I deserve...

Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French deservir, from Latin deservire to devote oneself to, from de- + servire to serve

Few people look at etymologies anymore.

In Spanish, the word is merecer.

merecer El verbo merecer viene de un supuesto latín vulgar *merescere (ser digno de un premio) compuesto con el verbo merere (ganar, merecer) y el sufijo verbal -scere que indica procesos y encontramos en palabras como adolecer, carecer y fallecer. [ deserve : The verb deserve comes from a supposed Vulgar Latin *merescere (to be worthy of an award) composed with the verb merere (to win, deserve) and the verbal suffix -scere that indicates processes and we find in words like suffer, lack and die. ]
El participio de merere es meritus y de ahí tenemos las palabras mérito, benemérito y emérito. Este verbo también nos dio las palabras merienda y merengue y se asocia con la raíz indoeuropea. [ The participle of merere is meritus and from there we have the words merit, meritorious, and emeritus. This verb also gave us the words snack and meringue and is associated with the Indo-European root. ]

Deserve has a component of serving or devoting oneself to something or someone. And in Spanish the merit indicates a sense of worthiness. Note, worthiness can be positive or negative.

My g*dson is 36 and is in the throes of a divorce from a self-serving viper/sniper. She insisted on having children and has nothing to do with them. She made sure to secure an au-pair from Japan to do her work, and although this young woman has weekends free, the snake manages to push her into working for her when she has her share of custody. Why would anyone want custody of a child that you want to leave (this mother has been known to leave her children so she could spend some 'me time' with her few friends).

She managed to get fired for poor performance and has been getting lazier and fatter with the passing of time. She demands more money because she cannot afford rent (yet she manages to go to Virginia to her family every two weeks... or visit other family in Florida... or Las Vegas). She took the cake when she told the soon-to-be ex-husband that she had been given an offer for a 6-figure job at a bank that she turned down. "I deserve more money than that!"

Glad I never got married.