Had to choose between telling my aunt her turkey was dry or choking it down for the 5th year in a row

Last Thanksgiving at my cousin's place in Phoenix, I had to pick. Option A was to politely say something and risk her getting all defensive like she did to my uncle in 2019. Option B was to just eat the dry bird and pretend it was fine. I went with B, chewed through 3 helpings, and spent the whole night drinking extra water to get it down. But then my brother blurted out "needs gravy" at the table and she stormed off to the kitchen for 20 minutes. Has anyone else just learned to keep quiet at these things or do you actually speak up?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa525d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I gotta push back here. Honestly, I think speaking up is the right call every time. Your aunt might get mad for a minute, but that's better than choking down dry turkey year after year. Keeping quiet just teaches everyone that it's okay to serve bad food and waste everyone's time pretending it's fine. Your brother had the right idea by accident, even if he wasn't smooth about it. In my experience, a little honesty saves you from a lifetime of dry turkey and sore throats.

reesemiller24d ago

Haha, right? Honestly, your aunt is probably gonna be mad for a bit anyway, so might as well get it over with. I mean, if she's been serving dry turkey for years, she's gotta know deep down it's not great. Your brother ended up being the hero of the story, just a clumsy one. I'd rather have one awkward dinner than twenty more years of pretending I love sawdust disguised as poultry. Plus, if you speak up, maybe next year someone brings a gravy boat.