My uncle tried to settle a 20 year old grudge over Thanksgiving turkey

At our big dinner in Chicago, my uncle brought up a joke from 2003 about his dry turkey. He said my dad 'ruined the meal' by laughing. My dad just stared and said, 'Are you serious right now?' The whole table went quiet for a solid minute. Do you think it's better to call out old family drama or just let it go?

3 comments

3 Comments

luna89122d agoMost Upvoted

Twenty years is a long time to hold onto dry turkey.

skyler_thomas21d ago

Yeah, that "moldy leftovers" line from @gibson.elizabeth is spot on. I read something similar about how not addressing stuff just makes it seem bigger than it is.

gibson.elizabeth22d ago

Saw a therapist on a podcast say letting old stuff fester just poisons the air. Your uncle basically let a tiny joke rot for 20 years and then dumped the moldy leftovers on the table. That's wild. Calling it out in the moment like your dad did was probably the only move, because ignoring it just lets the other person think their grudge is valid. Sometimes you gotta say "are you serious" so everyone knows how not-serious the original thing was.