Thanksgiving is just behind us, and Christmas and New Year’s are rapidly approaching – meaning that the season of gatherings around the table with a large and (not always) friendly group is in full swing. It’s a season of wonderful memories and sometimes awkward situations. For example, like those collected for this list made by Bored Panda.
Yes, in this list, we’ve collected over thirty diverse stories for you where literally one careless word or action made people blush – for the shame of themselves or for someone else. However, let’s just cut to the chase and get to reading!
More info: Reddit
#1
When I was 8 my mom asked about how her new dress looked, I didn’t bother even looking I instinctively said it looked good , she cried to my dad that I did not respect her, later on my dad told just look next time and unless she is going to embarrass herself tell her it looks good.
Image source: anon, josue rosales
#2
One time, I accidentally forwarded an email to my entire family that was meant for a friend. The email contained some candid remarks about a family gathering we had just attended, including some not-so-flattering opinions about certain relatives. Needless to say, it caused quite a stir and led to some awkward conversations and hurt feelings within the family. It taught me the importance of double-checking recipients before hitting send on any message.
Image source: GlobalBreak311, photoroyalty
#3
I moved 4 hours away lol. Still in the same state, just on the other side. You would think I hurt someone the way they all acted and have treated me since.
I’m 32 with a full time job, paid off car, no debts outside of student loans. I don’t even have a credit card. All my bills are paid on time every time.
But I MOVED. Therefore I am the worst person in the family lol.
Image source: anon, TriangleProd
A couple of years ago, a thread appeared on the AskReddit community, the author of which, the user u/Captain_Phantasy, asked netizens: “What’s one time you accidentally caused drama in your entire family?” It’s not that the resulting thread went extremely viral – in fact it’s quite the opposite. However, the three hundred stories told are truly worth reading.
Some of the stories we’ve included here could even qualify for entry into The Cringe Hall of Fame (if such a thing is ever created, of course). Sad and chuckle-worthy, ridiculous and eye-opening – these tales are here for your pure pleasure!
#4
When I unfriended my step-dad on Facebook and my mother got pissed and it created this whole stupid thing. That fed my decision to delete my profile completely years later. Absolutely hate the notion that you need to be connected to family on socials just because they’re there.
Image source: anon, garetsvisual
#5
I was hammered at a family wedding and somehow was the only one who caught my cousins wife drinking sparkling water instead of vodka soda, somehow guessed she was pregnant and told everyone. She was only one month pregnant and had just found out. I was on the apology train the next day for sure.
Image source: drunkvigilante, freepik
#6
So, I came out to my mom as a trans woman. She seemed accepting of me during the conversation. After I left, she decided to “get advice” from my immediate and extended family, and they all started calling and texting me, begging me to “not do it”. I’d been on hormones for over a year, at that point, and I had a sizable feminine wardrobe. Coming out to my family was the last box for me to check, and, well, I don’t speak to my family anymore.
Image source: Keevtara, freepik
Very often, the cause of such an awkward situation is some reckless action on the part of someone. For example, a text intended for one person ends up in a general chat, a direct email becomes a mass mailing, and information completely unintended for the eyes and ears of others still finds its way into their view.
A separate category of stories in our collection is when we’re clearly expected to respond in a predictable way (for example, complimenting our significant other or praising a kid), but we inadvertently say or write something completely different. And yes, sometimes we’re completely unaware of our mistake.
#7
We were all sitting in the hospital room with my grandfather, waiting for him to be gone. I looked at the clock on the wall and it showed 2.30 am so I said “closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” and he takes one more breathe and he’s gone. Somehow I ended him or something.
Image source: okaledokaley, freepik
#8
I reported my brother to Senior Services for hitting my elderly mother.
Image source: erminegarde27, wavebreakmedia_micro
This is especially true when kids are the ones initiating the awkward situation. What can I say, I had something similar happen myself. When I was four or five years old, I really enjoyed a series of children’s books about two friends living next door and their adventures. In one story, one boy repeatedly took the other boy’s soccer balls and lost them all.
Eventually, one of the friends straight-up asked another not to take his balls anymore. He said it directly: “Friendship is friendship, but don’t touch my balls!” I liked that phrase – and one day, when my mom was walking with me in the park and met her colleague, he leaned over and said something like, “So, are we going to be friends, kiddo?” Now, guess what I answered with!
The most interesting thing is that I only realized the outright absurdity of the situation I had created that day years and years later. Needless to say, I never saw that guy again in my entire life.
#9
Apparently I have with my cousin I don’t speak to anymore. Most of the family has chosen to continue talking to her and not me and that’s just fine but the few people I still speak to say she brings me up at every occasion and says she has no idea why I don’t want to talk to her anymore. Family member says nobody bites because we all know why. The reason is because I refused to travel to a family reunion in April 2020 with my medically fragile 3 year old. She made a public Facebook post and called me out by name for being stupid and not understanding that Covid is just a cold. This was on top of some other stuff but I was just done dealing with her at that point and not talking to her has brought me enough peace that I don’t feel like doing it anymore.
Image source: MarlenaEvans, freepik
#10
I was barely 19 and barely had a job for a year when my aunt decided to call and text me demanding $2k for a divorce attorney because my uncle apparently cheated on her.
I told her no because I thought it was ridiculous that she’s crying for a divorce now that my uncle is just simply throwing back all the things she did to him. She cheated on my uncle *multiple* times across their whole marriage. She even slept with a male nurse *while her baby was in NICU.* She has also physically beaten him in the past.
I got a lot of backlash from my family over saying no. They were mad because they knew I had that kind of money, but I wouldn’t use it to help, “blood.” My aunt was related to me by blood, but my uncle not. That uncle did more for me than my aunt ever did. Still does.
Image source: MonthMayMadness, jet-po
#11
I was probably 6 or so years old when this happened. We were at a large family gathering for thanksgiving and the adults were talking about drinking and driving. Young innocent me had no idea what they were actually talking about and chimed in that my mom drinks and drives all of the time! I didn’t know soda and whatnot didn’t count.
Image source: Tchukachinchina, ArthurHidden
#12
I showed up to my Baptist grandmother’s funeral in a top that showed I had tattoos.
I genuinely forgot how much drama that would cause.
Image source: FormalMango, freepik
“Often, awkward and shameful situations in families occur precisely during major holidays, when all members of the extended family gather in one place, many of whom haven’t actually seen each other for years or decades,” says Maria Kryvosheeva, a psychologist and NLP coach, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment for this article.
Each of these people has their own moral and ethical guidelines and ideas about what is right and what is wrong. So, when these ideas – sometimes diametrically opposed – clash, all sorts of awkward and strange situations arise.
“However, quite paradoxically, we often remember such cases and stories much better than any moments of our own happiness or triumph. The fact is that shame can sometime evoke far more intense feelings and emotions than joy – so such feelings are better retained in our memory,” Maria Kryvosheeva summarizes.
#13
Not me but my dad. My dad was engaged to this lady for 11 years and he broke off the engagement to get married to my mom.
#14
Whenever I’d point out my sister was the golden child and I was the scapegoat my mom would rush to my sister’s defense and insult and berate me nonstop til I took it back.
Image source: PinkMonorail, user17340861
#15
My aunt and my mom had a feud going on (basically cousin got married during covid and didn’t invite everyone (obviously) and my mom was very offended). Anyway, at my grandparents anniversary dinner a year later I was talking to my aunt because she asked me about school. My mom acted like a brat the whole dinner for my grandparents anniversary. Well the next day my mom blew up on me for talking to my aunt when she initiated the conversation. My dad saw the whole thing go down and took my side and everyone else took my side. Honestly, it was nice for people to take my side.
Image source: 246K, gpointstudio
However, no matter how detailed and well-founded the explanations of why and how such stories actually happen, nothing compares to reading the tales yourself. So now, please feel free to read this collection to the very end, and maybe add your own similar tales. If, of course, you’ve also experienced something like this in your life – and you’re not ashamed to share it online.
#16
It was a big “family” visit, back at the family farm in the midwest. Mom & Dad’s farm, with me visiting, and my sister, her husband and their three kids. My sister’s three kids are mostly awesome, but the older brother is an absolute jerk to his younger brother, the youngest of the three. He’s being a terrible bully to him. Punching him when he thinks nobody can see him. Spitting on him. Making insults and taunting him. Basically ruining the entire visit for his brother. So we’re about 4 days into the 7-day visit, and I mention at the main table (the kids were in the next room) how terrible the older brother has been treating the youngest, and how nobody seems to care, and I can see it’s REALLY starting to bother the youngest.
The “dad” just laughs and says “Boys will be boys. I had it rougher than that, and I turned out fine. Just leave it alone.”
I will fully admit that we ALL had been drinking that day. I replied “Boys will be boys?? That sounds like something a bad parent would say, to excuse the bad behavior of his bad kid.”
The next three days were… interesting.
Image source: PitBullFan, stockking
#17
My parents have a ranch and sold some land to a couple of my uncles and they’re all neighbors now. Well one of my uncles called the sheriff on me and my friends for using weapons on my parents property. Sheriff shows up, sees that we’re being safe and goes over to my uncles property and chews him out for wasting his time. The next day, he comes over and asks if we can bring our tractor and help with his truck that was stuck on mud. I said “call the sheriff”. He blows up the family chat and my mom sees it and starts defending me and saying he can’t talk about me like that. The rest of the family is pretty much divided, with some saying I’m disrespectful and the others say it’s karma for snitching. This went on for awhile and to finish it off, my mom named the group chat the tractor and it’s still that to this day.
Image source: e-l-o-h-e-l, The Yuri Arcurs Collection
#18
I decided to be brave and tell my immediate family about my childhood violence, which led to extended family being told, which I didnt mind, thought it would make everybody rally around me to help, but nooooo, they decided to be super selfish and make it about them and how it looked to other people what a family member had done and what id been through, pretty much divided up my family and now I don’t talk to either of them or their wives and can’t stand the mere thought of them🤷🏼♀️. My secret that I kept so long to prevent anything happening, exploded my entire family apart, the sole reason I kept it to myself ended up happening regardless.
Image source: ggfanatic98, pikisuperstar
#19
My parents have a complicated relationship with my brother. Its actually more parasitic, but we won’t talk about that.
I was hanging out at my cool aunt’s house with my parents, and a few other extended family members. My mom kept talking about all this stuff she scheduled with my sister in law, and how she always cancels or won’t commit to anything. I blurted out “I hate to break it to you but she doesn’t like you that much”.
Aunt says “let me get another drink!”. My mom was not happy, but the passive aggressive hate was sooooooo obvious. Stuff like going out to eat, and having my brother pick out the place which will be super crowded so we have to eat at a separate table on the other side of the restaurant but still pay.
Image source: ooo-ooo-oooyea, Frolopiaton Palm
#20
My sister got my 6 year old a present she didn’t really like. A doll from a movie she only watched once, and she doesn’t even play with dolls. She said thank you anyway but my sister could tell she was kind of upset and kept pushing and prodding my daughter. Then it turned into I don’t how to parent because my daughter wasn’t happy.
She tried to turn everyone against me and I just wanted to get my over tired and over stimulated kids home. It turned into a week long argument.
I don’t go to family functions anymore.
Image source: Illustrious_City_420, Hilal Diken
#21
My husband and I moved from CA to MN for better opportunities. His sister accused him of dumping fhe responibility of caring for his parents (who were perfectly healthy at the time) on her. She has always been a bitter, selfish person but this caused the family to gang up against him and they stole his inheritance when his parents did eventually leaving us. It wasn’t much, mostly sentimental things. We’ve been no contact for ages now. Good riddance IMO but I know it hurt my husband.
Image source: Quick-Temporary5620, Bizon
#22
I was 7 reading through my dad’s text with my mom. They had just divorced. They were arguing and he said, “that’s why he isn’t my actual son” I mentioned it to my parents and hell broke out. My brother still has no idea 🙃 I’m 26 now.
Image source: muselessiam, seventyfour
#23
When I was younger, I always took the blame for things that my siblings did because I just wanted it to be over with. Eventually, I stopped this, because I was tired of being punished for things I didn’t do. One problem, because I always took the blame, every time something went wrong, I was always the first one confronted about it, and whenever my parents gathered me and my siblings, he’d always make eye contact with me when saying “I know who did it”, and sometimes just flat out tell me “I know it’s you, just say it.” I’d always just give up at that point, because I knew that they would never actually try to figure out who did it. One time, though, I was hopeful that they would. I don’t remember what she stole, but I know it was my sister who did it. I had already been punished for the thing I didn’t do, and I was punished more for not confessing. I KNEW it was my sister, and my brother sided with me, because he knew that I almost never did the things I said I did. After a long, long time of bickering, my OTHER sister finally found proof of the crime, said stolen item in the criminal’s closet. My dad bought me a venus flytrap and told me he knew I didn’t do it.
Then why the heck did you make me hold, like, 6 bibles with my arms fully extended at the age of 7?
Image source: Ill_Pirate_8014, freepik
#24
I was born.
My mother got pregnant after going on a date with my father. Unclear how many dates were involved and how much drinking and how much consent. It was fifty years ago and nobody’s really talking. She was 25 and still living at home, very old fashioned, very Catholic family. She was an only child, born when my grandparents had given up hope and were looking to adopt, so she was everything to them.
My father was an officer in the military and then he was transferred before I was born. My grandmother wanted me to be given for adoption, so that was the plan and he was fine with it. But there was a 6-week waiting period that I was in foster care and my mother changed her mind. In the meantime, my father had met and fallen in love with his future wife. She prevented him from sending support or having any contact with me at all. Mom had to get the army involved to get child support, which was minimal.
Eventually, when I was nine, dad and his wife had some kind of marital crisis and went to marriage counseling where he recognized the right to see me and tell my younger siblings about me. Also his four sisters, etc. So I was introduced to everybody. One of the aunts said “[my sister] will always be the first grandchild as far as I’m concerned.” and that’s a pretty good summary for how the next 40 years went.
So pretty good, right? 50 years of drama just because I exist.
Image source: trixie91, yanalya
#25
I was only 8 at the time. My neighbors 16 year old son knocked on our door 3 am to use the phone. The smell of liquor and illegal substances on him was really strong. While he was talking on the phone, he ate our whole bag of M&Ms.
I was also friends with his little sister. I didn’t think anything of it, but I told her that her drunk brother ate all my M&Ms. Their mom over heard it.
An hour later, while we were having peaceful family time on a Sunday night and watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, she knocks on our door and throws the bag of M&Ms she just bought right at my dad. She said that her son would never drink. She brings her son back over and he confessed what I said was true.
Bad thing was that my brother and I were bullied on the school bus, so she had always volunteered to take us to school since her kids also went. This made my parents panic and wonder how they were going to get us to school because they both worked in the morning. Then, it escalated to my parents arguing how each one doesn’t do enough for us kids.
My parents and brother turned against me because I ruined everything by “opening my mouth.” That night traumatized me to the point where I’m on a dangerous level of minding my own business. This included witnessing a break-in, almost a year later, at another neighbors house and not telling anyone. Yep, got yelled for not saying anything about that too.
Image source: emiliamarie, rawpixel.com
#26
I was doing something with my nieces and I hurt myself and said a bad word under my breath. My younger niece told my brother and his wife I called HER the b word. My brother goes absolutely off and tells my mother and father as well… him and his wife berated me over the phone and everything. It was awful. Things are fine now but honestly it took a couple of years for them to actually believe me. They didn’t let me do much with their kids. Always made me wonder if my niece totally lied, and said other things as well, or what happened.. Uhm like no I didn’t call your 7 year old a b word. Why would I do that?
Image source: trippingwithwitches, freepik
#27
My cousin and I were texting about our parents and I had said that it sounds like her mom was being a real nasty woman about things (they recently moved back to where everyone else lives and she was up-ending xmas dinner traditions, something they never had been apart of). Either my cousin told her mom what I said or her mom looked at her phone and read the messages because a couple of days later, her mom cornered my mom and my mom’s house and asked why she had called her a nasty woman. Oh the drama.
Image source: commazero, freepik
#28
I suppose I’m in good company here.
I had a beloved, well balanced, warm, educated and generous family for 50 years until my mother, the matriach died. As an only child, my external family took very good care of me with no father and a mentally ill mother. My cousins were closest to having siblings. Until they weren’t.
I can only say that when you deal with Narcissism, the silent treatment over nothing is a good sign. I did not realize how insidious it is within my family. I had one small visit of 20 minutes out of an 11-day trip out West. And questioning one family member why I hadn’t heard from her, in moments, she and her herd were out the door and my aunt said to me twice, “You had a bad mother,” her sister. She was trying to insult me. I never heard this nastiness from anyone before. I knew at that moment, it was all over for me.
I tried to reach out to my cousins to no avail; collectively they all dumped me. The pain and shock of no longer having any family will never go away. It’s a lonely place to be.
Image source: namersrockandroll, freepik
#29
Drank too much, got thrown in the Psyche ward.
Image source: Nkatec99, SpongeBob Squarepants
#30
I was diagnosed with CPTSD about four years ago, I have been going to therapy for about fourteen years now for anxiety and depression. I am the only one in my family, besides my father who’s now gone, to consistently and routinely go to therapy and work on my trauma. I brought up the diagnosis to my mother, who in turn responded “join the club.”
So I responded with a long message regarding the years of neglect and mistreatment that she had put me through, requesting that she herself find help. She responded by shutting off my bank accounts(she had been financially mistreated me as well my entire life, needing to be attached to my account to ensure I was “making good choices”.) Making me scramble to move my entire savings and open a new account. She sent the message around to my aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and siblings so they understood the “nasty” things I had been saying about her. Only my sister stood up for me, saying that these events absolutely happened and that the entire family played a part in my mistreatment.
So, by healing my trauma I have caused a large rift throughout the entire family. Even my great grandmother in Africa is reaching out to find “solutions” for the family. Going no contact, has lead to my entire family analyzing their relationships and it is falling apart. There are divorces, cousins who have gone no contact, cousins running away, uncles being arrested, just a whole mess of people who set each other on fire to keep themselves warm. I just heal and grow. My partner and I are currently working on our house together, I have never felt more at home than with him.
Image source: Xoxo_Idjey, freepik
#31
I was having breakfast in my grandparents house and my whole family was there and I was 13 and I spoke while my uncle mentioned about moving places because of his job and was worried about how his kids will do if he does…..My dad moves around a lot because of his job and being a kid who had moved 7 schools and different places just said that “moving is hard but once the kids learn the language they will fit right in and suggested that they watch cartoons in the language they wanna learn”
My aunt apparently didn’t like how I spoke and yelled at me saying she won’t let her kids go around learning different languages because it’s difficult and how her life was hard when she had to learn another language. ( a kid made fun of my aunt because she didn’t pronounce a word properly)
Another aunt said that kids should learn languages because it helps in communication and it’s a new thing to learn “besides its not the kid’s fault that you couldn’t pronounce one word” My other aunt said jokingly
My aunt blew up yelling and screaming… My cousins never moved my uncle moved to different places because of his job , now he has a different job and doesn’t required to move
Sometimes I wonder what if I never spoke that day or many times I wonder what I spoke wrong.
Image source: SCREAMINGKATTT
#32
I got divorced. It’s not like I’m the first person in my family to get divorced, but my parents lost their minds and treated me completely differently than they did other family members before or since.
First, my dad told me that my ex is his son. This would be my ex who mistreated his kids and hurt his wife. THAT guy is his son, so what am I? I guess I’m his son’s ex-wife.
Then, the whole family spent a couple years pretending I don’t exist, and my kids just lived in a house all by themselves. To the point where my mom made arrangements with my minor child to take her and my exchange student away to stay at her house for a week without ever telling me. I only found out about the plan when the day before she was due to leave, my daughter asked me who was driving them home. My ex, of course, was their son, so he was invited to their house for every single event. I got invited to ONE (1) event and that was the pregame for the family reunion. My ex, of course, was invited to the main event, and I was not. My parents avoided speaking to me the entire time and kept pretending I didn’t exist.
After several years, when my son was spending years being institutionalized for severe mental health issues stemming from my ex trying to end him, my parents went for custody of him. They lied to the judge about their abilities to care for him, and the judge gave them custody because my mom doesn’t work and I do. (Judge actually said that on the record in court) Then they got to suffer when he attacked them physically, had to pick him up after his arrests, etc. Up until then, they had believed that there was nothing wrong with the kid and I was doing a Munchausen by proxy thing with him. After that, they believed his problems were real, but that they were the result of my poor parenting. I’ve heard them talking badly about me in the background while I’m on the phone with my son. I had gone no contact, but once they had my son I was forced to have contact with them.
It’s been 10 years since the divorce and this is still going. The second my son comes of age, I’m going no contact again and blocking all their numbers. They wanted my ex, they can have him.
Image source: Dazzling_Outcome_436
#33
So, the bg is that my oldest and middle daughters have played with the next door neighbor for years. We’ve always thought the grandparents (the homeowners and her guardians) were weird people, but the little girl would come play in our yard and all was fine. We live in a very small, rural subdivision and they’re one of only 3 neighbors we can even see from our house. Anyway, about 2 weeks ago, after my kids (12 and 9) talked to me about how the neighbors dog was mistreated and jerked by the neck and just treated badly and never let off of the chain- I called animal control. It was not a well thought out decision. They came and left immediately. I admit to being rash but they were saying that Bella (dog) was being jerked around hard by the collar and screamed at and my oldest was crying. Ff to today and our dog got out. She’s a beagle and she was chasing a scent trail and went straight to the neighbors house. So, like normal people, my husband and oldest went to get her. They wouldn’t let us get her from our shared woods, from their side, because “you guys called the cops and tried to get our dog taken away!”. I feel so bad for calling, especially since it seems to be unfounded and it caused drama. I don’t even know what to do other than wait until I see them outside and apologize. In 6 years I’ve seen the wife twice, the husband a handful of times and the kids constantly, so that’s probably not the best plan. I have also thought of leaving a note on their mailbox or just…. nothing. Is this a “let it die and hope they forget I did this” situation or a “try to be good neighbors and go apologize” situation or something else.
Image source: anon
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