Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think back on this year's best "WTF" threads

346 replies

rainbowmash · 18/12/2021 17:45

I've been inspired by a recent post on AIBU about a DP handing vegetables, bamboo, and mis-matched hard drives full of films as gifts to OP and family (OP, I hope you don't mind me mentioning this as an example! I also hope you get some better gifts this year!)

Among all the more serious stuff, there have been quite a few threads this year which crossed the line into serious WTF territory. Some that spring to mind for me:

The lady whose new neighbour tried to enlist her into befriending his wife who had significant language barriers - and the resulting thread which got weirder by the day! If I remember, the OP was very calm and level headed about the whole thing!

The OP whose DP was in a cycling club which was being followed around by a mysterious self-appointed cheerleader who turned up to their events and who nobody could get rid of!

What have been your favourite threads from the MN twilight zone?

(I'm not a journo, btw, but if anyone feels like paying me for recycled MN posts, do go ahead!)

OP posts:
Cheerbear24 · 20/12/2021 17:33

There was one back in summer where an OP had gone away on holidays with a friend and both their kids. The friends kid starting acting bratty and wouldn’t go to bed and kept making elaborate excuses to stay up each night when OP’s kids were packed off to bed. The OP was getting more and more pissed if as she wanted to drink wine without the kid there.
It sounded like the OP put up with a lot of poor behaviour until one night she snapped and had a Barney with the friend about it and got pissed with people in neighbouring chalet and latched onto them a bit and poured her heart out. She then packed up the car very early and slunk off home very early one morning the following day without speaking to the friend - can’t remember what the title was.
It just reinforced my view that I never want to go away with anyone!

Vapeyvapevape · 20/12/2021 17:37

There’s a new one about budgies

Youdoyoutoday · 20/12/2021 17:40

@Cheerbear24 didn't it turn out that the poster had posted about it before and basically rehashed an old thread to make herself look better and that she was judging her friends parenting skills because the friend never just sent her kid to bed?

Youdoyoutoday · 20/12/2021 17:40

But yes, never holiday with others was definitely what I got from that too Grin

TheRemotePart · 20/12/2021 17:41

I don’t know about any other threads, but if anyone’s interested: my neighbours WERE growing a cannabis factory… Shock

Cheerbear24 · 20/12/2021 17:42

[quote Youdoyoutoday]@Cheerbear24 didn't it turn out that the poster had posted about it before and basically rehashed an old thread to make herself look better and that she was judging her friends parenting skills because the friend never just sent her kid to bed?[/quote]
Oh did it? Maybe I didn’t see the end of it then ?
I can’t remember the posters name but at the time they posted prolifically and had a particular style.

DarlingDarwin · 20/12/2021 18:11

That one where someone saw someone who looked vaguely possibly masculine in a gym changing room and wanted to know if she should have gone postal in case she/he was trans and might have attacked her. Despite the other person not coming anywhere near her or in anyway engaging with her.

RandomCatGenerator · 20/12/2021 18:12

@WomanStanleyWoman

My vote goes to the one from the woman who got annoyed that her father-in-law didn’t offer her any champagne when she’d gone to his house, so kept eyeing the bottle so that her husband would pour her some instead. There was then a massive drip feed that they had turned up at a celebration to which they’d very specifically not been invited, but just went anyway because her husband really wanted to see one of the other guests.

There was quite a lot of follow-up on the FIL too. Apparently he tried generally to control what the OP drank, on the basis that he’d once ordered her one fizzy water when she’d wanted two, and also she and her husband had sometimes run into the parents at their local pub and ‘they never send us any drinks over’. (Call me Mystic Stanley, but I sensed drink was a theme.)

Oh, and she also said she should be treated better as ‘the mother of his only grandchild’ Grin

This sounds insane and amazing - any chance you know the title or OP username so I can find it?
ChateauxNeufDePoop · 20/12/2021 18:27

@Cheerbear24 Yes the thread got pulled due to repeated troll hunting and the story having more holes than a swiss cheese. The poster had also posted quite a few frothy threads including one about whether to pick up her kids from her exes then kept dripping and dripping about the situation.

Haven't seen her username since but could have name changed I guess.

Someaddedsugar · 20/12/2021 18:30

I have to vote for the one about the budgies that's running now!

Catastrophejane · 20/12/2021 18:37

@Coffeeneedednow

Can't remember the thread, but it ran alongside the second hand changing bag in the charity shop. On the other thread, someone came on to comment to the OP that bearing in mind, mumsnet was full of premenopausal, frazzled women, discussing a second hand changing bag in a charity shop, how could they possibly know what (whatever the aibu was) was. I cant remember the thread but that comment amused a lot of people.
This was the one about the kids seeing hooded people chanting in the woods! The aibu was if it was wrong to suspect satanic abuse.

One of the funniest comments I’ve read on here. Grin

Someaddedsugar · 20/12/2021 18:38

@Vapeyvapevape great minds - I was nearly crying laughing when I read the OP!

Maireas · 20/12/2021 18:56

@Cheerbear24

There was one back in summer where an OP had gone away on holidays with a friend and both their kids. The friends kid starting acting bratty and wouldn’t go to bed and kept making elaborate excuses to stay up each night when OP’s kids were packed off to bed. The OP was getting more and more pissed if as she wanted to drink wine without the kid there. It sounded like the OP put up with a lot of poor behaviour until one night she snapped and had a Barney with the friend about it and got pissed with people in neighbouring chalet and latched onto them a bit and poured her heart out. She then packed up the car very early and slunk off home very early one morning the following day without speaking to the friend - can’t remember what the title was. It just reinforced my view that I never want to go away with anyone!
That one turned out to be a load of nonsense. It got pulled.
Maireas · 20/12/2021 18:59

I did like that one, mentioned by pp, about the woman that became a kind of cheerleader/ groupie for the husband's cycling group. She made them all muffins and waved them off, but she didn't know them. Most odd.
Then she turned up at the OP's house for their party and ignored her.

Kate0902900908 · 20/12/2021 19:26

Omg! The guy who cooked the masseuse a steak!!! Sweet Jesus that was so frigging weird!

DukkaTheHallsWithBoughsOfHolly · 20/12/2021 19:34

@WomanStanleyWoman

My vote goes to the one from the woman who got annoyed that her father-in-law didn’t offer her any champagne when she’d gone to his house, so kept eyeing the bottle so that her husband would pour her some instead. There was then a massive drip feed that they had turned up at a celebration to which they’d very specifically not been invited, but just went anyway because her husband really wanted to see one of the other guests.

There was quite a lot of follow-up on the FIL too. Apparently he tried generally to control what the OP drank, on the basis that he’d once ordered her one fizzy water when she’d wanted two, and also she and her husband had sometimes run into the parents at their local pub and ‘they never send us any drinks over’. (Call me Mystic Stanley, but I sensed drink was a theme.)

Oh, and she also said she should be treated better as ‘the mother of his only grandchild’ Grin

Oh I remember that one, it was nuts!

They turned up uninvited at the OP’s in laws as they were having dinner with an old family friend who was visiting from abroad. The fil had opened a bottle of champagne before they turned up and the OP ‘made eyes’ to her DH that he should get her a glass, and couldn’t understand why the fil was pissed off that they had randomly turned up in the middle of hosting someone and wanted to drink their expensive champagne without being asked!

Then loads of people suggested that if they had wanted to meet this family friend why hadn’t they arranged to do so separately to which the OP replied that her DH wasn’t that friendly with them! It was bonkers! And I think the OP had a drink problem.

FaoinDrualus · 20/12/2021 20:00

The woman on a bus who complained that a man told her that her bags were too big and taking up the fly space. So she screamed at him and he moved to the flight seat.
He was the one being unreasonable, and we never did figure out what either the fly space or the flight space were on the bus. Lots of people asked and the OP said they had obviously never been on a bus.

ImprobablePuffin · 20/12/2021 20:04

Hop on over to the budgie thread that's active at the moment.

-Delightful Christmas mayhem ensues-

Petesdaughter · 20/12/2021 20:29

Does anyone have a link to the current budgie thread please?

PriamFarrl · 20/12/2021 20:34

@FaoinDrualus

The woman on a bus who complained that a man told her that her bags were too big and taking up the fly space. So she screamed at him and he moved to the flight seat. He was the one being unreasonable, and we never did figure out what either the fly space or the flight space were on the bus. Lots of people asked and the OP said they had obviously never been on a bus.
That was a zombie from about 5 years ago.
FrazzledCareerWoman · 20/12/2021 20:45

Sorry if I missed it but what happened to the one where the MIL would stroke her son's naked torso for 10-15 mins every time they met?

FaoinDrualus · 20/12/2021 20:46

That was a zombie from about 5 years ago. Was it?! I read it fairly recently Grin
My all-time favorite was the Mexican House Thief - now that one must be ancient!

Drybird2020 · 20/12/2021 20:48

@TheRemotePart

I don’t know about any other threads, but if anyone’s interested: my neighbours WERE growing a cannabis factory… Shock
I remember your thread! What happened?