In my house the only proper conversation topics were local sports and current TV shows. My dad waxing that our team not doing well could take up half a dinner. Sitcoms would take up the other half. My brother could quote the Office for, I'm not exaggerating, 30 minutes or more.
As little kids, we were put down for using potty humour in the strongest possible terms, which I guess is sorta fine but I don't think the intensity was needed. My brother and I got told to stop convo as adults were talking about Big Things. As a got older and started to care about social justice issues, I was told that I'm being too political. My brother in law complaining that his workers had no drive was always acceptable.
I half get it. My parents were prole, albeit settler white prole, and TV was their mental health support. I do wish my parents did therapy, we were expected to do it at an early age (I started at 9!), and a lot of it was just dealing with an imperfect home environment.
Anyhow, I stopped going to family holidays really early, like from 19 onwards. For a long time I thought I was a dick for not getting involved.
Sorry to rant. Honestly I'm not upset now, I'm just wondering if anyone has a similar story.
Still do. I don't talk about shit else with my family other than like. Landscaping and physical renovation anymore; because god help me their politics are fucking shit and they're scared piss-, shit-, bile-, and blood-less of the spray-tan porky. I have wasted like. Seven years trying to radicalize them; but if the literal fucking genocide their names and SSNs are attached to won't do it, nothing will.
As you might imagine, I don't really do get-togethers anymore without getting EXTREMELY blunted or functionally-tipsy beforehand. I'm genuinely ashamed of most of them.