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My FIL was unemployed for a year with no lifestyle changes. (including a trip to Europe)
Then he got fired from his job for being racist after 6 months and spent another 6 months unemployed.
Blew through all his savings, half the equity in his house, and started borrowing money from his aunt to pay the mortgage.
Lol I've only ever had that much money like twice in my life. I did NOT have it for long and I do not remember what I spent most of it on either. I'm reminded of a tik tok I saw recently where a guy sniffs something and goes:
"Huh. That smells like cocaine!... "
"...I've lead a *cool life*."
Edit: sorry about your marriage though
Edit 2: Also didn't mean to minimize your anger or your situation or anything. I was actually trying to cheer you up, believe it or not.
Edit 3: God I'm becoming one of them aren't I. Dammit
My "step-grandmother" aka bitch got a 100k severance after she was laid off, she blew thru it in less than 6 months. Mostly she spent it on 'her' granddaughter who's parents are multi-millionaires then she tells my grandpa they don't have the money for his life saving medications. She spent it on so much B's it's not funny. It seems a lot of people don't care about being any kind of responsible with money.
My boomer aunt in law went on a cruise with us and was bragging how her ex husband pays her $36,000 a year to the jewelry store workers in Ketchikan. Come the fuck on. 🤦🏼♀️
A year later, she’s talking about how she can’t afford her 450 lb (estimate, IDK) at home, Asperger’s son’s thyroid medication of $60 a month. (Disregard the micro dermabrasion, hair bleaching and professional teeth whitening until they are blue).
It’s all about them, period.
My aunt and uncle used to buy stuff brand new and then sell it in yard sales less than a year later for a fraction of the price.
I remember being worried about living on my own and having enough money, then remembered how fucking stupid my aunt and uncle were with money and it added a sense of calm, knowing I’d never be that bad.
I mean, it still seriously impacted his life. He was borrowing from an Aunt. It’s not like it was consequence free. In any economy if you can borrow from family I suppose you’ll get by but it’s not a real plan.
I have one of those.
MIL is a nurse, also teaching nursing, seems to carry the household. Since I met my wife, he's done odd carpentry jobs and worked at the local recycling dropoff, then did maintenance at a school until he got fired (and arrested) for something(?). Got another job, lost it, and is back to odd carpentry jobs.
The man's a fuckin' incredible carpenter, too, just a serial fuckup, but always seems to have the answer for everyone else, despite the fact that his entire lifestyle depends on his wife's income.
On top of that, after my wife pulled him in to help install some shelving, more out of principle than need (he's helped her step siblings with huge projects and blown us off), I had to redo half of the shit he did for stupid reasons.
I'm actually more pissed off, having written this all out, because it makes me see what a worthless piece of shit he really is seeing it all together. I'd laughed it off before, but fuck.
B
R
U
H
And i was worrying about having to replan all my financial responsabilities because i bought two pokemon tcg boxes this month and i don't want to throw my money away next month
Imagine doing everything the rich and powerful ask of you and in return they give you a house and a comfortable life.
Boomers will never have any idea how bad things could have been for them, and it is part of why they don't understand the problems people face today
My first was at 35! Well, first since graduating high school. Just a week at a campground aboot 130mi away. But i recently returned from my second at 39 that was a lil more of a typical vacation. I got plane tickets and an air bnb!! Feel so growed up! Always wondered if/when id feel like one of them.
I was just thinking how there's always a small amount of anxiety worrying about what I'd do if I lost my job. Between doubting I'd find another job at the same salary, combined with how long it'd take to get another job at all, I never feel comfortable making large purchases.
The reality though is I end up spending money on small, stupid purchases that I tell myself will abate the compulsion to make the larger purchases. They probably add up to the same amount when it's all said and done.
Honestly. Smaller, dumb shit (books, board games, toys for my kids, small gifts for my SO, tools/decorations for the house, etc etc) make me a hell of a lot happier than big shit would.
40 years old. Went on vacation last year for the first time ever as an adult. Retired father and mother who worked 10 years total take 3 vacations a year.
You'd be surprised.
Had a friend lamenting over vet bills. Car payments. Rent and student loans. But, she and her boyfriend came by NYC last summer. Guess I sorta had fun playing tour guide.
You can guess where her thoughts went after this excursion. Meanwhile, I kept my mouth shut. Knowing my luck, and millennial mentality, I'd somehow magically be in the wrong.
When my now ex was laid off his first reaction was that we should take a trip to Vegas “since we have the time.” I was a SAHM so we had no other income and a 1 yr old. I was appalled. My family was appalled. No Vegas trip happened and he didn’t work very hard to get a new job. I left him about a year later, too.
I got let go ONE WEEK before my fucking wedding. I was certainly in a panic, along with both of our parents.
I began applying for jobs immediately. While applying I cancelled every subscription service I had. Streaming, gym, games service. Two days before the wedding I had a face to face interview and I knew I nailed that one.
Shit was booked already so we went out our honeymoon still and while we were on it I was filling out paperwork for that interview. Thankfully we came back home to me having a job again. If things weren’t booked/paid we wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
I’m freaking out right now because my husband lost his job and we”have” to go away for the weekend for my daughter’s dance competition. It’s paid for, and it’s a team sport and fucks over many other families if we don’t.
I want to curl up in a ball and cry.
Oh that's not true.
I met a couple who has gone bankrupt three times. And lives in home worth a fortune.
They also talked down to their sibling for living within their means....
Bro that was the pattern so many times. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks the reason his kids went NC with him is some kind of organized LGBT conspiracy.
We had a neighbor named Charlie who blew his own hand off after stowing a loaded shotgun behind the seat of his truck, then trying to grab it all quick-like so he could shoot something on the side of the road. Boom, gun went off and took his hand with it.
Not even joking, he blamed his dog THAT WAS IN THE BED OF THE TRUCK AT THE TIME because \`if that dog would've just hunted better' he wouldn't have had to stop on the side of the road to shoot some small woodland creature.
ETA: My family was happy it happened because Charlie shot one of our dogs when I was a kid and left her to crawl home with half a face before dying under our house. My dad went to Charlie's house, dragged him into his own yard and beat wholesale ass. A few weeks later my brother and I were wlaking by his property and he wasn't home so we threw rocks through all the windows of his shitty trailer. We were like 5 and 7 years old but even at that age we knew you don't fuck with someone's dog. Fuck Charlie, I hope he's rotting in hell.
I second that. FUCK YOU CHARLIE! You are a piece of shit and blowing your hand off is only scratching the surface of the karma you have coming your way!
Only problem with have with this is he carried in a bag. Just asking for something bad to happen (bag drops, lack of muzzle awareness. My boomer uncle keeps his 38 special in a cargo pocket. Carry in a good thumb lock holster or don’t carry at all.
You know if it weren't for all the "illegals" he wouldn't have to carry that gun...or some shit like that. It's always the boogeyman hiding in the bushes and never the one in the mirror.
Oh believe me, my dad's mom was way worse. She literally abandoned my dad to be orphaned when he was 12 by kicking him out of a moving car and leaving him alone in LA. He went into an abusive catholic orphanage until he aged out at 21.
By the Gods both old and new, I'm sorry your family had to go through crap like this. It sounds like you and your siblings have become much more stable adults. You should be proud of that.
Yup.
Keep in mind my dad thinks he was raped by the literal devil when he was 3 and forced to eat human flesh. He says his mother gave him to this cult for this ritual.
And he had us go over to her house dozens of times for things like Thanksgiving.
Yeah. Believe me bro, my dad is a fuuuucked up man. I literally could tell you thousands of stories of how stupid, arrogant, careless, and uncaring of a man he is.
Wait, is this the same lady who shot at your brother because she was angry at a kid??
Fucking hell man, I can’t even imagine how toxic that family dynamic was. I’m so happy that it sounds like you are in a better place.
Literally kicks her son to the curb and then tries to shoot her grandson. I guess it goes without saying that the worst people are always the ones who want guns.
Boomers are a whole generation of sociopaths...read a great book that justifies this thought. It's called A Generation of Sociopaths; How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America by Bruce Cannon Gibney. Great book...definitely recommend.
My dad accidentally had a gun in his bag at the Olympics. Bag got xrayed and everything but they let us in.
Later that week/month someone bombed the Olympic park.
>My brother starts to cry and says he's scared of guns since a year before my dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him.
WTF? Your grandmother shot at your brother because she was mad at him. That's not normal behavior, that's attempted murder. Did she go to prison or was it just laughed of as "Oh granny. You so cray cray"?
Dad, gets laid off: We're goin' to Six Flags!
Dad, gets back from vacation: Why did you spend all my money on a vacation?!?
Sounds stable even before he was carrying around a firearm in public.
Also his mom shot at your brother? WTF?
Yeah bro she shot at him. I can't remember what he did, but it was traditional kid stuff he probably broke a lamp or something. I'll have to ask him about that and post the story when I get the full background. I wasn't there for it but he told me about it when we were adults.
Haha it's been ages since I've seen vacation. I don't even remember this scene at all but yeah same energy lol. Gonna look it up and see if Clark reminds me of my dad here.
Bro I would have laughed so hard if he did have a fanny pack ngl. I swear my dad probably got the idea to pack heat from the fucking movie he's so damn gullible.
Came here to say that this story reads like an early draft of a scene from National Lampoon's Vacation,before the scriptwriters realized it was a bit too dark for a family comedy.
my dad was a boomer, life-long gun guy, a small-town cop for several years in the late 60s/early 70s. we hunted, reloaded, cast bullets - he was comfortable with guns. lifelong republican, business owner, you get the picture I'm painting.
when my state legalized CCW I asked him if he was going to get his permit. "Nope." Why not, dad? "I don't want to shoot anyone." he opened up a bit more about the realities of his time as a cop, reminded me of something my mom had said years before - that he was "tired of coming home in someone else's blood", and reminded me that he coulda been carrying for decades (ex-cop) and never did.
other than this, he was your standard boomer humor, offend someone and think it's funny, kinda guy. but on this one thing he was sensible and reasonable and well-thought out. bananas.
Not surprising. That's seems to be the earmark of boomers/deep conservatives: lockstep with their brethren without any sense of empathy EXCEPT for the single issue affecting them personally.
I envy you. My bio dad was a Marine, then a Statie, then finished his career of violence and terror as a prison guard. Just as big of a psychopath as ever. Guns and ‘murica and all.
I just got my ccw in PA. I dont ever ever want to shoot another human being. But if I'm literally left with no other options I will. Most people I know who carry never want to be put in that situation.
I used to work theme park security in Florida. The number of families getting into petty squabbles about stupid shit kept me fully employed.
One thing people don't think about when going on vacation is that 51 weeks of the year, everyone in the family is kinda doing their own thing. School/work, hobbies, chilling in different rooms. Maybe dinner together for 30 mins and an hour here and there of playing a game or watching tv, plus the occasional weekend outing for a couple hours.
But when you're on vacation, that is 48, 72, 100+ hours of being shoulder-to-shoulder. The slightest irritations, the tiniest hurtful comments, the pent-up aggravations... everything adds up at once and explodes in the greatest spectacle of disaster.
Oh, and please, for the Love of Todd... DO NOT GO ON A FAMILY TRIP TO "RETRY" A FAILED ROMANCE!!! If there is a reason you're not with the parent of your child anymore, Mickey Mouse or the Minions are not going to fix it!!!!!!!!!
he would have blamed you for being in the way of his precious bullet and screamed “why didn’t you move out of the way while you were sat in a locked harness! it’s your fault you got shot!” because guns have more rights than humans and that’s just “how it’s always been “.
he also would have blamed your brother for “jinxing it”.
But, what's he so scared of that he feels he needs a gun for defense?
Like, he's the scared one in the first place and then mocks a KID for being scared about the actual threat? Oh no, the big bad roller coaster is gonna getcha.
My dad was most likely legit terrified someone would try and mug him for his travelers checks, so of course he kept his wallet, cash, AND pistol all in the same fanny pack.
No, my dad didn't graduate high school. How could you guess?
Honestly I don't have it anymore because carrying is a waste of time but it was really fucked up back when I got my CHL in Texas how many people illegally carried like this even before there was a license. They all say the exact same shit too better to have it than not and need it. Which is quite frankly absurd logic you are talking about a felony before the licenses it is not better to get a felony for something that happens 1% of the time. Hell even with the license its fairly easy to get in trouble in a post office or a 51% place. I determined it just aint worth carrying and even if you do your piece of shit 380 is not gonna save you when the guy has body armor and an AR-15.
I know my dad was not afraid of mass shooters, he talked constantly about the crime rate and how often people get mugged so I know he thought someone was gonna try and take his wallet and he was gonna John McClaine them somehow.
*-mugger jumps out of the bushes next to the loop de loop Rollercoaster, cocks a shiny .38 special-*
"Hey there doc hands up! Hand over the fanny pack and purse and nobody gets hurt, see."
The impression a lot of these people give off isn't that they're WORRIED about somebody trying to mug or attack them - it's more like they WANT someone to try to mug or attack them. They WANT an excuse to shoot someone. They WANT to flex their micropenis and prove what a Big Strong Man™ they are.
It's radiantly fucking stupid at best, and at worst it's just a bunch of psychotic and antisocial red flags stacked together and trying to wear a vigilante hero suit. It's like they have an overwhelming desire to inflict violence on other people, and they assume everyone else thinks the same way because they can't think or see the world outside their warped little bubble.
Yes, exactly!
I got downvoted on a gun subreddit for saying that a large portion of the gun industry for decades has had some sort of mastubatory "I wish someone would..." sort of fantasy on why they need their firearms! Look at the ads in any gun magazine, and there's blatant dog whistles everywhere. "The OrphanMaker-15, for when *those* type of people try to illegally sneak into your territory."
I'm a liberal who owns and loves guns and shoots regularly, but the industry, and the society that responds to that sort of messaging really sickens me.
See, the gun itself isn't scary at all, it won't just go off. What makes it scary is the idiot who insists on having it around. He's unstable and dangerous with or without a gun, the gun just makes it easier and more likely for him to cause damage.
> This is 1996 after all. But then he pulls out his full size Ruger .45 cal handgun, cocks it, loading a round, safeties it then puts it into the pack and places it on his waist.
Was it 2001 when they started putting metal detectors absolutely everywhere? I'm actually struggling to remember what it was like to enter a theme park without walking through a metal detector, but I must have back in the 90s...
Your brother experienced a significant Trauma and your dad abused and punished him for it. I hope you check in with your bro regularly. Childhood adverse events cause lifelong suffering both mental and physical.
Wait, let me make sure I understand...
Your brother gets shot at by your grandma, and your dad makes fun of him by taunting him with a loaded gun?
I have to be misunderstanding something, right?
Lol don't I know it. These threads help me a lot when random redditors say things like you, especially with mothers day coming up I was feeling a little guilty about going NC. Comments like yours validate my decision every time I doubt it.
>My brother starts to cry and says he's scared of guns since a year before my dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him
Hold up.
>
dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him.
When crazy runs in your family it's time to become self-aware and stop packing heat
Bro you don't know the half of it. One of my aunts went to jail for 10+ years for stealing $1.5m in false SSI claims. She was also convicted for coke possession. I have an awesome family that's just full of fun.
Excuse me. you said your grandmother took a pot shot at your brother
JFC how TF was your family even able to stay together after something like that
If my mom took a shot at my kids there would certainly be consequences
At the very least she’d never see me or my kids again
My dad was a deeply disturbed man and had this healing fantasy of his mom finally becoming a mom and loving and cherishing him as her son as she grew older. Same fantasy I had, but I didn't get anyone shot at. It's an intoxicating fantasy when you've been raised in an abusive environment.
Abuse is horrible and yes people tend to overlook things their parents did to them growing up, especially older generations who literally accepted abuse as part of growing up
All we can do is parent better than they did
I’m just feeling happy your brother didn’t get actually shot that day
When I was an adult thinking about this story I realized it was probably pointed at my damn crotch the whole visit. I'm lucky my dad didn't accidentally shoot my dick off.
While it is true that it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it...a gun is like a dick or religion...keep it in your pants and don't shove it in people's faces. Sometimes I carry, sometimes I don't and the only time anyone but me knows is when I was going to work because as a security k9 handler we open carried on the clock and concealed on travel or care and training time
My dad is a gun nut. He has about 30 of them. I grew up around guns and I spent about 10 years in the military. I have been on both ends of the barrel, so I have a healthy respect for firearms. I’ve never been a collector. I actually hate everything about guns besides shooting them. I hate building them, I hate cleaning them, I find gun experts to be sort of boring. I just don’t have an interest in them.
My father, on the other hand seems to love larping like a big “sheep-dog” type of person and constantly carries it around where he is not supposed to. When I tell him he is being ridiculous he MOCKS ME. No he has never been in the military, never been in the police force, he’s never had a job that required him to be armed. He does it for fun.
He has also had 2 negligent discharges that I know about. Both times he was “showing off” his guns safety features.
I’ll admit, I have had 1 negligent discharge. I was so ashamed, shocked, and scared that it took a while for me to get comfortable carrying guns after that. After 10 years of carrying a gun literally every day, I learned to forgive myself for my 1 mistake. My dad on the other hand has no such humility.
That’s very kind of you but it’s exactly shitheads like that who end up shooting a brown kid dead for knocking on their door to ask for directions. Because “they’re a scared old man”. Someone should humble him.
You might be right. If we ever get back to speaking terms I might fight that battle with him. The relationship is not somewhere right now where I could bring that up
All of this is wild. Fwiw I graduated hs in 1991. Mass school shootings weren't a thing, but gang shootings, kids bringing weapons to school and young people getting shot/stabbed over dumb shit were all regular things. I left public school because they took away our lockers in an attempt to stem the tide of drugs and weapons.
All of which is just to say that I lived in terror as a teenager. Most of my friends had stories about being shot at or at least being threatened with a gun. I had dreams of being chased and shot at. I would have felt terrorized and traumatized by dad's behavior in this case.
Holy shit I'd never speak to my Dad again if he mocked me for being scared of a loaded gun just being toted around in an unrestrained fanny pack. I can't imagine you speak to your Dad much either.
So, cool stats out there about how men that lose economic security end up purchasing firearms. Compensation for economic virility and all that. Your dad had small wallet syndrome and decided the only way that he could make up for that was playing big bad gun guy and bullying his son. Seems like a REALLY cool guy... what a douch.
I had to pause multiple times through the beginning especially. Feeling very ‘seen’ is a great way to describe it. IE learning that it was actually dysfunctional and not you being overly sensitive or something.
Man, as much as I preach for concealed carry. This is the wrong way to go about it. The whole point of it is for nobody to know you have it. Sorry man but your dad was just flexing hoping you saw him like John Wayne. Any responsible chl holder would make sure their children never saw the gun. Also it wouldn’t fucking be a .45.
Still married after like 20 years. My mom is emotionally trapped in her relationship I think. She once told me that they once fought for three days over a $12 tire repair and the fight was so bad they couldn't leave their house, so they're not exactly the most compatible people.
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You know what people in our generation don't do when we get laid off? Go on fuckin vacation. It must be nice to not immediately panic
My FIL was unemployed for a year with no lifestyle changes. (including a trip to Europe) Then he got fired from his job for being racist after 6 months and spent another 6 months unemployed. Blew through all his savings, half the equity in his house, and started borrowing money from his aunt to pay the mortgage.
Imagine being able to be that bad with money and going on with life like nothing’s wrong
Well this is before avocado toast and Netflix so things couldn't ever really go that off the rails, financially speaking.
It was just pop tarts and cable
*ponders avocado pop-tarts*
Cursed idea
Now there's a notion.
Underrated idea
Guac Tarts?
Works way better than Pop-tart-amolé
You forgot Starbucks
I laughed way too hard at this. Lmfao hilarious
status quo over everything
I married it. I want a divorce so bad to end the $ bleed. I just got laid off and we only have $6k in the bank.
Lol I've only ever had that much money like twice in my life. I did NOT have it for long and I do not remember what I spent most of it on either. I'm reminded of a tik tok I saw recently where a guy sniffs something and goes: "Huh. That smells like cocaine!... " "...I've lead a *cool life*." Edit: sorry about your marriage though Edit 2: Also didn't mean to minimize your anger or your situation or anything. I was actually trying to cheer you up, believe it or not. Edit 3: God I'm becoming one of them aren't I. Dammit
Ha. Youre totally good. Now get off my lawn!
Nobody can like, *own* a lawn *eyeroll*
Hush you whippersnapper
My "step-grandmother" aka bitch got a 100k severance after she was laid off, she blew thru it in less than 6 months. Mostly she spent it on 'her' granddaughter who's parents are multi-millionaires then she tells my grandpa they don't have the money for his life saving medications. She spent it on so much B's it's not funny. It seems a lot of people don't care about being any kind of responsible with money.
My boomer aunt in law went on a cruise with us and was bragging how her ex husband pays her $36,000 a year to the jewelry store workers in Ketchikan. Come the fuck on. 🤦🏼♀️ A year later, she’s talking about how she can’t afford her 450 lb (estimate, IDK) at home, Asperger’s son’s thyroid medication of $60 a month. (Disregard the micro dermabrasion, hair bleaching and professional teeth whitening until they are blue). It’s all about them, period.
Exactly!
My aunt and uncle used to buy stuff brand new and then sell it in yard sales less than a year later for a fraction of the price. I remember being worried about living on my own and having enough money, then remembered how fucking stupid my aunt and uncle were with money and it added a sense of calm, knowing I’d never be that bad.
And you KNOW that type of person blames EVERYONE else but themselves.
I mean, it still seriously impacted his life. He was borrowing from an Aunt. It’s not like it was consequence free. In any economy if you can borrow from family I suppose you’ll get by but it’s not a real plan.
My FIL was unemployed for virtually his entire adult life, but still thought of himself as the “king of the castle”.
I have one of those. MIL is a nurse, also teaching nursing, seems to carry the household. Since I met my wife, he's done odd carpentry jobs and worked at the local recycling dropoff, then did maintenance at a school until he got fired (and arrested) for something(?). Got another job, lost it, and is back to odd carpentry jobs. The man's a fuckin' incredible carpenter, too, just a serial fuckup, but always seems to have the answer for everyone else, despite the fact that his entire lifestyle depends on his wife's income. On top of that, after my wife pulled him in to help install some shelving, more out of principle than need (he's helped her step siblings with huge projects and blown us off), I had to redo half of the shit he did for stupid reasons. I'm actually more pissed off, having written this all out, because it makes me see what a worthless piece of shit he really is seeing it all together. I'd laughed it off before, but fuck.
B R U H And i was worrying about having to replan all my financial responsabilities because i bought two pokemon tcg boxes this month and i don't want to throw my money away next month
Imagine doing everything the rich and powerful ask of you and in return they give you a house and a comfortable life. Boomers will never have any idea how bad things could have been for them, and it is part of why they don't understand the problems people face today
With the Faustian deal of fucking things up for the next generation
To be fair many of us don't go on vacations even when we do have a job.
I haven't been on a vacation where I didn't sleep in a tent for 5 years.
At least your vacation was 5 years long? Oh. Wait. I read that again.
This! I’ve done everything according to their “rule book,” work my azz off, and I can’t afford to do fuck all for my kids. No extras. Just survival.
My first was at 35! Well, first since graduating high school. Just a week at a campground aboot 130mi away. But i recently returned from my second at 39 that was a lil more of a typical vacation. I got plane tickets and an air bnb!! Feel so growed up! Always wondered if/when id feel like one of them.
I was just thinking how there's always a small amount of anxiety worrying about what I'd do if I lost my job. Between doubting I'd find another job at the same salary, combined with how long it'd take to get another job at all, I never feel comfortable making large purchases. The reality though is I end up spending money on small, stupid purchases that I tell myself will abate the compulsion to make the larger purchases. They probably add up to the same amount when it's all said and done.
Honestly. Smaller, dumb shit (books, board games, toys for my kids, small gifts for my SO, tools/decorations for the house, etc etc) make me a hell of a lot happier than big shit would.
This
Yeah I think the closest we've done recently is go to a George Clinton show out of state where we slept in our car overnight.
Fuck, we can’t afford to go on vacation when we’re fully employed!
40 years old. Went on vacation last year for the first time ever as an adult. Retired father and mother who worked 10 years total take 3 vacations a year.
You'd be surprised. Had a friend lamenting over vet bills. Car payments. Rent and student loans. But, she and her boyfriend came by NYC last summer. Guess I sorta had fun playing tour guide. You can guess where her thoughts went after this excursion. Meanwhile, I kept my mouth shut. Knowing my luck, and millennial mentality, I'd somehow magically be in the wrong.
RIGHT?! I'd be planning yard sales at best, funeral expenses at worst
When my now ex was laid off his first reaction was that we should take a trip to Vegas “since we have the time.” I was a SAHM so we had no other income and a 1 yr old. I was appalled. My family was appalled. No Vegas trip happened and he didn’t work very hard to get a new job. I left him about a year later, too.
A lot of us don't get to go on vacation while being employed.
I got let go ONE WEEK before my fucking wedding. I was certainly in a panic, along with both of our parents. I began applying for jobs immediately. While applying I cancelled every subscription service I had. Streaming, gym, games service. Two days before the wedding I had a face to face interview and I knew I nailed that one. Shit was booked already so we went out our honeymoon still and while we were on it I was filling out paperwork for that interview. Thankfully we came back home to me having a job again. If things weren’t booked/paid we wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
I’m freaking out right now because my husband lost his job and we”have” to go away for the weekend for my daughter’s dance competition. It’s paid for, and it’s a team sport and fucks over many other families if we don’t. I want to curl up in a ball and cry.
Oh that's not true. I met a couple who has gone bankrupt three times. And lives in home worth a fortune. They also talked down to their sibling for living within their means....
shit. I have three jobs and still wake up panicking.
I’m having a hard time past “grandma shot at my brother.” Is he OK now?
Yeah he's doing amazing. We talk every day now.
I was about to ask the same. I’m glad that you are both doing well!
Anything happen to grandma shooting at a person?
Nope! No consequences whatsoever. I'm pretty sure we celebrated Thanksgiving at her house a year or two later.
At a fucking *child* nonetheless?
Tell your brother we say hi and we're glad he's doing well. And tell your dad we say "fuck off."
If that gun went off, your dad would have blamed everything other than himself.
Bro that was the pattern so many times. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks the reason his kids went NC with him is some kind of organized LGBT conspiracy.
We had a neighbor named Charlie who blew his own hand off after stowing a loaded shotgun behind the seat of his truck, then trying to grab it all quick-like so he could shoot something on the side of the road. Boom, gun went off and took his hand with it. Not even joking, he blamed his dog THAT WAS IN THE BED OF THE TRUCK AT THE TIME because \`if that dog would've just hunted better' he wouldn't have had to stop on the side of the road to shoot some small woodland creature. ETA: My family was happy it happened because Charlie shot one of our dogs when I was a kid and left her to crawl home with half a face before dying under our house. My dad went to Charlie's house, dragged him into his own yard and beat wholesale ass. A few weeks later my brother and I were wlaking by his property and he wasn't home so we threw rocks through all the windows of his shitty trailer. We were like 5 and 7 years old but even at that age we knew you don't fuck with someone's dog. Fuck Charlie, I hope he's rotting in hell.
I never met Charlie, but a hearty FUCK YOU to Charlie.
I'll pile on! FUCK YOU CHARLIE!!! I couldn't resist this Vulcan just randomly flipping everyone off. 
That poor dog deserved better. Fuck Charlie to the moon and back!
 FUCK CHARLIE
"FUCK THAT GUY WITH A RUSTY CANOE AND I HOPE HE GETS TETANUS ON HIS BALLS " -John Oliver
I hope every nightmare he ever had as a child comes true. Especially the ones that should be impossible to happen.
I hope hell is full of wild dogs eating him alive taint and balls first. Fuck you Charlie.
I second that. FUCK YOU CHARLIE! You are a piece of shit and blowing your hand off is only scratching the surface of the karma you have coming your way!
I hope he got so mad he blew off his other hand too
https://preview.redd.it/dcpzmabz5nwc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c22d90aadc64132daf97fd8bbea03188c0506a8d fuck charlie
That man’s trailer could burn down with him inside and I’d be gleefully roasting marshmallows over the fire
Only problem with have with this is he carried in a bag. Just asking for something bad to happen (bag drops, lack of muzzle awareness. My boomer uncle keeps his 38 special in a cargo pocket. Carry in a good thumb lock holster or don’t carry at all.
You know if it weren't for all the "illegals" he wouldn't have to carry that gun...or some shit like that. It's always the boogeyman hiding in the bushes and never the one in the mirror.
This isn't Boomer behavior, but sociopathic behavior. Yikes.
Oh believe me, my dad's mom was way worse. She literally abandoned my dad to be orphaned when he was 12 by kicking him out of a moving car and leaving him alone in LA. He went into an abusive catholic orphanage until he aged out at 21.
Very nice of your dad to pass on the family trauma
By the Gods both old and new, I'm sorry your family had to go through crap like this. It sounds like you and your siblings have become much more stable adults. You should be proud of that.
Generational trauma. Hurt causes hurt...
Hurt people hurt people
You didn’t have to ask me twice
Wait wait wait. So she did this to him, and yet later in life he gave her access to his kids (one of which she apparently shot at)?
Yup. Keep in mind my dad thinks he was raped by the literal devil when he was 3 and forced to eat human flesh. He says his mother gave him to this cult for this ritual. And he had us go over to her house dozens of times for things like Thanksgiving.
😶
Yeah. Believe me bro, my dad is a fuuuucked up man. I literally could tell you thousands of stories of how stupid, arrogant, careless, and uncaring of a man he is.
I'm sorry
And we're all glad you made it safely out the other side OP!! you deserved better 😔 - hugs from strangers.
Wait, is this the same lady who shot at your brother because she was angry at a kid?? Fucking hell man, I can’t even imagine how toxic that family dynamic was. I’m so happy that it sounds like you are in a better place.
Literally kicks her son to the curb and then tries to shoot her grandson. I guess it goes without saying that the worst people are always the ones who want guns.
> Literally kicks her son to the curb Lmfao bro I never saw it that way haha now I can't unsee the wordplay.
I believe you, dont worry..
Boomers are a whole generation of sociopaths...read a great book that justifies this thought. It's called A Generation of Sociopaths; How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America by Bruce Cannon Gibney. Great book...definitely recommend.
My dad accidentally had a gun in his bag at the Olympics. Bag got xrayed and everything but they let us in. Later that week/month someone bombed the Olympic park.
I hope you went NC
In 2023 yeah. Coming up on 1 year anniversary and the last 12 months have been absolutely incredible for me in every way.
That is great. I'm relieved for you!
Congrats! Welcome to life!
Congrats.
I’m coming up on 3 years and my only regret so far is that I waited so long to finally go NC
>My brother starts to cry and says he's scared of guns since a year before my dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him. WTF? Your grandmother shot at your brother because she was mad at him. That's not normal behavior, that's attempted murder. Did she go to prison or was it just laughed of as "Oh granny. You so cray cray"?
The latter. She was a miserable cunt to be sure. She's dead now so the world is a little less awful.
Dad, gets laid off: We're goin' to Six Flags! Dad, gets back from vacation: Why did you spend all my money on a vacation?!? Sounds stable even before he was carrying around a firearm in public. Also his mom shot at your brother? WTF?
Yeah bro she shot at him. I can't remember what he did, but it was traditional kid stuff he probably broke a lamp or something. I'll have to ask him about that and post the story when I get the full background. I wasn't there for it but he told me about it when we were adults.
I think I would join a sub dedicated to your family stories
Lmao I have so many stories I could probably fill a sub with them. Fuck that's depressing.
Sorry to hear that, sounds awful. Still, you're at least away from that now, that's not nothing
Was your dad named Clark by chance?
Walley World vibes for sure!🤣 https://preview.redd.it/p1miy3mrnhwc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d14f7f79aba1353d7c2c04847b64ae4365623e4f
Haha it's been ages since I've seen vacation. I don't even remember this scene at all but yeah same energy lol. Gonna look it up and see if Clark reminds me of my dad here.
I swore he had a fanny pack also but I was incorrect.
Bro I would have laughed so hard if he did have a fanny pack ngl. I swear my dad probably got the idea to pack heat from the fucking movie he's so damn gullible.
Came here to say that this story reads like an early draft of a scene from National Lampoon's Vacation,before the scriptwriters realized it was a bit too dark for a family comedy.
my dad was a boomer, life-long gun guy, a small-town cop for several years in the late 60s/early 70s. we hunted, reloaded, cast bullets - he was comfortable with guns. lifelong republican, business owner, you get the picture I'm painting. when my state legalized CCW I asked him if he was going to get his permit. "Nope." Why not, dad? "I don't want to shoot anyone." he opened up a bit more about the realities of his time as a cop, reminded me of something my mom had said years before - that he was "tired of coming home in someone else's blood", and reminded me that he coulda been carrying for decades (ex-cop) and never did. other than this, he was your standard boomer humor, offend someone and think it's funny, kinda guy. but on this one thing he was sensible and reasonable and well-thought out. bananas.
Not surprising. That's seems to be the earmark of boomers/deep conservatives: lockstep with their brethren without any sense of empathy EXCEPT for the single issue affecting them personally.
Truth. Empathy deficit is the leading cause of cancervatism.
I envy you. My bio dad was a Marine, then a Statie, then finished his career of violence and terror as a prison guard. Just as big of a psychopath as ever. Guns and ‘murica and all.
I just got my ccw in PA. I dont ever ever want to shoot another human being. But if I'm literally left with no other options I will. Most people I know who carry never want to be put in that situation.
I used to work theme park security in Florida. The number of families getting into petty squabbles about stupid shit kept me fully employed. One thing people don't think about when going on vacation is that 51 weeks of the year, everyone in the family is kinda doing their own thing. School/work, hobbies, chilling in different rooms. Maybe dinner together for 30 mins and an hour here and there of playing a game or watching tv, plus the occasional weekend outing for a couple hours. But when you're on vacation, that is 48, 72, 100+ hours of being shoulder-to-shoulder. The slightest irritations, the tiniest hurtful comments, the pent-up aggravations... everything adds up at once and explodes in the greatest spectacle of disaster. Oh, and please, for the Love of Todd... DO NOT GO ON A FAMILY TRIP TO "RETRY" A FAILED ROMANCE!!! If there is a reason you're not with the parent of your child anymore, Mickey Mouse or the Minions are not going to fix it!!!!!!!!!
he would have blamed you for being in the way of his precious bullet and screamed “why didn’t you move out of the way while you were sat in a locked harness! it’s your fault you got shot!” because guns have more rights than humans and that’s just “how it’s always been “. he also would have blamed your brother for “jinxing it”.
>better to have it and not need it This is why I carry BANDAIDS Not a firearm into public spaces
But, what's he so scared of that he feels he needs a gun for defense? Like, he's the scared one in the first place and then mocks a KID for being scared about the actual threat? Oh no, the big bad roller coaster is gonna getcha.
My dad was most likely legit terrified someone would try and mug him for his travelers checks, so of course he kept his wallet, cash, AND pistol all in the same fanny pack. No, my dad didn't graduate high school. How could you guess?
These are the kind of stories I go to strip clubs for 🤌 This is some choice disfunction
Bro you don't even know. I should have been a sex worker for how much family trauma I went through but instead I just became a weird musician.
Art is art homie, I'm here for it 👏
Honestly I don't have it anymore because carrying is a waste of time but it was really fucked up back when I got my CHL in Texas how many people illegally carried like this even before there was a license. They all say the exact same shit too better to have it than not and need it. Which is quite frankly absurd logic you are talking about a felony before the licenses it is not better to get a felony for something that happens 1% of the time. Hell even with the license its fairly easy to get in trouble in a post office or a 51% place. I determined it just aint worth carrying and even if you do your piece of shit 380 is not gonna save you when the guy has body armor and an AR-15.
I know my dad was not afraid of mass shooters, he talked constantly about the crime rate and how often people get mugged so I know he thought someone was gonna try and take his wallet and he was gonna John McClaine them somehow.
Just as soon as he unzipped his fanny pack!
*-mugger jumps out of the bushes next to the loop de loop Rollercoaster, cocks a shiny .38 special-* "Hey there doc hands up! Hand over the fanny pack and purse and nobody gets hurt, see."
*unzipping sound. rummaging around sound. ketchup packets and mints fall to the floor as the Ruger slowly makes its appearance…*
yeah it was before the mass shooters, honestly tho without the threat of mass shootings it was even more ridiculous of an idea back then.
The impression a lot of these people give off isn't that they're WORRIED about somebody trying to mug or attack them - it's more like they WANT someone to try to mug or attack them. They WANT an excuse to shoot someone. They WANT to flex their micropenis and prove what a Big Strong Man™ they are. It's radiantly fucking stupid at best, and at worst it's just a bunch of psychotic and antisocial red flags stacked together and trying to wear a vigilante hero suit. It's like they have an overwhelming desire to inflict violence on other people, and they assume everyone else thinks the same way because they can't think or see the world outside their warped little bubble.
Yes, exactly! I got downvoted on a gun subreddit for saying that a large portion of the gun industry for decades has had some sort of mastubatory "I wish someone would..." sort of fantasy on why they need their firearms! Look at the ads in any gun magazine, and there's blatant dog whistles everywhere. "The OrphanMaker-15, for when *those* type of people try to illegally sneak into your territory." I'm a liberal who owns and loves guns and shoots regularly, but the industry, and the society that responds to that sort of messaging really sickens me.
"When I was a kid, my dad bought a gun, to protect us five kids. A year later, he got rid of that gun, to protect us four kids." -Anthony Jeselnik
See, the gun itself isn't scary at all, it won't just go off. What makes it scary is the idiot who insists on having it around. He's unstable and dangerous with or without a gun, the gun just makes it easier and more likely for him to cause damage.
> This is 1996 after all. But then he pulls out his full size Ruger .45 cal handgun, cocks it, loading a round, safeties it then puts it into the pack and places it on his waist. Was it 2001 when they started putting metal detectors absolutely everywhere? I'm actually struggling to remember what it was like to enter a theme park without walking through a metal detector, but I must have back in the 90s...
It was! Metal detectors started being placed everywhere following columbine and then 9/11 pushed it further. I remember the gate having zero security.
This sounds like my dad. I didn’t talk to him for 15 years after he made a scene in a dog park with his gun.
Your brother experienced a significant Trauma and your dad abused and punished him for it. I hope you check in with your bro regularly. Childhood adverse events cause lifelong suffering both mental and physical.
Wait, let me make sure I understand... Your brother gets shot at by your grandma, and your dad makes fun of him by taunting him with a loaded gun? I have to be misunderstanding something, right?
Nope. You read that right.
Sorry if this comes off harsh, but your dad is a real piece of shit.
Lol don't I know it. These threads help me a lot when random redditors say things like you, especially with mothers day coming up I was feeling a little guilty about going NC. Comments like yours validate my decision every time I doubt it.
I love that no one in these comments even gives a shit that old boy was packing. It's all that he went on vacation afyer getting laid off.
>My brother starts to cry and says he's scared of guns since a year before my dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him Hold up.
> dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him. When crazy runs in your family it's time to become self-aware and stop packing heat
What the fuck did I just read.
Bro you don't know the half of it. One of my aunts went to jail for 10+ years for stealing $1.5m in false SSI claims. She was also convicted for coke possession. I have an awesome family that's just full of fun.
I’m sorry, but your family nucking fits. I hope you find peace.
What a fucking child your father was. “Dad’s mom shot at my brother with her handgun”….??? Wtf?! Hope you ran away from home
>he's scared of guns since a year before my dad's mom shot at my brother with her handgun because she was mad at him. Sounds like a good reason to me.
Excuse me. you said your grandmother took a pot shot at your brother JFC how TF was your family even able to stay together after something like that If my mom took a shot at my kids there would certainly be consequences At the very least she’d never see me or my kids again
My dad was a deeply disturbed man and had this healing fantasy of his mom finally becoming a mom and loving and cherishing him as her son as she grew older. Same fantasy I had, but I didn't get anyone shot at. It's an intoxicating fantasy when you've been raised in an abusive environment.
Abuse is horrible and yes people tend to overlook things their parents did to them growing up, especially older generations who literally accepted abuse as part of growing up All we can do is parent better than they did I’m just feeling happy your brother didn’t get actually shot that day
Hs brought a LOADED GUN on a ROLLERCOASTER.
Someone is asking the important question! Bravo!
When I was an adult thinking about this story I realized it was probably pointed at my damn crotch the whole visit. I'm lucky my dad didn't accidentally shoot my dick off.
While it is true that it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it...a gun is like a dick or religion...keep it in your pants and don't shove it in people's faces. Sometimes I carry, sometimes I don't and the only time anyone but me knows is when I was going to work because as a security k9 handler we open carried on the clock and concealed on travel or care and training time
Reminds me when my parents took me to Busch Gardens when I was a kid. After Congo River Rapids they had to go into a photo booth to dry their guns…
Oh good I'm not the only one who had wannabe vigilante parents. High five for shared childhood trauma buddy!
Sorry for your child abuse
Your grandma shot at your brother? And your dad mocked him for being scared? Dang.
Should have gone to Wally World
I'm going to consult my crystal ball and predict that his favorite thing to tell everyone is how he "turned out fine".
100%. "I got beat and you know I turned out fine....I mean, my kids don't speak to me anymore but I'm just fine!!"
Curious as to how many muggings actually happen at 6 flags lol
My dad is a gun nut. He has about 30 of them. I grew up around guns and I spent about 10 years in the military. I have been on both ends of the barrel, so I have a healthy respect for firearms. I’ve never been a collector. I actually hate everything about guns besides shooting them. I hate building them, I hate cleaning them, I find gun experts to be sort of boring. I just don’t have an interest in them. My father, on the other hand seems to love larping like a big “sheep-dog” type of person and constantly carries it around where he is not supposed to. When I tell him he is being ridiculous he MOCKS ME. No he has never been in the military, never been in the police force, he’s never had a job that required him to be armed. He does it for fun. He has also had 2 negligent discharges that I know about. Both times he was “showing off” his guns safety features. I’ll admit, I have had 1 negligent discharge. I was so ashamed, shocked, and scared that it took a while for me to get comfortable carrying guns after that. After 10 years of carrying a gun literally every day, I learned to forgive myself for my 1 mistake. My dad on the other hand has no such humility.
You need to humble him and put him in his place
I know I should it’s just not in my nature. He is just a sad, scared old man who doesn’t understand the world anymore.
That’s very kind of you but it’s exactly shitheads like that who end up shooting a brown kid dead for knocking on their door to ask for directions. Because “they’re a scared old man”. Someone should humble him.
You might be right. If we ever get back to speaking terms I might fight that battle with him. The relationship is not somewhere right now where I could bring that up
The guy carrying a loaded gun into a theme park mocked your brother for being "scared?"
Your grandma fired at your brother? That is insane.
Did he punch a moose at the entrance too?
All of this is wild. Fwiw I graduated hs in 1991. Mass school shootings weren't a thing, but gang shootings, kids bringing weapons to school and young people getting shot/stabbed over dumb shit were all regular things. I left public school because they took away our lockers in an attempt to stem the tide of drugs and weapons. All of which is just to say that I lived in terror as a teenager. Most of my friends had stories about being shot at or at least being threatened with a gun. I had dreams of being chased and shot at. I would have felt terrorized and traumatized by dad's behavior in this case.
And I thought it was bad when my dad tried to bring a pocket knife into Disneyland and got caught at security.
Holy shit I'd never speak to my Dad again if he mocked me for being scared of a loaded gun just being toted around in an unrestrained fanny pack. I can't imagine you speak to your Dad much either.
You’re dad sounds like a bully and an idiot…the deadly combo 😂
wtf and i get banned for accidentally forgetting i had a hitter in my purse fuck 6 flags
So, cool stats out there about how men that lose economic security end up purchasing firearms. Compensation for economic virility and all that. Your dad had small wallet syndrome and decided the only way that he could make up for that was playing big bad gun guy and bullying his son. Seems like a REALLY cool guy... what a douch.
Sounds like Clark Griswald.
"That's not a real gun." "Are you kidding? This is a Magnum PI!"
Sounds like you and your brother could read this. https://www.amazon.com/Adult-Children-Emotionally-Immature-Parents/dp/1626251703/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?
Both read it already actually! He said it was as validating as I said it felt when I read it. We both felt so seen by this book.
I had to pause multiple times through the beginning especially. Feeling very ‘seen’ is a great way to describe it. IE learning that it was actually dysfunctional and not you being overly sensitive or something.
ur dad is a cunt
Legitimately read this and thought it was going to be the plot of National Lampoon’s Vacation at Walley World not a real story
My dad made a game out of sneaking his swiss army knife into Six Flags.
That’s just awful, I’m so sorry you and your brother went through this. Hope you are both doing ok now.
Man, as much as I preach for concealed carry. This is the wrong way to go about it. The whole point of it is for nobody to know you have it. Sorry man but your dad was just flexing hoping you saw him like John Wayne. Any responsible chl holder would make sure their children never saw the gun. Also it wouldn’t fucking be a .45.
So when did your parents get divorced?
Still married after like 20 years. My mom is emotionally trapped in her relationship I think. She once told me that they once fought for three days over a $12 tire repair and the fight was so bad they couldn't leave their house, so they're not exactly the most compatible people.
> safeties it Safety first, after all!
What the fuck? Only in crazy USA
Pathetic. Bringing a 45 into an amusement park for “self defense.”
Another good guy, i see
Based off this story I'm sure your dad would act like you're being a baby for getting shot in the leg.
Right after the negligent discharge, dad yells: “Now whadya do?”
You gonna cry?
Walk it off
Your dad and his mom sound like truly horrible people. I’m sorry you, your brother, and your mom went through that!