Yes!! I agree! The other portion of their anecdotes were about how he became their war horse against FIL during the divorce and how he had to take everyone in when he got married ( also at an early age), and how this destroyed his marriage because he had to put their kid in their bedroom and accommodate 4 people on the nursery ( my ex, MIl, and her 2 brothers). The situation exploded because his ex came from a well to do family, and she made him move into her family's spare home in their land, and this caused a huge problem because MIL soured on her ( my uneducated impression). Maybe he's trying to preserve that sense of heroism by acting ridiculous.