Family Reunions

Family reunions for my family, well, they’re not really a big huge celebration for us, unlike other families. I mean, it just usually involves a bunch of us getting together at someone’s house and having dinner, playing some mah-jong, and maybe a round of karaoke or two. But the real point of reunions is just to see everyone again, and catch up on what’s been going on in their life.
I’m sitting here, midst a normal family reunion, or as I call it, a get-together of all our family friends and such. The parents settle in for their usual games of mah-jong and usually my dad and maybe some moms, they help out in the kitchen to prepare the ‘feast.’ Yes, I did use the term feast, because it’s like a big buffet. Lay the food on the table, grab a plate, and help yourself. And while the parents are preparing, us kids are usually in the upstairs rooms or downstairs hanging out, listening to music, or playing an intense game of Nerf dart tag. And maybe the parents would tell them to cool down and relax; right away we whip out the WII consoles and play some games. Funny how it just ends up in a bunch of little kids yelling at the screen to kill the other player. Laid back? Not so much. Ah, well sitting in the piano room here and listening to the random shouts of ‘kick him!’ or ‘use the light saber!’ I’m going to go catch up on my fun.
Now officially transferred in the game room/living room, you’ll be submerged in epic shooting noises and kids screaming, “Hold it!” “Get it, get it, get it!” “Marcus, use speed!” “Don’t die!” “Jump!” and “Can I verse you?”
Personally, for me, the worst part of family reunions is the fact that _______ is going to be there. He’s a year older than me, and a total show off, egotistical, obsessed with himself, on steroids, tries to be cool and gangster jerk. And that pretty much just sums him up. And he’s overly nice. Yea, you must be wondering why I don’t like him, or specifically, strongly dislike him. Well, it’s not that he did anything to me, it’s just that, well, I don’t like him. There’s just this vibe about him that I really don’t like. I have no idea why, we must’ve been like sworn enemies in our past lives or something in order for me to not like him. And he tries to be nice, and I don’t hold it against him, I just don’t like him. Period. No discussion about it. He knows I don’t like him, and he also knows that I don’t have a reason why, and I’m really mean to him, but I just can’t help it. It’s like a natural thing. It comes with me, like the blinking or breathing. I’m programmed to not like him. All my friends say he’s super nice and all, but I just don’t see it. Maybe I’m just blindsided by his ugly face. No offense. You see what I mean? Programmed to hate. I’m sorry, I don’t want to sound shallow, but I just very much dislike him. Well, I guess everyone had haters, eh?
The other thing about reunions, is that no one is the same age as me; their all at least a year or two younger than me. That’s why I always bring my laptop to have my Microsoft Word handy with me because to be honest, I don’t have as much stamina as I did two years ago. Besides, they all play these games that seem childish to me like Nerf dart tag or some kind of Pokémon game. So yea, sometimes I do feel left out when they are all talking about the latest Pokémon game or what levels they passed on their Digimon DS game. Even the girls are into Pokémon and such. See what I mean about feeling left out? Yup, four to five hours of complete boredom and cluelessness to what their talking about. But, I mean, it’s not that bad, they don’t do it on purpose to exclude me, because they’re just kids, but still, sometimes it’s a bit unnerving. And yet, even as I am typing, all the parents are behind me in the kitchen, putting the finishing touched on the food and the kids are too focused on their WII game of Brawl to listen to their cries of ‘Dinner’s ready.” A day in the life of my typical family reunion.