I need advice/opinions.
My friends and fellow King fans:
I need your opinions/advice in a situation. Please bear with me as this may be a bit long...ok...it IS long and it isn’t funny and has no particular reward at the end for you, Constant Reader.
To my friends NOT from the United States: I welcome and value your opinions/advice. I hope this dilemma doesn't seem petty to you as you may not fully understand our Thanksgiving Day traditions.
In my family and I assume most others, Thanksgiving Day is about having a big feast with family and friends. My family has always been raised to be polite since childhood. So here’s what went down at Thanksgiving this year:
Unbeknownst to myself or my son (Locke, ) all of my family had good reasons to be away at Thanksgiving. My son and I had no clue we would be the only guests for Thanksgiving dinner at my brother and his wife’s house. It just worked out that way. My brother text me and asked us to be there at 1PM (1300,) My son and I knocked on his door roughly five minutes early. We hear my brother call out “come in” so we let ourselves in (as usual.) When we got to the dinning area, my brother and his wife were in route to the kitchen to scrape their plates clean. They had already eaten. After exchanging the usual pleasantries with my brother and my brother with Locke (his wife doesn’t care for either myself or my son), my brother’s wife departed into a sitting room and began messing about on her phone. This house is a pretty open floor plan so most everything can be fairly easily seen and heard from room to room. His wife remained in that room the whole time only coming out occasionally to show my brother one thing or another she found interesting on Facebook. My brother immediately departed into the “TV room” and began watching American football ( a tradition in my family.) In the interim, Locke and I ate a VERT good dinner. His wife is an excellent cook!!
All of this is taking place in what is basically a very large room dived into a sitting room (where his wife was) a dining area and a good sized “TV room.”
The “TV” room is large so my brother has a large flat screen (72 inches [183 cm.]) The day before, this big TV bit the dust. My brother temporarily replaced that TV with a 38 inch (97cm) flat screen. But due to the size of the room and the comparatively small TV, my brother pulled his recliner and ottoman up close to the TV. This left Locke and I to stare at the back of his balding head for the rest of the visit (yes, if we sat in the right place we could still see the game, but the game really wasn’t the point.)
At no point did my brother or his wife speak to my son or I in a cold, rude or insolent manner. (I’m not so sure his wife spoke to either of us.)
The banter among my son, myself and my brother was engaging and pleasant as it always was...we were just forced to talk to his bald spot on the back of his head.
The banter among my son, myself and my brother’s wife was non-existent despite our usual efforts. This was not unexpected.
TL;DR – My brother and his wife, at Thanksgiving dinner:
1. Asked us to be at his house at 1PM (1300). for Thanksgiving dinner, when we arrived at 12:55, they were scraping their plates as they had already eaten. My son and I ate “alone.” But the open floor plan MAY have mitigated some of this effect.
2. His wife quickly departed into another room and spent the whole visit on FB.
3. My brother then moved his chair and ottoman close to the tv (small TV, large room) watching American football (a tradition) and we spent the visit with his back to us.
My questions to you, Constant Reader:
1. How insulted would you feel?
2. As there is potential for this to happen again at Christmas dinner, how would you react if it happens again?
3. The option of not going for Christmas dinner is just very unpalatable to me as I dearly love the company of my brother.
4. Most importantly, do you think my brother and his wife were “sending us a message?” (beyond that of the usual, expected message from his wife.)
Originally Posted by Earl of Popkin
