To ask about your little rebellions?

[Sensibletrousers]

I’m sitting here about to get changed for Zumba and I want to wear shorts but my legs aren’t shaved. I will be wearing shorts anyway. It’s a little rebellion, a tiny “up yours” to the man.

I have always found little ways to rebel (recovering people pleaser) that don’t actually hurt anyone so that I don’t have one massive rebellion and ruin my life one day!!

I also don’t share food, even with my kids, and am unapologetic about it. It’s now a family joke.

What little rebellions do you enjoy?

Always. Because I haven’t read the message when the read receipt request pops up. I may have seen the email, I may have even opened it, but I haven’t read it yet (and might prefer that the sender didn’t know I’d read it).

I wish I had such brilliant ideas when my children were younger. Would have saved so many arguments

( But you are obviously wrong re the which Sussex is best. Though you doubtless also correct people who say sussex - they must pick a side )

Our local authority did that to me recently, handwritten envelope 'Mrs (DH's initial) Teapot. I ground my teeth in a way the dentist would not like to hear.
One of my aunties does it as well at Christmas.

I am sending the elves round next time.

You are a good person 🙏

This is fab! What a lovely thing to do for others!

Don’t have to do this as much nowadays, but any unsolicited mail that included forms to fill in - I’d put the letter/form in the enclosed envelope and post it. Made me feel better to think of them dealing with the rubbish they’d posted.

When I lived in a block of flats, the postie would often just drop their elastic bands on the floor of the communal hallway. I’d often pick them up and post them in the postbox on my way to the tube.

I’m another who will drive just under the speed limit if someone is tailgating me.

Thank you, but I am not remotely! I pay a ridiculous amount to keep a membership and they used to have one full free day a week, which has now been cut down to a few hours one evening a week. I fully understand that museums charge fees in order to keep the doors open, I just think of it at getting my money’s worth.

@KisstheTeapot14
This has happened to me before "Mrs (husband's initial) Unreasonable. I have returned to sender and said no one by that name lives here however there is a Mr (Husband's initial) Unreasonable and a Mrs (My initial) Unreasonable. The message soon got through very quickly when all their posters being returned to sender. In 2023 why am I not worthy of my own first name!

(Me and DH double barreled our surnames as well which often confuses people who think I should have his surname)

I didn't take my husband's name when we married (in the 80s so more unusual then). One of my aunts used to use my real name for everything except envelopes: on those, she used my husband's surname as my surname because she 'didn't want to scandalise the postman'.

What a brilliant thread. You're all wonderful. I really revel in my little rebellions, many of which have been mentioned already. I'll add:
Deliberately looking the other way when someone drives past in a flashy car they're obviously hoping to get attention by driving.
Always questioning what my ILs mean when they state cliches like a fact e.g. well that's boys for you. They really struggle with that and I like to think it makes them ponder a bit (it probably just annoys them).
Ignoring emails I don't want to deal with until they become irrelevant.
Never answering the phone if I don't recognise the number. If it's important they'll leave a message.
When DH leaves his shoes in the middle of the hallway I put them right outside the study door so he trips over them when he comes out.
I never time anything when cooking or look at a recipe - I know it means it sometimes goes wrong but I like to freestyle and use my intuition rather than slavishly follow instructions.
I like to pack as little as possible when travelling so that I'm not weighted down by unnecessary stuff, including things that women feel they have to have with them at all times. Going away with a group of girlfriends for a night I took a tiny toiletry bag, a spare pair of pants and T shirt, my phone, purse and keys. Everyone else took cases with hairdryers, full changes of clothes for the evening, big make up bags... they all had to go to the hotel to drop their luggage and I went off to a gallery on my own for an hour with my small backpack and a smug smile (pathetic, maybe, but made me feel great).

I'm laughing my socks off at the po-faced Aunt.

Nonetheless, I never considered the act of keeping my own, actual family name as a 'rebellion'. It never even occurred to me to change it in the first place.

The default position is that (if you're lazy like me) and don't go to really finicky efforts to change your details and provide your documentation to all and sundry, your name remains your actual name. That only alters if you actively change it.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been told 'your husband's name is your legal name!' Uh - no it isn't. MY name is my legal name. And yes, it's mine. It isn't on loan to me from a man, any more than my brother's is.

I don't know where all these 'interesting' myths related to female identity come from, but it's depressing how frequently I am still addressed as Mrs Hisname.

It's been 15 years.

I just know if I did this I would get a ticket the very first time!

I volunteered to do this once (they said the aircraft was very busy and those who put their bags into the hold could board first blah blah).

We then waited 90 minutes to get our case back at the other end.

I won't make that mistake again!

“When DH leaves his shoes in the middle of the hallway I put them right outside the study door so he trips over them when he comes out.”

This is hilarious. I keep thinking about you doing it and it has made me giggle quite a few times today, 😂

I'm going to start doing this from today! Great tip.
Also the other acts of rebellion are great too, I share some of them: not following recipes. going against the clichés "boys will be boys" is my most hated one, therefore my username. Also ignore random calls.
And of course never consider taking my husband's name. He can take mine if he wants to. 😀

That they deliberately leave their recycling dirty so the whole lot can't be recycled. I can't remember why though.

The thing is it's actually my study which he took over during lockdown and now uses twice a week wfh, so I feel it's a double revenge.

I've had the opposite experience of this - we couldn't get off the plane until the hold hand luggage had been extracted from the forward luggage compartment, even though the stairs and the bus were already there, meaning I missed my bus and then my train.

My DH insists that we make tea in a teapot. I couldn't care less how it is made, as long as it is the right strength. He claims he can tell the difference between teapot tea and not-teapot tea. If he is being annoying, I make it in the mugs. That'll show him!
(Before I get jumped on, we both make tea for each other - this is not a time for "why are you making team for him?" comments.)

@user1471540245 I only drink tea that’s been made in a tea pot and I can instantly tell just by looking at a cup of tea if it has been or not.

@PollyThePixie same. I would reply to user1471 but it appears she is no more. Let that be a lesson to us all! On the dangers of non regulated tea making!

I go to.ikea to buy one candle just to let them know that I don't consider it destination shoping and that I don't want to buy a new sofa from them

Now that is true commitment to rebellion, given the horror of IKEA!

OOh I've remembered another one. Neighbour stuck a card through my door, to tell me she was having a birthday party and she hoped it wouldn't be too noisy. Now in my view, etiquette requires that she should also have extended an insincere invitation to pop in for a drink, which I would undoubtedly have declined politely as she's as mad as a box of frogs .... however, it wasn't that which caused me to be miffed.

She'd addressed the card to a version of my name which nobody ever uses. (For the purposes of this post, let's say my name is Susan, only close friends call me Sue but she addressed both the envelope and the card to Susie.) I was livid. So I wrote her a birthday card and deliberately spelled her name wrong. Twice. Petty but so satisfying.

I am still here @Otzi .
If DH really can tell the difference that just makes it more meaningfully rebellious.
And I definitely can't tell the difference in taste, but in the mug is significantly quicker!