Unfavorite Visitors

Every year, for the past 10 years, the Dad has hosted a charity golf event at a local country club. This event has raised 10s of thousands of dollars for the local hospital cancer research group. This year is no different. As he has done in the past, he's hosting a golf tournament in the same venue, at the same time of the year, for the same cause. Oh, but this year is different, because the country club is involved in a labor dispute and has locked out its union. That has left our family at the mercy of the unions.

I was raised in a union household. I had health care, braces, an education all because of a union. So to be privately attacked by a union is shocking. Attacked a strong word? Here are the things that have happened in the last month.

1.) Every hour for an entire day the union called our house to "encourage" the Dad to move his golf tournament.

2.) The union printed and past out fliers with our home phone number on them encouraging their members to call us at home and pressure "the Dad" to move the golf tournament.

3.) They've shown up on our door step to pleasantly ask the dad to move the tournament.

However, we teach our kids not to bow to bullies and neither will he. It's awful that grown men and women are so willing to try to intimidate people raising money for charity with these tactics. They should be ashamed of themselves. No matter what their beef with their employer it has nothing to do with us, so why are we getting drug into it?

The kids now know: the front door is to be locked at all times. We prefer they play in the back yard until the golf tournament is over. We don't answer the phone if we don't know who it is (unless Mommy is in the mood to do a acting.) :) Let's just say, the years of unsuccessfully trying to cancel my husband's Playboy subscription came in mighty handy to stop those phone calls.

I wish my kids didn't have to learn these lessons, but at the same time, I'm very glad they learned we don't give into bullies. And if those Union thugs show up on our door steps again, I may just have to really go all out in my acting. I can act CRAZY really good.