By Mirorbo - 11/06/2011 06:09 - United States

Today, my mother-in-law visited the house while my husband and I were at work. When we returned, we discovered she'd shredded and thrown away all the scribbled on papers sprawled on our messy desks. We're graphics designers. Those were rough sketches for about 14 different clients. FML
I agree, your life sucks 48 414
You deserved it 3 693

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Ah... it finally made it in. The young lady who controls this character account is the OP for this one. It happened a long time ago, but it still riles her up terribly. The locks have since been changed and little miss tidy-up-without-asking is not allowed to have a copy of the keys. Ever.

Comments

Shoot her and throw away her body. Nooo, that's not extreme at all.

i would lose my mind if someone did that to me! im in graphics as well and i would make her pay for it. even tho clients often dosent care and you lose the job.. bad rep coming your way!

imacreeper 3

Go to her house, shred her, and throw her away...oh wait.

a_nutritionist 10

make her pay for it? how? she cant come up with the designs and theres more riding on it than just money... why not just say you were a victim of vandalism and have lost the preliminary work as a result, extend the deadline and start over? thatd probably be the best way to go.

Most clients don't like to go through the planning out process all over again, much less extend a deadline due to a loss of work.

a_nutritionist 10

agree, but they wont be inclined to hate on you for something that you were a victim of. i dont think any company would hear of vandalism occurring and respond with "so? wheres our work?", so at least then youre more likely to get repeat business and not lose face with the client, plus its not a lie. you are probably going to lose the job, unless the people specifically like the work you do.

Just the same, some clients aren't capable of understanding that it was an act of vandalism, even if the company does. Only a small number of clients dropped the work, thankfully. The replacement work wasn't on their dime either, as it wasn't their fault for the delay. For that, they were grateful.

So 100, are you going to make your mother-in-law pay for the damages?

Can't very well make her, really. She doesn't work, so 'her' money is actually her husband's money, and we don't wish to punish him for something his naive wife did. Keeping her out is good enough, despite the setbacks with work. Unless she breaks a window to get in, it won't be happening again.

notsocrazee 0

mirorbo is s girl??? darling :3

a_nutritionist 10

@100 i was meaning simply tell them your office was vandalised, the details are irrelevant. but its good to hear things worked out.

yak526 0

i dont believe it, Know one comes over too see papers on the desk to figure "oh i better throw those away"

Flutist 3

^ Actually genius, people do. My mother used to clean my desk off. She saw mess and "doodles" and thought it wasn't anything. Some mothers always think their children are being messy and want to clean it up--for the most part--and screw the repercussions. So unless you know all the billions of mother's in the world personally, as well as the people, then don't make generalized statements about them.

zendaddy0 0
Astrobomb 21

my mother in law comes into my apt and ***** shit up all the time.

xoxogymmiexoxo 0

I think she thought it was a mess and was trying to clean it up for them...you know old people

livelaughcheer_2 2
Flutist 3

I don't know old people, in my culture you hit 55 and we take you outback and shoot you. ;)

Ah... it finally made it in. The young lady who controls this character account is the OP for this one. It happened a long time ago, but it still riles her up terribly. The locks have since been changed and little miss tidy-up-without-asking is not allowed to have a copy of the keys. Ever.

If it happened a long time ago, use it to blackmail the meddlesome mother in law. "Remember that one time you destroyed all the work we prepared for a dozen clients?" This is why I never touch anything on anyone's desk, anything could be important.

As tempting as it may be, the darlings aren't cruel enough to use blackmail. Keeping the key away from her and not inviting her over anymore should be punishment enough. If she wants a visit, it will take place in HER house from now on, so no more work may be destroyed. So far, that's worked out. Although she still hasn't quite grasped the reason why it's come to this. I don't know if it's age, language, or both, but she can't understand what graphic design is, nor can comprehend that it's an actual job.

either it's IQ or aging senile. she probably thinks you draw pictures and try to sell them...

Well... That is part of the job. Depending on what the client wants, really. On occasion there are those who want an illustration rather than a typical logo or website.

I know what the job is. I meant like with crayons and shit idk. old lady's off her rocker

*thinks it over* I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what goes on in her mind, now that you have me thinking about it...

The one issue I see is her mentality: I'm older than you and I'm the mother... therefore I have a "right" to do what I want in someone else's house. That's just messed up. I wonder how she would feel if portent things ended up like all that work. This is not a hint. PS: I currently decided to follow this field and I hope I can make it there alive. I'm still in college ,and I want to learn as much as possible :)

iSitt 0

at last an op steps forward to tell how things turned out and answer followup questions! Not knowing is the worst part of FML.

73 - You're absolutely right on that one. There was an almost identical one a few months ago, except the only difference, and I mean only, was that the other one mentioned that the destroyed work was nude art. I think Mirorbo is confused, and that this girl's FML did make it through a while ago.

So.... Just because a similar incident occurred means that others aren't allowed to be posted? We certainly have a LOT of duplicates on this site then!

Or maybe this girl had a hard time getting hers posted because a nearly identical one already existed on FML, and the people moderating thought she was just trying to steal someone else's FML.

It was actually posted months ago. I remember the email stating it didn't make it in. I had no idea FMLs remain through the moderation process even after it's not accepted right away. I thought they were just deleted and that was that. It was never once re-submitted.

@nissanman & lalalady42: Unless you have a link to show this is copied, you could be mistaken. Similar FMLs tend to blur together in memory after a while, trust me.

Hmm, well in that case, that is pretty strange. I always thought that the complete moderation process happened within a day or two, and that rejected ones stayed rejected. Glitch in the system maybe?

No, I'm quite sure that there was another one a little while ago. What do I win if I can prove myself right?

It could very well be a glitch in the Moderation System. Over the last week alone I have seen a lot of FMLs in Moderation that I'm absolutely certain I have already voted either Yes or No on much earlier on. A lot more than one wold just assume "Oh, they must have reposted to try again".

If you can prove yourself right, I'll give you a fake rolex watch and some corporate bonds from a Monopoly set.

kittykat1501 31

I saw it too. It was nude artwork for an art class. The mom came in and shredded them and all the other artwork for being " ****"

MasterL 3

I seriously feel sorry for you.......

She visited while you were at work? Why does she have keys or any means whatsoever to entering the house?

Because she is the Mother-in-Law and at the time she was trusted enough to have a house key for emergencies. A few minor incidents beforehand, plus this one, that trust is no more.

I see. Thank you for the clarification :)

you should burn her house down then design her a new one then accidentally throw away the sketches

That's the mistake I made, as well. When my ex husband and I bought our first home, we gave his mother a spare key for emergencies. Turns out, her 'emergencies' were anything from "us not answering the phone straight away" or "forgetting to call her and say 'hello' after work". She would even show up and open our mail early in the morning sometimes....ahhhh...family. No wonder he's my ex-husband. lol

Was it him... Or you?! *Cue dramatic music*

Never, ever give it to mom. If you have to, always give it to dad!

So you divorced him due to his mother?

Astrobomb 21

I don't blame her of she did. if he's allowing his mother to get away with these things. I have to go through it with my motherinlaw and my sister in law. my life is like the show "everybody loves Raymond"

I think in this case, matricide might be warranted.

Fuhohohoho!~ Perhaps, but a life OUTSIDE of a jail cell is a lot nicer.

wait.....who the f*ck gave her a copy of your house keys? bet you've learnt your lesson now!

It was a mutual decision based around the fact that she was trusted enough with a key at the time. Due to a few minor incidents beforehand, plus this one, that trust no longer exists.

My grandparents have a key of my family home, for emergencies. Never had a problem with them. What I don't understand is why your mother-in-law shredded your work. It's already strange and direspectful enough that she trew it away, but shredding?

That's her paranoia, actually. She saw words and numbers on many of the papers and thought they were important. Not keeping-worthy important. Important as in, someone could fish them out of the trash and use them to steal identities and the whole nine yards. She shreds almost every paper before throwing it away because of that paranoia. Even expired coupons for some reason... Had the papers merely been thrown away, they would have just been fished out, cleaned up of any garbage juices, and worked with from there. There would have still been the incident of changing the locks and all that, but with less anger involved. Sadly...nothing ever goes the easy path...

so did she shred your bills too because they have your personal details?

Those are in a locked filing cabinet, thankfully, otherwise those may have been shredded as well.

how old is she? her doctor needs to know about these behavior if s/he doesn't already.