baratrachael

I am in AA and did like your question. You must be a nice person to be concerned about your co-workers.Now:

a) Each person needs to decide if they are happy or not with their drinking. There is plenty of knowledge about recovery.

AA not not that religious. I sponsor people on the humanitarian basis that we are all connected. Astrophysics is a useful are of study for this.

c) Live and let live. Functioning alcoholics can drink themselves into a lather nightly and not get into much trouble so it is not a true problem.

The short term renunciation is a "practice" run. Buddhists are extremely practical and take more of a view that the kid can learn something and gain merit. They will only eat once a day, get up early and spend all day meditating and studying: any extras given to lighten the load would be a good deed. Also, it is a nice feeling to give, whether or not to a monastic, I gave a tad more and felt great. Oops, I did wear my usual black but nobody got upset. Maybe they are used to the fact that I bumble through every single day with good intentions but not much grace.

So, "Maybe they like making up afterwards" I can tell that is a man speaking and that he has never been in fear of his life. I grew up in an abusive household where I and my mother lived in terror. Believe me there is no "fun" and no "making up". There is only an <deleted> using physical power to abuse another person. To laugh at that poor woman's agony is tasteless.

One of the people responding to the question of payment pointed out that market economics is to pay the least amount of money possible to those you employ. I hope this person is not a teacher. Teaching is more than merely standing in a room checking that students understand the grammar. There is a relationship between teacher and student which goes far beyond the financial reward. I do not say to my students that the lesson is finished on the hour. Questions they raise and their individual needs have to be met after school.

Employers too need to understand that if they hire at the lowest rate, the teachers will need to do too many hours to give time for preparation and quality lesson development. All participants in this market need to recognise the great divide between education and hourly money making. Once we understand this we can clearly draw the lines between the two different arena of employment.

This man is a sad and angry man who seems to "enjoy" anger and conflict. If you like Thailand and love your wife, it would be ridiculous to destroy your happiness for this person who goaded you. He has the upper hand as he is controlling your present anger and future life. I'd do the right thing by giving whatever your wife wants. Everyone around knows who he is and will admire your more buddhist approach. If he brings it as far as the court you can reassess. It just seems silly to let him control you. Good luck with a testing situation. P.S. Spraying a friend with water, on a hot day, is a sign of friendly play.