I come from a family that enjoys to complain… Don’t get me wrong, they will never admit it.
They are under the impression that they are all incredibly hard & nothing can get to them, then however, if you make the mistake of telling them about something that’s ailing you, you’re about to get an earful about how bad their issues are.
There’s no way that your issues can begin to compare to how hard their lives are. It’s harshly maddening. It does not matter if you’re calling because you have a head freezing or because your dog died – somehow it’ll be worse on their end! Recently, my mom wouldn’t stop calling me to tell me all about how bad the weather was in his area. She was completely aghast about the outdoor heat & humidity, & he was releasing some of the heat by venting at me. She kept telling me that the air conditioning system component was running harder than ever before. She insisted that he had never been so sizzling & uncomfortable in his whole life. She wanted to turn off the central cooling system, however he certainly worried that he would never be able to sleep again. Instead, he was facing the reality of paying for a absurdly high energy bill after all of this sizzling weather. She rambled on & on about his heat & indoor cooling issues, while I sat silently back & let his complain about the temperature. I knew there was no point in reminding his that his heat & humidity didn’t really compare to my weekly reality residing in the deep south.