Jokes and pranks can be really fun and can create laughter and good memories for everyone.
But when someone is left angry or hurt, then the prank really shouldn’t have happened to begin with, challenged the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor Plane_Zebra_4553 recently received a scary call from his girlfriend, telling him that she was experiencing chest pains and needed to go to the emergency room.
But when he realized what had actually happened, the Original Poster (OP) immediately questioned their relationship.
He asked the sub:
“AITA for calling my girlfriend a ‘f**king b***h’ for lying about an emergency to test my commitment to her?”
The OP received a terrifying call from his girlfriend.
“My girlfriend (29 Female) Andrea and I (29 M) have been together for a few months now. Everything had gone smoothly until yesterday when she pulled off a ridiculous stunt.”
“She called me late at night to say that she was seriously injured/having panic attacks and that no one else was with her as her parents were out (which was true, they were out).”
“She said that she’s also got some chest pain and she thinks that she’s dying and that she’s in a really bad state and can hardly breathe (she was heaving while she spoke).”
“She begged me to help her (said that she’s already called 911 but that she also wanted to let me know).”
The OP rushed over to her home, only to discover the truth behind the phone call.
“I was shocked. I took my car to rush towards her house.”
“It was only after reaching that I found out that she was joking about it.”
“She met me joyfully and said that she only wanted to see how ‘committed’ I am during an emergency as that’s an essential part of a relationship or something.”
But the OP didn’t approve of getting pop quizzes in their relationship.
“I lost my temper and asked her what the f**k her problem was.”
“She said that she was just ‘testing’ me and I got p**sed off.”
“I called her a ‘f**king b***h’ and told her that I did not deserve to be treated like trash and taken advantage of like that.”
“She was crying and saying that she only wanted to check whether I was a good fit and that I overreacted.”
“I left the house immediately and haven’t talked to her since.”
“She’s been texting me, but I just ignored her.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some reassured the OP that all this test proved was that Andrea was not girlfriend material.
“SHE is not a good fit. You did, indeed, ‘prove’ you’re a good boyfriend…”
“Hopefully you see her ‘test’ as the bright waving red flag everyone else here sees.”
“NTA. RUN. There are red flags everywhere.” – friday99
“Man, I would have loved to be in a situation like this back in the day to have the satisfaction to say, ‘Well, you got what you wanted. You pulled this immature, childish, disrespectful test to prove what you already had. Now that same immature, childish, disrespectful test is the reason you no longer have a boyfriend.'” – EntertainingTuesday
“Aren’t there enough crises in real life, like flat tires, sick and injured loved ones, job losses, plumbing emergencies, keys locked in cars, etc.?”
“I can’t imagine why anyone would need to invent a pretend crisis with all the ordinary mishaps of real life! Especially something that would only stress our partner out, which really should be the last thing we want to do.” – Lady_de_Katzen
“Time to test her. Let her know you won’t be talking with her for the next 65 years and that you just want to test her commitment to the relationship.” – TooMuchAZSunshine
“Relationship tests are always bad and are grounds for immediate breaking up. At 29, she should know this.”
“Text her that you’re breaking up with her, and once she has read it, block her permanently. NTA.” – Curious-One4595
A few pointed out that this might have been a result of social media, as well.
“NTA.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve heard about a few TikTok trends of online couples ‘testing’ their partner with bulls**t like this. Perhaps she got inspired by this ‘trend.'”
“If I were you, I would run. She just showed you a holy red flag.” – Bintehh
“I’ll bet 20 dollars that she saw this s**t trend on TikTok?! It’s disgusting honestly and just a horrible way to treat your partner.”
“NTA and break up with her now. She’s not wife material in my opinion.” – CheeSupreme1743
“If this is a trend on TikTok, then we’ll have a whole generation of f**ked-up people with serious relationship issues.” – ___Tom___
“She really needs to learn about ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf,’ but she’ll probably only watch a summary of it if someone made it into a TikTok. That’s probably where this absurd commitment test came from in the first place.” – bofh
“Guaranteed her ‘friends’ put her up to this, high chance of TikTok being involved as well. Disgusting.” – blackpawed
Others were disgusted that a 29-year-old was pulling a stunt like this at all.
“NTA. I skipped the first paragraph and read the post. I genuinely thought this woman was anywhere between 16 and 20 based on how she acted. Then I went back to the first paragraph and she is far too old to be acting this immaturely.” – cerebral__flatulence
“Second this assessment. If she was 19, I could maybe understand the lack of maturity further, but it’s still a red flag to get the f**k out.” – GptnOnOuS
“She is way way way too old to be playing games like that, that is the thinking of a small child. He needs to find someone with at least the maturity of a middle schooler. NTA.” – shelwood46
“This sounds like something I would have done when I was young and immature and desperate for attention. Things that by like 25 I was incredibly appalled and embarrassed to have even considered. Doing this stuff at 29? This chick has some unaddressed mental health issues at the very least.” – ruffianradfoot
“This ‘test’ is something you would expect from a teenager. By 29, she should be mature enough to know that she could be putting people at risk (with OP speeding, or at least driving while distracted).”
“I don’t know that this makes her a sociopath (Let’s stay clear of making unqualified internet diagnoses, people), but it is definitely an indicator that this girl is on the dramatic or immature side.”
“Is this a reason to break up? Only OP can judge that, but if the relationship is otherwise good, I don’t think I would jump ship so quickly.” – SpinoutAU
Some reassured the OP that he had reacted fairly and encouraged him to move on.
“NTA. Run! She intentionally put you in a state of panic, causing you to drive in that state of panic, which is a recipe for disaster. An accident waiting to happen.”
“You need to focus on the fact that she never gave your feelings any thought at all. She didn’t dismiss your feelings. To dismiss your feelings, she would have had to consider them. She didn’t even think about you at all.”
“Your panic was what she was looking for. It made her happy. It made her laugh. That’s how sociopaths feel. If you were killed in an accident on your way to her, it would have been a home run for her.” – AdOne8433
“NTA.”
“She is totally the a**hole. If she doesn’t trust you enough to feel that you’re committed in this relationship, then she needs to rethink the relationship.”
“And a prank is telling someone you got the icky ice cream when you really got the good stuff.
It’s not ‘I’m having a medical emergency and I need you.'”
“A friend did something similar to me in high school. She told me her parents were moving out of state and she wouldn’t be able to finish her senior year with us. I felt so bad and told her how much I would miss her.”
“In the same phone call, she said, ‘I just wanted to see how you would react.'”
“I should have dumped her friendship then. I waited a couple of years and she did something equally as stupid and I never spoke to her again. Do the same, OP.” – beadfix82
“NTA and PSA (Public Service Announcement) to anyone in a relationship: Don’t set up tricky ways to test your partner. If you are that gunshy and have that much difficulty trusting others, get therapy. It is always an AH move to trick someone into proving their loyalty to you. This ain’t the mob.” – weeblewobble82
“Imagine her shocked Pikachu face when she has an actual emergency and no one shows up or takes her seriously because she’s played this stunt on too many people and others have heard about it.”
“NTA, I learned not to do this from the boy who cried wolf story when I was like five.” – AltruisticCableCar
“NTA.”
“If she’s ‘testing’ you, then she doesn’t trust you.”
“If she doesn’t trust you, then she shouldn’t be in a relationship with you.” – 7hr0wn
After receiving feedback, the OP made a decision about the relationship.
“After talking to her about it, I have decided to give her a second chance. She’s apologized a lot and promised to never do that again.
I’ll be more careful, of course, and I won’t be trusting her blindly. But I have thought that I’d give her one chance, especially since she’s shown herself to be regretful.”
Despite everyone’s warnings in the comments section, the OP decided to give his girlfriend a second chance to learn from her mistake of turning an emergency into a joke.
Hopefully the rest of the relationship was of a good quality and that this was a one-off mistake. But with the two of them already being 29, they really were far too old to be pulling such serious pranks.