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People In This Online Group Share What Things Their Family Members Had The Courage To Do At Their Thanksgiving Gathering (30 Stories)
Celebrating big and important celebrations is what brings all families together. It is one of those times when despite all of the difficulties such as time, distance, differences, and old family drama, everyone shows up to have some quality time with their loved ones. However, even though this might be the goal of the evening, sometimes things run a different course. Very often there is that one person who can turn things upside down and make the night one to remember.
Having this in mind, Reddit user @IAmA_Wolf asked people online to remember and share “the trashiest thing somebody has done at your family Thanksgiving.” This gave a green light to a lot of people who decided to reveal who from their family did the craziest thing during Thanksgiving dinner, and how.
Thousands of people decided to reveal what embarrassing, annoying, or crazy funny things their relatives or just guests did during the gathering. From collecting leftover food the minute everyone sat down to eat to fistfighting or finding out their significant other was cheating on them, people had some juicy stories to tell.
Which one of these stories did you like the most? Don’t forget to share your own Thanksgiving story in the comments down below!
More Info: Reddit
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#1
Almost trash, but not. I'm at a huge Thanksgiving dinner at my son-in-law's brother's place. His redneck dad had been drinking and deep frying turkeys all morning. Mostly drinking. He comes in to learn that his daughter's spouse had a bit of change and went from "Bill" to "Jane." Nice time and place to come out, right? He goes right up to Bill/Jane and says, "Well, we all love you no matter what." Then we all had a dinner that could not be beat.
#2
This was just a joke, but I still felt It was worth sharing...My uncle made a scene about having dropped something on the floor. When he was sure enough of us were now paying attention, he bends over to pick it up, his shirt rides up and we see a tramp stamp tiger crawling out of his buttcrack. It was a temporary tattoo that he had my aunt help him put on specifically put on for this occasion.
#3
Every year my family "subconsciously" gives all the left overs to whichever cousin isn't doing the best in life.
I've gotten the leftovers for the last 6 years.
#4
My religious extended family were in deep prayer and the dinner table when my mom yelled “f**k! The bread is burned!”
Fabian Meresse 3 years ago (edited)
Once gardened at a churchyard, the old priest was kind and came to ask if the guys and I wanted a coffee, wich we gladly accepted.He went to his house close to the church. A few times later, we heard a big mess in the kitchen, and probably the worst curses we had ever heard ! We were dying laughting, then he came back, red faced...So human tbh
#5
I was at my wife’s uncles house for thanksgiving , and his wife decided right after dinner to play their wedding video ( because it was also their anniversary weekend). She looks for a half hour to find the video tape, finds it and gathers the whole dinner party (25 ish people) to the back room area, plays the video, and right as she’s walking down the aisle, mid way down the aisle it goes fuzzy..... and cuts to...... Dale Earnhardt’s funeral. Uncle joe used that tape to record Dale Earnhardt’s funeral. Granted it was in small town Michigan wherenthe nascar track is, but still....Everyone froze in complete shock and I started laughing and felt like i was in a sitcom but it was real life.
#6
My uncle brought pizza to thanksgiving because he didn’t like my grandmas cooking. She had spent all day cooking our thanksgiving meal and he brought pizza! He, my aunt, and my cousins ate the pizza like it was nothing. My grandma went into the other room and cried.
Deutschland Mädchen 3 years ago
Aww poor grandma. If you don't like it, pretend to eat it and then go eat something else later or beforehand
#7
someone (we never figured out who, though i suspect my younger cousin) set the TV to the playboy channel right as we were finishing up eating (this year we had so many people we had to eat in the living room, right next to the TV
i don't think I've ever seen my grandma laugh as much as she did when she saw everyone scrambling to find the clicker :)
#8
My brothers got into a fight. My oldest brother slept with my younger brother's new wife, who was like 20 years younger than him. They got into a fist fight and broke through the wall of their dad's trailer. The police had to be called. Aaaand that's why I stopped going to family evening. This was by no means an unusual occurrence, just the first thing that came to mind.
#9
The woman my cousin had just married stole a Costco sized box of individually wrapped Cheezit packages from our garage. I just happened to notice they were gone when putting food in the fridge. Asked about it publicly and she locked up, started stuttering, and went to get them out of her car. She returned with the excuse "I thought these were mine. I have a box just like them at home".
#10
This isn’t an isolated thing, but if someone doesn’t show up for thanksgiving or Christmas we automatically check the inmate records at the county jail. It’s happened a few times that someone’s absence is accounted for by an arrest and/or jail stay.
In 2016 my brother was a no show for Christmas and we checked the jails website. We saw our unique last name on their roster and assumed he’d been arrested. Turns out it was my uncle. I never did ask my brother where he was that year.
#11
Big Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws, even my inlaws’ extended family members were there, and out of nowhere my mom tries to start a conversation with “I’m not a racist but...” and I didn’t even hear the rest because I was laughing because she most definitely was a racist. That was the last year she was invited.
#12
My husband's brother and his sister-in-law (who was married to his OTHER brother) always disappeared for about 20-40 minutes at the same time.
This happened for four years in a row before anyone got nosey enough to go looking for them.
Sister-in-law is now married to the Thanksgiving Hookup Brother.
#13
Not sure if it counts, but my girlfriend and I were getting really serious and so our families had Thanksgiving together for the first time. It was a huge deal for us and our families and it was a great day. She broke up with me the next day.
#14
My aunt was sent to bed because she was too drunk last year and ended up falling down the stairs an hour later when she tried coming back
#15
My uncle and my cousin's husband fought about flat earth for 3 hours
#16
We were hosting thanksgiving and prepared all the food ourselves and my mom spend all morning cooking and baking. My aunt, uncle and cousins arrive right before dinner and walk in with a White Castle case and said they just stopped to eat a few minutes ago. We had prepared thanksgiving just for them and they decided that they wanted White Castle instead.
#17
My aunt and uncle showed up an hour late to dinner. My aunt then proceeded to yell at all of us because we started eating without her. The rest of the family still makes jokes about it and some are still not on speaking terms with her.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
Ridiculous. It's hard enough to get everything hot and on the table at the same time, but to hold everything for an hour, then go through that again? Nope.
#18
My sister in laws mother brought her young boyfriend to our family thanksgiving. Turns out the boyfriend was my cousins ex that she just broke up with a few weeks prior.
#19
We were hosting a young lady my wife worked with, as well as her boyfriend. Halfway through dinner and somehow the discussion got to how her and her brother "once got super trashed on Robitussin, and next thing you know we ... Uh ... Yeah that was really a weird time."
Everyone just got really quiet as we were trying to decide how to fill that one in and where to go with it. For some reason they got really quiet after that.
#20
I have a crazy cousin who came after not being invited and then yelled at everyone because no one brought the “special bread” her son likes and now he’s STARVING. Maybe bring your own Hawaiian sweet bread if that’s the only thing your spawn will eat.
She then boxed up a large portion of the leftovers and left and was unseen until the next unfortunate family function.
#21
My first Thanksgiving at my future in-laws house, when I was meeting most of them for the first time, his Dad, when I had never met) mentioned my breasts multiple times, once referring to them as "pillows". I was mortified.
#22
My brother in law's father went out to the refrigerator we keep in the garage and ate both pumpkin pies we made before dinner was even served.
#23
Blasted uncle got butt f**kin naked for the "what do you give thanks for" speeches. No joke. Best day ever
#24
I don’t think this constitutes as trashy, but my uncle hosted Thanksgiving last year. It was amidst all the drama about kneeling during the national anthem in the NFL. So naturally instead of having a small prayer before the dinner, he had us stand for the national anthem.
#25
My uncle poured Crown Royal on his turkey and ate it.
#27
She was responsible for bringing the dessert. She showed up 3 hours late and instead of bringing dessert she brought an open bag of frozen pierogis. It was a real downer.
#28
I told my girlfriends sister in law the brides maids dresses she picked out were tacky. Thinking i was talking to someone else in the family. I proceeded to tell her they looked like whoopi goldberg in sister act. She still despises me.
#29
My cousin posted her new wedding pictures while sitting at the thanksgiving dinner table. She hadn’t told any of us that she got married. My aunt said “you got married??” She denied it.
#30
I have an uncle who once got so drunk he decided to mix the red and white wines together
#31
One thanksgiving my family (grandparents and aunt’s family) were all eating at a buffet that was decorated extensively with a ton of gourds, pumpkins, general thanksgivingy decorations... and we all started taking them back to our table every time we went to the buffet table. We had our entire table covered before the staff started to notice. Trashy but hilarious!
What do you think ?
Two_rolling_black_eyes 3 years ago
I had a GF whose sister went Le Cordon Blue straight out of high school then got a job in NYC. She missed most holidays because of work. When the sister was 22, she had Nov/Dec off between jobs and told everyone she would love to cook a special Thanksgiving dinner. She rented out a local restaurant so she could have a full kitchen, hired some staff, and invited the family. When the GF and I showed up, there was cops there. Turns out the family had decided she was still too young and told her she couldn't sit with the adults. I was told she calmly walked back into the kitchen and told her staff to remove all the food, went back out and pointed at the sign on the wall saying management reserves the right to refuse service, and told everyone to leave. No one tells a chef where to sit in their restaurant. When several people took umbrage to that, she called the cops and had them removed for trespassing. Best leftovers I've ever had.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
I can add to this list. I was five, as I recall. Uncle A's third wife announced her pregnancy as her grateful thing... but he'd had a vasectomy. All I really remember is we kids hid behind the furniture in the living room and tried to play "Go Fish".
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
Sad no one told him vasectomies aren't totally foolproof, and men are told to use other methods as well. And...why didn't he tell wife number three he'd had one?
Load More Replies...
Corgi 3 years ago (edited)
I could tell SO many. My eldest aunt/uncle are real pieces of work. This one takes the cake though: They decided to bring their own meal one Thanksgiving. Without bothering to tell us. Rude move #1. On top of that, for Rude #2, They then informed us that they intended to cook it at our house. We live in an area where electric rates triple at high times on holidays. My mom had food fixed for 10 which was more than enough as there was only 4 adults and 3 kids. Food that was ALREADY DONE and ready to eat. My aunt started a fight over it. WHY was my mom being SOOO penny pinching, not letting THEM use our oven for 3 hours?! WHY couldn't we be patient?! My uncle called the electric company to work out, to the penny, what it would cost. He then gave money to my dad going, "Here, we didn't realize you were so hard up that you couldn't afford some extra electricity." And then their Christmas card was PRICELESS. It was literally, "Merry Christmas. Why have you cut off communication with us?"
GenericPanda09 3 years ago (edited)
As a Brit I wouldn't normally have any family thanksgiving memories... but the time I realised just how much the US put into this holiday was 1995 and I was attached to a US unit in Bosnia.. they weren't supposed to be on the ground there because politics but the reality was a few were.. and the way they did it was having units like ours that were half brit and half american. So anyhoos.. thanksgiving comes and we brits get a msg to meet them at a place.... we got there and god knows how in that shithole but they'd acquired a turkey and a place to eat it.. had everything laid out and we did the whole family thing together.. from all ranks... and it was a fantastic show of 'family' that truly I've always taken away with me. Loved those guys for doing that and including us... I did hear later that they'd paid a few hundred US dollars for that turkey.
GenericPanda09 3 years ago
A family of 6 brits and 6 yanks...all eating thanksgiving in the warzone, with a lesson in 9 ball to follow. Loved it.
Load More Replies...
Ellie 3 years ago
Oh my, I've got one. I was about 10 or so. My mom hates Thanksgiving because it's way to much work for a meal that no one in our house really likes ( except her in-laws and the always come for Thanksgiving, so that's why we do it) My hometown did a Thanksgiving meal takeout so we got that instead of a whole turkey and everything. MIL seemed disappointed but whatever. The next morning, my mom goes black Friday shopping and while she was gone, the In-laws made an ENTIRE THANKSGIVING MEAL. Turkey, stuffing, everything. MIL leaves all the dishes for my mom to do because it's 'her house' and refused to take any leftovers. We ended up throwing out so much food because MIL made a 20 person meal for the 7 of us. And we all hate turkey lol. Anyways, we visit other family now for Thanksgiving and eat lasagna or pizza instead lol :)
Crown Feather 2 years ago
I had a similar experience one year- my mum and my dads parents have a rocky relationship (especially his mum). Well, they came over one year. And bought a huge thing of turkey- like 20 pounds I think? No one but them liked turkey. We usually get ham or chicken, which we all like. It was kind of miserable for the other six of us, who didn’t touch the stuff and instead ate the side dishes. My grandparents (specially my dad’s mum) made some rude comments later about us not appreciating the turkey (that no one wanted). We ended up throwing the rest out since no one would even go near the leftovers because they couldn’t take leftovers- they drove and they lived a few states away. I never liked Thanksgiving, it seems mostly pointless to me and like a huge thing set up to get more money out of the Fall-Winter season, food wise.
Load More Replies...
SilentBob731 3 years ago
Everything's bigger in America, including Genocide.
Load More Replies...
Lara Verne 3 years ago
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but two years ago, my coworker decided to buy turkey and make dinner for her family. Turned out that turkey was too big for her oven....
Lori Ballard 3 years ago
I have so many Jerry Springer could do multiple Family Thanksgibing episodes! The best one was when I was 10 two uncles got into a fight over which is better Ohio State or Michigan which sent them both to the hospital with broken bones. The following year in additional to the no politics and religion at Grandma's house she added no sports to the list
jk nbt 3 years ago
invited to the Sunday-before-Thanksgiving after services Thanksgiving covered dish at a Hispanic church I was visiting... they had thick brown mole sauce for the turkey and for the rice also... very complex, compelling, "this is going to take some getting used to" type tastes, nice, but different... Mole is interesting, to say the least... chocolate, chicken broth, red pepper, and who knows what else??? I served it to my very anglo family at our family Thanksgiving that next Thursday and they all were appalled... mole-sauce...0-jpeg.jpg 
Auntriarch 3 years ago (edited)
Hmm, I might just do this for Christmas... Thanks for the tip jk
Load More Replies...
Kyndal T 3 years ago
I wasn't there but! My brother in law brought his fiancé down to meet us the day b4 thanksgiving. We had a great time. The next day they went to see father in law's parents and extended family and introduce her to them too. Then they'd come back for dinner with us. Apparently father in law's disgusting brother asked her if she was "expecting". Several times. Ugh. He was drunk before 2pm and they didn't stay long or eat. It was not a great first impression. I feel so bad that they drove 8 hours to see us, an additional 2 hours to see the others, and that's probably what she'll think of every time she remembers their trip. They had dinner with us later that night but I don't think she's gonna wanna come back after that. :(
Two_rolling_black_eyes 3 years ago
I had a GF whose sister went Le Cordon Blue straight out of high school then got a job in NYC. She missed most holidays because of work. When the sister was 22, she had Nov/Dec off between jobs and told everyone she would love to cook a special Thanksgiving dinner. She rented out a local restaurant so she could have a full kitchen, hired some staff, and invited the family. When the GF and I showed up, there was cops there. Turns out the family had decided she was still too young and told her she couldn't sit with the adults. I was told she calmly walked back into the kitchen and told her staff to remove all the food, went back out and pointed at the sign on the wall saying management reserves the right to refuse service, and told everyone to leave. No one tells a chef where to sit in their restaurant. When several people took umbrage to that, she called the cops and had them removed for trespassing. Best leftovers I've ever had.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
I can add to this list. I was five, as I recall. Uncle A's third wife announced her pregnancy as her grateful thing... but he'd had a vasectomy. All I really remember is we kids hid behind the furniture in the living room and tried to play "Go Fish".
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
Sad no one told him vasectomies aren't totally foolproof, and men are told to use other methods as well. And...why didn't he tell wife number three he'd had one?
Load More Replies... Corgi 3 years ago (edited)
I could tell SO many. My eldest aunt/uncle are real pieces of work. This one takes the cake though: They decided to bring their own meal one Thanksgiving. Without bothering to tell us. Rude move #1. On top of that, for Rude #2, They then informed us that they intended to cook it at our house. We live in an area where electric rates triple at high times on holidays. My mom had food fixed for 10 which was more than enough as there was only 4 adults and 3 kids. Food that was ALREADY DONE and ready to eat. My aunt started a fight over it. WHY was my mom being SOOO penny pinching, not letting THEM use our oven for 3 hours?! WHY couldn't we be patient?! My uncle called the electric company to work out, to the penny, what it would cost. He then gave money to my dad going, "Here, we didn't realize you were so hard up that you couldn't afford some extra electricity." And then their Christmas card was PRICELESS. It was literally, "Merry Christmas. Why have you cut off communication with us?"
GenericPanda09 3 years ago (edited)
As a Brit I wouldn't normally have any family thanksgiving memories... but the time I realised just how much the US put into this holiday was 1995 and I was attached to a US unit in Bosnia.. they weren't supposed to be on the ground there because politics but the reality was a few were.. and the way they did it was having units like ours that were half brit and half american. So anyhoos.. thanksgiving comes and we brits get a msg to meet them at a place.... we got there and god knows how in that shithole but they'd acquired a turkey and a place to eat it.. had everything laid out and we did the whole family thing together.. from all ranks... and it was a fantastic show of 'family' that truly I've always taken away with me. Loved those guys for doing that and including us... I did hear later that they'd paid a few hundred US dollars for that turkey.
GenericPanda09 3 years ago
A family of 6 brits and 6 yanks...all eating thanksgiving in the warzone, with a lesson in 9 ball to follow. Loved it.
Load More Replies... Ellie 3 years ago
Oh my, I've got one. I was about 10 or so. My mom hates Thanksgiving because it's way to much work for a meal that no one in our house really likes ( except her in-laws and the always come for Thanksgiving, so that's why we do it) My hometown did a Thanksgiving meal takeout so we got that instead of a whole turkey and everything. MIL seemed disappointed but whatever. The next morning, my mom goes black Friday shopping and while she was gone, the In-laws made an ENTIRE THANKSGIVING MEAL. Turkey, stuffing, everything. MIL leaves all the dishes for my mom to do because it's 'her house' and refused to take any leftovers. We ended up throwing out so much food because MIL made a 20 person meal for the 7 of us. And we all hate turkey lol. Anyways, we visit other family now for Thanksgiving and eat lasagna or pizza instead lol :)
Crown Feather 2 years ago
I had a similar experience one year- my mum and my dads parents have a rocky relationship (especially his mum). Well, they came over one year. And bought a huge thing of turkey- like 20 pounds I think? No one but them liked turkey. We usually get ham or chicken, which we all like. It was kind of miserable for the other six of us, who didn’t touch the stuff and instead ate the side dishes. My grandparents (specially my dad’s mum) made some rude comments later about us not appreciating the turkey (that no one wanted). We ended up throwing the rest out since no one would even go near the leftovers because they couldn’t take leftovers- they drove and they lived a few states away. I never liked Thanksgiving, it seems mostly pointless to me and like a huge thing set up to get more money out of the Fall-Winter season, food wise.
Load More Replies... SilentBob731 3 years ago
Everything's bigger in America, including Genocide.
Load More Replies... Lara Verne 3 years ago
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but two years ago, my coworker decided to buy turkey and make dinner for her family. Turned out that turkey was too big for her oven....
Lori Ballard 3 years ago
I have so many Jerry Springer could do multiple Family Thanksgibing episodes! The best one was when I was 10 two uncles got into a fight over which is better Ohio State or Michigan which sent them both to the hospital with broken bones. The following year in additional to the no politics and religion at Grandma's house she added no sports to the list
jk nbt 3 years ago
invited to the Sunday-before-Thanksgiving after services Thanksgiving covered dish at a Hispanic church I was visiting... they had thick brown mole sauce for the turkey and for the rice also... very complex, compelling, "this is going to take some getting used to" type tastes, nice, but different... Mole is interesting, to say the least... chocolate, chicken broth, red pepper, and who knows what else??? I served it to my very anglo family at our family Thanksgiving that next Thursday and they all were appalled... mole-sauce...0-jpeg.jpg
Auntriarch 3 years ago (edited)
Hmm, I might just do this for Christmas... Thanks for the tip jk
Load More Replies... Kyndal T 3 years ago
I wasn't there but! My brother in law brought his fiancé down to meet us the day b4 thanksgiving. We had a great time. The next day they went to see father in law's parents and extended family and introduce her to them too. Then they'd come back for dinner with us. Apparently father in law's disgusting brother asked her if she was "expecting". Several times. Ugh. He was drunk before 2pm and they didn't stay long or eat. It was not a great first impression. I feel so bad that they drove 8 hours to see us, an additional 2 hours to see the others, and that's probably what she'll think of every time she remembers their trip. They had dinner with us later that night but I don't think she's gonna wanna come back after that. :(
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