# Would you be friends with your family? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122 "2011-01-18T21:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/1 "2011-01-18T21:02:33Z")
If you weren’t related to them, would you socialize with your family? For the most part, I have nothing in common with my immediate family, so I doubt we’d socialize. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/2 "2011-01-18T21:03:27Z")
Other than my sister, no. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/3 "2011-01-18T21:08:12Z")
Oh hell yeah. They’re smart, funny, and generally good cook. What more could I ask for in friends? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/4 "2011-01-18T21:09:25Z")
God no. I moved away from them all as soon as I could (17) and I only actively keep in touch with my Dad. They’re all batshit crazy. Dad unfortunately appears to be addicted to the crazy and has remarried a woman who is quite possibly more nuts than Mom was. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/5 "2011-01-18T21:29:23Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/6 "2011-01-18T21:42:30Z")
Sweet Jeebus, no. I’m barely in touch with my own father as it is, and would prefer never to hear my mother’s voice again. I’m kind of a clear-cut case. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/7 "2011-01-18T21:46:12Z")
Good question! I’d love to, but I don’t know if it’d occur to me. BIL probably, sis probably. Bro? That’d be kind of weird, because he’s so much like me. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/8 "2011-01-18T21:51:30Z")
Gracious, no. My brother is a ridiculous hick, my sister is a lazy childish pig, and my parents (although perfectly nice, kind people) are a little too churchy for me. Not really my kind of crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/9 "2011-01-18T21:59:27Z")
Maybe my step-dad, my aunt, and my grandmother. Everyone else is just too damn nuts. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/10 "2011-01-18T22:01:04Z")
Not my parents, but my sister, my aunt and uncle and cousins. That’s pretty much the extent of my family. I enjoy their company, and believe the feeling’s mutual. However, my cousins party rather a lot, and I don’t at all so friendship might not flow so easily, unless they needed a designated driver. We always laugh a lot when we’re together. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/11 "2011-01-18T22:25:45Z")
Sad to say, but two of my sisters I would be friends with no matter what. The rest of them, no. I would not have them in my life. One of them I would actively avoid now even as a sibling if I could do it without family drama. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/12 "2011-01-18T22:27:26Z")
My family is pretty much just my brother and his wife. We all get along quite well, so I’d be happy to have them as friends. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/13 "2011-01-18T22:29:53Z")
Heh. I don’t socialize with them at all, and we ARE family. So no. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/14 "2011-01-18T22:39:33Z")
No way. My mother is an overbearing, witnessing high-maintainance invidual. My dad, unfortunately, doesn’t exist without her. And that leaves my aunt who, I suppose, would be the only one who isn’t too crazy to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/15 "2011-01-18T22:43:31Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > If you weren’t related to them, would you socialize with your family? For the most part, I have nothing in common with my immediate family, so I doubt we’d socialize. No. I have absolutely nothing in common with them. I’d probably dislike them. My mom and sister could be friends with each other though. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/16 "2011-01-18T23:17:30Z")
Sure, apart from my annoying aunt and uncle. (Assuming I had _met_ them, of course; to be honest, I don’t know that I would be likely to cross paths with people my parents’ age if they weren’t my parents and we didn’t work together.) ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/17 "2011-01-19T00:48:05Z")
My dad, I probably would not have socialized with. I probably would have thought he was terrifying and, if I hadn’t had to live with him, would have avoided him as much as possible. We got along very well at times, but that was because he was my dad and I couldn’t choose not to interact with him. If I just knew him in passing, I probably would not put in the effort to get past the worse traits in order to enjoy the better ones. I probably wouldn’t too much with my mom, even if we were the same age. We would probably get along okay if we were co-workers or something, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to befriend her. She’s nice enough- we just don’t have that much in common. My next-younger sister, I would avoid at all costs. She would be that nasty fake-ass bitch I know. If we were forced to interact, like if we were co-workers, she’d probably be the nasty fake-ass bitch I tolerate. My youngest sister and I would probably get along quite well and may well be friends. We’re into different things, but we get along well as it is and I quite like her as a person. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/18 "2011-01-19T01:59:52Z")
My mother and father, no. They are very little like me. We have very little to talk about even at family gatherings. My sister and I would likely be friendly acquaintances. Some of my cousins and I would probably run in the same crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/19 "2011-01-19T02:00:07Z")
I like my family. You folks are really upsetting. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122/20 "2011-01-19T02:30:36Z")
Probably not. I’m a quiet liberal in a sea of very vocal conservatives. Even my brother, who I consider myself quite close to, probably wouldn’t be any more interested in hanging out with me than I’d want to hang out with him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-friends-with-your-family/568122.md?page=2)