Because of television shows like Who Do You Think You Are? and the rise in interest in checking one’s ancestry and genealogy, I am often asked if I would be interested in finding long lost or forgotten kinfolk.
No thanks! Why would I want to do that?
I have enough trouble with the family I know now. Why would I want to pay good money to bring more people into my life to fuss with me? Why?
And I don’t understand this ‘need to know’ obsession. What does it matter to anyone, or how will it enhance their lives, if it comes to light that they descend from the aristocracy or even royalty? How does that information help pay the rent on a cramped government flat on a drug-infested, crime-ridden estate? You can’t take your heritage information to the water or electricity board and hope for a discount or special treatment, can you?
I think I know where they would tell you to go. And it’s not nice.
