My wife's family has a punishment for being late to Sunday dinner.
By @ashkay · Family
If you're more than 15 minutes late for Sunday dinner, you have to do the dishes for everyone. I'm talking a full, multi-course meal for 12+ people. I got hit with it for the first time last week because of a fender bender on the highway.
The full story
I married into a big family, and they have a lot of traditions. One of them is Sunday dinner. Every Sunday, no excuses. Another tradition is that if you're late, you get punished. The rule is if you show up more than 15 minutes past the 'dinner bell' (yes, my mother-in-law literally rings a bell), you're on dish duty for the entire party. Not just your plate. Everything. All the pots, all the pans, all the serving platters, all the silverware. The whole nine yards. Usually there's at least 12 people there, sometimes more. Well, last Sunday it finally happened to me. My wife and I were on our way over and some idiot rear-ended me at a stoplight. It wasn't bad, nobody hurt, but we had to wait for the cops to show up to make a report for insurance. It took forever. I called my wife's mom and explained we were going to be late because we were in a minor accident. We ended up getting there 40 minutes late. I walk in, and my brother-in-law just smirks and says, "Tough break, man. Looks like you're on cleanup." I thought he was joking. The accident wasn't my fault. But nope. After dinner, everyone got up and left the table and I was left with a mountain of dirty dishes. My wife tried to argue for me but her mom said, "Rules are rules, honey. It keeps everyone honest." I spent the next hour and a half scrubbing pans while everyone else was watching the football game. I'm still annoyed about it.
How people voted
- OP Is Right — 35% (38 votes)
- Both Messy — 33% (36 votes)
- OP Is Wrong — 33% (36 votes)
Readers are split: “OP Is Right” leads with 35% — 110 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@maey — Couldn't your wife have just done them with you?
@ines — Your in-laws have some serious control issues.
@willalol — what a warm and loving family.
@finnish — Soft.
@hankok2 — Are you sure this is the first time you've been late?
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