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TIFU By throwing trash in an abandoned lot in front of my MIL

I’m Paraguayan and my husband is Uruguayan. We don’t usually have big cultural shocks, but this one really made us laugh.

I was having lunch with my husband and my MIL. I chopped half a watermelon to have as dessert, while we were chatting, I just casually threw the whole green part (the rind) into the backyard. Behind our rental there’s an abandoned lot filled with greenery, birds, frogs, and possums. In Paraguay (or at least on my circles), it’s totally normal to toss bread, watermelon, papaya and melon leftovers outside, we leave a bit of the fruit part on the rind, because the birds like it more.

My husband and MIL looked at me like I had just dumped a TV out the window. He couldn’t believe I’d “throw our trash” into the lot. I told them it’s not regular trash, it’s biodegradable, and the animals love it! He was still unsure, checking the backyard like crazy. After a few minutes they were both amazed at how many animals started to emerge and even fight for it, he was still checking the next few days and saw it was completely gone in less than a week. He was relieved to see I wasn’t just littering, I was actually feeding the wildlife.

They now tease me and toss fruits every time my MIL visits, LOL I was so used to this that it never even crossed my mind it could be a cultural thing. I honestly thought everyone did that.

TL;DR: I threw a watermelon in my backyard thinking it was normal but it was actually just in my culture

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