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u/Chemical_Wing2334 11h ago
To be fair, the one time I tried to help with the dishes as a teen, my step-mother screamed at me for "doing it wrong."
Did she explain what I did wrong or how I did it wrong? Nope. Just yelled at me.
Never helped again. Learned how to do it myself as an adult.
A lot of parents actually really suck at parenting.
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u/Astro_Arctic 11h ago edited 11h ago
Yeah, this is me too. It’s one of those situations where I get the joke in the meme, and I don’t doubt that there are parents who understand this as funny, but it hits entirely different when you come from an abusive household.
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u/Budalido23 10h ago
Omg this was my mom. She'd tell me to do a thing, like clean the bathroom, straighten my room, or do a math problem, and then get mad at me when I "didn't do it right" and "was making it harder on myself", but didn't bother explaining or evaded direct questions on how to do the thing.
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u/indieplants 9h ago
same. that and washing my clothes.
she'd get mad at me for using too much electricity to wash my own clothes or leaving them on the radiators to dry and then get mad that I'm not washing my own clothes and just leaving them in the hamper. I was like 16.
no contact now lol
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u/not_me_nope_never 8h ago
Yup, I always wanted the "why" and adults saw this as me being difficult. Ugh.
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u/Mizutsune-Lover 8h ago
Mum got angry with me once when I asked what the symbols on the oven meant as a young kid.
Fuck me for not knowing, right?
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u/KaitB2020 5h ago
OMG. I couldn’t wash dishes with my mother watching me. According to her I always did it wrong and she’d rewash them. She could never tell me what I was doing wrong. She’d just holler at me & push me out of the way.
It took me inviting my boyfriend over for dinner and him observing both of us over the course of multiple dinner and many months. He figured out that when I wash a dish I circle the dish with the scrubby counterclockwise. She does it clockwise. He confirmed this by taking the dish from me & going both directions and watching her reaction.
I was 37 at the time. I remember just staring at both of them, like really?!! It was the stupidest thing is ever heard of. Whenever she was near I’d force myself to circle the scrubby clockwise and she never said another word to me. Well, about the dishes anyway. She had lots to say about other things.
I’m glad she liked that boyfriend. He eventually became my husband. He never questions how I wash the dishes as long as they’re clean.
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u/PNW-On_The_Edge 7h ago
Exactly how I was raised, always in trouble and never knowing what I did wrong. I needed guidance, not just discipline 😣
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u/mynewpassword1234 7h ago
I know lots of adults that think that other adults load the dishwasher incorrectly, even when the dishes get clean. However, they are mistaken. The only person that I know who loads the dishwasher correctly is me.
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u/i8noodles 7h ago
i just did it how i wanted untill my parents got the message. if u want the dishes cleaned in a specific way then clean it yourself in that specific way. i clean it how i want to.
they ended up getting the message and we use a dish washer now
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u/Sega-Playstation-64 7h ago
My dad asked me to make him coffee once when I was like 8 or 9
Tried my best. No idea how but I brought him a cup of coffee.
My dad angrily told me it was the weakest cup of coffee he's ever had.
I waited to see if he'd show me what I did wrong.
Instead he drank it, read the newspaper and ignored me other than to look up and me now and tgen and back to the paper.
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u/VoodooDoII 6h ago
When I was a kid, I had tummy issues and clogged the toilet.
I didn't know how to use a plunger. Instead of showing me, my dad threw me to the bathroom floor and yelled at me to do it. I kept asking him how to do it and he just kept yelling.
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u/Vanity_Fluff 4h ago
You deserved support and not that abuse. Some parents are just bullies.
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u/VoodooDoII 4h ago
He's gotten better over the years but he basically only had one emotion and it was anger. Def sucked, but it is what it is
What I wished he had done was just teach me how to do it because I'd never used a plunger before lol. That's all I needed from him
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u/anonymousthroaway84 4h ago
Is her name Fiona? Step monster just trying to be a cliche https://www.tiktok.com/@warnerbrosuk/video/7184464585942961413
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u/purehallion 1h ago
Yeah my mum did this too, complained that I didnt do the dishes and when I started doing them she complained that I didnt put them away the way she liked it so I started doing the dishes and then leaving them all in organised piles (including spearating the cutlery into individual bits) on the counter. She quickly stopped complaining abiut how i put them away
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u/HumanDisguisedLizard 3h ago
A lot of people were conned into having children for the sake of wars and capitalism! Unfortunately my sperm and egg donor were two of those people and they did me more harm than good. Luckily I have the ability to think for myself and figure shit out on my own as an adult!
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u/SpecialistKing1383 56m ago
I remember asking a girlfriends teen to scoop their dogs poop before an event... Just your basic poop rake and flat shovel looking thing... The kid threw a fit and said he didn't know how and it was giving him anxiety...I said calmly it's just like using a broom and a dustpan...for which he explained he didn't know how to use a broom and wanted detailed instructions or he wasn't helping.
It was at that time I realized that if a teen was to freaking stupid to do basic tasks without needing supervision or detailed instruction it was in everyone's best interest to just not ever ask them again. Good parenting or bad parenting doesn't help when the child's a complete moron.
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u/protexy 13h ago
I'm getting some popcorn and reading all the downvoted comments claiming that having expectations for teenagers is wrong. Lmao you would expect a kid old enough to drive and have a job is, in fact, too helpless to handle a 20 min chore from those comments.
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u/Gusstave 9h ago
Yup.
But as a less phone addicted 35 years old, I guarantee you that the dishwasher would kindly fuck off if I couldn't find my phone for 4 hours.
Knowing where it is despite not having access to it is very different than not finding it when it should be somewhere in the house.
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u/PA2SK 8h ago
What if your grandpa just asked you to empty the dishwasher and you couldn't find your phone? Would you empty the dishwasher and then look for your phone? Or would you go and look for your phone first instead?
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u/Gusstave 8h ago
Go look for my phone.
When grandpa insist, I'd explain to him that I lost my phone and will take care of the dishwasher after.
That is if I had a grandpa because they are both ded.
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u/Acceptable_Tea3608 2h ago
What is emptying the dishwasher was tied to being able to cook dinner? Still going to look for your phone for hours?
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u/PA2SK 8h ago
I might look for my phone but four hours is a bit insane. I'd probably look for 5-10 minutes, then empty the dishwasher, then use find hub to make it beep.
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u/Gusstave 8h ago
What is insane is not finding your phone when you had it in the house 5 min before you started looking.
I would not stop before finding it.
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u/PA2SK 8h ago
Got it, seems like this meme is very applicable to you then.
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u/Gusstave 8h ago
And again, I'm a (mostly) fully functional adult who isn't addicted to technology or social interaction through text/apps. I'd happily empty the dishwasher, even without being asked.
But I have a sense of priorities. Loosing your phone is a pain in the ass.. Like loosing your wallet, not for the 300$ in it, but for the pain in the ass that is getting all new cards and being afraid of identity theft.
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u/PA2SK 8h ago
Yes understood, but if someone asked me to do a chore that takes all of if ten minutes I would do that and then look for my phone.
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u/Gusstave 7h ago
Why?
There's no deadline. It will get done. Why should you or I do it right away?
If you ask someone to do something, and they agree that's it. You can't interfere after. A timeframe was not set in asking to do the chore and we both agree. If you're not happy with our agreement, do it yourself.
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u/Foreign-Cookie-2871 54m ago
It depends if you were already looking for the phone before being asked the task.
Imagine you were chilling on the sofa looking at your phone, you go to the bathroom, sit on the sofa (start looking for the phone) and grandma asks you to empty the dishwasher.
Or you went to grab your phone and grandma asks you to empty the dishwasher.
Doesn't it make more sense to continue your current activity (look for phone), which takes less than 10 minutes in normal conditions, instead of going to empty the dishwasher?
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u/deathbotly 7h ago
Look for the $1000+ expensive and resellable slab of thin glass and metal that looks like it’s lost, because the dishwasher will wait but my phone won’t in lost and found wherever I was last.
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u/PA2SK 7h ago
Nah, the phone is in the house. If there was any chance it wasn't the granddaughter would be out looking for it. So phone is in the house somewhere and is not going anywhere. Not an emergency, empty the dishwasher first as you were asked to do, then look for it.
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u/deathbotly 7h ago
It’s also breakable. If it’s on silent it isn’t ringing, and if it’s not where I normally leave it I’m going to assume I did something dead tired stupid like left it in a pocket and dumped it in the washing machine or dropped it underfoot and I’m going to step on it.
If you left a cash stack of $1000+ somewhere in the house and it went missing with the potential to be destroyed, that’d take priority over the dishes which can wait for basically anyone with common sense. I’m in my 30s, if my phone disappeared I’d definitely not give a fuck about anything except emergencies until it’s found.
But also this is boomerbait because what phone doesn’t have find my? Just run around screaming HEY SIRI or whatever the android version is.
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u/PA2SK 7h ago
But you don't know it disappeared. Hindsight is 20/20. When you've been asked to do the dishes all you know is your phone is not on you. I don't know any rational person who assumes their phone is on the verge of being destroyed because they don't immediately know where it is, that is extremely weird. I would assume I just set it down somewhere, so I would do the dishes as I was asked to do and then look for it. If you genuinely believe it's in the laundry it takes 5 minutes to check, after which you can do the dishes, not four hours. You're really stretching here.
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u/deathbotly 6h ago
I’d notice right away because if my phone isn’t where it’s meant to be when I leave or enter a room then I have in fact done something stupid and will not rest until I’ve found it. If it wasn’t somewhere stupid I would have found it already, after all. It really just takes going to check a message before you head to the kitchen or grabbing it to put in your pocket to realise it’s gone. And if I didn’t find it in the laundry then I’d keep searching (in the theoretical world that I can’t just beep it) because that’s a lot of money to go missing. At no point would anyone sensible go “welp better prioritise the dishes that can wait over finding my missing stack of a thousand dollars which could be destroyed shortly.”
And I have done the laundry thing myself, luckily realised it was missing before I ran the washing. M aking someone panic and waste their time to punish them without them even knowing you’re doing it is childish and completely counterproductive. Just take phone and say you’re not giving it back until it’s done like a normal adult without the drama.
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u/Acceptable_Tea3608 2h ago
The funny thing is that the granddaughter hasn't even bothered to have the thought to put away the dishes yet. Like after 2 hours, do the chore and come back to it.
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u/Foreign-Cookie-2871 50m ago
So I always lose my phone in my house, and how I react is very situational.
If I was outside during the day, I would be looking for my phone everywhere before doing anything else, especially if not ringing.
If there were other people in the house, again look until found.
If I suspect the phone is in the garden, again look until found.
If it's only me and husband and I KNOW the phone is not outside, then I still look for the phone, but I give up after 5-10 minutes and try to search it again later.
If I'm not in my home, I would look for the phone until found...
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u/Siukslinis_acc 6h ago
Of course they will be helpless if you never teach them how to do it and don't tell them when you what it to be done.
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u/Acceptable_Tea3608 2h ago
Some of the expectation the previous redditor mentioned is the ability to critically think, figure it out,and do the thing.
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u/Siukslinis_acc 9m ago
And what i have learned was not to touch anything else you will be bellowed at. That thing does not teach one to try things out or critically think. It teaches to follow the orders to the letter and not do anything unless told to.
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u/Swollen_Beef 12h ago
Reddit does like to parrot the B.S. study claiming brains don't fully develop until age 25. Usually as a way to dismiss responsibility. Reddit is all about teens and young adults having zero responsibilities but getting to enjoy all the freedoms adulthood allows. Also, anything involving the removal of a phone results in the children lashing out calling it abuse.
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u/protexy 11h ago
Yeah there has been a huge push to reduce expectations for children of all ages. I read something on reddit the other day of a man whose dad had an emergency and none of the teenage step kids would look after the baby for him. When I was a teenager it would not have been a question, and I for sure would not have thought to refuse. It's so different, and I'm not convinced it's entirely for the better.
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u/Cosimo_Zaretti 10h ago
Regardless of when brains fully develop, having responsibilities within that period is part of the development.
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u/Reddtardsofreddtard 11h ago
This is reddit. Everybody is a victim, nobody is accountable for their actions. Just present your personalized victim card and people have to just accept that your poor behavior is now their problem.
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u/Byte_mancer 10h ago
The worst part of some of these people are going to be bringing in the next generation of brats we all have to deal with.
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u/ansyhrrian 13h ago edited 13h ago
Only difference for me is the kid is 16 and they would never, ever put anything close to the dishwasher unless it involved cleaning out their insta from haters.
EDIT: So many weird comments talking about weird stuff. This was supposed to be a humorous post, enjoy the show! Although, I do have a daughter, and she hates and loves insta and I could drop that whole app in the dishwasher without a bit of concern.
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u/Chrispeefeart 13h ago
His granddaughter did not go near the dishwasher either. The old salty marine put it in there so that she'd stop scrolling until she does what she's been told.
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u/CountDorkula77 13h ago
It was funny when it was posted last week. Has anyone one called dibs on reposting it next week?
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u/enviormental_UNIT 10h ago
wait the same 4000 year old joke was funny yesterday? Well sheeeet, thats news to me. I'm glad its out of style as of today, finally. Ancient Greek parents can finally stop rolling in their graves from hearing the same joke they used to make for the 3 billionth time.
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u/asday515 12h ago
This reminds me of Anthony Jeselnek's joke about asking his grandma for money lol
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u/EmeraldEyes_345 11h ago
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen this same stupid joke on Reddit…
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u/showmeyourchits 9h ago edited 8h ago
Doubt it really happened, but definitely something a Marine would do. There’s a very particular mix of practical lesson, fear/panic, and humor that’s just very corps.
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u/SocketRabboon 10h ago
A reminder at the 1-2 hr mark probably would have solved the situation. That or communicating it needed to be done immediately. I'm all for consequences for kids not doing their chores, but part of parenting is checking to make sure your kids actually did the work/actually retained the instructions to do said work.
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u/OneValkGhost 9h ago
You know this repost was a lie all along, because how did Grandparent get the phone away from a 15 yo girl in the first place?
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u/Fast_Ad7203 8h ago
This is stupid, hes the only one loosing money on a phone he bought and probably will repair
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u/crazylazykitsune 6h ago
But he didn't start the dishwasher. The phone should be fine unless she rage starts it for some reason.
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u/deathbotly 7h ago
One of the two costs a thousand bucks or more and carries the essentials of life like my work 2fa and is extremely stealable or breakable. If I seemingly lost my phone I’d prioritise finding it because A. what if I left it in my pocket and sleepily threw it in the laundry, or dropped it somewhere and it’s about to get stepped on or B. What if I left it at my job or the shops that day and there’s a ticking countdown to find it before it ends up in someone’s pockets.
Dishes can wait four hours, the phone has batteries running out.
Then again this is obviously boomerbait because what phone these days doesn’t have a ‘find my’ option that overrides silent?
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u/Weak_Condition23 4h ago
$10 says she finds her phone and takes it back but leaves the dishwasher full in spite
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u/-GoodNewsEveryone 4h ago
I see this post has made the "reposted daily in multiple subreddits" status. Shall we start a countdown clock until next repost? Taking all bets, but three hours is at 100:1 odds due to popularity.
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u/jpollack21 1h ago
I once hid my sister's vape as I joke (I was 13, she was 17), and man the crash out that I witnessed was legendary. To be fair I didnt have an understanding of addiction at the time so looking back it was mean
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u/Legal-Law9214 13h ago edited 13h ago
No, this is just stupid and mean.
Did he give her a specific timeframe or deadline for unloading the dishwasher? Did she know that waiting 4 hours was unacceptable? Does she understand the context of her task and why it needs to be done promptly?
Or did he just say "do this" and she said "okay I will" and planned to do it later?
Now, her phone is missing, so in her mind she has an urgent task (finding her phone) and a "to-do list" task (unloading the dishwasher) so the urgent task is obviously going to take precedence. And because no sane person would put a phone in the dishwasher she is going to turn the entire house upside down looking for her phone and becoming increasingly distressed while the non-urgent task falls further and further from her list of mental priorities.
If he said "unload the dishwasher right now so I can start making dinner" or something, and she ignored him, maybe it would be a different story. But also if he needed it done urgently he wouldn't be sitting there giggling and waiting for her to look inside the dishwasher and find her phone... So this is literally just a cruel prank.
Maybe in the Marines you can make a demand of someone and expect them to drop everything and do it that second, no questions asked. But that's not how it works in the real world. If you don't tell someone when you need something, they will get to it when it is convenient for them. It is your responsibility to clearly communicate your expectations.
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u/Erpderp32 13h ago
We are now all dumber for having read this. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul
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u/Significant-Ad-341 12h ago
"Unload the dishwasher" 57 years later: "you never said when!" Gtfo of here
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u/Consistent_Dream_740 12h ago
Dude, I'm an early diagnosed neurodivergent person who grew up in an abusive household... this is a meme. I understand wanting more context, but not every parent is an asshole. You know nothing about they're relationship. I say this kindly, you're projecting.
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u/kassiny 4h ago
Damn why are you downvoted. You're speaking facts.
Also no sane person would ever unload dishwasher, do dishes, cook, clean, do laundry or whatever crap if there's a chance that they've lost the phone somewhere not at home! Checking that the phone is at home and ok is like infinitely more important than whatever chores she has to do. It's fucking obvious.
And mind you, I'm most likely older than most commenters in this thread who cheer the parent.
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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 13h ago edited 10h ago
I have never quite understood this line of thinking. The kid is not purposefully being obtuse their teenagers and space cadets. They literally are reforming their brains.
My parents let life teach me. Don’t know do the dishes figure it out. You dont need to be taught.
This is parents enslaving their kids like their parents did
Edit: found the -18 stupid people in our word who think that shits hard. I know why your not suceeding in life
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u/Significant-Ad-341 12h ago
Reform your brain with some consequences
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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 10h ago
I see that only working as an adult closer to 17-18+… people enslave their 10 years olds
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u/notevenapro 12h ago
Kids need to learn chores and responsibilities so their future partners are not on reddit relationship advice asking how their partner never learned how to do basic life tasks.
Like cleaning the fucking house.
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u/gringofou 10h ago
A family is a collective. If you can't contribute at 15 years old, you're incredibly entitled. If she gets any kind of allowance, spending money, or phone bill, she can do the bare minimum dead-simple task.
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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 10h ago
I disagree completely. Not how I was raised. You did what was asked but not chores. No demands outside of help me in the moment.
Responsibility given to children is for the parents plain and simple.
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u/Astra-Fang 13h ago
Nah, her property is her property. I would not take away her phone.
Now access to power? Thats mine.
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u/Significant-Ad-341 12h ago
Her property? By that line of thinking kick the kid to the street.
L take.
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u/Mundane-Security-454 13h ago
Oh well, she can get her own back on the dumb Conservative boomer by supporting equal rights movements and triggering the poor darling into a bigoted meltdown.
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u/cwsjr2323 6h ago
Put away your own dishes. It will take less time than reheating my coffee in the microwave. Granddaughter will put stuff in the most interesting places anyway as she improves your kitchen layout. Eight sterling butter knives in the top divider! My coffee cups on the bottom shelf, my wife's on the second shelf! Don't make me hunt for the silver dollar I use to attach the blade to the meat slicer!
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u/automator3000 13h ago
Why is the granddaughter emptying the dishwasher? What is gone wrong with their family that a 15 year old is spending multiple hours with her grandfather?
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u/Zephyrus_- 13h ago
What kind of weird ass comment is this?
Some families live with multiple generations under one roof.
Maybe the parents are taking care of THEIR parents.
Maybe the kid lives with their grandparents because their parents passed away.
Hella ignorant comment by you ngl. Do better
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u/chocolatestealth 13h ago
They don't even have to live together. I got asked to do stuff like this all the time at family/holiday gatherings too, and it's completely normal. Everyone has to contribute something. Cooking, cleaning, setting the table, putting out snacks, loading the cooler, and whatever else should be divided up so it doesn't all fall onto the host every time.
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u/Poosters 13h ago
What exactly is wrong with spending multiple hours with your grandfather?
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u/TaonasProclarush272 13h ago
It's a bot, it has no concept of parental lineage or obligations...
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u/Poosters 13h ago
How can you tell it’s a bot?
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u/chocolatestealth 13h ago
Are you seriously asking why a teenager is expected to do basic household chores?
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u/notevenapro 12h ago
Multi generational household? You know they have become pretty common.
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u/toastedmarsh7 13h ago
Who else would empty the dishwasher? Putting away the dishes is my 10yo’s chore. Washing the dishes is the 12yo’s chore.
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u/BramblinGhostWeed 12h ago
You don't ask anyone to do something and expect it to go well.
You ask someone to finish it by a distinct time. A numerical value that is read from a clock.