Everyone has experienced Thanksgiving mishaps, but Kelioun Martin recalls one that ruined a perfectly delicious dinner.

Martin, a junior studying Information Technology, was just 6 years old and the little kid in a house full of adult family members.

“My mom, aunts and grandma were all cooking in the kitchen. All the guys … were drinking and watching football in the basement,” he said. 

Someone realized cousins flying in from Alabama were at the airport and needed to be picked up. 

“Due to everyone else drinking, my mom and grandma went to go pick them up,” said Martin. “Before they left, they told us to tell the guys to take the food out of the oven when the timer went off.”

Soon, the timer rang.

“I ran downstairs to tell them the food needed to be taken out of the oven,” Martin said. “They were all focused on watching the football game. I tried to tell them about the food, but they told me to stop talking when adults are talking. I waited till they finished. 

“By the time I got to tell them the timer had gone off and it was time to take the food out, mom and grandma were back with my cousins from Alabama,” he said. “Mom and grandma went into the kitchen only to discover that the food was burned and dried out. Thanksgiving dinner was ruined.”

Mother and grandmother got angry with Martin.

 “I looked at the guys who had shocked looks on their faces,” he said. “They confessed they didn’t know what I was trying to tell them, and they were watching the game and talking to each other. When I would say anything, they told me to stop interrupting while the adults were talking.” 

Martin recalls the excited chit-chat was pretty much over by the time dinner – such as it was – was served.

“That was an incredibly quiet and tasteless Thanksgiving,” he said.