Funerals are already uncomfortable enough without feeling like you’re being policed for talking.

So, what would you do if you attended a family viewing where everyone was expected to sit in total silence, and the moment you quietly stepped out, half the room followed you? Would you feel responsible for disrupting the service?

In the following story, one young woman attends her aunt’s funeral and encounters this exact situation. Here’s what happened.

AITA for ruining a funeral

My aunt (dad’s sister) passed away, and I am back in town, so I decided to go to the funeral.

She had two children. Her son who lived with her and a daughter I will call Sue.

They lived in a small town about 2 hours away. It was going to be a family viewing at the funeral home and then grave side service.

Apparently, no one was allowed to talk.

As I was signing the guest book, a cousin I hadn’t seen in years came over, and we started talking. This was in the hallway before you get to the viewing room. Sue came out and shushed us.

I was embarrassed thinking we were talking too loudly (even though I didn’t think so). So we went into the viewing room. There, everyone was sitting and looking at a monitor with videos of the deceased. They had sad music playing, but no one was talking, just sitting quietly, looking at the monitor.

After about 15 minutes, I whispered to my sister, who was in front of me, that I was going to bounce. She said she would go out with me because she had something for me in the car. She and her husband followed me out.

Sue got mad and blocked her.

Then their adult children and their family followed. My cousin also came out to talk in the parking lot. I noticed other people leaving also. We all talked in the parking lot for a little while and left.

Sue contacted me on Facebook and said I ruined her mom’s funeral by leaving and taking half the people with me. I don’t think I did anything wrong, but I apologized and said I had an emergency come up and had to leave. She then blocked me.

I feel bad that I upset her at her mom’s funeral, but I have never been to a funeral (family receiving/viewing) where no one was allowed to talk.

AITA?

Wow! It’s not like she did it on purpose.

Let’s see what the fine folks over at Reddit think about this whole thing.

This person explains how people handle funerals differently.

Here’s someone who gets where she’s coming from.

According to this person, her behavior was fine.

Yet another person who doesn’t think it was her fault.

This was not her fault.

It’s not like she announced her departure to everyone. Sheesh.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.