Tomfoolery among family and friends is all in good fun until someone gets hurt.
A guy who fell victim to an innocuous prank that took an unfortunate turn became the villain after he took action against being wronged.
Conflicted, he turned to the “Am I the A** Hole?” (AITAH) subReddit and sought judgment from strangers online.
There, Redditor satincherry asked:
“AITAH for taking my BIL to small claims court for a prank?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I recently took my brother-in-law to small claims court over a prank he pulled on me, and now my wife and her family are furious. I need to know if I’m in the wrong here.”
“A few months ago, we were at a family BBQ. I had a few too many beers and fell asleep in a hammock with my shirt off. My BIL, who was completely sober, thought it would be hilarious to fill my belly button with super glue. At some point, I must have touched it, because when I woke up, I had glue partially dried in my belly button and on my finger.”
The OP continued:
“We tried to remove it, but it was stuck. The glue had adhered to my skin, and when we attempted to peel it off, it caused some tearing around the edges. Unfortunately, my job’s insurance has a $1,000 ER copay, but I had no choice—I had to go to the ER.”
“They used a solvent and an ointment to remove the glue, and after everything, I was left with a medical bill of $2,253.”
“I asked my BIL to cover the cost since he caused the situation. He refused. After trying to resolve it privately, I took him to small claims court—and I won. However, he still hasn’t paid. This has caused a major rift in my family. My wife is upset, and her family thinks I overreacted.”
“So, AITAH for taking him to court over this?”
“The reason my wife was upset is because her brother was going thru a divorce and ‘between’ jobs. Everyone knew he did it, he even admitted it. He blames his ADHD.”
“I don’t want to garnish his pay. The reason I didn’t try more to clean the glue off of me was because I have scars in my navel from gall bladder surgery about three years ago. My mother-in-law has offered to pay the bill, but she is on a fixed income, and I would feel like an @ss for taking her money.”
“Of course, I’m the villain, and only my sister-in-law is on speaking terms with me. My wife is only barely on my side. It was her that took me to the ER. Not thinking it would cost that much. I figure blood is thicker than water. I didnt expect this thread to blow up.”
Anonymous strangers weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Many Redditors thought the OP was not the a**hole (NTA) here.
“NTA. I can’t believe your wife isn’t with you on this. Pranks shouldn’t involve the ER.” – SherryGabs
“Exactly, why couldn’t he just have drawn a mustache on the op’s face (or belly) using a felt tip?” – Performance_Lanky
“Because it wouldn’t cause OP pain, and it isn’t a ‘real prank’ until it causes pain and wounds. BiL is an a**hole and so is the ‘wife’. I think the marriage is over.”
“Her brother intentionally hurt her husband, physically and financially, and she’s over here crying ‘but but, mmyyyy brother!’ like he is supposed to be important or something.” – Butterfly_Chasers
“Ya I don’t understand the wife’s stance. They would have never gotten close enough to my wife to pull the prank in the first place. I once had a cousin try and get his kid to pull a sh**ty prank on a girlfriend of mine when we were younger. I shut that down within 2 seconds of the words leaving his mouth.” – Acrobatic_Jaguar_623
“I have one cousin who loves pranks – he’s one of my favourite people. His top two are, see how many clothes pegs you can attach to someone before they notice OR see how many beer bottle caps you can balance on a drunk’s head before they wobble and notice.”
“We all lose our sh*t giggling at #2 because invariably, the drunk person semi-panics at the sound of all the metal beer caps pinging off the floor.”
“I will never understand how you can be dumb enough to literally harm someone and still call it a ‘prank.’ I’m glad other people do have family who are fun, not-dangerous people!” – DgShwgrl
“NTA go back and ask the courts to put a lien to force him to pay it. That or they can garnish his wages.” – mocha_lattes_
“NTA. drizzling sunscreen in the shape of a d*ck is a prank. super gluing your belly button is assault.” – SnappyDogDays
“This sums it up. If BIL had apologized profusely and taken care of his medical bills, forgiveness would be on the table. But this is no way to treat anyone, let alone a friend or family member.”
“If you do the crime, do the time.” – YouSickenMe67
“Just for others that may have a superglue accident in the future acetone / nail polish remover will dissolve superglue. I’ve been told soaking in water will eventually weaken the bond, but I’ve never tried it. Also, superglue bonds are not very strong in side to side applications, I watched a salesman bond his thumb to index finger and then broke the bond sideways.”
“I’m on OP’s side. BIL did a stupid and potentially dangerous prank.” – floridaeng
“NTA. Your wife sucks. She might be awesome normally, but right now, her behavior is rather sh*tty. Since your wife is upset about this, tell her that she can be the one to pay.”
“I do not understand how your wife could not be on your side. This wasn’t a prank. This was assault. He is an adult. He KNEW damned well that this would inflict pain and suffering on you.”
“HER BROTHER TOOK DELIGHT IN CAUSING YOU PAIN, POTENTIALLY CAUSING A LARGE AMOUNT OF EMBARRASSMENT, AND FORCED YOU TO PAY OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS TO SAFELY UNDO HIS ‘PRANK’ “.
“How on earth does your wife not see how serious this is?! Why is the family protecting someone who assaulted you and then laughed about it (as I’m assuming because, in his mind, it was a ‘prank’)? Would your wife be laughing and totally ok, if it was her instead of you?”
“Right now, you don’t have an in-law issue. You have a wife issue. You are not the a**hole at all. They’re lucky you didn’t file a police report. Because you could, and probably should have.” – CatmoCatmo
“I’m just at a complete loss on how she’s not pissed. The only conclusion I can come to is that she is completely removed from the finances in their relationship and has no frame of mind for how ridiculous this is. 2000 dollars!?”
“My wife would be over there taking the money out of her brother’s hide by force. Two thousand bucks out can be crippling for many Americans. This would be a bloodbath if it were my wife forking out $2k.” – MonthPsychological54
“NTA As a former dumb @ss with dumb @ss friends. We’ve done dumb and mean and not actually funny things to each other countless times. But even then, you ever actually f’ked something up or hit someone’s pockets. You knew it was your @ss to pay up whatever was fair.”
“I’d call you an @ss if you just ran to a lawyer and didn’t try to work it out. But you did, he refused. So he’s either a piece of sh*t or flat broke or both. Now really you have only one legal option left to get paid and you took it.”
“Tell the family they can pay if they care about each other’s financial wellbeing so much, they should care about yours too.” – dyfish
“He should’ve just paid for the medical bill no questions asked. If he didn’t have the money, then pay you back over time.. whether it’s a prank or not, he done f’ed up, and seeing a doctor isn’t free 😲 durrrr. You did what you had to do because he didn’t do what he should have. F’k ’em 😅” – Artistic_Chemist_420
“NTA, but OP, why the frack is your wife not furious with her BIL?!?!?!? It wasn’t a prank! It was bullying that wound up with you having your go to the ER! Why is she acting like this is normal?” – Super_Reading2048
Overall, Redditors agreed that the prank was no laughing matter and was more of an “assault.”
They also thought the OP’s wife was irrational in her siding with her brother when her husband was the one who suffered consequences and had to pay for it himself.
And using a chemical not meant for use on human skin was especially egregious.