Thanksgiving isn't even here yet and I'm already annoyed

[amalthia]

Here is the lowdown, this year for Thanksgiving I traveled from Alaska to Texas. That part went well.

The part that annoys me is my mom just told me one of my aunts and uncles plan to attend Thanksgiving and they plan to watch football in the living room. My mom's house has an open floor plan so the dinning area, the kitchen, and living room are all in the same space. They are planning on at least 12 people attending this party.

The biggest problem beyond my own irritation at that level of rudeness is that I can't hear well when there are too many competing noises and I've noticed over the years I don't do well with crowds or too much noise.

I'm like why the fuck are you even visiting people if you plan to watch TV? They could stay home and do that, or show up for an hour two, then leave to go home and watch TV. There is no visiting and catching up if someone's attention is focused on a TV show. Also why does "football" get a pass on family holidays in terms of what is played on TV but not other shows?

I was sort of looking forward to catching up with aunts, uncles, and cousins, but not sure that's going to happen. It's hard enough talking when there are a lot of people around and there is just conversation happening, but add in TV noise and it's just unbearable. I'll probably eat and bail. Too much noise stresses me out. I already told mom when I get overwhelmed I'm leaving the party to go hide out away from the noise.

Which is what I did a lot of when I was growing up, parties with large groups of people make me miserable. Small gatherings are fine but I think after 10 people it's just too much.

Comments

[ride_4ever]

Ditto!!! I totally feel you on this!!!

*hides from holiday overwhelm*

Alas!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm another person who has spent many holidays hiding in a back room to escape the noise and crowd. Oh, and let's not forget the wedding party with no food where I wound up standing outside in the rain. >_<

Many of my friends have had similar experiences. So, we fantasize about better alternatives. "How to Host an Introvert Party" includes resources to do your own, as well as links to fictional descriptions of what one actually looks like.

Re: Alas!

[amalthia]

Loved the link for how to host party for introverts. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Alas!

[ysabetwordsmith]

You're welcome. I keep hoping that if I give descriptions of better alternatives, more people will actually do them.

[yourlibrarian]

I remember during my freshman year of college, my roommate invited me to dinner at her family's house. It was not a large gathering, barely more than her immediate family. So perhaps it's unsurprising that the afternoon was taken up with football watching.

We'd never done that at home, not being a sports family, and assuming we had guests, they were often "the strays" who didn't have other family to spend the holiday with. So long conversations at the table made up the day.

[amalthia]

Last year was the first time I did Thanksgiving with people who are not immediate family and it was a nice small gathering. Good conversation and food. That's all that's needed. :)

[devilc]

{{{{Hugs}}}}

[princessofgeeks]

Hopefully they will watch the game with the sound turned down!

Wishing you the best and hoping there is a quiet corner or maybe the weather will be nice outside on the porch.

[amalthia]

The weather is nice in the New Braunfels area of Texas. :) In the past I'd either go upstairs or go outside depending on the weather. :) My mom's upstairs has a living room area with couches that are comfy to read on. :)

[grey853]

I'm sorry. I don't understand the whole notion of turning on TV when you're supposed to be visiting and catching up, either. If you want to watch TV, stay home or go home. I usually end up with a headache when there's a big crowd like that or when the TV comes on.

[amalthia]

This is a big mystery to me as well.

[garryowen]

All good questions! I'm the same. Let's hide out in solidarity.

Hope things go okay for you. <3

[amalthia]

Thanks! I think things will go okay. I let my parents know in advance I may need to take a break if the noise becomes too much for me. They seemed okay with that. I don't want to borrow trouble. It's entirely possible it's not going to be as bad as I'm imagining. Or they may put on the closed captions and watch with the volume down.