# Comments from people that have either shocked you or have left you pondering... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821 "2008-10-27T19:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/61 "2008-10-30T14:15:07Z")
An anti-abortion person I know said he was anti-abortion because life begins at conception. I asked him if he thought all frozen embryos should have to be implanted, even if we had to draft women to carry them to term. His response “Well, it’s only life if conception happens inside the mother.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/62 "2008-10-30T16:52:54Z")
A co-worker once told me this story. She was one of the kindest, gentlest, straight-thinking church ladies I had ever met, and one day she told me about an ex-friend of hers who she hoped would be roasting in hell one day. The ex-friend, a divorcee, had a daughter, aged five. She also had a fiance, who insisted the daughter was no problem. She married the guy, and five years later he decided he didn’t want to have a daughter, so his wife put her ten-year-old daughter up for adoption. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/63 "2008-10-30T17:12:53Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > A co-worker once told me this story. She was one of the kindest, gentlest, straight-thinking church ladies I had ever met, and one day she told me about an ex-friend of hers who she hoped would be roasting in hell one day. > > The ex-friend, a divorcee, had a daughter, aged five. She also had a fiance, who insisted the daughter was no problem. She married the guy, and five years later he decided he didn’t want to have a daughter, so his wife put her ten-year-old daughter up for adoption. That’s almost in _Flowers in the attic_ territory! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/64 "2008-10-30T17:55:42Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Former boss asked my opinion of “anything we should look for” in a new hire with whom I would be working. I was flattered, and gave him my honest recommendation of what qualities were desirable for that position. > > He came back the next week and told me he’d interviewed and “did \* want to know anything about the person?” He seemed like he was hiding a secret. I replied, “Frankly, if you’ve already chosen someone, I don’t need to know much in advance, since I’ll see him or her on Monday anyway.” > > He told me a few things about the girl they’d hired. But he persisted in acting like he had something additional to reveal. Finally he leaned over me and whispered, conspiratorially, “She’s of the darker persuasion,” and wiggled his eyebrows. > > I was thunderstruck – but not so thunderstruck that my mind didn’t instantly supply me with a retort: > > “My God, Woody, are you saying she’s a VAMPIRE?” > > He seemed put out by this response and backed away. The subject never came up again…I was too young and unsure of myself to have alerted HR, which I regret. Why would you alert HR? Sounds to me like he thought you might be a racist and wanted to make sure that you were OK with working with a black woman. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/65 "2008-10-30T18:12:20Z")
Oh, since this thread’s still going, I thought of another one. I was back home from basic training for a couple of weeks, and my then girlfriend and I decided to get married. I don’t think I had bought a ring yet, but we knew we wouldn’t be seeing her grandparents for several months and she wanted to tell them together. So we’re over there for dinner, all sitting around the table… me, my fiancee, her parents, and her grandparents. She drops the big news, and the IMMEDIATE words out of Grandma’s mouth: “Oh Susie, we’re so disappointed.” I’m still not entirely sure how I remained civil. Granted, I wasn’t exactly a sure thing at that point, but at least wait until I leave the room. Seven years later and I still hate going over there. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/66 "2008-10-30T19:55:36Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > Background: I’ve been friends with one woman for a long time. This woman is really one of the smartest people I know regarding a lot of things (she’s got an excellent business sense, is great at reading people, good at evaluating situations, practical things like that). When it comes to other things, particularly regarding health and the body…not so much. > > So one night we were talking about Scientology and its various beliefs/teachings, like mistrust of psychiatry. She says that, while she disagrees with their _methods_, she thinks that Scientologists “are kind of right about that stuff”. > > Ok. > > She goes on to say that most of the pharmacology industry is a big scam, and how pills either don’t make a difference or end up making people’s problems worse. Well, that’s a little weird, but plenty of people are weird about the idea of pills. That wasn’t the crazy thing. She goes on to say… > > “I think that people can solve their problems if they really want to.” > > :dubious: She can’t be saying what I _think_ she’s saying, can she? > > I prod her a little bit. “So…people who have depression and schizophrenia can cure themselves…if they really want to.” > > “All that stuff is in people’s heads. Those people could get better if they really tried hard.” > > :eek: I keep going. “So what about people with high blood pressure, and asthma, and _cancer_? Can they cure themselves too?” > > Lo and behold, she says yes. “Those people can help themselves if they want to. People have that power within themselves, if they want to use it. It just depends how badly you want it.” > > I honestly can’t believe that this is coming from the mouth of an otherwise sensible, _sane_ person. I tell her that’s insulting to…just about everyone. > > Then she gets angry at me. Oh yes. “Well, it’s true. If you don’t believe it, you’re just blind.” > > Truly one of the weirder conversations I’ve ever had. My SIL says the same type of things. Depression does not exist but, even if it did, it can be cured through intensive vitamin therapy. No existing drugs for depression work according to her. She also believes that you can cure prostate can with huge amounts of vitamins daily and tried it on my FIL (he eventually had surgery thank god) Her profession: **University Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology** ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/67 "2008-10-30T20:16:11Z")
A neighbor of mine whose daughter plays with mine got upset with me because after yet another instance of her daughter causing mine to come home in tears by being a bully/jerk/saying the meanest things, I said, ok, you are not to play with her anymore. She’s not a good friend to you. (my dd’s 9) So this neighbor mom comes to my door to confront me, very angry and I was trying to keep my cool and explain the situation…how they didn’t get along and I was tired of the conflicts (and the bad influence, but I didn’t say it) and I thought it best if they took a break from one another. I was just amazed that she had the nerve to come to my door and go off on me like that, and in front of both the kids, yet! Not surprising the kids are little shits with parents of that maturity level. I go on to mention that my daughter was going through a rough time and didn’t need the conflict right now. (her father had died about 4 mths prior). She rolls her eyes and says, “EVERYONE’S going through a rough time right now” very sarcastic and angry. My jaw just dropped and I said, “Really? You lost your husband? She (pointing to her daughter) lost her dad?” She didn’t have shit else to say. Good for her. I still can hardly look at or speak to her when I see her. And yes, she knew. Get a clue, lady. You don’t know from rough. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/68 "2008-10-30T20:19:19Z")
Where the hell is she a professor? Just so I know to stay away. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/69 "2008-10-30T20:32:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My sister, at the time in her mid-teens and attending an excellent prep school, let slip that she thought the U.K. was physically connected to the rest of Europe. It sure _is_ connected, just that there’s a bit of water covering that connecting part… 😃 As for my contribution to the thread: A coworker once asked if a girl could get pregnant if she gives you a blowjob, you come in her mouth, and she swallows - Well… Maybe if her stomach leaks into her ovaries or something. :D:D He was not a very bright guy, but it was impossible not to like him, he was just too nice a guy in a child like way. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/70 "2008-10-30T20:54:14Z")
> [@InterestedObserver](#): > > A neighbor of mine whose daughter plays with mine got upset with me because after yet another instance of her daughter causing mine to come home in tears by being a bully/jerk/saying the meanest things, I said, ok, you are not to play with her anymore. She’s not a good friend to you. (my dd’s 9) > > So this neighbor mom comes to my door to confront me, very angry and I was trying to keep my cool and explain the situation..how they didn’t get along and I was tired of the conflicts (and the bad influence, but I didn’t say it) and I thought it best if they took a break from one another. > > I was just amazed that she had the nerve to come to my door and go off on me like that, and in front of both the kids, yet! Not surprising the kids are little shits with parents of that maturity level. > > I go on to mention that my daughter was going through a rough time and didn’t need the conflict right now. (her father had died about 4 mths prior). She rolls her eyes and says, “EVERYONE’S going through a rough time right now” very sarcastic and angry. > > My jaw just dropped and I said, “Really? You lost your husband? She (pointing to her daughter) lost her dad?” > > She didn’t have shit else to say. Good for her. I still can hardly look at or speak to her when I see her. And yes, she knew. Get a clue, lady. You don’t know from rough. So sorry for your loss. I was just sitting here feeling sorry for myself and now I’m embarrased. Hope you and your daughter are able to be there for each other and that you have a good support system! Here come some kind and healing thought to you… ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/71 "2008-10-30T20:56:52Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > … > > Her profession: **University Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology** My _God_, that is scary. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/72 "2008-10-30T21:04:50Z")
I will never have another discussion about evolution or religion with my mom. We were talking about the Adam and Eve story. She agreed that it was a story, a metaphor, or NOT REAL. We kept chatting, moving on to evolution and then she dropped the bomb. “All that evolution stuff…I just can’t reconcile it with Adam and Eve.” Me: “But you just said the Adam and Eve story wasn’t real.” Her: “Well, yeah, but I just can’t reconcile it with evolution. So I’m still on the fence about evolution. I mean, who knows who planted those bones?” It was truly one of those “Did I really come from you?” moments. I was a professional archaeologist at the time, had spent a goodly amount of time working on bones thousands and millions of years old, so to hear my own mother say that she thought someone had planted bones to somehow fool us into believing in evolution was just mind blowing. My runner up “Huh??” moment was when my husband’s grandfather told me that Indians, Brahmins in particular, shouldn’t marry outside their caste and he was deeply disappointed that anyone he knew, much less was related to, would do so. My husband, as you can imagine, is Indian. I’m about as American as I can be without eating apple pie wrapped in an American flag. The only saving grace was that my husband’s grandfather doted on my son and was smart enough not to say that with him (or my husband) around. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/73 "2008-10-30T21:37:12Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > She married the guy, and five years later he decided he didn’t want to have a daughter, so his wife put her ten-year-old daughter up for adoption. I have an acquaintance who has always claimed to love kids and be really good with them. This is something she used to go on and on about. The only reason she didn’t have kids of her own was due to some medical problem (don’t remember what). Many years ago, she divorced her drunken jackass of a husband - a good thing. But she also chose to throw out her 15-year-old stepson, despite the fact that he didn’t have anywhere to go. She’d raised him since he was a small child and was the only mother he’d known. But he wasn’t “hers”, so out he went. I think some of her family would have taken him in, but he was so destroyed at her rejection that he wouldn’t stay with them. Hell, I would have taken him in for that matter. He was a really good kid - smart, funny, gorgeous, completely innocent and naive. Poor guy went to live with his crackhead bio-mom and ended up going to jail (boot camp, actually, I think) for her stash. (He let the cops in to look around and then she lied and said the stuff was his. He let her get away with it.) I still see her around (friends of friends, y’know), but I’ve been completely disgusted with her since that happened. It’s probably a good thing that she’s quit blathering about how much she loves kids, because that would put me right over the edge and I _would_ have to say something. Fortunately, the kid turned out OK despite all that. Got a decent job (sales) making fairly good money, has worked his way up in the company, and just got married a couple years ago to a nice girl. ---
**Author:** ![PotLuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@PotLuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PotLuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/74 "2008-10-30T22:38:12Z")
A (white) friend invited me to dinner at her house where I met a 60-ish family friend of her mother’s who was visiting from out of town. After noting that I was single, this well-meaning dolt triumphantly exclaimed, “I know a black man!” and proceeded to sell me on why I should date him. To my disgust, the sum total of her knowledge of this guy was that he’s black, he rents a basement apartment from her neighbour, and he owns a computer. She didn’t even know his first name but hey, _he’s_ black and _I’m_ black, so LOVE CONNECTION, right? _heavy, prolonged sigh_ When I said a firm “no thanks” to her little mating experiment she was extremely indignant and said I was most likely single because I was so picky. Ooh, the things I wanted to say to her … ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/75 "2008-10-30T23:03:51Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > So sorry for your loss. I was just sitting here feeling sorry for myself and now I’m embarrased. Hope you and your daughter are able to be there for each other and that you have a good support system! Here come some kind and healing thought to you… Thanks. We are doing as well as can be expected, I guess. It’s all relative. Don’t feel badly for feeling sorry for yourself for any reason which might be seen as lesser…it still sucks, whatever it is, just some things suck a LOT worse than others, but I hope you never have to experience the worser sucks and gain that painful context, if you know what I mean. 🙂 As rude and oblivious as some can be, I would never wish on them the experience which would give them more understanding. Nowadays, I may get to feeling depressed over some relatively petty issue like a frustrating job search or the kids leaving a mess around and I stop myself and say, hey, get over it. It’s nothing. Doesn’t matter. Big deal. In the grand scheme of things, BFD, ok? Compared to my partner of 23 years now being a pile of ashes, it’s all nothing to sweat. I think even as she said it, she realized she had just rammed her foot down her throat, but I did NOT feel one bit sorry for her, and so HAD to say it, just to make her feel like shit after attacking me on my own territory over a petty playground squabble. (better yet, it got rid of her fast :D) ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/76 "2008-10-30T23:25:06Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > A co-worker once told me this story. She was one of the kindest, gentlest, straight-thinking church ladies I had ever met, and one day she told me about an ex-friend of hers who she hoped would be roasting in hell one day. > > The ex-friend, a divorcee, had a daughter, aged five. She also had a fiance, who insisted the daughter was no problem. She married the guy, and five years later he decided he didn’t want to have a daughter, so his wife put her ten-year-old daughter up for adoption. This is one of the most horrible things I’ve ever heard. Dear GOD, that poor child! Next to once seeing a kitten half crushed but still alive and struggling on the street (which gave me nightmares for a week) this is right up there. Wow. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/77 "2008-10-31T00:22:26Z")
I’ve posted this here before, in another thread about people’s insanity, but I don’t know how to do that cool high-level linky thing, so I’ll repost: I used to have a friend, well, acquaintance really, with whom I would occasionally hang out. One night we were out having some drinks, and she (a woman with an engineering job, who from all appearances was stable, normal, and functional) all of a sudden unloaded this gem. She believes that the dinosaurs were wiped out by aliens. Because “what’s the first thing you do when you’re starting a new experiment in a lab? You sterilize the lab, right, to make sure there are no contaminants in your results!” So, the aliens wiped out the dinosaurs to decontaminate Earth for their big experiment. Us. We are an alien experiment, and every so often the aliens come back to take samples. That’s why people are abducted and probed and whatnot. It’s the aliens checking their work. This explanation of humanity came to her in a dream when she was about 12. She then proceeded to show me all the little scars on her arms that were indications that she was one of the ones that was constantly being abducted, and the scars were from the probes and machines they used. There were no visible scars on her arms. I slammed the rest of my drink, got out of there tout suite, and haven’t spoken to her since. It was…bizarre, to say the least, to hear utter and complete insanity come out of the mouth of someone I’d always thought was a bit different but perfectly functional. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/78 "2008-10-31T01:00:30Z")
I work with an official adult who insists that spiders are insects, not animals. He tells me he had a teacher who believed that all oil comes from a Planet of Oil that crashed into the earth in the distant past. I’m so glad I went to University rather than DeVry. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/79 "2008-10-31T01:33:17Z")
> [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](#): > > One day, during a rountine blood test (I have high cholesterol and need to have a check up about once every 3-4 months), I had a mulatto woman take out a needle and was about to draw blood from my veins. Pretty sure that most places these days consider “mulatto” to be offensive. Just thought it was kind of funny coming in the OP of a thread asking about what comments from people have shocked you. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821/80 "2008-10-31T03:18:37Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > My runner up “Huh??” moment was when my husband’s grandfather told me that Indians, Brahmins in particular, shouldn’t marry outside their caste and he was deeply disappointed that anyone he knew, much less was related to, would do so. My husband, as you can imagine, is Indian. I’m about as American as I can be without eating apple pie wrapped in an American flag. The only saving grace was that my husband’s grandfather doted on my son and was smart enough not to say that with him (or my husband) around. Heh, that’s about par for the course, I’ve been told that since practically the Day I was born that I should find a nice indian girl to marry, especially since I’m a Brahmin:rolleyes:. It’s a bummer that he said that to you, but it’s a very common sentiment I’ve heard many a time amongst older and more traditional Brahmins that take a lot of pride in their caste and their culture- though I’ve seen it more often used by them when just simply marrying outside the caste to another Indian girl (then it’s viewed as a step down and already whispered about), but (since you described yourself as American as American as you can be- which funnily enough is how I’d describe myself though I’d have eaten the apple pie and that’s why it’s not there) I’m guessing you’re NOT an Indian at all even, then yeah- that’s a HUGE step outside of the cultural norms (especially for an older more traditional Indian person to take). And I’m sure your husband’s heard that sort of comment already- but more power to him for choosing to marry outside the caste 🙂 I’d totally these sorts of comments expect this sorta thing to be said to me by some of my family members (hopefully not the ones I’m close to though) if I married outside the caste- and probably more said by those who just know my family but don’t know me at all- gotta hate that Gossip. I’d just hope they’d only tell me and not my spouse though. But I wouldn’t pay it much mind, in the long run it means nothing. Grandchildren are still better to have than traditions to most people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comments-from-people-that-have-either-shocked-you-or-have-left-you-pondering/469821.md?page=5)