Name-calling never solves problems.
Even so, as our emotions are one of the few things in life we genuinely have no control over, we sometimes find ourselves calling people names against our better judgment.
A decision we often live to regret.
That being said, if name-calling never solves problems, the names we call people aren't always inaccurate.
Redditor aitauselessdad recently paid a visit to a friend and her family.
Shortly after the original poster (OP)'s arrival, their friend found herself in a state of distress.
While the OP did her best to handle the situation, they had almost no help from their friend's husband, leading the OP to use a few choice words.
Fearing that they may have overreacted, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:
"AITA for calling my friends husband a useless piece of sh*t?"
The OP explained why they found themselves resorting to name-calling with their friend's husband:
"My best friend and her husband have 4 kids, 8 F[emale], 6 F, 4F, and 3F."
"My friend's husband is a great dad when someone is there to help."
"When he's alone with all 4 kids he gets overwhelmed and freezes."
"A few weeks ago my friend was sick so I brought over dinner."
"We thought it was just a bad cold."
"When we were eating, my friend went to the bathroom and the 3 year old followed her."
"3 year old came running out saying her mom was throwing up."
"All of the kids ran to the bathroom, followed by me and my friend's husband."
"I helped her clean up while her husband went to get her nausea medicine and a thermometer."
"When he came back I asked him to get the kids out of the bathroom so she could have some space."
"After we got the kids out, I took her temp and it came back at almost 104, so I went out to get her some Tylenol and water."
"I get back and the kids are all in the bathroom again because their dad can't keep them away from the bathroom for 2 minutes."
"I give her the Tylenol and water and she almost immediately starts to vomit again, then passes out."
"Her husband just stood there while I was trying to get her into recovery position, get the kids away from her, and call 911."
"I managed to get all of them out of the bathroom and her husband is coming back every 20 seconds asking if I can call their nanny to help with the kids, if I can go to the hospital with her, did I start the dishwasher or does he need to hand wash the youngest's sippy cup, etc."
"When my friend regained consciousness, he even started asking her how to do bedtime for the little ones, did she wash their pajamas yet, did they get screen time that day or can he put on a movie."
"I told him his wife couldn't hold his hand right now and he just had to figure it out."
"He told me he's not usually the one that deals with this and he's trying his best, then goes back to asking what stories the kids like, what setting does he put the sound machine on, and how do they like their milk."
"I just snapped and told him to figure it out on his own and called him a useless piece of sh*t."
"It's been nearly a month and he still acts all pissy when I stop by the house."
"My friend says he'll get over it but my boyfriend thinks I was unnecessarily rude and he was trying his best."
"AITA for calling him a useless piece of sh*t when he couldn't handle his own kids while his wife was experiencing a medical emergency?"
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You're The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community unanimously agreed that the OP was not the a**Hole for calling their friend's husband a "useless piece of sh*t."
Everyone agreed that while the OP's choice of words was indeed strong, they were also representative of how she was feeling in the heat of the moment, and their friend's husband deserved to hear it:
"NTA."
"Wife unconscious, he's asking about bedtime stories and sippy cups."
"Sometimes harsh truth is needed."- Traditional_Bench655
"NTA."
"Dad of 2 boys under the age of 9 and nothing pisses me off more than lazy, uninvolved dads."
"It's not rocket science, it's freaking bedtime."
"And it's appalling he knows nothing about the bedtime routine."
"Those are some of my best times/memories with my boys."- Sandman1025
"NTA, his wife was literally UNCONSCIOUS, and he couldn't figure out bedtime?"
"She had a fever of 104°, and he couldn't figure out pj's or sippy cups or something to put on for the kids?"
"Let alone keep them out of the bathroom for more than 20 seconds?"
"He IS a useless a**hole."- VexedVixen69
"Sounds like she has 5 kids."
"NTA."- Snoo_46594
"I'm sorry for laughing right now, but the fact that he's pissed off is hilarious."
"You were absolutely right and NTA."- CorrectAdhesiveness9
"NTA."
"He wasn't managing the kids while you were helping your friend AND he wasn't the one attending to his gravely sick wife."
"He did nothing and that is the very definition of useless."
"Emergencies happen."
"Next time it could be one of the kids."
"If he can't handle emergencies, he needs to do whatever self-work is needed to fix it immediately."
"Explain to your friend precisely how useless he was when she was unconscious on the floor."
"What if you hadn't been there?"- Spicy_Molasses4259
"NTA."
"Let's be honest: he should know how to do those things, and it's not rocket science."
"Did you start the dishwasher?"
"Does he have eyes?"
"Or ears?"
"There are clearly some bigger issues for you and mum to be dealing with right now!"
"It's ridiculous that he has no idea how to parent his own children, or even how to figure it out."
"It's an emergency situation—who cares if they've already had screen time. put on a movie, warm up some milk to roughly the right temperature, and keep them out of the way."
"It doesn't have to be done perfectly; it just needs to be done."
"Emergency situation or not, what you called him was accurate in the moment."
"I sure hope he's started doing all those things now."- Technical_Soup_6863
"NTA."
"His wife was having a medical emergency and he didn't even seem to care."
"The fact that he was asking her about pajamas and bedtime stories after she regained consciousness is horrid."
"She deserves better."
"Also the kids deserve better."
"The fact that he knows absolutely nothing about their bedtime routine speaks volumes."-Gaberahamj
"NTA."
"But your friend is doing a huge disservice to herself and those children if she stays with him."
"A marriage to spite her Dad doesn't make the guy she married a good Dad or husband."
"She sees no issue with the fact that she has to call a nanny every single time something happens?"
"She and those kids deserve better."
"Also, you did amazing handling it all and in calling him out."
"This random internet stranger is proud of you."
"Also about your boyfriend."
"Why is he defending a dude who is useless?"- Euphoric_Math3673
"NTA."
"Your friend has five kids."
"Not 4."
"Also, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he asked you to call the nanny, then started grilling his incredibly sick wife right after she passed out."
"He's not a good dad."
"What you called him was putting it mildly."- ThinConsideration948
"NTA."
"He should be ashamed of himself."
"People react in stressful situations very differently, and while you didn't need to call him a P o S, he was causing more stress."
"He should apologize for his lack of response, and hopefully he has to his wife at the very least."-threebecomeone
"Jesus, he had 8 years to learn how to do all that and four kids to learn by repetition."
"NTA, he's not at all a great dad, he acts like a secretary in training who just helps out but is not allowed to make any decisions and is incapable of doing so."
"He really is a useless a**hole."- faulty_rainbow
"NTA."
"An adult should know to prioritize a medical emergency over dishes and screen time."
"Hopefully, he's not one of those worse-than-useless people who deputize the eldest girl to 'help' with the littler kids."
"Aka be the stand-in mom because he's too incompetent to know what to do and too impotent to make a parenting decision."
"If he doesn't want to be called out for his uselessness, he needs to work on being useful."
"Starting by actually talking to his kids."
"'Have you had screen time today and what's your favorite bedtime story' are things a 3-year-old can answer."
"He should have the nanny on speed dial."
"Does speed dial still exist?"
"If he needs hand-holding, he should be able to call someone who isn't sick."-
StarsForget
The OP calling her friend's husband a "useless piece of sh*t" didn't really do anything to solve the problem at hand.
However, perhaps being called that could have positive long-term effects.
After all, one imagines he doesn't want to be viewed that way by many other people.
Hopefully leading to an improvement in his behavior.
Woman Asks If It's Wrong To Hold Grudge After Mom Told Her When She 8 Years Old That She Wished She'd Aborted Her
While some people view having and raising children as the greatest blessing, some parents hold their children's existence against them for their entire lives.
And when they feel that way about their children, they're unfortunately typically pretty honest about it, cringed the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor heavelymango knew from the time she was young that her mother did not really like her and significantly favored her sister.
But when her mother told her at the age of eight that she wished she had aborted her, the Original Poster (OP) held on to that grudge for years after the fact.
She asked the sub:
The OP had a grudge against her mother.
"I (22 Female) have been holding onto a grudge due to something my mom told me when I was roughly eight or nine years old."
"Growing up, I was a rebellious kid and always felt as if my mom favored my older sister. My sister would always get whatever she wanted."
"I know she was born with Down syndrome and always needed more attention and care, but if my sister wanted my tablet, for example, she would have it for the whole day while mine was limited to 30 minutes so she could have it."
"As a kid, I lashed out more because of this. She could take all of my things, but I could never use hers."
During a heated moment, the OP's mother said something unforgivable.
"Eventually, this led to an argument with my mom. I don't recall the whole thing, but it was related to my sister and how I felt my mom didn't care about me or give me the same amount of attention."
"The fight got heated, and I probably told my mom that I hated my sister and her."
"I remember she said back, 'I never wanted you from the start. I knew I should've aborted you when I had the chance.'"
" I didn't know what aborted meant at the time, and I remember I looked it up, and it made me cry. I never forgot it, and it lingers in my mind whenever I am home."
The OP's mother pressured her to "let it go" and move on.
"Even growing up, I still brought it up, and she would get mad, saying I need to let it go and how I'm stubborn for not just forgetting what she said."
"There was even a time in high school when she took me to a therapist, and she complained about how I never dropped what she said."
"She says I need to move on from it because it has affected my relationship with her, and she wants to fix it."
"I know I'm older now and it was so long ago, but it still hurts, and I feel like it's made me not want to have her in my life in the future, and I have told this to her."
"How I don't want her in my life once I move out, get married, or have my own kids."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that this sounded like a core memory more than a grudge.
"The axe forgets. The tree remembers."
"It sounds less like you're holding a grudge and more that this is a formative, core memory for you."
"It won't stop being a core memory (unless maybe with the help of a lot of therapy). Has your mom ever apologized for saying that? Because you don't have to forget to forgive, but if she's not remorseful for saying that terrible thing to her young child (not just remorseful that you remember it), then she probably needs therapy (or is a narcissist/sociopath/similar)."
"You are certainly not obligated to 'get over it.'" - Hot-Can3615
"This is not a 'grudge'; it is pain that is still felt to such a degree. If she said it, then she was thinking it. She'll probably never apologize, but that doesn't mean your pain is or was invalid." - Fast_Register_9480
"NOR. This kind of thing needs a real apology. Like she needs to acknowledge the damage and genuinely care about it. Brushing it off won’t make it go away." - TentacleWolverine
"NOR. Did she really want to fix things? She basically just told you to get over it from the start instead of giving you a sincere apology."
"That isn't working on anything. She wants you to get over it so she can pretend that she never said it, so she doesn't have to feel bad about what she did. It doesn't sound like she cares much about how you feel."
"She just doesn't want to deal with it. For that reason, I would still have issues with what she said." - Chemical-Ad6809
"If your relationship with your mother is being affected by the actions of your mother, your mother is responsible for fixing it."
"You should know you probably aren't ever going to get closure, but you don't have to swallow it down. It helps to be the person you needed when you were younger out loud to yourself, but especially to others."
"For example: My name is Liz, and my mom told me to go ahead and do it already and save us all the heartache when I finally had the courage to tell her about how much I've been struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I'm never going to forgive her for that, and we have never been close as a result of her actions."
"You aren't holding onto a grudge; you have a core memory of your mother distilling her feelings into a world-shattering sentence."
"You did not have a secure attachment before and can't have one now because of the deep trauma. You do not apologize for being stabbed."
"Find another therapist. I mean it. Someone who cares about your well-being wouldn't force you to apologize for being verbally abused as a child. I'm 29 now, and I lived through it. I still struggle with suicidal ideation daily, but once I stopped relying on my mom and unstable sources for support, my life got better immediately."
"You want things for comfort and familiarity. Don't let your mom or your therapist gaslight you into crossing a boundary."
"It might help to ask for a written five-part apology from your mom. 1. Acknowledge what you did 2. Say why it was wrong 3. Promise not to do it again 4. Ask how to make amends. 5. Share your feelings at this time if there's anything you'd like to say."
"My mom can be a good person and a bad mom and role model. Being in your own company is so much better than poor company." - PotLuckyPodcast
Others hoped the OP would go no contact with her mother sooner rather than later.
"NOR. It’s emotional abuse. And you do not owe her closeness after that, especially as she refuses to be accountable for that and try to make it up to you."
"She knows you have her number, and she can’t forgive you for knowing what a colloidal b***h she is."
"It’s unlikely that will change; it will at least be turned back on you with her the victim."
"Stop expecting her to apologize. If she doesn’t pay your bills, ghost her." - SnooCheesecakes2723
"My mom said something similar. My brother and I were adopted, and when I was a teen, in front of a church lady, she said, 'We didn't even really want you, but the people didn't want to split y'all up, so we just took you, too.'"
"Me and the church lady were shook. When I say my falbbers were ghasted. Like huh? She didn't remember saying that when I brought it up years after the fact."
"I also got grounded two times for two separate nine weeks (for C's on my report card) and a three and a half to four months (for smoking at 16 and getting caught because she liked to just pop up out of nowhere), and we just had a talk about that, and she didn't even remember."
"She said, 'No, I didn't. I never grounded you for that long,' and when I gave my rebuttal, she said, 'Well, if I did, it definitely wasn't for no nine weeks or months,' and this started because she was praising me for reading so much and liking books. I said, 'Well, when you were grounded like me, that's all I could do (no TV, no friends outside of school, no music, nothing but my room and books)."
"There's a reason I only call or answer her calls once or twice every few weeks. And I only call to get food, really..." - ManicalMoe
"‘Fine, I'm sorry’ is not an apology."
"Whilst I’m sure it was said in anger, most things said in anger have a grain of truth. There are also some things that no half-decent parent ever says to their children, no matter how angry they are, and this is one of them! It also sounds like she has made repeated similar comments of not wanting you as her child."
"I understand her eldest had a disability, but this is no excuse for neglecting and emotionally abusing her younger child. Lots of families deal with a child with additional needs whilst still managing to prioritise their other kids. Children with Down syndrome are capable of understanding ‘that’s your sister's, not yours; give it back’ !! It sounds like your mum has mental health issues?"
"Do you have a present father or other family you can turn to?"
"Protect your peace. Your mum has hurt you time and time again, honestly, for no real gain other than momentarily satisfying her anger. You owe this woman nothing." - Background_Term9810
"I went through something similar. When I was a little girl, my mother used to make comments that implied she didn't want me, though it was never that explicit. 'I only had you because your brother wanted a sister,' and 'My figure never recovered after you; after your brother, it did.'"
"Each comment stayed with me, but I never addressed it with her. I tried to move on and leave it in the past. She did a lot of horrible things throughout my life, but her behavior was always ignored because that's the precedent my dad set, where she can do essentially whatever she wants."
"A few months ago, she came to see me because I was desperate for help and sick. Instead of helping, she made my life so much worse. I won't go into details. At one point, I could no longer keep it inside, and I told her that she is a narcissist, to which she responded with, 'It would have been better if I had never had you.'"
"In some ways, it felt really good to hear her come out and say it. It felt good to hear the truth I've always known."
"I don't know what you should do, but I've chosen to not forgive."
"Every time I forgave, I just let her know that she can get away with whatever horrible things she had done. Her apologies were never real apologies. She always found ways to blame me or others for whatever she had done."
"And I'm truly just done with it. As sad as it is to not have a mom, it's sadder to pretend that you have one when in reality you don't... quite the opposite, if anything." - Neos_Mom
"So, OP, what will hurt more: keeping her and the grudge in your life or making a break and going low or no contact with her?"
"Frankly, we've no idea of what she might have been dealing with at the time, but regardless, what she said was said only to cause pain and suffering. 'Sorry' doesn't magic that intent away."
"Me, I think spending time alone or with friends or in therapy away from her might be what you need here. You might come to some sort of acceptance, but if this is something that's just going to keep coming between you, then stop trying to have that relationship." - Tal_Tos_72
After the OP received feedback, she shared a few clarifications from her original post.
"I wanted to clear some things up, take accountability where it's due, and provide some much-needed context from many people commenting the same questions."
"I want to be completely honest. We had many arguments, and I was a rebellious kid. I acted out and argued with my mom."
"I don't want to give off the impression that I was an entirely innocent kid who never did anything wrong and my mom just snapped out of nowhere. We both said hateful and hurtful things to each other during our fights."
"Growing up, the only way she would accept an apology was if I got on my knees and begged her for forgiveness. If I ever asked her to apologize to me, she would say, 'I have nothing to apologize for; you should be the one begging for my forgiveness.'"
The OP had a lot of physical memories, too.
"Things also would turn into physical arguments, not just verbal ones."
"There were times when she would get so angry she would get physical. Like yanking me by my hair, twisting my arms, or throwing things at me (like remotes, a bug spray can, or a radio)."
"When she yanked my hair, I would fight back just to get her to let me go, and she would scream that I was trying to kill her and she would get me arrested. When she twisted my arm, and I begged her to stop because it felt like it was going to break, she would say she hoped it did."
"When she threw objects at me, she would say she wished they would hit my face."
"I remember in middle school, during an argument, she said she wished she could break my face and that she hated it because I look like my dad. I won’t lie, whenever she said things like that, I would say nasty comments about how she chose to have him put us in her."
While the OP wasn't financially ready to move out yet, she hoped to as soon as possible.
"Why haven't I moved out yet? The main reason I haven't been able to move out is financial."
"I wasn't making enough to support myself without worrying about whether I’d end up having to crawl back home."
"Thankfully, I have recently found a better-paying job. My plan is to move out between mid-to-late October, or early November at the latest."
"The only reason I can't leave this exact second is because I have a few legal/administrative things to get cleared up so I’m completely untied from my mom, which will take a few weeks."
The OP also had proof that her mother liked her sister better.
"Has my mom ever admitted to favoring my sister? Yes."
"In arguments, she has explicitly told me that she doesn't see me as her legitimate daughter, and that she adored my sister more and forever will. She has also called me a 'monster,' told me there is a certain type of evil inside of me, and said she was afraid I would be just like my dad and try to harm them."
"She would even tell me that she was telling family and friends these things about me, but then later claim she 'just said it in the moment' and wouldn't be crazy enough to actually tell people that."
"Because I was so confused growing up and didn't know if she was lying or telling the truth, I started avoiding our family when they came over."
"Naturally, that just made things worse because she would get mad at me for avoiding them (even now as an adult), completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who lied about what she told them."
Unfortunately, the OP didn't have support from her father.
"What about my dad? My dad is not in my life."
"He was around sporadically, but never as a stable parent. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was two or three."
"Growing up, it was just constant back-and-forth toxicity, with him telling me how toxic my mother was, and her telling me the same about him."
"He would mostly only come over to see my sister, and often used me to care for her if he wanted to take her out to eat. Ultimately, my dad didn't care about anyone else other than my sister (and his drugs)."
"I hope this can clear some questions on the original post. I know I didn't provide many details as I originally should have. I honestly didn't want to post something too long, and I honestly did not expect it to be noticed."
"Thank you all for taking time to talk to me and share your thoughts."
The subReddit fully sided with the OP, pointing out that no matter how heated the moment was, it would never excuse the terrible things the OP's mother had said to her.
If the OP's mother really wanted a relationship with her, she'd drop the defensiveness and demands, offer a genuine apology, and work hard to be better for both of her children.
That takes a very rare kind of person to pull off, and it didn't sound like the OP's mother had that in her.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp