Do You Have Poor Relations?

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This phrase can be used both literally and idiomatically, or allegorically. Poor relations can be the poor relations overlooked or neglected by wealthier cousins, brothers or parents. The phrase may also refer to poor (limited or tense) communications between relations who rarely if ever talk to one another. Many of us hope that if a wealthy relative dies they include us in the will, or that living relatives might share a lottery windfall with us. Many eager to embark on some business venture may hope for support from a wealthy family benefactor but the wealthier family members may regard the poorer relatives as little better than any other beggars. There is something miserly about not giving a relative a share if you have millions in the bank, but it is also quite mercenary for poor relatives to expect a hand-out from a wealthier cousin, uncle, grand-father etc. Money may be kept from poorer relatives due to poor relations, as in an ongoing family feud – someone who disrupted a family wedding or refused to go to a family funeral / christening, etc. should not be surprised on not getting a cheque through the post when a windfall comes in. I remember when my gran died, relatives were quick to plunder her household ornaments and collected brick-a-brack to take off to their own houses or sell. It was like watching a pack of hyenas waiting for the lions to leave a carcass alone, quite revolting. Other motives may be down to miserly greed or a sense that the poor relation is poor through bad finance – is it worth giving quarter of a million dollars or pounds sterling to someone you expect to booze it away or gamble it away overnight? I am a poor relation in not currently having any rich ones though if my sister won the lottery I know she wouldn’t offer me a penny. Then again, if I won a fortune I would leave her out of any shares too. Arthur Chappell