Content Warning: Cheating, Sexually Transmitted Diseases
We've all heard of the Friend Code or the Sibling Code, in which we won't date someone our brother, sister, or friend previously dated, at least without talking to them first.
While most people are fairly open to honoring that, there are some people out there who feel so entitled to date whoever they want, they ruin important relationships in the process, cringed the users of the "Am I the A**hole?" (AITAH) subReddit.
Redditor Extension-Simple7312 was in a relationship with the man who she thought was the love of her life, at least until she found out he was cheating on her, and again when she found out that she'd contracted an STD from him that he'd picked up during one of his affairs.
But when her sister decided to date the same man, despite her past history with him and mental health, the Original Poster (OP) decided to cut her sister out of her life, permanently.
She asked the sub:
"AITAH for telling my sister she lost me the second she even considered dating my ex who gave me an STD and didn't tell me?"
The OP thought she was in a loving relationship... until she wasn't.
"I (28 Female) was with a guy called Jason (29 Male) when we were 20/21 years old."
"We broke up when I was 22 after I'd found out he had not only cheated on me, but also knew he had contracted an STD from sleeping around and didn't tell me. He had known about it, and he was told he needed to speak to any sexual partners because of the risks associated with this STD to fertility, and he said nothing."
"I remember when I told my family what had happened, they were all there to support me and my sister (27 Female) was one of them."
Fortunately, the OP was able to build a new life for herself.
"I did move on, and I met my husband a year after breaking up with Jason. And thankfully, I was able to get pregnant and we have a baby together."
"But I never forgot about the fact that Jason did what he did."
"Cheating was bad enough, but you can move on. The STD was where it became not only unforgivable, but I would have taken issue with anyone in my family even becoming friends with him after that point."
But then the OP had to say goodbye to a loved one.
"But then, three months ago, my sister asked me if I would be okay with her dating Jason."
"She told me she didn't want to lose me, but they had met again after several years, and she liked him and he'd changed."
"I walked away from my sister without saying a word, and she started dating Jason officially. Though when she came to me like she did and asked me like she did, I would guess they had been unofficial before that point and not just friendly."
"I have shut my sister out of my life, and she has not been allowed to come and meet my child."
"The rest of the family stands by me and what I decided, but they have not shut her out of their lives, which is totally fine and not an issue for me."
The OP's sister kept trying to regain access to her life.
"But my sister doesn't like that, and she has tried to get in touch with me several times and has cried and asked me to hear her out and to talk to her. The fact that I have run into her once since, and I ignored her. She was talking to me, but I acted like she was a ghost I couldn't see or hear."
"So she ambushed me at my house the other day and told me she doesn't want to lose me, and she'll break up with Jason if I stop ignoring her and we can go back to being sisters."
"I told her she lost me the second she even considered dating him. I told her I might not have known about it in that moment, but once I heard she wanted to date him, knowing what he did to me, it was over."
"She's crying about it now, and our family is refusing to hear her cries about it."
The OP assumed that more pressure was coming in the not-too-distant future.
"My baby sister (24) told me she's trying to get the rest of the family to confront me about it, but nobody will. She does think our sister is genuinely hurt about this, but she feels like it's her own fault."
"And I agree. But I know what I said to her might still be overly harsh because even thinking about it without acting on it would have led to this, which might be wrong of me."
"So I'm here to ask, AITAH?"
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 immediately argued against the sister's statement that the cheating ex had "changed."
"People who are bad people, cheaters, abusers, etc, have a charming and likable side. That is how they get their victims or partners."
"I am always amused when someone says, 'No, he's changed.' Has he? Or is he just showing you the side of him he wants you to see?"
"If he has changed, can the sister articulate how he has changed and what drove him to change? How has he made amends, or at least acknowledged the person he was?"
"In 99.999999% of the 'He's changed' cases, he has not changed at all; he is just in the love bombing stage. The person who believes he has changed almost always finds out the hard way that he is still a cheater, still selfish, still dishonest." - AdAccomplished6870
"It's possible but exceedingly rare for these kinds of people to genuinely change. Personally, I think if he had changed, he wouldn't have pursued the sister of someone he'd hurt the way he did."
"He'd be able to recognize how wrong his previous actions were. He'd know he didn't deserve forgiveness from his previous victims. He wouldn't want to risk hurting them ever again."
"In my opinion, this guy doesn't care about his previous victims. He doesn't care how much pain he's caused to the family again. He has not changed." - MykelMoney
"Out of all the available women in the world, he just happens to think the sister is the special one for him now? Bulls**t."
"People CAN change, particularly as they naturally mature from teens to adults. Granted, some don't, and a LOT of men take quite a while. But I would still consider my 20/21 year old self quite different from my 27/28 year old self."
"However, why of all the people in the world, the sister? They obviously always wanted to bang, I wonder if they didn't back then..." - ked145
"He has changed so much that he is happily perused and is staying in a relationship with someone, knowing that it is destroying her relationship with her family." - InternetTurbulent769
"Sister, whining voice: 'But he's chaaaaanged!'"
"Morgan Freeman voiceover: 'He had, in fact, not changed at all.'" - qwinflavour
Others simply reassured the OP that she was right to be upset about what her sister had done.
"The boyfriend placed OP in a situation of possible irreparable harm. In that situation, you ride and die with OP. It is forever and always 'on site' if you see the boyfriend. You don't actually have to fight, but you certainly don't give them a chance to explain how they changed."
"The boyfriend could become a priest, and those of us who know how to ride and die know he has not changed and does not deserve forgiveness."
"The sister will be his next victim, no doubt, but she has had intimate knowledge that I'm sure we don't even have, and what we have is enough to know the decisions she has made were grave mistakes." - Appropriate_Tie_8180
"He was with OP for almost two years, and it was OP finding out on her own about both STD and cheating basically at the same time. I give about the same amount of time or more because sister is delusionally entitled and in denial of basic facts and reality compared to OP, who legit had no clue what level of a piece of s**t he was while being 20-22 at the time."
"NTA. Both OP and the family are correct for handling this situation how they see fit, OP by cutting off and family by basically do, 'Well duh, what did you think was going to happen if you did that...'" - maywellflower
"NTA. I'm honestly confused about why she thought you would be okay with this? Also, who even wants to date their sibling's ex?! I'd never think to do that to my sister, nor would I want to." - CAgirl17
"NTA. Your sister seems to think that Jason is the issue, and if she gets rid of him, it'll undo the damage. The thing is that he isn't the problem. She is."
"She deliberately chose to date your ex, which in and of itself is weird and wrong, but she didn't just choose any ex. She decided to pick the guy who hurt you the most, who cheated, and who willingly gave you an STD, knowing it could cost you your chance at having children."
"All that is bad enough, but the fact that she crept about meeting him and began dating him without mentioning anything makes it worse."
"She didn't speak to you about it before anything happened to see how you'd feel, she basically went, 'Hey OP, you know that guy who broke your heart and jeopardised your health all so that he could bang other women? Well, I'm banging him now! We're totally a couple! Isn't it great? He's totally changed, so you're going to be cool with this, right?'"
"The damage was done the moment she decided to get involved with him in any way. She made it clear that he and his wandering penis were more important than you, your feelings, and her relationship with you. I have to ask, what do you think she expected with this? Is she normally this thick-headed and oblivious?" - Buttered_Crumpet09
"Definitely NTA."
"She knew what she was getting into. She saw how he treated you and supported you during that time. Just because he announces that he changed doesn't mean you want to be around him."
"Stick to your boundaries. I'm glad there were no underlying and long-lasting health issues from your time with him." - Deep_Rig_1820
As much as the sister wanted to have a relationship with the OP and her current "boyfriend," it was clear that trying to have her cake and eat it, too, was exactly what caused the cake to irreparably fall to the floor... and the five-second rule did not apply here.
















New Mom Irate After Father-In-Law Ruins Her Birthday With 'Vulgar' Comment About Her Breasts
There's nothing quite like the feeling of going through all the work to prepare a fun celebration, just for someone to undo it with an unkind or gross comment.
That feeling just gets worse when it's your birthday, and that comment was made by someone who's supposed to care about you, sympathized the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor Rude-Pepper-2389 had recently given birth and decided to have a special birthday celebration to reconnect with her loved ones after becoming a mom.
When her father-in-law stopped by unexpectedly and then made comments about her body, the Original Poster (OP) was left so uncomfortable that it ruined the whole celebration for her.
She asked the sub:
The OP wanted to have a special birthday celebration after her baby was born.
"I currently have a five-month-old and haven’t really been taking care of myself or dressing up since having the baby."
"It’s my (25 Female) birthday, and we were having friends over at our house for a private dinner to celebrate."
"My husband (24 Male) and I have been together since we were 18."
"I decided to put on this new silk shirt I got, which, admittedly, was low-cut, but I felt cute in it and felt comfortable around the friends we were having over."
Everything was fine until the OP's father-in-law (FIL) stopped by unexpectedly.
"My husband's dad decided to stop by on his way home from work."
"I will say, he was likely drunk. He works two hours away and proudly told my husband he's down to only four beers on his drive home each day... so, that's healthy."
"When he came in, I was on the couch with my baby propped up beside me, bottle feeding him. Keep in mind, I am not breastfeeding, so no, my breasts are not any larger right now."
"My husband's dad leaned down to look at the baby and then suddenly shouted, 'D**n, son, she could knock you out with those things in bed! Like cracking two coconuts together.'"
"This was fully and undoubtedly in reference to my breasts."
The OP was shocked by the comment and very uncomfortable.
"It made me deeply uncomfortable and embarrassed."
"I was so stunned, I couldn’t even process what he said to me, and our friends just stared at me, blinking."
"He’s a redneck, so he's said some pretty vulgar stuff over the years, but this just seems to take the cake, as it was the first time it was directed at me."
"When he stepped out, I told my husband he needed to speak to him, and that the comment wasn’t okay."
"I went to change clothes and decided to never ever wear that shirt again."
"When I brought it up to my husband, he said he didn't hear the comment at first, but then he laughed when I told him what he said. He's always laughed when he feels awkward and has always had a hard time standing up to his parents in any capacity."
"When he and my father-in-law spoke, my FIL just said, 'I shouldn’t have said that to her, I know how she can be,' which just feels even more like I’m just being dramatic."
"Since then, I think my husband just wants me to drop it and move on, truthfully."
The OP wasn't sure what to do after what happened.
"This genuinely ruined my entire night. Am I just too sensitive, or was this an inappropriate thing to say?"
"There's also been no apology since then. This happened on Thursday, and then my father-in-law came by again on Friday with flowers to wish me a happy Mother's Day before Mother's Day Sunday."
"I think that was his way of trying to just breeze past the awkwardness. He's never gotten me a gift the whole seven years I've known him, so the flowers were odd. But I still feel really uncomfortable."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that her father-in-law's comments were rude and just plain creepy.
"NOR at all. That was really rude of him. Anyone would be offended." - Bookbringer
"NOR. That’s firmly in the category of what should be an 'inside thought,' and we should learn what those are at a much younger age than this guy is."
"F**king h**l, this is an absolutely mental thing to say out loud, let alone to your daughter-in-law." - Electronic-Fennel828
"FIL is an AH. I love that you think his being a redneck excuses it, but d**n. Even rednecks should know better than to speak that way to their son's wife."
"What does your husband have to say? Does he understand how breath-takingly rude his father was, or is he Team 'That's Just How He Is'?"
"I'd go very low contact with the old perv. NOR, he put you in an uncomfortable position with his crude remark. Is he married? I'd tell the MIL. I'd tell the whole family. Yes, it's embarrassing, but he is the one who should be embarrassed. Don't accept his non-apology." - Top-Bit85
"Maybe I’m desensitized after having large breasts since I was 13 (I’m 28 now), but I let out a little snort based on how immature of a joke it was. I’d simply tell FIL, 'Yes, I know, my boobs are big,' and move on."
"That said, I would never make such a comment about another person's body. Just because I'm technically fine with it doesn't mean I assume anyone else is!"
"Not everyone is the same, and if OP felt uncomfortable, she’s NOR. Her body, her boundaries." - Both_Original2094
"I’m sorry. That’s upsetting. My father is like this with his father. Even if it’s very offensive comments, he’s uncomfortable and has problems confronting him. It sounds like your husband isn’t going to have a talk with him, which is hurtful."
"I would explain to your husband how uncomfortable the situation was for you and that it’s a serious matter, especially if it happens again. And if he still tries to brush it off, then I would tell him you no longer want your FIL coming to your home."
"It’s your life, too, and he’s not the one being hurt here, you are." - w_coastultraviolence
Others were specifically angry about the tactics the father-in-law used to try to get out of trouble.
"Seriously? Saying 'I know how she can be' is a classic way to blame the victim for having boundaries. It’s your birthday, not a Hooters convention. What a creep. If he can’t look at the baby without checking out your breast, he shouldn't be invited to the house." - Specific_Parsnip3264
"'I know how she can be' is so f**ked up. He's the one being a disgusting person. You need to shine up your husband's spine to properly call him out at the time next time, because there will be a next time." - dancepantz
"The bit that pisses me off the most is, 'I know how she can be,' which is his way of making it her problem that she doesn't like her FiL sexualising her in front of her friends." - Outside-Partait-8935
"The 'joke' comment is gross, but that follow-up comment is infuriating. NOR, OP. But this guy will be in your life for a while, so firmly & calmly shutting this stuff down is completely appropriate."
"I'd wear the d**n shirt again to the next family function and look him right in the eyes next time!" - RationalFish
"When we let things like this slide for others, it's not long before it ends up on our doorstep, and of course, nobody says anything because keeping the peace is the norm. It doesn't have to be getting into their face and yelling abuse back. Just a comment such as, 'Well, that's super tacky to say,' or asking them why they'd say that." - Kattnapped
"The OP said, 'He's said some pretty vulgar stuff over the years... but this is the first time it was directed to me.'"
"Normalise calling stuff out when they are talking about others, and they won't feel so comfortable saying it to you."
"It's a gross thing for him to say, but I guess him buying you flowers is his way of saying sorry."
"Sounds like you are in the situation of a lot of new mothers, where you suddenly realise this stuff matters because you want better influences for your child, and better support for yourself. NOR." - Jumpy-Jello-
Now, about that shirt...
"Please re-think your decision to never wear the cute shirt again, girl!! It's something that you liked very much because it made you feel good about yourself. Don't let some backwoods id**t ruin that for you."
"Wear that shirt till it's worn out and can't be worn anymore!! You should be able to feel good about yourself in whatever you like to wear."
"Your husband should have immediately checked his father, not waited until he was told to do so after his father left the room. In front of everyone there, your husband should have told his father not to ever speak about you or to you in that kind of manner, and if his father doesn't like it, he knows where the door is."
"Hubby should have called him out for his response as well. You did absolutely nothing wrong. You were not the problem; his dad was. This comes down to your husband needing to protect his wife, and he didn't do that." - Lynzo141982
"If he is a redneck, like you said, he won't outright apologize, but flowers are his way of saying sorry."
"I hope he won't say anything again, or else you can expect a nicely tended garden for at least a year."
"About your top, I hope you can wear it again. It takes a lot to feel cute, being a new mum."
"If not, get some fabric dye, dye the top a different color, and embroider a flower on it. This makes the top new, different, and every time you wear it, you can use the mantra ... I'm cute, I don't care what anyone says."
"You've got this!!" - No_Kangaroo_6637
Even if the father-in-law was joking and meant no harm, this is one of those situations where he needs to admit that his joke did not land well, he did cause harm, and he needs to apologize. Just because some people enjoy joking in that manner does not mean that everyone will be comfortable with it, and it's important to respect everyone's boundaries and zones of comfort.