Gaslit By My Mom
When I came home for break, my mom, Evonne Ziegler, took me to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a big Thanksgiving dinner.
As soon as we got there, she asked me what I wanted to eat. I picked up a pack of salmon and dropped it into the cart, but she immediately took it back out.
"Salmon has radiation contamination now. You can't eat that."
I glanced at the rotisserie chicken instead, but I was still turned down.
"Chicken is full of growth hormones. They grow them in a week now. You'll get sick eating that."
Apparently, everything was off-limits, so I lost interest and stopped talking. I figured I'd just let her buy whatever she wanted.
But that upset her too. "I specifically brought you to the store. If you want something, just say it. Now you're just being silent. How am I supposed to know what you like?"
Not wanting to ruin the mood, I casually pointed at some peaches nearby. "I like peaches. Let's get some."
"We already have peaches at home. Don't buy any. You won't even eat them."
On the drive back, Mom suddenly sighed.
"You're so hard to please. We basically came out here for nothing."
The moment I heard that, I suddenly thought this whole thing was pointless.