Redditor Frozen_yoghurt123 asked:
"Who is the 'black sheep' of your family?"
I'm the black sheep or at least I'd like to think so.
Join me...
Scandal
"Probably my dad's cousin, who went to prison for murdering his lover's husband."
DW_555
Oh My Wow GIFGiphy"biggest disappointment"
"My Dad. He is the only one of 6 siblings who wasn't a huge f**k up. And yet, before my Grandma died she stated that he was her 'biggest disappointment.' He is estranged from his surviving siblings... not by his choice. It honestly blows my mind."
Unfair_Biscotti2828
"Toxicity is often a group mindset thing; people don't want you to leave because they are dysfunctionally co-dependent on each other and need each other to justify their own shortcomings in life. A lot of the 'family loyalty' stuff is typically shouted loudest by those who are the least good idea to stay loyal towards."
Creative_Recover
The Dead
"My great uncle who stole my great grandfathers identity, stole a couple million dollars, and ran off. No one even knew he was alive until my great grandfathers funeral in 2009. No one has seen him since. My grandma started to cry because she honestly thought he was dead."
"Everyone else just kind of nodded on his direction and went on with the rest of the funeral. I just remember being very confused because I was 9 and I had never met this guy who my dad pulled me aside and told me he was my great uncle. It was a few years later that I got the full story."
valkyrieonaunicorn
"matriarch"
"According to my mean aunt, the 'matriarch' in her own mind, it's my twin brother because "he doesn't care about family now that he's a doctor." (He's a resident. Chief resident. He works ridiculous hours and spends the rest of the time recovering from work.)"
"According to my ex-MIL (who still counts because she's Son's grandma), it's me, for divorcing her son."
"According to everyone else, it's Mean Aunt. The rest of us are warm and caring and compassionate. We have our moments; all of us have been accidentally thoughtless or done something selfish once in a while, but we're not deliberately mean and snarky all the time."
insertcaffeine
Everybody
"My immediate family are the black sheep of the entire family."
DarthDregan
John Stamos Cheers GIF by GrandfatheredGiphySounds like everyone has a little black sheep in them.
People Issues
"By now, my brother for cutting off everyone because he prefers his rude, selfish, paranoid, narcissist wife over all of us."
"My wife is the black sheep of her family in the sense that she's the only one who isn't a rude, selfish, paranoid narcissist."
Lvcivs2311
Joe Dirt Brother GIFGiphySo Dumb
"Me. My granddaddy told me 'I’ve only had the sheriff knock on my door two times in my 80 years, and both times he was looking for you! 'I did some dumb sh*t, caused a little trouble, burned a few bridges but always managed to stay out of jail. Partly because my sister has kept an attorney on retainer for me since I was 16."
This_Personality3731
Liar Liar
"My younger brother (2nd of 4) is a compulsive liar and it got him in a lot of little trouble as a teen, then he told his wife he graduated a big college when we're not even sure if he got his GED because he failed to graduate HS, went to some GED school and eventually just stopped going."
"IF he graduated college, he never mentioned he was going in the 4+ years it takes nor mention graduation or have a diploma. He's not a bad dude, but now family time is super awkward when he and his wife are talking about 'their' college team."
UniqueUsername82D
The NOT good girl...
"My aunt's daughter. She’s been in jail for drugs, stolen money from my aunt and other family members to use on drugs and physically abused my aunt. My aunt has tried getting her help, but nothing has worked. She’s just not a good person, and everyone in my family, except my aunt, doesn’t want anything to do with her. I haven’t seen her in 8 years now, and I’m happy about that."
Hello_Im_the_world
Maria?
"A former nun - my great aunt - left the religious life and got married. She called herself 'the black sheep of the family' because her habit was black."
Back2Bach
Excited Julie Andrews GIF by The Rodgers & Hammerstein OrganizationGiphyWell the black sheep sound like the most interesting family members.
When comparing their homelands to other parts of the world, it's clear that there is always something that can be improved upon.
But how much power do people actually have to make significant changes to deep-rooted brutal policies and customs in various countries?
Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor UtTeR_cArNaGe asked:
"What do you find most embarrassing about your country?"
Corruption abounds.
Notorious Autocrat
"The most embarrassing thing about my country is that we allowed Putin to run it for twenty years. Ridiculous."
– the_amateon
Under Incompetent Rule
"Corruption in Croatia. On all levels. And they blame war, which ended 27 years ago, for a bad situation. Truth is, politic parties (left, middle, right, all of them) hired incompetent people to work high position jobs (and all other jobs), so with their incompetence they are destroying everything, from economy to will for living."
– oriontrail
South Of The Border
"The fact that drug traffickers basically own the country, having 8 of the most dangerous Citys on the World. Be only known for southpark jokes."
"The previous president bought a mansion that cost 800 years of minimum wage."
"Oh, And also because one guy of our country extinguished the eternal flame under the triumphal arch in Paris, with his pee..."
"It's not that hard to find out what country it is ;)"
– trestristestigresy
Blame It On Colonization
"I come from India."
"The corruption is just aweful. We tend to blame things on colonisation but we aren’t evolving as people. Politics is the dirtiest thing in our country and fixing it could help with a lot of things."
– mrs_robpatt
The statistics are horrendous.
Caring About Our Veterans
"How everyone is all 'Support Our Troops!!' but as soon as they get home, no one gives a sh*t about them. Think about how much money is spent on the military and think about many veterans have severe mental health issues and/or live on the street when they get out."
"Also, many in the military don’t join for pride of country. They join because they’re targeted, recruiters going into schools and making all these empty promises."
– Odd_Sky7089
Treatment Of Children
"That children are being killed for the arguments and view points of previous generations. Yet no one can seem to understand that it is no one's land if the children in both sides are being killed before they can even grow up to inhabit it. Palestine."
– Mona_Moans
All About Perspective
"The fact that we're so focused on our differences with each other that we're not willing to look at how much we actually have in common with one another."
– TarheelTiger87
Immature Politicians
"That our politicians behave like children in kindergarden? 'Oh there was an illegal trade of 100.000.000€? I haven’t heard about it yet' 'What? I’m supposed to be the bad guy here? Look how bad the others are!' and this repeats every year. No content in their speeches besides ranting about each other."
– blanklikemybank
Highest Percentage Of Inflation
"You think 8% inflation is a lot? How about %60 and growing bigger inlation? That's what my country is facing. F'k anyone who's responsible for that f'k-up."
– yzrIsou
These Redditors discussed the unfair treatment of women in their countries.
Gender Disparity
"The fierce opposition to gender equality. We fall far behind our neighbors just in terms of legislation. I am a second class citizen in my own country and I get to live every day of my life knowing that the majority of people around me want it to remain that way."
– PonderingMyOptions
The majority of the complaints were about corruption.
Unsurprisingly we are not alone in that regard.
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Fortunately for us, people came forward and admitted some of their country's faults when Redditor frodesu asked:
"What is your nation's biggest shame?"
When it comes to constructing something, these nations seemed to have an open-ended date.
Slow Progress
"In Romania, they took 11 years to make one km of a highway."
– deivid_theboi32
"I live in the states and we have a freeway in my city they’ve been working on since 2001. It’s only half done and expected to be completed in 2029."
– PomPomdog
Waiting To Worship
"We took over 1000 years for a church."
– Random_German_Name
"Trust me when I say that Germany taking a 1,000 years to build a church is the least of your shame."
– spillledmilk
The Stadium In Progress
"We have been working on a NATIONAL STADIUM for 25000 people since 1987. Every now and then, a politician will mention that it will be completed by the end of the year."
"Simply google 'Lithuanian national disgrace.'"
– LogicalPrinciple6
Political leaders get major scrutiny.
Australian Prime Minister's Past
"Our PM sh**ting his pants at a Mcdonalds"
– Jackwahbe
Philippino Dictator
"Ex-President Dictator who holds the Guinness World of Record for Greatest Robbery of Government son will probably win the next election."
– ZoeWeird28
The Klepto President
"Czech Republic: During a live broadcast in Chile, our previous president stole a ceremonial pen."
– BeautifulBreaksalt
"You should see the video. It’s genuinely hilarious. He gives this little nod like he’s so f'kin’ clever."
"Just don’t Google czech president. We have some embarrassing ones."
– orincoro
People brought up things about Ireland the denizens weren't very proud of.
How Unmarried Mothers Were Treated
"Ireland, the Treatment of unmarried mothers, they were put in church run institutions against their will and forced to work, their children were put up for adoption."
– torqers
Irish Psych Ward
"The Magdalene Laundries."
– FrostyGrotto
"Never heard of Magdalene Laundries until I read an article about how Sinead ‘O Connor spoke up about how she was sent there as a teen. She got a lot of shit when she tore up a picture of the pope on SNL in protest against their abuse. She was right though."
– xOogieBoogey30
People discuss the sad histories of these nations.
Cambodia
"My parents nationality... The Khmer Empire.."
"The Khmer Rouge really f'ked up the country. Cambodia went from being a pretty decent country to downright f'king poverty at one point. It's gotten better but most of the traditions and other practices are either forgotten or just rarely taught."
– vedrahh
Exploitation
"Our second monarch (Leopold II) used the Free Congo State as private property, enslaving, torturing, and killing 10 million Congolese people over the course of 25 years."
– WasternCandid
As outsiders, it's interesting to observe the specific aspects of a country we're unaware of.
The negative examples provided by the Redditors above showed there is always another side to a nation.
And while some nations have shameful history and governments that are perceived as worse than others, all countries have their imperfections.
It's in how much a nation is willing to make improvements for the good of the people that places them above the rest.
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"Lowkey"
If I were a parent I wouldn't teach my kid to speak until they were a teenager. That is an appropriate amount of time for them to learn what is appropriate when engaging in public dialogue. I get frustrated when my dog barks out of line at the dog park or in the yard past sundown so I can't imagine my reaction of a toddler shaming strangers with sass, that they probably lowkey picked up from me.
I'm 5
Hide Reaction GIF by florGiphyI was bagging a lady's groceries and her kid asked me, "why are you so fat?"
My brilliant comeback was, "why are you so short?" To which he replied, "I'm not short, I'm 5."
No Donuts for you!
When my son was six, walking through LAX and he's complaining that I wouldn't get him donuts (running late for our flight).
I'm holding his hand and walking along and all of a sudden he stops and starts screaming... "STOP IT I DON'T KNOW YOU! SOMEBODY HELP ME I DON'T KNOW THIS MAN!"
I'm snarling at him under my breath "dude you gotta stop that right now you can't say that crap, that's not funny". But oh no he keeps it up until the cops show up...
Missed flight... everyone staring like I was some piece of crap trying to kidnap an innocent kid.
Did not get him donuts.
Lions Oh My
I don't remember this story but my mom tells it all the time. When I was five my mom took me into the stall in the women's rest room because she had to go. She had been in there awhile and the bathroom had been crowded so she asked me, "can you take a look and see if there is a big line out there?"
I excitedly screamed, "A LION?!?" And flung the stall door open.
There was a big line.
Big Terry
Shocked Bbc Three GIF by BBCGiphyWhen I was a kid, I was fascinated by how grown ups went to the bathroom, to the extent that I would demand to accompany any adult so that I might observe their technique.
One day, at my "uncle" Terry's house (so named because he was close friends with my dad, not an actual blood relative), I watched him pee, then ran back into the living room with my parents and proclaimed "Dad! Uncle Terry has a much bigger pee-pee than you do!"
The Stench
I'm a preschool teacher, we were on the outside playground and it was a hot day. A kid fell off the swing-set so I rush over to check on him. He's full on sobbing, leans against my body then pulls away suddenly yelling "Eew! I don't like the smell of you!"
I couldn't even laugh it off.
"HaHa"
Now that is a lot of funny, for the single and childless bunch. I can give credit where credit is due, every now and again kids do say the darndest things and they do often espouse some knowledge. But a majority of the time they turn adults ten shades of red. But observation is observation. You just have to stress about utilizing the inside voice. Here are some more examples of championing the "hush."
Ahoy....
My little sister is ten years younger than me. When we were maybe 5 and 15 or so respectively, we were walking through a restaurant parking lot when a big group of bikers exited to their bikes. These guys had the leather get-up, the bandanas on their heads, chains, the works. My sister pointed to them and exclaimed "LOOK, PIRATES!"
They didn't think it was funny.
Keep Smiling
My child was 3 while we were waiting in a doctor's office. An exquisitely dressed elderly woman was sitting next to us and started talking to my son. Kid is fascinated by all the sparkly jewels and such, and says, "I love your shiny necklace, and you're pretty earrings...and your yellow teeth."
The Queen
Disney Princess Beauty GIF by DisneyGiphyMy wife was out with my 2yo daughter who pointed at a lady wearing a traditional Indian dress and stated "piss-ed." The lady probably heard "piss-head", but what daughter was trying to pronounce was "princess."
The Webs...
I had some people over and my 4 year old nephew starts shouting "is anyone here afraid of spiders?" Once he had everyone's attention, he told us all that if anyone was afraid of spiders they needed to leave because he found cobwebs, and cobwebs mean spiders. He then proceeded to point out every single cobweb in the house to our guests.
Full of It
Tired Work GIF by TV LandGiphyMy little brother likes to tell people that my tummy may look like it's full of fat. But it's actually full of love. It's both sweet and awkward.
So Emotional Baby...
I had to take my four year old to the doctor and while we were in the waiting room a nearby toddler started crying VERY loudly, like scream crying for whatever reason. My son waits until the other kid stops, does a very dramatic lowering and shake of his head then YELLS "He has problems with emotions huh mom?!?!" Which is him trying to talk the way I talk to him when he's coping with big emotions but good god the way it came out and the volume was... mortifying.
Don't Say THAT!
When my sister was 9 she shouted "white power" while waiting in line at Dorney park. We are Hispanic.
My brother yelled this out at a black owned bbq restaurant. The Clayton Biggsby Dave Chapelle skit had just been released and we were laughing about it at home. My bro thought it would be funny to quote in public not knowing at all why it was funny.
Wow. Really?
braxton family values traci GIF by WE tvGiphyMade myself lunch yesterday, two sandwiches because one wouldn't cut it. My eight year old asked me if I was a bear eating to get ready for hibernation. Sick burn.
It Wasn't Me
When I was 8 years old, I had a girl in my class with down syndrome. I always made it a point to be friendly with her and include her in things, and I even went over her house a few times. Halfway through the year, she would make up these bizarre scenarios and stories, and would drag me into them for some reason.
The teacher would constantly call me out in the hall, and have these "meetings" with me about things I wasn't even involved in or knew anything about. I was a painfully shy 8 year old, who didn't have a ton of friends, and hated all this unwanted attention.
So I started to distance myself from the girl after that. She told her mom that I was leaving her out things because she was different. The mom told the school. The school called my mom and told them I was bullying her.
But no one believed me, when I told them she was making things up. I was 8 years old at the time.
I'm 29 now. My mom constantly brings it up to random people and family members how I used to "bully" a girl with down syndrome. But when I try to explain my side of the story, no one ever believes me. And also, I was 8. It was 21 years ago. Give it a rest.
No Poo Please
At a cafe with my eldest daughter, who was 4 at the time, the waitress comes over to our table and asks my daughter if she would like a drink or some food. My daughter looks up at her and says "The parts of my drink that my body doesn't want come out as wee. The parts of my food that my body doesn't want come out as poo."
That's Big!
This was about a year ago, right before things started closing due to covid. I forget exactly where I was, but I needed to pee so my son and I went to the bathroom. We went into the handicap stall so there would be room. We'd been teaching him body parts at home, and right as I start to pee he yells out, "Daddy your penis is way big! Mine's little but yours is so big. Daddy! Daddy! Your penis is big!"
I was all like "sshhhhh, yes it's bigger than yours because my body is bigger than yours." When we came out of the stall, everyone was averting their eyes. I don't think they were embarrassed or anything, I think they were just trying to pretend like they didn't hear anything for my sake.
That Damn 15!
Upon seeing my younger cousin for the first time since I left for college, she shouted, "Oh my god! Are you having a baby?!" in front of my entire family. I wasn't pregnant. I gained that freshman 15. Instantly stopped drinking as much and started going to our campus gym every weekend when I returned to school.
Not Now!
I was on a plane trip with my three year old. He used the tiny restroom then I did. There was a line. I thought I'd secured the door but hadn't. He slings the door open to tell me something he was excited about. There I sat in open humiliation for all the line to see. I had to convince him to let me shut the damn door!
"Ned"
Not me, but I once lived with two friends of mine when we were about 27. One friend had an 11 year old brother, and he was staying with us for the week while his folks were out of town. Not being used to hanging out with little poophead 11 year old boys, my one buddy "Ned" would joke around with the kid whenever he asked a question, and he asked a LOT of questions. One day the kid asked Ned what he did for a living. Ned, trying to be funny, told him he was a doctor (he was not). The kid calls his bluff and asks what kind of doctor he was. Ned jokingly says, I'm a butthole doctor, a response that naturally got an incredulous reaction out of the kid.
Flash forward to a few days later and we are all out having lunch together. Ned runs into a girl he met on tinder, and introduces her to all of us, the kid included. When she meets the kid, she asks him jokingly "Oh! So what do you think of Ned?" To which the kid responds "He's a weird guy. He told me he's a butthole doctor." I don't really know if he ever saw that gal again.
Sweet Kisses...
season 3 love GIF by OutlanderGiphyMy 3 year old son was with me in Macy's at a jewelry counter. I asked the clerk a question.
My son asked why does she have such a huge mark on her cheek? The color draining out of my face, I quickly recovered and said, "That's where God kissed her." The woman said, "Congratulations. That's the best one I've heard so far."
"Inside Voice"
Kids are cute. They are also a whole world of trouble. I think that when it comes to the words that fall out of our mouths, we all can be kids. Who hasn't spoken out of turn and not realized until it was too late? See, behavior does carry over. Inside voice people. Learn that lesson early.
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