When I was in my early 20s, I was in community college, still living with my parents. I was working on prerequisites for an eventual university transfer. I had finished my classes for the day, so I was at the house, messing around on the computer.
Suddenly, I get a call from my mother. When I pick up, she is PISSED. I asked what was wrong, and she explains that she had just gotten a call from my younger brother’s school. Apparently, he had been caught skipping class. My parents put a massive focus on education in our house, so of course, this was a real “make or break the relationship” issue.
My mom then starts saying things like, “We raised y’all better than this,” and “You kids don’t listen.” I interrupted her to ask why she was making a generalization about all of her kids when only one of them had messed up. I understood why she was pissed, but she was directing that anger towards me when I never skipped a class ever. I pointed that out to her, and she paused for a few seconds. Then she asked me if I had done any university applications that day. I said I hadn’t, then Mom starts in on the generalizations again. “None of y’all are taking this seriously.” “All of you need to get it together, or you’ll be working at McDonald’s!”
My mother needed to think of a reason to continue yelling at me.
Mind you, I did what I needed to do in school. I studied, participated, and never skipped class. Shit, like most black Millennials, if I had a cold, I still had to go to school since I didn’t have a “real” fever. But, I got yelled at and lumped in with the sibling that caused the trouble because…Mom’s anger train was going too fast to pull into the station, I guess.
This happened many times in my youth, but that was a time in particular I remember most vividly. And I’ll never not be salty about it, especially since I never got an apology.
Interesting Times with CaptainHoneydew 
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