Pro tip: I counted 14 awkward silences at Thanksgiving and now we play a game
Last Thanksgiving at my aunt's place in Tulsa I started keeping a tally on my phone and hit 14 dead air moments before the pie even came out, mostly after my uncle asked who voted for who. So now we do a $2 bingo card with squares like "someone brings up politics" and "cousin cries in the garage" and it honestly fixes the whole vibe. Has anyone else tried turning the weird stuff into a game, or is that just me being weird?
Ballot talk at dinner is insane, your uncle has zero chill @benc53. But honestly the bingo card idea is kinda brilliant, it gives everyone something to do besides stare at their plates. We did something like that at my family's Christmas, squares for "someone naps on the couch" and "gift receipt gets regifted." The dead air thing is real too, 14 silences is a lot of silence to sit through. Making a game out of it beats the heck out of pretending everything is normal.
Wait, your uncle actually asked people who they voted for at Thanksgiving dinner? That's like bringing a live grenade to the table and pulling the pin just to see what happens. I can't believe nobody threw a roll at him. The bingo card is genius though, turning that mess into a game beats sitting there pretending you don't want to scream.