My family tends to be a very fun family.
A very loving family.
A very forgiving family.
But every once in a while, someone does something so dastardly that forgiveness is not an option. At least not until the score has been settled.
And this past weekend it came down to just that.
I’m going to affectionately call what happened, from henceforth and forever, The Great Wi-Fi War of 2013.
For more than a year now, everyone has complained about the strength of my parents’ wi-fi signal. Luis, my brother-in-law, and his wife live in the basement, and he was the one that set it up.
Because my parents live in a huge house whose interior and exterior is stone and wood, we have all always just chalked it up to a first-world problem. Complaining was good enough for us.
But then, and I won’t bore you with the details, the truth slipped out while we were all together last weekend. As it turns out, Luis had been routing the majority of the signal and the majority of the bandwidth to a different network than what he had been giving all of us access to.
His defense was summed up pretty simply. “I didn’t want all you guys bogging down the connection.”
Let me remind you that he is living there for free. And that it’s my mom and dad’s connection, not his. AND… he hadn’t even given THEM the real juice.
He just wanted to watch Netflix without a lag.
I told you it was dastardly. And he doesn’t deny it.
He got to make choices when he pulled his little stunt. But he didn’t get to choose his consequences. And, boy, did he catch heat. When little details like that slip out to a very large family who lives and breathes the Internet, you better believe every person involved is going to think back to EVERY instance over the past year when their Internet glitched even the slightest.
And, in pure Pearce fashion, my brother made it known to Luis (and we all agreed) just what he would have to do to make it right.
He had to go outside in his undies and do a snow angel.
Cause that’s how we roll.
No grudges. No coming back to it and hashing it out for months. No rubbing someone’s nose in it forever. Just a moment of medieval torture, and then we all call it good.
And, amazingly, he did it, even if we relented and let him go swim trunks instead.
This picture demonstrates just how deep the snow is… Just look at that right leg.
Of course, images are great.
But the video is so much better.
When it was over, there was no doubt. Luis was forgiven by all. And somehow, we were all strangely thankful for his shenanigans of the past year.
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
PS. Does your family ever settle things in such amazing ways? Or are we just straight up crazy?
PPS. Keep in mind this post is all in good fun. Any comments bagging on my BIL will be deleted. Especially since he dove in face-DOWN on his own accord (yeah, we never asked him to do that)!
What a good sport. Seems a fitting punishment for his dastardly deeds!
what an AWESOME way to settle a score!!! I am laughing right now!
Yes, your family is straight-up crazy, but then, that's what makes it so cool.
Love it! I betcha many of us could take a lesson from your family :)
Hahahah LOVE IT
That's hilarious! I love it!
Great to see all parties are such great sports about the whole situation. My family doesn't do stuff like this. I'm starting to think my family isn't that much fun at all. haha
Nephew got a dui this year, we expected him to spend Christmas in jail. Somehow his lawyer got him out on Christmas Eve. Most every one was teasing him horribly at Christmas dinner. Something to do with jail birds and turkeys for dinner. My son, the constant prankster, bought him a breathalyzer for Christmas. He had no clue til he opened it in front of all of us. All the tension was gone after that, how can you not laugh.
My family just refuses to talk about it and quietly resents and grows to hate the other parts. I think I'll be taking a page out of your family's book when I have a family. Seems much better. And hilarious.
Seriously, that took forever to post. >.>
Did the wi-fi get fixed? :D
That is amazing. I'm an only child and never got to have fun family squabbles! I hope if I end up with a family someday that they are as funny as yours are :)
THAT WAS AWESOME!!
They were too depressed type drunk to bother.
Hee!
When I was in college, I lived with three other young women in a space smaller than was usually comfortable. Sometimes, the estrogen had no way out. There would be ... tiffs, squabbles, disagreements....WE FOUGHT LIKE HYENAS!
And then. In the midst of it all. One of the best of us, Emily, would yell "STOP! ....... It's time to dance it out."
We'd grab the video recorder, throw on some Missy Elliot and DANCE that aggression out. By the end of a song, we'd all be laughing too hard to sit through the whole video of our dancing.
Some of my favorite memories! :-)
@Elle Dancing out your aggression sounds like a solid parenting move, think I may try it.
So absolutely amazing! Your family is one of a kind and truly a inspiration to try to solve disagreements with love and laughter rather than anger and silence. I LOVE reading your posts, blogs and inspirational stories honey. Keep up with the great work. XOXO
You just started my day with a laugh and a smile, so thank you!! :)
@Kellie :) I wish I could take credit for your smile, but that was all you.
I have never seen ANYONE do a face down snow angel!! Having grown up in NY, I have made my fair share, and they were ALWAYS face up. Is this a Mormon tradition?
BTW...my family is no where as much fun as yours! Kudos to Luis!
@tinkr Mormons have a few "good time tricks" up their sleeves, I will admit.
So glad he took his flip-flops off - True Grit!
@JeanneDulaneyAndrus Haha. He did a lot of things we didn't require him to do. He really went the extra mile.
Well, in my family, we do those kind of things on birthdays and sometimes christmas. We shove cake in each others faces, once 1/2 of my moms bathroom/ hallway was covered. We duct tape gifts...in layers (LOL) and no one can use anything sharp. That includes teeth. The BEST one though is when its my moms birthday. All because shes born on April 1st.
Love it! So I was wondering did he fix all the wi-fi issues so that everyone now has access to the high speed?
Lol. That's good stuff.
Thanks for sharing, your family seems like a lot of fun.
lol brave man, thanks for sharing Dan..
loved it...just don't understand...how do you reroute a wifi signal?
It must be a control thing, cause my brother does that too. He however is not man enough atone for his selfishness. Glad you guys got this cleared up...
@JamesClaar Haha, send your brother to my house. We'll have him face down in the snow in no time.
I LOVE THIS! I want to meet your family, lol. Mine would totally do something like this too!!!
I am laughing so hard. We have NO snow where I live, and this makes me miss Utah very much. Glad you guys were able to work this out without any hurt feelings.
As an only child, I've obviously missed out on a lot of fun! :)
i think we may be long lost cousins. First cousins :) We roll pretty hard too. And love it!!
I LOVE IT! All disputes should be settled like this!
That was awesome! <3
What I love most is that your family are smiling and laughing! Now while what he did was rude as you said in the post it is a first world problem there are millions of other things he could have done that would of been far worse. Your family is pretty amazing I think a lot of people could learn a thing or two from your family on knowing what is worth worrying over and what isn't :)
I would just like to say about your BIL - what a trouper! But I bet he never skims the cream again! Too funny.
Good for you, having Luis' back and setting the boundary of no bagging on him. Props!
*giggles* I love it. Then again, that kind of snow angel is on my bucket list. Just for the sheer and pure insane fun of it. I think that this was perfect and your family is completely amazing.
bahahahahahahaha that is awesome!!!! I think we should institute these types of penance in my family. We are pretty crazy and this would be awesome!
That was no penance. I saw it only as a fun time. But it's your family Dan. You deal with it the way you want to.
Those swim trunks will be forever known as snow trunks hence forth.....:)
like others, I'm impressed with your family's way of seeking restitution. So emotionally friendly and as a bonus funny as for others. Thanks to all of you for sharing.
LMAO! I won't go into the details but my hubby and I made a bet, the outcome being if I made a naked snow angel HE would do the same. Well, I DID...it has been 6 years now and he still owes me one, lol! And yes it was damn cold here in Northen MI. when I did it! It was dark fortunately so no one saw me. But the proof was there for all to see. Hmmmm, thinking this may be the year I remind him of his debt.....;)
I've never seen anyone do a Snow Angel face down but hey, it worked! What a fun way to 'punish' someone!
This is pure AWESOME! Such a great way to handle things. I LOVE it.
Hahaha! He was a good sport. Looks like a good time was had by all!
That. Was. Awesome.