Background: Last fall, I was hit by a car while walking and I fractured an endplate in my spine. I filed a lawsuit to be compensated for both damages and my pain and suffering. Turns out the car that hit me was uninsured, which means the pain and suffering portion would be on my car insurance (I live in a no-fault state and policies are expensive but it means your car insurance covers accidents even as a pedestrian). The insurance company is not paying, citing an arcane law that two family members cannot be on the same policy unless they live in the same house. My father and I live separately but bundle our cars to save money.

While this is a legal softball, I decided to not persue the punitive damages because the situation was so infuriating and my mental health was at stake. When I told this to my mother, she said “if you made more money, you could have had your own insurance policy and this wouldn’t have happened.”

I am considering total estrangement, as this comment was not only singularly offensive but is indicative of her draconian worldview, which is “got mine, fuck poor people.”

Does anyone have a secret for how to deal with a parent this shitty? Should I even bother?