by an agreed time but doesn’t arrive. I tell him he hasn’t followed the rules. But he says he is tired of wasting his breath. So I offered a new rule. If either of us is too late we have to give the other $50 and no one can be angry.

"My thinking is that he's either going to get tired of paying the $50 and come home on time or give me the same understanding for sometimes staying out until the bars close.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=7, B=8, C=1, D=5, E=3, F=2, G=4, H=6

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. You must drive a car sober or be arrested by the police.

2. The church pastor/minister says gamble. But he does, he has a double standard.

3. We have an issue of water leaks into our house.

4. Don’t ignore that problem, go to a doctor and fix it.

5. I’m a homebody,  I like to stay home and watch movies.

6. He said it’s no big deal, you can pay later.

7. All this spam email is bothering me.

8. I don’t want to waste my breath by asking you many times to stop speaking so loud.

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Is it hard to give up drinking and get sober for some people? Why?

2. Describe a double standard that you hear about or see.

3. What issues in the news are bothering you these days?

4. If a friend drinks too much alcohol should we ignore it or say something to them?

5. Are you a homebody or like to go out all the time? Are you only a homebody sometimes?

6. Is there something that is a big deal in your life these days? What is a big deal in your country these days?

7. Do you feel that you are wasting your breath with some people? (i.e they never listen to what you ask/say).