There’s little more irritating than when someone snoops through your personal belongings.
Particularly when you know they’re doing it, but have no way of proving it.
When this is the case, often the only way of putting an end to it is a “booby trap” of sorts.
Though, as we all know, those have a way of backfiring.
Redditor Electric-Cookie-17 knew that her sister-in-law (SIL) always searched through her bedroom every time she paid a visit, even though her SIL denied it.
But with a little ingenuity, the original poster (OP) was able to catch her SIL red-handed, which as one might expect, her SIL did not appreciate at all.
Worried that she may have gone too far, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**Hole” (AITA), where she asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for scaring my SIL with a cardboard cutout of The Rock?”
The OP first explained how her SIL constantly denied ever snooping around whenever she came to visit, even though there were little hints which suggested otherwise.
“My (32 F[emale]) SIL(43 F) is super nosey.”
“It’s come up before, but she’s one of those people that will just deny something to the death, no matter how much proof you have, and then get angry at you for not believing her.”
“At my house, the guest bathroom is partially shared with the master bedroom.”
“The toilet and sink are separate for guests, and then through a door you can get to the shower, our closets, and another sink, then through an additional door is the bedroom … if that makes any sense.”
“Basically, you can get into our bedroom through the bathroom without going through the main door.”
“So, when she comes over, she would sometimes take just a bit too long in the bathroom.”
“During maybe the 3rd or 4th time, I happened to be walking by the bathroom and heard 2 doors close.”
“I asked her if she’d was looking for something in the bedroom, and if I could help her find it.”
“She replied with ‘no, why would I go in your bedroom?'”
“And then changed the subject.”
Having had enough of her SIL’s snooping and denials, the OP hatched a plan to catch her sister in the act, a plan which succeeded—at a price.
“The next time she was going to come over, I set something small behind the bedroom door, so I could see if it had been opened by the small item being pushed back.”
“Later, I could see that it had been.”
“So, for me, confirming that she had been snooping again.”
“I asked directly if she’d been in our bedroom, and she said something like ‘I don’t care what’s in your bedroom, get over yourself’.”
“So yesterday, SIL and BIL came over.”
“But before that, I ordered a full sized cutout of Dwayne Johnson, which I placed in our bedroom, facing the bathroom door.”
“About an hour into the visit, she heads into the bathroom.”
“Very shortly after, there’s a scream, a thud, and a door slam.”
“She came out, clearly angry.”
“She’d been quite startled and slammed her upper arm into the door frame while turning away from the cutout.”
“BIL made it worse be asking ‘well why were you in their bedroom?'”
“But she didn’t answer, and they left.”
“She’s posted on facebook that she has a big bruise on her arm, as a result of my ‘nasty prank’.”
“People are saying she could have been hurt worse and that she’s too old to be the victim of a childish prank.”
“I feel badly that she was hurt.”
“It wasn’t my intention.”
“But I might be the a**hole because I still think it was hilarious.”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
The Reddit community agreed that the OP was in no way the a**hole for pranking her sister-in-law.
Everyone agreed that the OP’s sister-in-law should not have been snooping, and the fact that she was injured was no one’s fault but her own.
“NTA.”
“It was hilarious.”
“Hey, you had two break-ins to your bedroom, so you got The Rock to provide security.”
“He caught the offender.”
“End of problem.”- VlaxDrek
“NTA and since Halloween stuff is starting in the stores, now’s the perfect time to purchase a motion activated witch that will cackle the next time.”
“Maybe buy a door that locks from your bedroom side so she can’t snoop.”
“It’s disrespectful and bad behavior for a guest.”- Disastrous-Nail8885
“NTA.”
“And I’m just petty enough to reply on her post ‘I’m so sorry that you were hurt and startled unintentionally’.”
“‘I didn’t think to warn you about the cutout as I had it stored out of the way in my bedroom’.”
“Then let her friends put the pieces together.”- Aggravating-Dare-707
“NTA and honestly, kind of hilarious.”- jrm1102
“NTA!”
“She totally deserved whatever she got.”
“I would put the details of what happened as a comment on her post.”- quarkfan4552
“NTA.”
“She smelled what the Rock was cooking.”- GothPenguin
“NTA.”
“That’s absolutely hilarious.”
“She was invading your privacy and hopefully you taught her a lesson.”
“Did you ever find out why she was going in there?”
“Was she snooping?”
“Looking for something specific?”-Jmmrn
“NTA.”
“Glad BIL asked why she was in your bedroom in the first place.”
“A little extra embarrassment can’t hurt.”- bad_roboat
“NTA.”
“She should not be snooping.”
“You asked her several times and she kept looking.”
“I hope she fears a surprise every time she opens a door she has no business opening!”
“I thought it was great!”- spasticunicorn517
“NTA.”
“Why not comment going it wasn’t a prank it was in your bedroom which she had no reason to go in.”
“And also kinda want to see what the cutout looks like.”- Megalush
“NTA.”
“Her bruised arm is the result of her own actions.”
“She has no business in your bedroom.”- Tyberious_
“NTA.”
“I see it as just desserts.”- gc729
“NTA.”
“If she wasn’t snooping then she wouldn’t have seen it.”
“It’s like a burglar alarm.”
“A hilarious, hilarious burglar alarm.”-Veissella
“You’re NTA that’s absolutely hilarious.”
“She got quite a dose of medicine for snooping.”-PenniesandSense
“NTA.”
“She sounds like a difficult person.”- Wisdom_Koi
“NTA.”
“She’s also too old to be snooping in other people’s bedrooms.”
“Might want to remind people of that.”-SlabBeefpunch
“I would’ve commented that ‘the cutout was just in my bedroom and she wouldn’t have seen it had she not gone in there without permission – what was she looking for?'”
“NTA.”- PshYeah5
“Lol, NTA.”
“A ‘prank’?”
“Nope.”
“I would’ve called that sh*t out in a comment so quick.”
“‘A prank?'”
“I think not.”
“We’ve suspected you’ve been going into our bedroom under the guise of using the bathroom.”
“We’ve asked you multiple times, to which you denied, but we have small evidence that you have.”
“Maybe this time you’ll get the hint, again AFTER MULTIPLE TIMES, to stay out of our bedroom :)”
“Btw, I’d think of maybe getting a different lock on the bathroom or maybe even an additional one, like a sliding lock?”-_SuperiorSpider
“NTA.”
“She still didn’t admit she was in your bedroom and what the hell she was doing in there.”-Philosophy_1017
“NTA.”
“I would post online.”
“‘It’s weird when you have someone you know keeps going through all your personal stuff and denies it each and every time’.”
“‘Then, they manage to scare themselves while going through your stuff’.”
“But, somehow, she’s the victim?'”
“‘Weird’.”- crystallz2000
“This is too perfect, you are well within your rights to laugh your a** off and explain to everyone that you did not play a prank, you just got a guard to keep nosey people from snooping in your bedroom.”- maidofatoms
“NTA in fact you are my hero lmao.”
‘She had it coming.”- Dry-Sprinkles-1995
“I would have just played dumb.”
“Just stare at them completely deadpan and say, ‘I was not playing any kind of prank’.”
“I literally just had a cardboard cutout in my room’.”
“And any time anyone brings it up, just completely deny it was ever meant to be a prank’.”
“After all, you were not expecting anyone else to be in your room, so how would this be some kind of setup?”
“NTA.”- Lanky-Temperature412
“NTA.”
“Put her on blast on social media in response to her post with:”
“‘Well, perhaps if you weren’t snooping through my bedroom AGAIN, you wouldn’t have met with such unfortunate events’.”- Free_Bumblebee_7935
“NTA, I love it.”
“If she didn’t try to go into your bedroom she wouldn’t have seen him.”
“She was being childish, she can’t complain.”-ScorchieSong
As the saying goes, one should keep their nose out of other people’s business.
And had the OP’s sister done just that, she likely wouldn’t have that major bruise she’s been complaining about.
Here’s hoping that bruise might serve as a warning to stop rummaging through other people’s things in the future.