Being responsible is quite a responsibility. Once you start being responsible you can't ever really stop. Which is why I wish more than ever that I had never started to be responsible.

1. Irresponsible people get to have all the fun.

I have never ridden a motorcycle. I have never gone on a road trip with my friends. I have never ditched class to go to Costco.

I have however skipped countless gatherings, activities, or other fun stuff to take care of the family, or the dogs. Or because I have to go to work.

2. It is exhausting being responsible.

Have you ever taken care of three dogs, two cats, and a bird. It wears you out. Especially when you come home from a long day of work and one of the dogs has knocked over the dinner table scattering your magic cards everywhere as well as breaking open a bag of feminine pads and scattering them throughout the house.

3. Expectations are high.

You cannot just stop being responsible one day. If you have been responsible once people expect you to be responsible forever.

4. You have to make your own doctor’s appointments.

You have to call doctors. Which means you have to use a telephone. You have to know enough about your schedule to position these appointments on your calendar without double booking yourself.

5. You have to drive yourself to said appointments.

You have to navigate through big cities with heavy traffic and find parking places in crowded parking lots in a timely manner so as not to be late to said appointments.

6. You have to work, and work, and work.

You have a job, or two, or three. You do this because a responsible person is not a freeloader who lives in their mother’s basement. But someone who lives in their mother’s basement and buys groceries. It would be irresponsible to pay rent when you can live at your mom’s for free.

7. You have to deal with emergent situations.

Since you live in your mother’s basement there are going to be emergencies. Sometimes it is running out of eggs or milk. Sometimes it is a bit more serious. Your mother detaches her retina and needs a ride to the ER. Whatever the situation you need to be ready to drop everything and take care of it on a moment’s notice, because you after all are the responsible one.

8. You grow up to fast.

From high school you became a second parent to your younger siblings. Making sure they ate healthy, and did their homework. This caused you to grow up fast because instead of having friends and behaving as a reckless teenager, you were home and taking care of your siblings.