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Mine was having a drunken dinner party guest berate a member of our household just this thanksgiving. This guest was a cousin of my wife’s and he was loudly berating my wife’s sister who also lives with us (in her 7 YO daughter’s presence). The particulars of our domestic arrangements are discussed in Michael Callahan's answer to Would you date a single mother?The issue was that he took exception to my SIL divorcing her ex being “a disgrace to the family.” The divorce in question happened about seven years ago after her abusive ex was convicted of murdering a police officer and was sentenced to life imprisonment/no possibility of parole/parental rights terminated.For my wife’s family, divorce under any circumstances is a “big no-no” for religious reasons, and he was one of the more fanatical types of that faith. I have converted to that faith, but consider behavior such as his to be “over the top”, especially calling my SIL a “no-good tramp” in front of her daughter.I spoke to him in private, reminding him of something that I had seen from the outside of his house during the past summer (the police had paid him a visit for a domestic crisis call by his wife…), and suggested that it was time for him to go home. His wife was present and sober, otherwise I would driven him myself.Please excuse my taking liberties with this question; but I consider insult to a member of my household to be an insult to me, and I am far less charitable about an insult to my own than one aimed at me personally. This cousin is not welcome in our house until he apologizes to my SIL and she accepts the apology, and then he must apologize to our niece. That has been made clear to him by me.Update 07Apr20201I now have a daughter! The adoption went through on 26Mar2021. The circumstances are a bit unusual, but it makes all that has existed for the last six years official. The particulars are found on:What is an incident that changed your life?https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-incident-that-changed-your-life

My youngest son was having a fun birthday party at Chuckee Cheese, which is exactly what he asked for. He was turning eight, and we invited a joint friend of his and my middle son, who was ten. The friend was also ten. The night before, I got a phone call from the mother of their friend, who was one of the nicest people on the planet. She was anxious about calling me, because she did not want to be intrusive, but offered to PAY for her fourteen year old son to be allowed to come. I was absolutely mortified that he felt we didn’t want him to come. Quite honestly, I did not think a fourteen year old would be interested, but if he wanted to come, he would be welcome. I dropped the ball, and felt really, really bad that I had not let THEM make the decision whether he wanted to come. And he was a very polite, quiet, and thoughtful child. His mother had instilled the same traits in him that she practiced. So, I profusely apologized to both her and her son, naturally refusing any offer of payment. I said one joint present would be more than sufficient, but Janie would not hear of that, either.When I explained to her older son that he was always welcome to anything, and it was my fault for being a stupid old adult, he smiled and we shook hands. He forgave me, and we all had a great time. But I still feel bad about it, twenty-two years later. Live and learn, I guess.

I live in Canada, so I'm not sure I’m able to properly answer this question, but there’s a story I haven’t seen mentioned here yet that fits perfectly.Ketchup chips, timbits, “pencil crayons”, waterproof money, Thanksgiving in October, apologizing, and milk bags (at least in Ontario; I have yet to find any in Alberta or BC) are all such a normal part of Canadian life that I often forget they weren’t invented by Americans.There are so many great bizarre stories from Canadian history that it’s hard to choose just one. But if I had to, I nominate the most vicious international conflict Canada is currently taking part in.I present to you Hans Island.The island is rather small, only a little over a square kilometre, and has no permanent residents. At first, it would seem like a relatively average large rock in the water.It’s located in the cooler bits of the country, specifically Nunavut, which for those of you who are still rusty on your Canadian geography is like Alaska but better.Well…at least, it’s in Nunavut according to Canada. According to Denmark, it’s part of Greenland.Due to some complicated border disputes, the Canadian and Danish governments have been battling for Hans Island since the 1970s. There is an international law that would help deal with this issue; it says that countries may lay claim to any land within 12 miles of their shore.Unfortunately, Hans Island is in the middle of a 22-mile strait between Canada and Greenland, so according to the law, both countries technically own the island.Current Canada-Greenland border. Notice the lack of a border at Hans Island.How do they deal with this? For thirty years, the militaries of both countries have been coming to the island and claiming it while the governments work out who gets what, which they still haven't.When the militaries come, they do something rather funny: the Danish army puts up a Danish flag and leaves snaps for the Canadian army to drink, and the Canadians put up their flag and leave the Danes some whiskey and a note that says “Welcome to Canada”.Please take a moment to appreciate that Canada deals with an international land dispute by routinely giving the enemy whiskey and a card.Welcome to Canada.