Siblings pick on each other right? Sometimes however, things can go too far and it turns from a prank into bullying.
Redditor sisterbookthrowaway recently turned to the subReddit “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) to see if she crossed the line from sibling fun to bully.
She asked:
“AITA for always pulling out my sister’s bookmarks?”
The original poster (OP) laid out the sisterly conflict.
“Hello! I am 17F and my sister is 18F. We have a really good relationship and she’s the middle child so she’s the butt of many jokes in our family. She jokingly gets annoyed by our jokes on her but usually laughs along.”
”Something I have been doing for years is pulling out bookmarks from her books. Or sometimes she may be studying for a textbook and she leaves it open on her desk to go get something. So I just shut it.”
”It’s super funny and she gets mad for a little while but when shes yelling she’s holding back a laugh. Then she has to find the page all over again which can be frustrating. She was reading a book which I think was around 500-600 pages.”
”It was lying on her desk and I did what I always do. I gave her a quick warning that I was gonna pull out her bookmark and then pulled it out pretty fast and she didn’t have enough time to react. She yelled at me and told me how hard it is for her to find her page.”
”She kind of laughed like she always does at the beginning but then she started angry because I guess its kind of a pain to find your page again. I was pretty surprised that she got angry tbh because she usually finds these things funny and I don’t think she needed to get angry because this is normal sibling things to annoy your siblings.”
“I’m not sure if I’m the AH because shes always laughing or has a defeated smile on her face whenever I pull these kinds of pranks. But today she got mad at me for doing this. So am I the AH?”
After some stern and concerned commentary OP clarified her family dynamic further.
“Edit: I just wanted to add something. I wrote that my sister is the butt of jokes in my family but I guess the only person who really teases or picks on her a lot is me. For example our older sibling teases her and I both equally.”
”Our parents don’t bully us. So please drag me but not my family! When I wrote she is the butt of jokes in my family I guess it’s that everyone in our family just knows I pick on her the most compared to anyone but I have gotten in trouble for it. She is not the butt of their jokes just mine.”
Redditors weighed in on the situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors quickly called out OP declaring YTA for the unfunny, repeated, pranks on her sister.
“YTA. Here’s the thing. I don’t think you are intentionally trying to hurt your sister, but you are. I don’t think she finds this funny at all.”
”I don’t think she finds the teasing from your family funny at all. I can venture a guess that anytime she has pushed back she’s met with more meaness and cries of ‘it was a joke. Can’t you take a joke? You are no fun. Why are you so uptight’.”
”I bet she laughs because she’ll cry if she doesn’t. Go apologize to your sister. Actually ask her if the pranks and teasing are hurtful to her, and just stop with the book closing.”~mwelch930
“YTA, you’re not being funny or cute, you’re being an annoying bully ‘because you can.’ She’s already shown that she doesn’t like it, yet you keep doing it anyway? Are you five years old? Because you’re acting like one.”
“Just because she laughs, doesn’t mean that it’s funny, laughter can also signify annoyance and that a persons uncomfortable. Learn to read the room.”~FreakishNightmare
“YTA. She’s not laughing. You’re naive and clueless to think she finds this crap funny. That awkward chuckle you think is her laughing along, is her trying to calm herself because she’s trying to be the mature one (because apparently her entire family sucks) and not cause a problem.”
“YTA. A defeated smile, is not a smile! It’s someone who knows it’ll never stop so they’ve given up. They know they’ll always be the butt of the joke and no one cares enough about them and their feelings to stop. Stop being jerks to her just because she’s the middle child.”~yukidaviji
“YTA She has been incredibly patient with you so far but your actions can be boiled down to annoying her for fun. She clearly doesn’t like what you’re doing and is merely tolerating it, seemingly less and less.”~Dookwithanegg
“YTA once or twice sure funny but you have consistently done this and now she’s getting really pissed off about it. Just stop doing it, a prank is something that you usually do once, this sounds more like bullying. Your sister is amazing to have continued to put up with this for as long as she has.”~Spiritual-Anything-5
A few users roasted OP in their judgment for her bullying behavior.
“YTA. Big, flaming, thrombosed hemorrhoid of an a**hole. This behavior is childish and disrespectful. It shows no thought for others, no respect. This is so intentionally a**hole that it gives me flashbacks to my terrible, horrible, crazy stepmother doing things like trying to punish me for reading by trying to take my books away and send me outside.”~SixSpawns
“You guys pick in her because she’s the middle child?! What a bunch of AH you all are! Grow the h*ll up and leave your sister alone.”~Ok-Mode-2038
Hopefully OP learned a thing or two about what is and is not funny to others.