People on Twitter share stories of their dads accidentally inviting the ‘wrong Barry’ over
We’ve all had our fair share of embarrassing moments with our fathers, from their corny dad jokes and oftentimes outdated fashion, to them pulling out their cameras on your first prom or sharing your embarrassing childhood pics and stories to your friends.
Nevertheless, we all still love them for it.
A user named Elsa Williams made the rounds on Twitter yesterday, June 17, after sharing that her dad mistakenly invited over a different person with the same name as his friend on his day off.
“My dad invited his friend Barry over (via text) on his day off. Turned out he invited the wrong Barry. Currently the wrong Barry is here, whilst everybody else is doing their best to pretend he isn’t the wrong Barry and I’m silently shrieking,” she tweeted.
My dad invited his friend Barry over (via text) on his day off. Turned out he invited the wrong Barry. Currently the wrong Barry is here, whilst everybody else is doing their best to pretend he isn’t the wrong Barry and I’m silently shrieking
— Elsa Williams (@elsalwilliams) June 17, 2021
“Wrong Barry,” as Elsa referred to him in this situation, is not actually a complete stranger. She clarified that unlike “Right Barry,” the other Barry (whom they also love) just doesn’t usually come to their house, hence the confusion.
In the thread, she added, the “best part is that he thought he’d arranged to see Right Barry (who lives a fair distance away) for weeks and months, and then Wrong Barry walks up from up the road.”
The initial tweet that started the thread has over 3,000 retweets and 49,000 likes as of writing, and the Friday Night Dinner-esque anecdote has elicited other Twitter users to share their dads’ own awkward moments.
John Lloyd shared how his dad brought home an “old friend” he hasn’t seen since the 60’s, only to find out that they never actually met before and are friends with other people who share the same names.
In about 1993, my dad and an old friend he hadn't seen since the 1960s met by complete chance. Dad brought him home to meet the family.
— John Lloyd (@Cyclopunk) June 17, 2021
After a couple of hours, and the...
During WW2 my grandad made a long, expensive return home after receiving a telegram that said “Brother Tommy died”. He thought his brother died, but it was an older neighbor whose full name was “Brother Toomey”. The Toomey family was apparently very touched he’d made the trip.
— El Luchador (@ellesanto) June 18, 2021
Ian Row, who is a father himself, invited a different Danny to his wedding, and so both the wrong and the right Dannys got to see him get married in the end.
User @ellesanto’s grandfather thought his brother Tommy died and made a trip back home, only for it to be just his older neighbor.
Dr. Alice Little also shared a similar thread from February about a plumber with the same name as the family’s dad being added into their WhatsApp group chat and overstaying his unintended welcome for six months.
For 6 months there's been someone in my family whatsapp group who I thought was my dad but was in fact a random called Peter (my dad's name). This person has sat and read every message and never thought to chime in to inform us that we've added the wrong Peter
— Jonno (@jonnohopkins) February 24, 2021
Thanks to Elsa’s Dad, the two Barrys, and texting, the Internet and the family both have something to happily talk about this Fathers’ Day.