DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m an adult woman with an extremely loving, wonderful mother. However, my mom’s online persona reflects a different side of her -- one that often makes me embarrassed (for her) and appalled by the insensitive smut she posts on social media.
For example, she’s posted several memes joking about COVID and its severity; she recently posted something to the effect of “scared little sheep b-tches stay at home.”
My husband, son and myself caught COVID. My husband was nearly hospitalized. I don’t think this is funny in the slightest, and I feel like she is embarrassing herself: She’s friends with many physicians at the company she works for.
Any time I try to even remotely talk to her about anything related to today’s political climate, she says “I don’t want to talk politics” and drops it.
How do I confront her about this without publicly commenting on her posts and embarrassing her? I don’t feel that’s the correct way to go about it, but I can’t just keep ignoring it.
GENTLE READER: Your mother works with doctors and she thinks COVID is funny? And your family had it?
Uh-oh.
Adult children do not have a high success rate when they try to bring up their parents. But as this could have serious effects on your mother’s personal and professional life, it is worth trying.
Given that sample of her postings, Miss Manners is guessing that your mother is unlikely to respond to the issue of taste. But if she is as loving as you say, surely the fact that these posts strike personally at you, your husband and your son should give her pause.