It’s fantastic to have a family. You get to spend time with the people you care about most while knowing they’ll always be there for you. It gives you unwavering support and ensures your mental health. Of course, there may be some arguments along the way, but you can be certain that they will always be there for you.

However, many people are affected by toxic families that refuse to adhere to the usual norms of a healthy relationship and instead opt to live in emotional instability. In this story, a brother expressed his fairly unjust experience with his parents’ obvious preference toward their eldest kid.

Read the story to understand the situation. Ok, I know the title sounds like I’m spoiled. But hear me out. My brother (20) got a car for his 18th birthday. Not a new car or anything. It was a 20-year-old Lexus that was in pretty good shape. And he rubbed it in my face for the rest of the time he was in his senior year of high school.

Compared with my brother I get just as good of grades as he does. Better in some cases even. I worked my hardest in the hope of fairness. I even did some volunteering cleaning up garbage in my local area. Then my 18th birthday came and went a few weeks ago. And the only thing I wanted, the only thing I was hoping for was a car.

I wasn’t expecting something like a new car, or a sporty car. Just something reliable like my brother got. The party wasn’t anything like my brother’s 18th. For his 18th my mom baked the cake herself. It was a delicious layered chocolate pudding cake. I got a sheet cake from the supermarket. For his, they got a DJ. For mine, it was my dad’s old boombox with a couple of mixed CDs. We went through the whole party, and I figured my parents might have just been waiting to spring a surprise gift on me. But that didn’t happen.

As everything came to a close, I inquired as to why there was no car when my brother received one. They also stated that he appeared to have put forth more effort. I inquired as to what he did that I did not. Because I accomplished all of these things and more. My grandmother was nearby and heard everything that happened. She then inquired as to why they were doing so. She ended up lecturing my parents, expressing her displeasure with them for displaying favoritism.

Then she continued to inform the remaining guests that my parents had no problem getting their firstborn son a car and a DJ, but not their second. She went on to say that my parents worked far harder for my brother’s 18th birthday than they did for mine. My uncle was the first to take a position and speak up. Then came everyone else who hadn’t yet left. I eventually simply walked away and went to my room to contemplate.

I got a few I’m sorry calls from relatives. And my grandparents convinced me to go out with them for the evening. But when I got back my parents were pissed and told me I’d shamed them to the whole family. I just walked past them because I didn’t want to fight. The next few weeks went by with the silent treatment between us. But then a few days ago, my parents suddenly surprised me with a white 98 Subaru Legacy that runs great.

They practically threw the keys and the title in an envelope at me and said to have fun. I got the car. And they’re paying for insurance for the next six months as they did for my brother. I know a car isn’t really a right, but a privilege. So I feel like I’ve essentially blackmailed my parents into getting me one.