I have some freaking anal retentive relatives.

[WOT?*]

My opinion is uncle's freaking anal and uptight.

My sister's family is visiting my uncle (mom's younger bro, a former computer geek with a major O&G company and now a history prof at a university) in Texas. I've never really kept up with him, I'll leave that to her. He posted family pictures of them with him and his wife with the following comment:

"2 1/2 generations of "Sister's Family" (my niece (sister's name), her husband, their daughter, son, his wife (and their son-in-waiting) spent a week with us. Great fun. Here we are at the top of Mt. Bonnell, the highest point in Austin--a whopping 800 feet."

(names redacted.)

I made a couple silly comments (or I thought they were silly in a quick, half-assed, 3:00 a.m. on Facebook sort of way.)

Nephew ("son") is growing a beard (in celebration of the baby; he started growing it when they learned she was pregnant and he's not shaving until the baby is born) so I joked (since the comment was "highest point in Austin" which is code for "it's colder up here than the lower altitudes" right?) with "His facial hair will keep him warm up there." Haha, right? In our family it would be a haha and an eyeroll. Uncle's wife commented "What a nice looking family." Sometime later I commented something along the lines of "They look nice don't they? Looks can be deceiving." :devil.

Uncle sends me a MESSAGE with: "I'm sure you meant to be funny in your comment to (wife). But it came across as mean. I suggest (actually, ask) that you delete it." And he liked everyone's "nice" comments but not mine, of course, not even the beard comment. Point taken

WTF dude, that wasn't funny? In our family (me and the sisters or me and the kids) we'd laugh it off as hilarious. Out of courtesy, I did delete it though. Sheesh people. Get a sense of humor. I also messaged him back an apology and explanation of the comment: "It was meant to be funny. I have deleted the comment as you requested. In our family (me, Sister1, Sister2) it would be taken as such. The :devil or :evil would be a "haha" emoticon with the little devil guy snickering (which I don't know how to do so just use the coding). My apologies to (wife) if she took it as mean-spirited. It was in no way intended to come across that way. We girls have snarked similarly between us for eons, none of it mean-spirited. (Sisters) would have made the same (or similar) comments to me. Again, my apologies if the the intent behind the words was misinterpreted. (with an ETA for clarification) Rather, I should say 'I apologize *as* the intent was not clear' and not 'if the intent...was misinterpreted.'"

How do I do a poll? I want to know who the jackass is, him or me or both. lol.

[birdistheword]

I thought she said it was her sister and BIL and their kids in the picture along with her aunt and uncle? I would assume she knows her sister and her niece and nephew very well, and knew it would be taken as a lighthearted joke by them. Did I misunderstand something here?

I don't think you were out of line at all, actually. It sounds like your uncle has no sense of humor and hates fun.

[WOT?*]

The folks in the picture were my sister, BIL and her kids. I've known my sister and her kids all their lives and my BIL for over half of his. My uncle is a decent enough guy who does show flashes of humor on occasion.

Uncle is my mom's younger brother, and no, he's not a total stranger. We grew up with his kids until our family moved to central Cali from LA, although we still visited several times a year until I got married, had kids and life got busy and sucked for a while. He's gotten more pretentious in his older age but he's always had signs of it (beach house, house on the hill in an upscale area of LA, classic Porsche weekender and BMW daily driver in the garage, "successful wife" (that wasn't as successful as he'd hoped)... He's since graduated to Organic Farmer and Professor of American History at respected university.) Sister in question was always a "favored child" in his eyes (as in she spent summers babysitting his kids and earning four figures starting at thirteen, even though I'm older, because I was a "bookworm" and "introvert" and she was an outgoing athlete they "could trust with their kids" - his response when I asked once upon a time. I suppose he thought I'd spend my entire summer reading in a corner and leaving his kids to run the streets unsupervised, joining gangs or whatever, I guess.) so he can currently bite me if he can't see humor in a comment aimed at my sister and her family...who by the way all have a terrific sense of humor.

I'm now wondering if he's viewing the comments through his lens of "she's bitter, fat older sister with dysfunctional family life who resents the fun, popular younger sister/NICU nurse with the perfect family." Or if he's simply turned into an anal-retentive old shit with no sense of humor beyond his own limited scope (because yes, he does have a sense of humor. I've even caught him laughing and having fun on occasion.)

I'll go with Anal Retentive Fucks for $600, Alex.

[ohiowan]

I think the first comment was fine, the second comment maybe followed with a wink would've been taken better...maybe? If it was posted with him and his wife in the photo as well, maybe that's part of the issue.

Either way even the tic implication that they're (as a whole) less than a nice family when the profile is open to friends and family that you're unfamiliar with is a little off-putting.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

Jan 9, 2013 4:52:53 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

The folks in the picture were my sister, BIL and her kids. I've known my sister and her kids all their lives and my BIL for over half of his. My uncle is a decent enough guy who does show flashes of humor on occasion.

Uncle is my mom's younger brother, and no, he's not a total stranger. We grew up with his kids until our family moved to central Cali from LA, although we still visited several times a year until I got married, had kids and life got busy and sucked for a while. He's gotten more pretentious in his older age but he's always had signs of it (beach house, house on the hill in an upscale area of LA, classic Porsche weekender and BMW daily driver in the garage, "successful wife" (that wasn't as successful as he'd hoped)... He's since graduated to Organic Farmer and Professor of American History at respected university.) Sister in question was always a "favored child" in his eyes (as in she spent summers babysitting his kids and earning four figures starting at thirteen, even though I'm older, because I was a "bookworm" and "introvert" and she was an outgoing athlete they "could trust with their kids" - his response when I asked once upon a time. I suppose he thought I'd spend my entire summer reading in a corner and leaving his kids to run the streets unsupervised, joining gangs or whatever, I guess.) so he can currently bite me if he can't see humor in a comment aimed at my sister and her family...who by the way all have a terrific sense of humor.

I'm now wondering if he's viewing the comments through his lens of "she's bitter, fat older sister with dysfunctional family life who resents the fun, popular younger sister/NICU nurse with the perfect family." Or if he's simply turned into an anal-retentive old shit with no sense of humor beyond his own limited scope (because yes, he does have a sense of humor. I've even caught him laughing and having fun on occasion.)

I'll go with Anal Retentive Fucks for $600, Alex.

This right here DOES make you sound bitter.