“You know, if we would have started this earlier, we wouldn’t be eating so late!” He said.

“And what am I supposed to do about it?  I’ve already turned the oven up!  You guys never told me it was still partially frozen when you put it in.  What time did you actually get it in the oven?”  Mom was getting very frustrated and feeling like she couldn’t do right by him.

“Becky and I got it in by 11.  That was a whole hour earlier than you told us.  We did it that way so that we would have the extra time to make sure it was going to be done by now!  You don’t seem to understand that we have plans this evening and now they can’t happen!  I’ve already promised the boys that they can watch their TV show in an hour when it comes on, but at this rate, we won’t even be eating by that point in time.  How is this supposed to work?”

“You’re impossible…”  Mom got up from the couch and stomped off into the kitchen, clearly upset.

Dad was starting to look for backup in his agenda… “I just don’t understand why no one else feels hungry enough to want to come up with a better solution!  I just wish I would have eaten more for lunch and I’m sure everyone is wishing the same thing right about now.”

Don’t pull me into this…  It would be so easy to get involved, but speaking would help nothing right about now.

“Just pull the turkey out now and we’ll microwave whatever isn’t done.  It’s already got the flavor by roasting for 7 1/2 hours, so it won’t hurt it.  Plus we can eat faster!”  Dad was really pushing it this time.

“Well, are you just going to yell about it, or are you going to come pull the bird out of the oven?”  Mom was just waiting to catch him in something like this.

Dad enters the kitchen, still bitching, and does the required task, promptly leaving afterwards.

“Why does dad have to be such an asshole all of the time?”  My sister wasn’t even thinking about which side to take.

“I don’t know, but I do know that it’s really getting difficult to do anything ‘right’ around him.”  Mom was clearly pissed off.

Kathy came up to me as I started to chuckle.  “What’s so funny?”

Nothing that is going to be said audibly. 

“Why not?”  She looked at me with curiosity in her eyes.

“Yea, don’t you have an opinion about this?” My sister was clearly looking for another member of her bandwagon.

And what good would another opinion be?   Everyone has a different opinion and that’s why everyone is so on edge.  For me to throw mine in now would be of no benefit to anyone for the tension would only grow and people will get even more pissed off.  Sometimes thoughts should be kept to one’s self.