# Things your family does that aggravate you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747 "2025-07-11T18:03:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/141 "2025-07-29T16:12:44Z")
No lies detected there. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/142 "2025-07-29T16:24:50Z")
Hehe, by that definition we’ve been married longer than the law recognizes. ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/143 "2025-08-01T06:01:16Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > My sister-in-law swore this was a definition of marriage: one of you standing in one room saying … something… and the other one in another room yelling ‘what??’ All of my in-laws are like that. They can’t be bothered to actually be in the same room with whoever they are trying to talk to when yelling across the entire house works. If you yell loud enough. Their house is very loud. That familial behavior carries over in my wife at our home. Normally it’s just a minor annoyance. I’ll just yell at her to repeat herself, or I’ll get up and go to her. But sometimes I just passive-aggressively ignore her shouting at me from another room. If she asks why I didn’t respond to her shouting I just say that I didn’t hear her from two rooms away. If she really wants to talk to me she can come and find me. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/144 "2025-08-01T06:33:32Z")
I just remembered another game my wife and I play. ricepad: Do you want to [go for bike ride/eat out/watch a movie/frolic in the flowers] today? ricepad’s wife: Sure, maybe later. _hours and hours later_ ricepad’s wife: Why didn’t we [go for bike ride/eat out/watch a movie/frolic in the flowers] today? ricepad: I was waiting for you to tell me you were ready/make up your mind. ricepad’s wife: Well, you never mentioned it again, so I kept on [reading/doomscrolling/contemplating riding the washer]. I guess, after 40+ years together, I should be able to read her mind by now. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/145 "2025-08-01T08:39:24Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > ricepad’s wife: Sure, maybe later. There was some management consultant years ago who wrote about “getting the monkey off of your back” by shifting responsibility to others explicitly. I’ve learned that when my partner says “Sure, maybe later” I MUST say “OK, let me know when you’re ready.” Learning to do that has made a huge difference in that particular, very familiar, dynamic. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/146 "2025-08-01T11:30:45Z")
My protocol in those cases is: if (I really want to do [Activity])        Pester her every half an hour or so to see if it’s already “later” else        Wait for her to mention it again. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/147 "2025-08-01T12:30:12Z")
Oof, my wife said exactly that a couple of years ago. “We’ve been married for 33 years. You SHOULD be able to read my mind.” I don’t think she was joking. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/148 "2025-08-01T12:55:56Z")
We have ring camera on the front porch and on the driveway, and they keep a history of recorded videos of activity out there. This enables Mr. brown to later see if I’ve gone into the front yard or out onto the driveway and he likes to question me about it. “What were you doing in the front yard? Why did you go out under the redwood trees?” The answer is always some sort of boring yard care minutiae, so I think I’ll make it more exciting and tell him that I’m hunting for the chupacabra that I heard, or that I’m meeting a gigolo behind some bushes. I swear I’m being stalked by my own husband. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/149 "2025-08-01T14:51:57Z")
It can turn into a kind of power struggle. I hated hearing my name called from the other room, he expected me to jump to my feet and see WTF he wanted. Like calling a dog! ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/150 "2025-08-01T15:14:59Z")
I have a family member who has the annoying habit of completing my sentences. As I am saying something, she’ll say the last few syllables of my last word or two. Me: “Who knew he drives a purple Volkswagen Beetle!” Her:“…kswagen beetle” (synchronized with my words) Perhaps at one time she used it as a way of claiming the floor before she begins speaking, or perhaps it was a way of saying “quit gabbing and get to the point” but it has become ingrained habit–a verbal tic. This is tedious and annoying, but it is just under the threshold of me doing something about it. I only see her once in a while, and it’s not worth making a big fuss. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/151 "2025-08-01T15:31:51Z")
When I was young, my mom would occasionally ask me to call someone and tell them such-and-such. So I’d call, but as soon as I’d begin to speak, she’d say, “Oh! And also tell them…” I’d comply, and tell her what the other person replied, and then she’d respond, etc. Basically, two people would have this conversation through me, and it would completely piss me off. My husband does a similar thing. He’ll ask me to call and make some sort of arrangement, such as making an appointment, or requesting a refund. But we have different ways of communicating with people, I guess, because as I’m explaining the situation to the person on the other end of the line, he’ll exclaim, “No, don’t say that! Tell them this”, or “don’t forget to tell them about blah blah.” Make your own damn phone calls, people! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/152 "2025-08-01T15:36:45Z")
My kids are procrastinators. Everything is last minute, even events like a Thanksgiving gathering. They will literally wait until the day before and then say “oh, hey, anybody want to get together tomorrow? What can you bring?” Then they’re feelings are hurt when we say “Nope, we’ve had an invitation from the niece since three weeks ago.” ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/153 "2025-08-01T16:17:33Z")
I sometimes stalk my family using the location sharing feature on my phone. My 20 something daughter lives and works in the city of Chicago. One day I noticed her location was way way far out near Downers Grove, but I couldn’t ask her why, it’s none of my business! Also I’d blow my cover lol. Eventually she shared what she’d been up to and I played innocent. I also check my spouses whereabouts when he’s out riding the trails. That way I know how long I have left with my gigolo before he gets home. 😜🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/154 "2025-08-01T16:25:18Z")
> [@chela](#): > > That way I know how long I have left with my gigolo before he gets home. My father used to say, in the times before such technological aids existed, that you should always call home and notify your spouse if you are going home early, to avoid awkward moments… ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/155 "2025-08-04T16:24:44Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > Like calling a dog! We’ll be sitting in the same area along with 3 dogs, and my husband will say “Hey!”. I don’t respond. He says, “Hey!” again. I always ask, “are you talking to me or one of the dogs?” He’s usually talking to me. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/156 "2025-08-04T18:19:06Z")
I cannot stand to have people call me (by name) from other rooms or offices. “ZonexandScout!!!” It could be they’re trapped under a fallen bookcase, or they just want me to see a pretty moon. In either case, I hate it. If they can’t yell, “Help! I’m trapped under a fallen bookcase!” then don’t yell for me at all. Grumble. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747/157 "2025-08-04T22:35:14Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I cannot stand to have people call me (by name) from other rooms or offices. It doesn’t bother me _that_ much, but I don’t like it (it’s always felt rude, even though I know it isn’t always meant that way), and it’s not something I’d do myself. If you’re in another room and I need to tell or ask you something, I will go to where you are. I suspect this has considerable overlap with why I’ve always hated calling people on the phone. I hate bothering people when I don’t know what they’re in the middle of doing or what I’d be interrupting, and I don’t like talking to people I can’t see. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-family-does-that-aggravate-you/1020747.md?page=7)