11-30-2013, 03:29 PM
Well, not all of them. But I'm still fuming from Thanksgiving.
This is a rant.
My daughter and I spent the night at my brother's house out in the countryside on Wednesday, helping him and his wife to get ready for the rest of the family on Thanksgiving day. It's an awesome and relaxed place. Log home with a woodburner in the basement and a big fireplace in the living room.
My brother and I mostly get along, but I'm not "out" with him at all. He's gotten more and more conservative as he's gotten older. He's a gun nut. I'm not even kidding about that - he stockpiles ammo, too. A hunter, and in almost every way a "manly man". But hey, he's my brother. I still try to get along even when absolute shit is coming out of his mouth.
So Thanksgiving morning my brother and I are up early, before everybody else. We spent a half hour watching deer out his kitchen window with binoculars, drinking coffee and just chatting. It was peaceful and content. His wife and my daughter got up a little later and tuned into the Macy's parade.
Well all hell broke loose when the cast of "Kinky Boots" performed. Every last bit of gay bashing bullshit spilled out of my brother's mouth for the next hour. My daughter is 14, know's I'm gay and has met my boyfriend. She was visibly upset. I did make it known that I wasn't pleased about what he was saying, and was even less pleased that it was being said in front of my daughter. His wife was pissed off at him too. I almost left, but still wanted to see the rest of my family.
Well people started showing up around dinnertime and I was back in a good mood, just enjoying seeing everybody. We had almost every cousin, uncle, and aunt on my dad's side there. Four generations worth. It was going well.
After dinner there were a few of us having some light conversation over coffee and desserts. My brother, his wife, my uncle and two aunts, and my daughter was next to me. One of my aunts has a husband who we all have thought was a closeted gay or bisexual for years actually, and just at that moment he was braiding one of the girls' hair over by the TV. That was when my brother mentioned how disgusted he was with the Macy's parade again. My aunt, who is in almost every way one of the sweetest people walking the earth, started talking about how it was obvious that Satan was working hard in the world. While her flamboyant husband was practicing his amateur hairdressing no less. My daughter almost choked.
That wasn't all, either. After the meal was over and the older family started leaving those of us who were left started to pitch in with the cleanup. Well, most of us. My daughter and my brother's daughter were the only kids who helped without complaining. My causin's daughter just laid on the couch complaining and asking if they could go. My other cousin's son just continued to sit in the corner playing grand theft auto on his laptop like he'd been doing all day already. Another cousin's husband dropped a full 2-liter of soda in the kitchen and just stared at it while it sprayed everywhere.
Anyway, rant over. I had a talk with my kid about the reasons we keep our distance from the family sometimes. She gets it. I'm proud of her for the way she behaved. Wish the rest of them were as pleasant to be around.
This is a rant.
My daughter and I spent the night at my brother's house out in the countryside on Wednesday, helping him and his wife to get ready for the rest of the family on Thanksgiving day. It's an awesome and relaxed place. Log home with a woodburner in the basement and a big fireplace in the living room.
My brother and I mostly get along, but I'm not "out" with him at all. He's gotten more and more conservative as he's gotten older. He's a gun nut. I'm not even kidding about that - he stockpiles ammo, too. A hunter, and in almost every way a "manly man". But hey, he's my brother. I still try to get along even when absolute shit is coming out of his mouth.
So Thanksgiving morning my brother and I are up early, before everybody else. We spent a half hour watching deer out his kitchen window with binoculars, drinking coffee and just chatting. It was peaceful and content. His wife and my daughter got up a little later and tuned into the Macy's parade.
Well all hell broke loose when the cast of "Kinky Boots" performed. Every last bit of gay bashing bullshit spilled out of my brother's mouth for the next hour. My daughter is 14, know's I'm gay and has met my boyfriend. She was visibly upset. I did make it known that I wasn't pleased about what he was saying, and was even less pleased that it was being said in front of my daughter. His wife was pissed off at him too. I almost left, but still wanted to see the rest of my family.
Well people started showing up around dinnertime and I was back in a good mood, just enjoying seeing everybody. We had almost every cousin, uncle, and aunt on my dad's side there. Four generations worth. It was going well.
After dinner there were a few of us having some light conversation over coffee and desserts. My brother, his wife, my uncle and two aunts, and my daughter was next to me. One of my aunts has a husband who we all have thought was a closeted gay or bisexual for years actually, and just at that moment he was braiding one of the girls' hair over by the TV. That was when my brother mentioned how disgusted he was with the Macy's parade again. My aunt, who is in almost every way one of the sweetest people walking the earth, started talking about how it was obvious that Satan was working hard in the world. While her flamboyant husband was practicing his amateur hairdressing no less. My daughter almost choked.
That wasn't all, either. After the meal was over and the older family started leaving those of us who were left started to pitch in with the cleanup. Well, most of us. My daughter and my brother's daughter were the only kids who helped without complaining. My causin's daughter just laid on the couch complaining and asking if they could go. My other cousin's son just continued to sit in the corner playing grand theft auto on his laptop like he'd been doing all day already. Another cousin's husband dropped a full 2-liter of soda in the kitchen and just stared at it while it sprayed everywhere.
Anyway, rant over. I had a talk with my kid about the reasons we keep our distance from the family sometimes. She gets it. I'm proud of her for the way she behaved. Wish the rest of them were as pleasant to be around.