Some people really enjoy pulling pranks on other people, but it’s important to respect other people’s boundaries when it’s time to pull a prank.
And pranks definitely shouldn’t be dangerous, pointed out the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITAH) subReddit.
Redditor NaturalGrocery3159 was furious when she found out that her sister-in-law had hidden in her garage, dressed as a burglar to prank her husband.
But when her sister-in-law demanded an apology for her future brother-in-law’s reaction, the Original Poster (OP) considered not even going to her wedding anymore.
She asked the sub:
“AITAH for thinking about not attending my brother’s wedding because of his fiancée’s prank on my husband?”
The OP’s future sister-in-law (SIL) took her interest in Disney too far.
“I am 25 (Female), and my husband is 30 (Male). My brother (32 Male) and his fiancée (31 Female) recently came to visit us in our city.”
“My partner and I are new homeowners and they were staying with us for the first time.”
“My brother’s fiancée loves Halloween. She is also a ‘Disney adult’ and has a childlike side to her which comes out sometimes. She’s just super involved (absorbed?) when it comes to her interests.”
“My perspective is that she often gets carried away, and I genuinely feel what I am going to describe was the result of one of those moments where she just took it too far and suffered some negative consequences.”
“She is, however, taking it as a very personal attack. So we disagreed and the disagreement resulted in my husband cutting their visit short (they were asked to leave).”
The OP’s SIL even accused her husband of being a villain.
“My SIL has made comments more than a few times now since meeting him, that my husband gives off a ‘dark’ vibe. She is always comparing him to characters from various books she reads.”
“It’s not necessarily criticism, and she always explains that they are compliments. Well, I’m not sure anymore. Her reasons for these comparisons are based on his looks, the general vibe he gives off, and his tattoo (he only has one, but it’s on his hand).”
“During this recent visit, she mentioned she would love to see someone like him get scared because she can’t imagine him getting startled, or letting out a scream.”
“Scaring him became her goal during her stay with us. None of us knew about it, not even my brother.”
The OP’s SIL did pull off scaring the OP’s husband, but there were consequences.
“The incident causing all the trouble is that she tried to jump-scare my husband in the garage.”
“It was dark and she ambushed him in the garage while wearing a full outfit and mask when he was returning from a run.”
“Well, he didn’t let out the scream she wanted … He instinctively reacted by shoving her against the wall. She hit her head and was quite shaken up.”
“Luckily, he realized very quickly by the sound she made that it likely wasn’t an intruder.”
“He switched the lights on and pulled her mask off. He told me he was very confused in the moment… Like, why would she attack him?”
“My husband helped her inside, apologized, made her tea, and then called me (I was out with my brother).”
The OP then described her SIL’s costume.
“I didn’t get an opportunity to ask that night if she bought an outfit specifically for this prank or if it was my brother’s Halloween costume (they go to adult Halloween parties) and were attending one this weekend two hours from where we live.”
“It was part of my brother’s costume; a mask (like a golden masquerade one but more coverage. It reminded me of the Gold/Jewelled animal masks from ‘Squid Games,’ or something you’d wear to a Rothschild party in the 70s) and she had on a long robe/cloak with a hood.”
The OP tried to have a conversation with her SIL.
“When we got home, I asked her if she was okay. I said her prank was stupid to do because she could have gotten seriously hurt!”
“I don’t know if it was what I said that bothered her or if she was just waiting for her partner to come home, but she launched into crying about how my husband used an excessive amount of force, knowing it was most likely her just doing a harmless prank.”
“In a nutshell… My husband asked her straightforwardly, ‘Are you implying I intentionally assaulted you?'”
“She hesitated but chose to say, ‘Yes,’ and my husband responded to that with, ‘Get out of my house.'”
The OP tried to resolve the situation, but her brother and SIL made it worse
“I tried to smooth it, but my husband was adamant if that’s what she genuinely believes, she’s not welcome to stay. My SIL chose to stick to her accusation.”
“I decided to side with my husband.”
“My brother is angry with me. He thinks I should have tried to do damage control and let them stay by convincing my husband to lean more into apologizing and placating his fiancée who was just recovering from the situation. He thinks this whole thing would’ve blown over if I’d helped my husband fold…”
“I find this unfair. My brother was counting on me to handle all this, yet he didn’t speak up during the conversation or try to talk sense into his fiancée.”
“My husband remained calm the entire time, but he obviously felt insulted by her remarks and I think that’s valid. Why should I have taken my brother’s fiancée’s side over my own husband… especially when I felt like she was wrong for doing all that, then turning around and accusing my husband of wanting to hurt her?”
“My brother says I was short-sighted and should think of their upcoming wedding but I think he is the one who needs to get his fiancée to apologize to my husband.”
“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 pointed out that none of this would have happened if the fiancée skipped the prank.
“If she hadn’t hidden in the dark garage in a hooded costume, none of this would have happened. There’s no way he would have known in the moment that it was her and I believe anyone would have a similar reaction. Frankly, she’s lucky she was not hurt more than she was.”
“There’s a direct cause-effect here yet she’s not accepting responsibility. I think her behavior falls into the ‘play stupid games and win stupid prizes’ category. Your husband doesn’t have anything to apologize for and it’s offensive for them to try to obfuscate her responsibility.”
“NTA.” – do2g
“It’s one thing to come out of a closet into a well-lighted room, and completely another to jump someone in a dark garage. She’s lucky he didn’t break her nose or her jaw.” – FordWarrier
“It is INSANE to do this at 30 years old anyway, but then to say he WOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WAS HER?? like what??? She is lucky she didn’t get something broken.” – ScarletGreenier
“Regarding the bride, this was all very delusional and weird of her. Also, if I was her fiance, I would have been kind of weirded out by her kind of weird obsession with OP’s husband.”
“And I am not the jealous type. It’s just the ‘dark’ comments and then home alone and she legitimately attacks him? Where did she see that going if he is so ‘dark’ seeming? He could have broken her arm or face. Shot, stabbed her.”
“Like, what the f**k? You are 31, dude. This is how I behaved as a YOUNG teen maybe and even then I was too old, lol (laughing out loud).”
“Also, did she bring a disguise in preparation? Because she had a mask, right?? That is one of my biggest questions.” – Entire-Ambition1410
“The whole point of the prank was that he didn’t know it was her when she jumped out. He figured it out really quickly and stopped. She is so so so lucky that he is so controlled. Some people would have panicked and not been able to stop.” – MotherofCrowlings
Others pointed out that the future bride was lucky she didn’t get really hurt.
“I live in Oklahoma, she’s lucky she didn’t get shot.” – Pure_Butterscotch165
“Texas here. Getting shot is a REAL possibility. That’s beyond stupid on her part. I can guarantee you that I will NOT be attacked again. Not funny.” – Marykk10
“North Carolina checking in, and this is a fact. She’d have likely been shot doing that to someone around here. Big NTA.” – MissWiggly2
“Some people freeze and scream, some run away, and some throw punches. It’s just instinct and he obviously treated her differently as soon as he realized. If it was rage and anger, I doubt he would have helped her up and made tea.” – Neat-Neighborhood595
“Florida here, this state stands its ground… too much sometimes. I honestly think Florida would let you shoot, draw, and quarter someone for this kind of ‘prank.'”
“The sister-in-law is stupid for the prank and beyond hopeless for thinking she deserves anything more than what she already got (an apology? For what?).”
“NTA, and thank you for having your husband’s back.”
“If she ‘needs’ an apology, try this:”
“Sister-in-law, I’m sorry you stupidly thought trying to jump my ‘villain’ husband to scare a scream from him resulted in you not getting shot, which as the homeowners would be our right when facing a violent intruder attacking us in our dark garage when returning home. I’m sorry all you got was scared. I’m sorry you don’t realize the danger you put everyone in because you’re a perpetual child. I’m sorry our lack of concern for YOU, when you caused this mess, hurt your widdle feelies. And mostly I’m sorry we offered you, a proven wolf crier, a place to stay in the first place.'”
“Op, feel free to use as is or change some shit, but give her a non-apology. She deserves no more.” – HeyPrettyLadyMama
After reading the subReddit’s comments, the OP felt validated in her
“To all the people who said they couldn’t imagine what my sister-in-law was thinking, I don’t understand, either.”
“My husband has no banter with her. They don’t have much of a rapport. All her impressions about him are just superficial ones she’s made. She doesn’t even know him.”
“But she’s the type of person who believes she is really good at reading people and convinces herself she’s figured them out and what kind of person they are. She has tried guessing things about him in the past and she gets them wrong because she is basing him off her assumptions.”
“I am sure she does this with other people she meets, too.”
“And I don’t know why, but until I made this post, I hadn’t thought of the absolute sh*tstorm her false accusation can cause for my husband if she doesn’t have the sense to drop it, so I will be making sure to follow up on this and set the record straight.”
“I think I’m done trying to argue with my brother about it and am going to focus on this aspect of the situation instead.”
The subReddit was disgusted by the future bride’s behavior and felt that she should be more grateful that more didn’t happen when she pulled such an inappropriate prank.