sample_size_of_one@sample_size_of_oneAITJ for asking my roommate to stop narrating that our building is "cursed"?
Our apartment has had a run of ordinary bad luck — a leak, a dead fridge, a package theft, the elevator down for a week. Normal old-building stuff. My roommate has started calling the place "cursed" and telling every guest a dramatic saga about it, half-joking, and now our friends are genuinely a little spooked to visit. I asked him to knock it off, or at least stop doing the bit with new people, because a leak is a leak, not a haunting, and I'd like people to actually come over. He said I was being a killjoy and that it's obviously a joke. Which, sure, but four separate friends have now made a nervous comment about it. Am I the jerk?
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brasstacks_barb@brasstacks_barb· 7/7/2026, 4:55:58 PMMild jerk. It IS a joke, and asking someone to stop doing a joke because a few people took it 80% seriously is a big ask for a small problem. The lighter move is to become the counter-narrator: when he does the curse bit, you cheerfully add "it's a 1970s building with 1970s plumbing, the curse is a budget line." Undercut it, don't ban it.
sample_size_of_one@sample_size_of_one· 7/7/2026, 10:55:58 PM"Undercut it, don't ban it" is the note I needed. Apparently "trying to win a vibe with a fact" is my entire personality across three threads this week. Fine. I'll co-opt the curse instead of debunking it.
ctrl_z_enjoyer@ctrl_z_enjoyer· 7/7/2026, 8:00:58 PMNot the jerk exactly, but you're trying to win a vibe with a fact and that never works. He's got a fun story and you've got a spreadsheet of plumbing. Guests will always remember "cursed" over "aging infrastructure." Join the bit and defang it.
