Invited to a Shrimp Boil and Told to Bring the Shrimp

[Disneybuckeye]

OP, it's now rather obvious this isn't your kind of event, and it's probable his whole family knows that, but the rest of your own nuclear family likes it, so it's time to take one for the team and bow out. If you are concerned that you will get roped in, encourage your DH and his sister to discuss jointly hosting it with help from your kids, and then make that your annual go somewhere else day. At that point you just keep smiling when they call you a stick in the mud.

Jump to conclusions much? If Ohio State would have played at noon I would go. As they play at 3:30 I am not leaving my TV until after the game is over. DH supports my OSU football obsession and gets it.

Our docks are 200 yards apart by boat. If I want to go over after the game I can easily. No one is roped into anything or needs to bow out. We are also not the hosts and they do not need us to jointly put on this endeavor.

I was just annoyed with the large amount of the main item in the party title we were told to bring and was venting. Would not say a word about this to anyone I know IRL and I have already moved past it. Venting online can be very therapeutic.

 

[crazymomof4]

I was just annoyed with the large amount of the main item in the party title we were told to bring and was venting. Would not say a word about this to anyone I know IRL and I have already moved past it. Venting online can be very therapeutic.

I get that. Sometimes too, it's helpful to hear from others that you are not being unreasonable for feeling or reacting a certain way. You need that "ok, I'm not crazy" moment and then you feel better.

 

[soccerdad72]

If Ohio State would have played at noon I would go. As they play at 3:30 I am not leaving my TV until after the game is over.

They’re playing Akron - it’ll be over by 3:45

 

[disney4us2002]

However only one of the four invites want out of it.

8 lb. of shrimp where I'm at would be a no. I doubt they'd want bags of $7 Walmart shrimp, LOL. I wouldn't but then some people like Walmart food. I would have to take a day to travel to buy said shrimp or it would be $25/lb for me.

$25 per pound? Holy cow, I'm glad I live on the East Coast. Our grocery sells the jumbo frozen ez peel shrimp pretty regularly for $9.98 per pound in 2lb bags. It seems odd to be asked to bring that much shrimp but family gatherings are a different breed than friend gatherings.

College football? Isn't that what tivo/dvr is for....

 

[NotUrsula]

Jump to conclusions much? If Ohio State would have played at noon I would go. As they play at 3:30 I am not leaving my TV until after the game is over. DH supports my OSU football obsession and gets it.

Our docks are 200 yards apart by boat. If I want to go over after the game I can easily. No one is roped into anything or needs to bow out. We are also not the hosts and they do not need us to jointly put on this endeavor.

I was just annoyed with the large amount of the main item in the party title we were told to bring and was venting. Would not say a word about this to anyone I know IRL and I have already moved past it. Venting online can be very therapeutic.

I understand college football obsessions; I'm an SEC alum who even once worked for my school's football program. (In SEC country, watching a game is always an unassailably valid reason for staying near your TV. I got married during football season ... on Friday, of course! Asking people to attend a wedding instead of the Game was unthinkable!)

My apologies for any egregious assumptions. It was just that you seemed to imply that this party wasn't your cup of tea at all, and referring to your DH' relatives as "out-laws" furthered that impression. It seemed like the timing opposite the game was a welcome reason not to go.

If you actually like boils, by all means, enjoy as many as you can; IMO they are one of America's finest culinary social traditions.

 

[LSUmiss]

What the heck is a shrimp boil?

You're choosing to watch some college football game over spending time with family? Can you just ask them to have the game on? But again college football here is not really a thing so I have no idea grown adults watched it unless they were parents of the players.

Like some have already commented, college football all is a HUGE deal is some areas. But, no one I know would ever dream of scheduling something conflicting with one b/c most ppl I know attend home games. But, we might all get together & watch the game & do a shrimp boil for an away game!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

They’re playing Akron - it’ll be over by 3:45

Have you watched us play the past few weeks? I truly hope this is the case, but right now who knows. Plus our quarterback is out injured.

Like some have already commented, college football all is a HUGE deal is some areas. But, no one I know would ever dream of scheduling something conflicting with one b/c most ppl I know attend home games. But, we might all get together & watch the game & do a shrimp boil for an away game!

The hosting family are SEC fans, but not as into football as I am. DH enjoys it, but as he did not go to OSU it is not as big of a deal to him. They are having it next weekend as OSU is away. That is how they know we would be at the lake and could bring shrimp. If it were a home game 4 of the 5 of us would be at the game.

The shrimp we were told to bring is frozen. That is how we already have it.

Go Bucks!

 

[LSUmiss]

Have you watched us play the past few weeks? I truly hope this is the case, but right now who knows. Plus our quarterback is out injured.



The hosting family are SEC fans, but not as into football as I am. DH enjoys it, but as he did not go to OSU it is not as big of a deal to him. They are having it next weekend as OSU is away. That is how they know we would be at the lake and could bring shrimp. If it were a home game 4 of the 5 of us would be at the game.

The shrimp we were told to bring is frozen. That is how we already have it.

Go Bucks!

That’s exactly how it is here. One of my best friends & her husband went to OSU & are huge fans. They live down here now.
Frozen shrimp, , is that usually how it’s done up there??

 

[Babs Johnson]

Don't forget NE. People here live and die for the Huskers. I swear, every 5th license plate has some kind of husker, go big red theme on them. I don't get it either. And you are right about not planning anything on game days. People have refused to go to weddings because the game is on.

My cousin scheduled his wedding a year in advance. But he should have realized that it would conflict with Game 6 (the clincher) of the 1996 World Series.

I don’t know if there were no-shows, but some of the men spent a good part of the reception watching the game on the TV in the bar of the catering hall.

I can understand turning down an invitation if it conflicts with a Bowl game or important conference matchup, but a regular season game against some lowly opponent?

 

[BrianL]

My cousin scheduled his wedding a year in advance. But he should have realized that it would conflict with Game 6 (the clincher) of the 1996 World Series.

I don’t know if there were no-shows, but some of the men spent a good part of the reception watching the game on the TV in the bar of the catering hall.

I can understand turning down an invitation if it conflicts with a Bowl game or important conference matchup, but a regular season game against some lowly opponent?

This is about the Super Bowl, but still pretty relevant:

 

[Disneybuckeye]

That’s exactly how it is here. One of my best friends & her husband went to OSU & are huge fans. They live down here now.
Frozen shrimp, , is that usually how it’s done up there??

No clue on the frozen shrimp. I was just an invitee and we are doing what we are told. Honestly I am not sure if we can really ever get truly fresh shrimp up here that was never frozen.

I can understand turning down an invitation if it conflicts with a Bowl game or important conference matchup, but a regular season game against some lowly opponent?

I only have 14 opportunities of 3 1/2 hours a year to see my beloved Buckeyes. For 49 hours a year I am busy. There are almost 8500 other hours a year you can schedule activities if you want me to be there.

Besides, I never said I would not go over to visit, I just won't consider it until around 7:30. I am sure the party will go on all night.

 

[mrodgers]

$25 per pound? Holy cow, I'm glad I live on the East Coast. Our grocery sells the jumbo frozen ez peel shrimp pretty regularly for $9.98 per pound in 2lb bags. It seems odd to be asked to bring that much shrimp but family gatherings are a different breed than friend gatherings.

College football? Isn't that what tivo/dvr is for....

I only have Giant Eagle as a grocery store and Walmart. I only do Walmart for non-fresh foods and the grocery store is outrageously expensive. It's not just shrimp, everything is expensive. I remember the days of grocery threads here and people talking about they only buy this or that at prices I haven't seen since the 80's. Example is everyone recently talking about ground beef prices skyrocketing to $3.99 or $4.99 when the last time I bought ground beef was probably 10 years ago and it was $4.99 for chuck and $5.99 for ground round way back then. It's now $5.99 and $6.99, so hasn't gone up much in 10 years but it's still ridiculously expensive.

 

[soccerdad72]

My cousin scheduled his wedding a year in advance. But he should have realized that it would conflict with Game 6 (the clincher) of the 1996 World Series.

Our wedding ended up landing on Game 6 of the 1997 World Series. Thankfully, it was in Miami, as our reception was in Downtown Cleveland. We did set up TVs in the bar area for anyone who wanted to watch (including my FIL) and folks were passing along score updates to me as the night went on.

We also missed most of Game 7 as we were on a plane to Hawaii for our honeymoon. Got to our resort just in time to watch the Indians lose in the 11th inning. I've always said, the best way to get over a Game 7, extra innings loss in the World Series is to wake up in Maui.

 

[Minnesota!]

We have done a few shrimp boils this year with our neighbors at our camper. Everyone brings a # of shrimp...so, we bring 4# for the 4 of us and there are always TONS leftover.

Plus a side dish or dessert.

I would tell them you are bringing a # per person and everyone else can do the same.

 

[HopperFan]

My cousin scheduled his wedding a year in advance. But he should have realized that it would conflict with Game 6 (the clincher) of the 1996 World Series.

I don’t know if there were no-shows, but some of the men spent a good part of the reception watching the game on the TV in the bar of the catering hall.

I can understand turning down an invitation if it conflicts with a Bowl game or important conference matchup, but a regular season game against some lowly opponent?

Well ... my wedding planned over a year in advance conflicted with when we found out WHO SHOT JR? There was a writers strike so everything got delayed and of course I got the hottest episode on tv my big day. No VCRs, no on demand, no nothing way to see it other than live. If some didn't come because of it, that is okay. One couple left early to go watch, I found a landline phone to call them to find out who did it, I stopped the music and just said "Kristin did it". Some smiles, some confused faces but one of the things from that night that really stood out.

SORRY to digress from OP. I have planned things around SEC family who are die hard college football fans SO .... I find it hard to believe that the hosts didn't know exactly what they were doing on many levels.

 

[BrianL]

Well ... my wedding planned over a year in advance conflicted with when we found out WHO SHOT JR? There was a writers strike so everything got delayed and of course I got the hottest episode on tv my big day. No VCRs, no on demand, no nothing way to see it other than live. If some didn't come because of it, that is okay. One couple left early to go watch, I found a landline phone to call them to find out who did it, I stopped the music and just said "Kristin did it". Some smiles, some confused faces but one of the things from that night that really stood out.

SORRY to digress from OP. I have planned things around family who are die hard college football fans SO .... I find it hard to believe that the hosts didn't know exactly what they were doing on many levels.

Man, SPOILER ALERT, please! Some of us couldn't see it because we were at a wedding. I taped it in 1980 on my brand new Betamax machine - I just haven't gotten around to watching it yet. Some conisderation please!

 

[TwoMisfits]

No clue on the frozen shrimp. I was just an invitee and we are doing what we are told. Honestly I am not sure if we can really ever get truly fresh shrimp up here that was never frozen.



I only have 14 opportunities of 3 1/2 hours a year to see my beloved Buckeyes. For 49 hours a year I am busy. There are almost 8500 other hours a year you can schedule activities if you want me to be there.

Besides, I never said I would not go over to visit, I just won't consider it until around 7:30. I am sure the party will go on all night.

Well, to be fair to your sis-in-law, there are only so many fall Saturdays...and OSU plays on almost every single one. So, she picked the least important game day, since it's Akron - I'd say that was thinking of you.

Saturdays are the prime get together days and the prime college football days - so, there's always gonna be conflict for 3+ months of good weather...

 

[Pea-n-Me]

DS went to a wedding reception at Mississippi State this summer while their baseball team was in the College World Series and it was down to the last game. He said that everyone there was literally glued to their phones. It was fun for him to see some of these big SEC schools while down there. (He thought they were amazing!) He even brought the dog home a MS bulldog toy in maroon, lol. (We are from MA.)

BTW, I have never been to a shrimp boil! But it sounds like fun!

 

[HopperFan]

Man, SPOILER ALERT, please! Some of us couldn't see it because we were at a wedding. I taped it in 1980 on my brand new Betamax machine - I just haven't gotten around to watching it yet. Some conisderation please!

I gave you 40 years to watch it, what is the legal mandatory spoiler alert disclaimer timeframe?

AND wow, you probably wouldn't have been at my lowly wedding if you had all that fancy equipment. I was impressed I had headphones I could plug in to my tv while DH was studying ... wired of course.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Well, to be fair to your sis-in-law, there are only so many fall Saturdays...and OSU plays on almost every single one. So, she picked the least important game day, since it's Akron - I'd say that was thinking of you.

Saturdays are the prime get together days and the prime college football days - so, there's always gonna be conflict for 3+ months of good weather...

The shrimp boil is next weekend when Ohio State is at Maryland. She knows better than to invite us to anything on a home game weekend as we have season tickets.

I do believe she did pick an away game as she knew DH would bring whatever she told him to bring