38 Comments
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Joe Not Joey's avatar

Damn. What a bittersweet story. Beautiful and tragic. Takes me back to my childhood before my father got sober. He was also a heavy drinker who wouldn’t take a drop of disrespect from anyone. When this happened while he was under the influence of alcohol, 🤦🏻‍♂️ . Let’s just say it was a recipe for some really toxic behavior. Luckily back then 4K video wasn’t a thing, camera phones weren’t either and almost nothing ended up on the internet because there wasn’t any place for it to go. I’ve seen and had a hand in colossally more dramatic situations. My experiences were wildly traumatic at times because they were really violent and I had a front row seat but nonetheless I know how you felt. I felt similarly for years before he got sober. In fact I got sober about 4 years ago because I saw myself becoming as destructive as he was to people and the world around him only my targets were myself and my family. It’s hard not to love them through all the mess because at the end of the day they’re our parents but in reading this I naturally cling to your sadness and embarrassment more than the love and grace you have for your mom. I think it’s more challenging to choose love and acceptance so it speaks volumes of your character. This was a great piece and vulnerable too. Thanks for sharing. I FELT this.

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Ray Downs's avatar

Thanks for reading and sharing this story, Joe! Means a lot

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Marc Typo's avatar

Such a great story. This could only happen in Walmart - never Target.

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Ray Downs's avatar

🙏

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Sudana Krasniqi's avatar

This EXACT thought ran through my mind- couldn’t be Targét

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Marc Typo's avatar

It's so depressing at Walmart. I hate to speak ill of people, but the workers sometimes feel as lost as I am when I ask for help.

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Ray Downs's avatar

As a former Walmart employee, I can assure you this is accurate.

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Marc Typo's avatar

Blink twice if on the first day of training they said “Listen here, this ain’t aTarget.”

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FabChic's avatar

She sounds like a handful! I’m lucky; my Dad was a big man but a happy, funny drunk.

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Ana Bosch's avatar

Aaaah Marc, you crack me up

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Joshua Conner's avatar

Laughter and sadness walk hand and hand often. I greatly enjoyed reading this as my mom is also a little crazy.

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⚡Thalia The Comedy Muse⚡'s avatar

Same. My whole family is a little crazy. Good people but I empathize with him. Sometimes you just have to suck it up for your loved ones.

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Lindsay Byron's avatar

Damn, that was beautiful.

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Ray Downs's avatar

🙏

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Robert Peter Kearns's avatar

came for the gratuitous video of obese people taking their self-loathing out on others...

feel cheated

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Ray Downs's avatar

My bad, dawg

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Robert Peter Kearns's avatar

it’s all good dude, it was a worthy write-up.

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Will Boucher's avatar

What a great read! Equal parts funny, sad, and profound. I can't decide if the mother sounds like someone who would be fun to drink with or a CPS call waiting to happen

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Ray Downs's avatar

Thanks for reading! She's definitely both. Just don't piss her off when she's past the 8th beer or it won't be CPS you have to call.

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Will Boucher's avatar

Damn she sounds like a hoot

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Ana Bosch's avatar

This was warm and heartbreaking. Beautiful.

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Jeanne S's avatar

I enjoyed what you did with this !

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JahChristo's avatar

Hey there! This story compelled me to crack up, well up with tears, reflect on my past fondly, and with a more serious take, I subbed. Thanks! I needed that and will surely appreciate more. 😂

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Ray Downs's avatar

Thanks, man. Much appreciated!

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Joanne's avatar

Very sad.

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Disemelevatorized's avatar

I love this story. I love out of control Americans. I hope you all are doing well.

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Nirmal And Gordon Engine In NY's avatar

She sounds a bit like me Ken mum, except mine didn’t know the internet well enough. She also didn’t get into quite so serious fights, but Oi. I lost me dad when I was 16, and for a few years prior, he’d have violent tantrums. He’d threaten to burn the house down. He’d then go off in the middle of the night, after saying he’d commit suicide.

the thing was that I couldn’t defend her. I cared, I loved her, but defending her would have fed into her negative behaviour. I had to do the tough love thing, n b a mum to me own mum. I couldn’t defend dad’s behaviour either. I did once have to defend mum against dad. They rarely did that for me.

For me, I was frequently neglected, despite the parents saying otherwise. They were there, but their focus was on themselves.

Sometimes, we as the children of mentally ill parents and grandparents, have the toughest decisions. We have to choose between doing what’s harder, but also what is right, or letting the parent do as they will, because we feel powerless.

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Not Sam Harris's avatar

This is the way.

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Angela Marrant's avatar

What a joy to read that!! 👌👌👌

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Jonathan Byrd's avatar

Whew. What a gut punch. So real.

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Ahmed’s Stack of Subs's avatar

bare feet. you know some stuff has gone down.

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