I have a lot of regrets in life, but none are as big as my decision to be generous and share my Netflix account with my family.
I cannot count how many times I've been kicked off of Netflix because my mom, dad, brother, three sisters, and cousins are all trying to use the same Netflix account and binge-watch their favorite soap opera. I can see you, mom, watching soap operas about an ancient British queen, but why won't you log off any time before 1 a.m. to let me watch anime?
The worst part was that I only shared my Netflix account with one of my sisters, but she decided to give it to another sister out of the goodness of her heart, and you can imagine how it spiraled from there. They even started giving the account information to their friends — and you can imagine how it spiraled out of control from there when people started trying too to log into Netflix from Alaska of all places.
Netflix only allows two people to be streaming at once, and after we all get off of work or out of our classes, it's war. I know that every time I start watching my anime with English subtitles (which some heathen in the family keeps switching to dubbed), someone curses in the family group chat and tells us to get off of Netflix.
This then starts a war because everyone is trying to get on Netflix to join in on the fun. Sometimes, they don't even want to watch anything — they just want to kick someone else off because it's funny.
The worst has been my dad. I can't tell you how many emails I see every day about a new sign in to my account from places my dad has no business being. I know he's responsible because he keeps asking me for the login information time and time again — and if it was his device, he would have just saved it to his computer because he doesn't have the memory capacity to remember another password.
Is he having an affair or something? Who do we know that lives in Allegheny, Pennsylvania? I know he doesn't even watch cooking shows! So why am I getting kicked off of my Netflix account so someone can watch cooking shows?
I'm so mad that I'm about to do the unspeakable: change my password. The fact everyone is using my Netflix account and saving themselves $15 a month is just not cool. And I barely even use my Netflix account!
My family rarely agrees on anything, but the one thing I know they will agree on is ganging up on me as the bad guy if I cancel my Netflix account or change the password.
I don't know what to do. I'm in a bind. I'm just glad that one of my sisters is watching Breaking Bad, and some of the family is being cultured watching semi-good TV. But my parents? Dear God, who even watches indie rom-coms and Power Rangers as an adult?
You know what time I have to wake up to be able to log onto Netflix and be able to watch TV without getting kicked off? 3 a.m. You heard me — 3 a.m. And sometimes, I'll still get kicked off by my sisters. I mean, what in God's name could they be doing? Aren't they supposed to be, like, studying for their college exams or something? Why won't they leave me to watch Netflix in peace?
Over Thanksgiving, this became a heavy point of contention. My mother, the control freak that she is, proposed that we allot times every given day where a family member was designated to be on Netflix. She rationalized that it would help us all set boundaries and respect each others' need for binge-watching TV, but the opposition was near-unanimous, until I reminded everyone that I paid for my Netflix account, with, you know, my own money. It was my right to use my Netflix account and not have to share it with the whole family.
And then everyone decided to throw a tantrum. My dad reminded me of all the times he played baseball with me even though he hated baseball; my mom reminded me of the times she cooked for us when we were younger and a house with four kids, and how I wasn't grateful enough to my elders. And my sisters? I can't even put in public what they said about me. Only my brother had my back and thought everyone was taking it too far and that it was just a Netflix account.
I wish I never shared my Netflix account with my selfish family. My life would be so much easier — but who knew that if you wanted to make someone's life miserable, you just had to take away their Netflix privileges.
