People Share The Worst Things Their Family Members Have Said During Thanksgiving
*Content Warning: blatant racism, homophobia, and general cringe ahead*
Family holiday meals are famous for controversial conversations, occasionally leading to some pretty heated arguments.
Sometimes, though, a statement is so bad that it's just met by shocked, uncomfortable silence until someone awkwardly changes the subject.
What follows here are more of the latter.
Reddit user criostoirsullivan asked:
"What crazy-*ss thing did your racist uncle just say at Thanksgiving dinner?"
Xenophobia
My grandpa said he has no idea why anyone would drink Modelo cause you have no idea what those Mexicans are putting in it.
There was wide spread panic a few decades ago about Corona being made from or infused with piss from the Mexican brewery workers. Corona was rapidly becoming the #1 best selling imported beer in America and its competitors started making up the peepee rumors to slow it down.
The lie was surprisingly wide spread and less surprisingly, unquestionably believed by American consumers and did significantly impact Corona's sales.
My wife's uncle said, "I can't believe we can still call it Black Friday. I figured someone would have taken offence to that by now and raised a stink about it."
"turn off that n-word music!"
There was a long pause while all the family awkwardly took in his racism, the only response was one cousin noting, "... But it's Kid Rock..."
The real problem here is someone is playing f*cking Kid Rock.
Homophobia
A few Thanksgivings ago Grandma was really upset because of gay marriage.
And I quote:
"Now they will be allowed to breed."
Just let that sink in my friends.
That kid in third grade was right, babies do come out of the butt!
Islamophobia
Wow, what a perfect thread. My uncle went off today.
He’s very conspiracy theory heavy, and this time apparently the “sand n-words” are going to start coming from over the hills and he will be ready to shoot.
When I asked where they were going to be coming from he instantly responded with a dead-serious “Minnesota.”
Minnesotan here, can confirm that this is definitely the truth.
Wouldn't that make them middle western terrorists?
Toxic Masculinity
My uncle asked me (21M) if I "liked to suck d*ck" because I got my ears pierced.
Racism
"How safe is your neighborhood?"
"I'm not sure."
"Have you met your neighbors? Are they White?"
Had a neighbor move in next to me. Fortunately she is long gone now.
But within the first few sentences of just meeting her, she asked me if I could point out where "the Blacks live."
Um, we have a pretty mixed area here. Everybody is everywhere.
And right at that moment, I could honestly not differentiate one house from another.
They kinda look the same, it's not like they have a plaque to identify which houses have "the Blacks."
Cringe Allyship
My grandma said to my cousin and her girlfriend "you know, that's my son's favorite type of porn."
I reread this multiple time and kept finding so many things wrong there...
My cousin said that the dark meat on the turkey is only worth 3/5ths of the white meat.
Most of the racists in my family would not have been educated enough to get this joke.
Islamaphobia
(Aunt) There is now a muslim woman in a head scarf sitting near her at work and she feels all tense and anxious now cause "who knows what's going in her head?"
...like the hijab covers up the telepathy port or something?
May your own holidays be uneventful and free of cringe.
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Audiences today are too savvy and unforgiving.
There are so many cinematic aspects that leave so many of us irritated.
And one of the big reasons is that they know they can make them better.
Give me a quick million, you won't be disappointed.
Redditor Ecstatictobehere wanted everyone to vent about everything wrong with movies and Hollywood, so they asked:
"What pisses you off about new movies these days?"
I'm exhausted with the lack of originality.
There are too many talented out there for this.
Turn it down...
"The disparity in volume, explosions are so loud that they hurt and conversations are whispers... I stopped going to the cinema and started waiting for them to be available at any streaming service so I can turn it down or up and so I can enjoy it."
hollowntolerance
LOLs...
"Forced Comedy."
ThorHammerscribe
"I have a bone to pick with comedy in general. I felt that ever since the Anchorman era, we just decided that comedy movies were in the line of sketch comedy."
"Create funny situation, let a comedian riff for 20 minutes, take the best take and move on to next funny situation. Which is why comedy movie plots have SUCKED since the early 2000s."
"Sure I love Kristen Whiig, Will Ferral, John C Reilly, Mellissa McCarthy, etc, but damn, I can't help but think that some comedies that have come out int the last 20 years would be memorable if they wrote a funny script instead of making a 120 min sketch show."
ReferenceError
Appeal
"Most movies are getting watered down for the sake of mass appeal. I get why, but it just sucks."
Apprehensive_Set300
"Some say this is a result of streaming platforms. People used to be able to take risks on movie making because if they didn't do well in theatrical release, there was still a chance for it to become a cult classic and make money with DVD sales down the road. That is no longer an option because everything is streamed for free so now making a movie that doesn't immediately appeal to a large audience is a bad investment."
KrispyKremeDiet20
Lost in Translation
"Not just movies but TV shows - they take a book that's got great reviews, make a poor job of translating it on screen and then flip the ending so it's the opposite of what happened in the book. Proceeds to blame the audience when they pan it for being crap."
MissionSorbet2768
Blah
"Lack of originality and a reliance on franchises."
811545b2-4ff7-4041
Enough with franchises and reboots. Lord.
Some light please!
"How dark they are. Like literally dark. It's difficult to see what's going on, especially for those of us with vision problems."
Raloris
Break it Down
"For horror and mystery, everything having to be explained."
"A movie like the original Alien would be lambasted by online critics if it were released today, for the simple reason that by the end of it you know next to nothing about what happened. What was the creature? What was the derelict? Why did the company want it, really? The movie has stood the test of time precisely because it avoided answering those and other questions."
stratarch
Too Much Redo
"The overuse of cover songs. Recently been a lot of classic rock songs covered by an artist who recorded a slowed version of it. Just saw the trailer for the new Ant Man. It also does this."
bromygod203
"This has been bugging me lately. They do it in commercials too. The cover is slowed way down with a melancholic, reverb-heavy voice. Extra points if you take a classic 'happy' song and add minor chords to it so it sounds threatening."
fairygenesta
Too Many Cooks
"A lot of movies feel like they were written by a marketing department. It feels like they got 10 execs in a room and everyone wrote down ideas, characters, plot-points, etc that they know will sell - and then tried to organize them into a narrative structure."
"There's no vision. There's no plot progression. Its just one random event next to another random event, and characters delivering sh*tty one-liners. Like writing madlibs. Even B-movies from the 80's and 90's have better narrative structure and story-telling than half the new movies out today."
Ganglebot
Giveaways
"Trailers. They're always about 4 minutes long, give away the entire plot, show all the best scenes and jokes and basically ruin the movie before you've even watched it."
IJustStoleYourWaifu
Do better filmmakers.
We're watching. Sadly...
There are two groups of people in this world.
Those who believe in monogamy and those who don't.
People cheat. It's just the way some humans work.
If you're an avid soap opera fan, as I am, then you'll understand that infidelity is part of the package.
Redditor zabalansu wanted to know why we cheat, so they asked:
"Why did you cheat on your partner?"
I've cheated. Because I knew it was already over and I was too much a coward to admit it.
Bad Ideas
"I was drinking and doing a lot of drugs... it honestly turned me into a careless piece of crap for a long time!"
Keone_710
You First
"I cheated once, and it was because she'd cheated on me. I'd already been cheated on before so it was like: 'Well: this time I'm getting revenge.'"
"I didn't feel any better. Made me feel almost as shi**y as I thought she was. She was angry as f**k, but I can't honestly say it was any different than any of the other gals that get pissed off when you break up with them. Haven't cheated since."
"If you're getting cheated on, don't demean yourself by sinking to their level. Just give 'em the boot."
JAHNOOSKA
Craiglist People
"Because I truly had no idea what a healthy or functional relationship looked like. My parents were married for almost 30 years and had already started the cycle of cheating on each other well before I was born. My grandma used to tell me stories of being friends with my grandpa’s girlfriends 'because she just wasn’t toxic and jealous like other women.'"
"In the relationship where I cheated, I was being treated like garbage. Financially supporting us both even though I was ten years younger and a waitress, enduring a lot of abuse from a very broken man. I felt trapped in the same cycle I had watched my mom and my grandma live, I didn’t really know better."
"A guy at work started paying attention to me, and I loved it. He was sweet and poetic and romantic, committed to helping his sister raise his niece, was out of the house and working instead of drinking my paycheck away and punching holes in my walls. A little harmless work flirting quickly escalated and before I knew it, I was having a whole a** affair."
"I started to prepare myself to leave my boyfriend for my affair partner, when I found out that my boyfriend had been cheating on me with anyone he could find on Craigslist (including stealing money from me to pay sex workers). Any guilt I felt for cheating evaporated right then."
"I threw all my clothes in a trash bag and drove to my affair partners house, ready to start our new life together. He had another girl over, basically admitted that a lot of what he had said to me was because he thought I would never leave. All in all, it was a mess. If you’re unhappy in your relationship, do the work that will either fix it or get you out. That new person is flawed too. They won’t fix you or fulfill you, only you can do that."
BeebMommy
"forbade"
"Because my wife told me that she was no longer interested in having sex with me, she didn't want me having it with anyone else, and she 'forbade' me from watching porn (I still did the latter, but we could never discuss it or she'd freak out.)"
"So to get my sexual needs met by someone other than myself, for several years, a few times per year I paid a sex worker for a happy ending massage. This was still cheating, but I rationalized it as the 'mildest form' of cheating possible. No chance of an STI, no chance of an unwanted pregnancy, no emotional involvement. I knew it was wrong, but at the time I felt like it was my best choice out of several lousy choices."
"I realize now I should have just said at the time, 'I want a divorce.' That's where we ended up anyway, and I would have saved myself, my wife, and our kids some needless pain over the years. By cheating on her (and hiding it from her), I made it so much worse when she eventually found out."
"To cheaters on here, I would say: get out of your relationship. If you're cheating, you're clearly not happy. Do yourself and your partner a favor and just end it now, before it all goes to hell."
DivorcingGuy1234
The Worst
"Because I wasn't over my ex and when she came knocking I didn't value my new relationship enough and crossed a line I never will lower myself to cross again. You feel like sh*t for years after it, really not worth it no matter how you try to justify it to yourself at the time."
Secret_Guarantee_277
Getting over and getting under... all stressful options.
A Mess
"Drunk and being hit on by a bendy yoga teacher. Got caught in the same day. It was a sh**show."
Top-Pin-3520
In the Dark Place
"I came here to try and understand what goes on in someone's head when this happens because I've been cheated on sexually and emotionally. Instead I'm just left feeling sorry for the people in this thread. So many people in such a dark place pulling their partners down to an equally dark place. I hope everyone here that has cheated has grow and gotten help. And that they can pursue a healthy and fulfilling relationship after they've grown past that."
"For the people that have been cheated on, I'm sorry all of you went through that and I hope it never happens again. Sometimes it feels like something I'll never fully recover from and other times I refuse to let past hurts ruin the chance of something good happening. So I want the people who have been hurt by their partners cheating to know just because it's happened once doesn't mean it will again and good things can still happen for you."
UmbraofDeath
Rear View
"Because I was too chicken s**t to get a divorce because I was wildly unhappy and too proud to go to therapy to fix the marriage. So I cheated, got caught, and have since been to a ton of therapy and am getting a divorce. Even though I’m happy to have this relationship in my rear view, cheating is my life’s biggest regret."
RecoverSexAddict
That's messed up...
"This was me a decade ago. It was just one time. I had somehow rationalized if I cheated he could then just hate me. That would hurt less than me telling him I didn't love him anymore and I wanted out. He was a good partner, but I fell out of love with him."
"The latter would've been the honorable thing to do. He was going to be hurt either way! I was just doing mental gymnastics to justify my reasoning - really I just liked the attention that I wasn't getting at home. That's messed up. I worked a lot on myself and go to therapy. I'm a much better partner now, and I haven't done it since."
Ok_Adhesiveness_4321
Worthless
"Because she cheated on me first. I don’t ever recommend such a stupid f**king decision. It isn’t worth it, folks. I normally considered myself strong and stoic before that? I don’t have a foot to stand on now. It wasn’t worth it."
BBQSpareRibMoon
Bad Connections
"I felt an intimacy connection with someone which I’d never had before. In retrospect it’s one of the dumbest and stupidest things I ever could have done. It wasn’t at all worth what it has now become. I’ve lost my entire family and have no respect from the people that matter most to me. 10/10 would not recommend and would never do again. I lost it all for something that never even really mattered. I had it all in front of me, I just refused to see it."
WeCanWeWi11
Well, love isn't always forever and intimacy is something we work on every single day.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
Relationships, whether that means dating or being in some form of a long-term relationship, are hard, and that definitely includes sexual intimacy. Whether it's trying to keep things interesting or staying connected after a long time of being together, many people struggle to stay intimate with their partner.
But some may be surprised at just how long some people go without having sex.
Redditor ItsRainingAlberts asked:
"What is the longest you've gone without sex, and why did you go so long?"
Tough Break-Ups
"A year. I was shattered from a break-up (two years ago)."
"Now I'm enjoying the dating scene."
- Enekovitz
No Rebounds
"A little over two years. I had no partner and wasn't really interested in finding one at that moment, and casual sex did nothing at all for me anymore. I didn't care about sex much at all during that period of my life."
- SexyChronicPain
A Dissolved Marriage
"Over three years. My wife wouldn’t touch me and I remained faithful."
"Now divorced at 40, it’s kind of hard to meet people, so the counter continues to go up."
"I'm doing mostly better since the breakup. I'm still struggling with seeing my daughter less and balancing work life and meager attempts of putting myself out there to meet new people."
- DarkScytheCuriositie
Lingering Grief
"Seven or eight years. Three or four years because my husband wasn't able to anymore, and almost five years since he died."
"I have no interest at all in looking for another life partner but I had tons of sex in my 20s so I'm all good now."
- PurplePanda1971
Social Trouble
"About a year now since my ex broke up with me. I haven't gotten anything since and probably won't for a while as I'm not very good at socializing, especially with people I'm interested in."
- billybongnong
Friends Only
"Since I had sex for the first time at age 16, the longest I have gone without was four years, from 2017 to 2021."
"Why? Because I'm now a single male in my late 40s. I have never had the desire to get married, and I don't do well in relationships."
"Most women in my age group are now married, and the ones who aren't are not interested in FWB (Friends With Benefits) relationships or one-night stands."
"I'm lucky to have found a woman who's interested in FWB, who's 27, and who has an obsession with older men, but women like her don't grow on trees."
- Fresh-Hedgehog1895
Lackluster Interactions
"Since my last relationship, all of my sexual encounters have been spontaneous, casual, and overall kind of meh."
- bazmonsta
Different Interests
"I will never have children or date someone with children and in your 30s that eliminates everyone. I'm at 2 years myself and while it sometimes gets lonely I've learned to like having 100% of my time belong to me."
- SchleftySchloe
Bad Experiences
"Two and a half years... still going strong. I don't want to get with someone again for now due to past experiences."
"I've had my fair share of relationships, and the sex (most of the time) wasn't bad but very good, the relationship though wasn't good a lot of the time, and in a relationship, I look for more than just sex, and I don't look for sex without a relationship."
"So for now, I'm good, and if I never have it again, I won't really cry about it."
- JVR84
The Importance of Intimacy
"A... while. Having sex is an incredibly intimate experience, and it can be hard to recover from bad experiences."
"I feel like a relationship is more than just the physical, the emotional bond and love, and support is what holds a relationship together. If you can't find that mutual love and respect, it doesn't matter how great the sex is."
- ItsRainingAlberts
An Evolving Relationship
"The last four years. Ever since my twins were born, my wife has had zero sex drive."
"We do the deed once, maybe twice, a year. I wish things were different, but I love her and if that’s all I get, then I’m willing to accept that."
- Jonquay84
The Way It Used to Be
"My husband has the same issue but shows me affection in other ways so I don't want to leave. Just wish that part was still there."
- WyattLP323
Low Point in Life
"I'm going on almost eight years now. I had a major life event where I lost everything, and the subsequent depression killed any desire to be with another human."
"I don’t even like to be touched now. I look at myself in the mirror and I am disgusted. I’m not ugly, but I have let myself go to a point where my physical looks match what I think I mentally look like."
- airlinehome
Mental Health
"I haven’t had sex in close to five years now, by choice. My antidepressants killed my sex drive so now I have zero interest."
- mermadzz
Medical Problems
"14 years and counting. I went through some pretty awful medical s**t that year, and one of the side effects is no more sex. This has been, as they said in ancient Babylonia, 'a real bummer.'"
- facelesscog
While the reasons for not experiencing sexual intimacy are all across the board, people who are currently missing the experience can at least take some comfort in how common of an issue this seems to be.
Do you have any similar experiences or anything to share? Let us know in the comments below.
No one's life is going to be perfect, and we cannot be happy 100% of the time.
But there are things we can do to make our lives, and others', better, and those things are not necessarily all that complicated.
Redditor shadow_2116 asked:
"What are some unwritten life rules everyone must know?"
Stay Humble
"If you don't understand something someone is telling you, say so instead of pulling an 'opinion' on the topic out of your a**. There is no shame in not knowing or understanding something."
"Refusing to admit you don't know and by extension refusing to learn something new because your ego is hurt is gravely misguided, however."
- devilish-WiFi
Stop Comparing
"In the song 'Grand Illusion' by Styx, there is a line: 'Don’t be fooled by the radio, tv, or the magazine. Shows you photographs of how your life should be, compared to someone else’s fantasy.'"
"So, I guess, the idea that you might not feel like you're living your best life when you compare it with what you're told is supposed to be your best life."
" Also along this line, 'Don’t compare your day-to-day life to someone else’s highlights.' Like, don’t compare your life to what bits you see of someone on social media."
A Golden Rule for Kids
"If a toddler hands you a toy phone, you answer it."
- IRErover
"Family" Isn't a Reason
"Just because someone is family, doesn't mean they're a good person."
"It's so wild how people call you a bad person for avoiding your family despite knowing nothing about their family."
"Like, 'It doesn't matter what they did, you were in the wrong because they're family,' makes zero sense to me, but other people look at me like I'm the lost one.
- Lo-Fi_Kuzco
Avoid Gossip
"Not everybody is your friend, so be careful who you vent to. Many people only want juicy gossip and don’t give a s**t about you or your problems."
"A good sign of this is when your friend brings you dirt or juicy stuff about someone else that likely was said in confidence or probably shouldn't have been communicated out."
"If they do that, your info is equally being dished out."
"Putting folks on informational diets is the way to go until you gain a supreme level of mutual trust."
- OneObi
Exceed Expectations
"Under promise and over deliver. People will think you are a genius."
- ballistic-jelly
Don't Ask the Question You Don't Want the Answer To
"Don’t ask for somebody else’s opinion and get mad when they tell it to you."
- CatacombsRave
Compliments Make a Difference
"It never hurts to compliment somebody on the quality of their work, their hobbies, and whatever field are most important to their self-esteem. It always goes a long way."
- High-Time-Cymbaline
Friendship Reality Check
"Your best friend may not consider you to be their best friend."
- swatguy06
Be Able to Walk Away
"Never let anyone take or disturb your peace. Learn to walk away from toxic people!"
- SwissCake_98
No Sudden Reactions
"Your feelings are valid, but your reactions may not be."
"If you ever find yourself feeling very angry at somebody, and want to give them a piece of your mind either over text, email, or phone, listen to this advice. It’s some of the best I have ever learned."
"Write down what you would want to say first, either in a word document or email or whatever, save it, but DO NOT send it. Then, wait at least 12 hours or overnight and revisit what you wrote."
"After having a cool-off period and some time to gain some clarity, 90% of the time you would have regretted having sent the original message and are usually in a much better place to respond so as to not burn any bridges that you meant to keep."
"I’ve always heard of this as having 'restraint of pen and tongue' and is one of the clearest signs of maturity."
- Googleclimber
Elevator Etiquette
"Before you enter and elevator, LET OTHER PEOPLE OUT FIRST, GODD**NIT!"
- IcyHotRyan
Don't Make It Worse
"If someone does something unintentionally embarrassing or awkward, you pretend it didn't happen, and if they look at you, you just smile and look away."
- WolfThick
A Few Golden Tips
"Admit when you've done something wrong."
"Trust your gut."
"Nobody thinks as much about you as yourself."
"Be kind. Don't be an a**hole."
"If you need help and it is available, ask for it, take it."
"Just because you apologize doesn't mean the other party has to forgive and forget."
- _space_platypus_
The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
"Life actually sucks a lot of the time. If you expect to be happy all the time, you will be sorely disappointed and lost. Instead, work up resilience to the hard times and take your time to enjoy the good times."
"It can take so long to learn this, because no one really talks about it, and for some weird reason the only accepted default state is 'happy.'"
"Another factor is how that's basically what you are until 15 years old. Until your basic reptile adult 'survival responsibility' kicks in, we're oblivious and happy most of the time. Then suddenly, the baseline changes, and almost no one is prepared for it, and the only reasonable conclusion is that you're mentally ill and depressed."
"That's why I take every opportunity I get to talk about how much life sucks so that people can enjoy it more with less fantastical expectations, lol (laughing out loud)."
- manofredgables
There are so many good pieces of advice here, but perhaps the most wonderful thing is that it doesn't take a lot to make someone's day a little better, including your own.