When are people going to learn to leave the comedy to the comedians?
Not every “prank” is funny.
And more often than not, pranks can lead to a world of trouble.
Case in point…
Redditor throwRA382838 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for helping my friend get a girl removed from the soccer team?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I (16 F[emale]) have a friend named Aysha (15 F).”
“Aysha is Muslim and wears a hijab to school which often causes people to give her dirty looks, comments, etc.”
“I don’t know why. It’s just cloth.”
“Anyway the worst instance possible was with this girl named Megan (also 15 F).”
“When we were sitting together at lunch when she came up to Aysha and she told Aysha she dared her to take her hijab off.”
“She was taunting her saying she would look so pretty without it.”
“This was with malicious intent because I told her one time thinking she was just clueless and wanted to educate her.”
“Then she forcibly tried to remove her hijab.”
“I moved her hand away and we went to the principal.”
“Instead of getting a punishment, Megan made up a sob story about how it would harm her position on some prestigious soccer club she was in.”
“Fast forward to a few days ago.”
“She makes a TikTok that said ‘When you get called to the principals office for telling the Muslim girl to take off her durag.'”
“I was so livid for her.”
“Aysha is very shy and didn’t want to seem like a buzzkill, so she asked me personally to email the soccer organization.”
“Well, I did, and she was immediately kicked off and other organizations in the area were notified of her behavior.”
“Now, all of her friends are in my D[irect] M]essaging] saying how horrible I am.”
“How I’m a retard, how I need to take a joke, etc.”
“My parents think I should have stayed out of it.”
“But I think I did the right thing.”
“So AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA, you didn’t get her kicked off the team, her actions did.”
“She’s TA, and so are her friends.”
“You did the right thing.” ~ Nobodyimportant56
“Often people don’t realize unwanted touching (grabbing, slapping, pushing, shoving, etc) is legally an assault, a crime.”
“The principal at OP’s high school didn’t just reinforce the bully, she failed to help Aysha understand her rights as a victim.”
“But schools often choose to overlook assaults and similar activity, just smooth things over so there’s not big hoopla that reaches the public.”
“It’s one way we create more and bigger bullies and worse.”
“And of course OP isn’t the AH, she bully and the principal are.” ~ farsical111
“Honestly if someone is going to be racist, sexist, homophobic, abusive, etc.”
“I would rather them put it on social media, get caught (or in this case have it in their record) and be banned from things, especially jobs.”
“Do you want a racist doctor?”
“A misogynistic divorce lawyer?”
“Forget a sh**ty top exec, even a homophobic waitress can do damage.”
“I am so upset for Aysha in this situation, people trying to take off any of your garments out of hate (or any reason) is traumatic. NTA.” ~ elle_winta
“Especially considering all she and her friend are placing the blame on OP rather than her own actions.”
“Her friendship group isn’t holding her accountable, they’re enabling her, so there is no need in her eyes to be better.”
“With more life experience she may grow out if that mindset but it’s not guaranteed.”
“I honestly don’t know what to do with these kinds of people because I don’t believe that someone’s life should be ruined because they messed up.”
“Punishment is necessary, yes but needless destruction not so much.”
“People do grow and if she does so this shouldn’t be something that needs to haunt her every move.”
“But from my own experiences I’m very hesitant to believe that change is real rather than facade they’ve learnt to use.” ~ PugglePuff
“THIS. So much this.”
“I personally am not religious and do not wear a hijab so I don’t have personal experience with this type of awful islamophobia but OP, your friend’s hijab is a piece of her clothing.”
“Megan tried to remove your friends clothes without her consent with the intent to embarrass/humiliate/ disrobe your friend.”
“That is very very much assault.”
“You absolutely did the right thing and I am proud of you for standing up for your friend.”
“You did not get that girl kicked off the team -her actions kicked her off the team.” ~ Succumbingsurvivor
“Yup. This is what makes laws against hijabs or other religious clothing so insidious.”
“It’s forcing women to show more skin than they are comfortable, which is even worse than making them cover up more than they want to.”
“While I’m most comfortable in a tank top and shorts, I’d absolutely mind being told I have to take clothes off more than having to put more on.”
“And I’m someone that’s somewhat comfortable with public nudity.” ~ SnipesCC
“OP’s parents should be ashamed of themselves for telling her that she should’ve stayed out of it.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“What OP did was the right thing to do and good parents would recognize that.”
“The only person responsible for getting kicked off the team is Megan.” ~ mrose1491
“Seriously, it’s honestly gross.”
“Like yeah I might expect it from the girl Megan but her friends and even OP’s parents are giving her grief about it. It’s disgusting.”
“This girl, Aysha, was accosted for wearing an item of clothing and some other girl, without cause.”
“Proceeded to try and remove a piece of her clothing for no reason other than being malicious.”
“If Megan was so concerned with her standing in soccer she probably shouldn’t baselessly assault people on xenophobic grounds.”
“OP is so NTA here and apparently has a better grasp on what constitutes unacceptable behavior than even the adults.” ~ bizzarepeanut
“It’s not surprising that Megan’s friends are lashing out because of this.”
“People like Megan are very rarely the ‘lone wolf’ in their friend groups.”
“They’re all a**holes, for sure, but it’s definitely not a surprise.”
“OP’s parents are looking out for OP.”
“Their advice might be misguided, but we don’t know the nuance here.”
“They could have said something like ‘You did a good thing sticking up for your friend, but sometimes that comes with consequences – unfair though that may be.'”
“They could have been shitty about it.”
“We don’t know.”
“This can be a difficult position for parents.”
“You want to look out for your kid, but you also want them to have a sense of what’s right.”
“Parents can often be well-intentioned, but still slip up.”
To be sure, though, OP did the right thing and Megan is suffering the consequences of her own actions and nobody else’s.” ~ averydangerousday
“NTA- have you seen the clip where a soccer player lost full coverage with her hijab and the other women, even opposition, stop to huddle around her while she fixed it?”
“When there are so many of those women in the world, why would a soccer team want an islamaphobic player?”
“Her own actions got her booted from the club, and for good reason.” ~ REDDIT
“NTA – I wanna make this clear: you are a GOOD friend and a good person!”
“You did the exact right thing, since the adults in your life and your school were too cowardly to punish this bigot and bully properly.”
“What she did crossed a line no one should cross.”
‘Hold your head up high! I am proud of you.” ~ Jaer56
“NTA. You did the right thing.”
“Your parents should back you up.”
“Don’t let others picking on you diminish the respect that you have earned for acting with integrity.” ~ robinhoodoftheworld
“I agree: her parents should back her up.”
“But, honestly, I could see my mother saying the same thing when I was OP’s age.”
“Not because she would have disagreed with me but because she would have feared that I would be retaliated against, perhaps physically.”
“I have a feeling that’s what’s driving OP’s parents to come across the way they are.”
“Surely, OP got a lot, if not most, of her principles from them.”
“They’re probably just frightened that Megan and her little gang of mean girls will do something horrible to their daughter.”
“Let’s face it, the girl’s already shown that she doesn’t have much in the way of boundaries.” ~ Tiamat_fire_and_ice
“NTA. You are a good friend.”
“As someone who is of south East Asian descent and got teased and bullied in school thank you for standing up for her.”
“Her friends are wrong, she did this to herself and may she continue to be punished for her blatant racism.” ~ REDDIT
“NTA 100% OP.”
“You are an incredible person and don’t let ANYONE make you doubt that l, EVER.”
“What you did is EXACTLY what this world needs more of and I thank you.” ~ CarQuean
Well OP, sounds like Reddit agrees with your actions.
Actions have consequences and sometimes people have to learn that the hard way.
Megan sounds like one of those people.
All the best to you and Aysha.