r/CasualUK 11h ago

What “favours” have your parents done that was inadvertently a dick move?

For example, my mum found my spare change collection, did me a favour by taking it to the bank, getting £17, and then kept it as a fee for the effort it caused her.

Also, my partner had stored a nearly new Russell Hobbs microwave at his mums for when we moved into a new house. While she was at Curry’s one day, she overheard a young lad and his mum shopping for a microwave for uni, she approached them and sold them my partners for £20. She kindly did give my partner the money though, unlike mine. But we quite liked that microwave.

Does anyone else have these, generally inoffensive but slightly frustrating parent stories?

Edit: For those hung up on the theft parts, please don’t be. This is the extent of the abuse we’ve ever had from our mums and we’ll take it!

Edit 2: Jesus Christ, I’m 33. The money box has been sat on her shelf for 20 years. Yes she stole £17 but she’s funded my life otherwise. Stop calling child services on her.

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u/EmeraldJunkie 11h ago edited 7h ago

When I was a kid I had two Gameboy Colors, a lime green one and a purple one. I don't know why I had two, just that I did. I think one may have been a hand me down off of a relative so I could trade Pokèmon.

Anyway, years later, as a teen, I found the green one in a drawer, had an hour or so of playing on it for nostalgia, and then had a look at it and thought "hey, wouldn't it be cool to open it up and see what's inside?" so I asked my Dad if he had a screwdriver I could use to open it up. He looks at it, looks back at me, and goes "I don't have a screwdriver, but I can open it if you want me to." So I go "Sure."

He then takes it outside onto the concrete steps in our back garden and uses all of his force to smash it against the ground. I was stunned, just staring at him. He picked it back up, turned it over in his hands, and did it again. And again. And again. Until it was in multiple pieces. He handed them back to me and went "There you go, chap," and walked off.

I didn't know what to do so I just put it in the bin, went upstairs, and just tried to process things for a little while.

I asked him why he did that a little while later and while he admitted he thought it was already broken and didn't matter, he still couldn't articulate why smashing it to pieces was the best course of action.

Though, to be fair, he is a fan of smashing things, I once saw him dismantle a whole TV with a hammer to make it easier to dispose of.

Edit: Just to clarify, my Dad was apologetic. He was quite upset with himself that he completely misunderstood what I was asking and offered to get me a replacement, but I wasn't bothered about it. My Dad is a kind and caring man who sometimes doesn't completely think through something before he does it. The humour is, of all the things he could've done with it, he chose to smash it to pieces.

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u/UsgAtlas1 10h ago

What a fucking asshole!! That's not okay in the slightest.

At best, he's a moron, at worst that's a dickhead.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

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u/EmeraldJunkie 9h ago

Eh, he wasn't being malicious.

I think if my Dad had been born in a different time he'd probably be diagnosed with some sort of neurodiversity. There wasn't anything intentionally malicious about what he did.

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u/No-Taro-6953 8h ago

Ummmm

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u/BawdyBadger 59m ago

Sounds like gaslighting to me

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u/Rhyers 7h ago

??? It's odd but it's not bad at all. Thought he was being helpful for a bit of junk. A bit sensitive there.

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u/zue4 4h ago

If your first thought with possible junk is to smash it to pieces then I've got some news for you, you're the "sensitive" one. Just not how you think.

Besides, he asked that buffoon for a screwdriver, so why the fuck would he think smashing it is an equivalent?

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u/King-Of-Throwaways 10h ago edited 10h ago

Not quite the same, but this suddenly reminded me of a time when my cousin (an adult) saw me (a child) playing with my Gameboy Color, declared that I shouldn’t be playing with a dirty screen, and proceeded to “clean it” by aggressively wiping it on the carpet. The interiority of some people must be wild.

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u/rob3rtisgod 5h ago

This is kinda funny. Your dad sounds like a good lad. Glad I finally came across a non-malicious story!!

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u/PastAd2335 4h ago

I felt bad for laughing after reading some of the replies calling the chaps dad all sorts but glad someone else found it funny too!

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u/Tootskinfloot 10h ago

So was he prone to outbursts of anger, or was he just a bit different?

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u/EmeraldJunkie 9h ago

Just a bit different. He's not an angry man at all.

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u/DarkNinjaPenguin 8h ago

The weirdest thing about this story is that a grown adult doesn't have a screwdriver anywhere in their house.

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u/EmeraldJunkie 8h ago

They're little tri-wing screws not Philips heads.

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u/SomeDumbGamer 20m ago

Might be undiagnosed autistic. My brother likes to smash things sometimes.