Dysfunctional families affect the quality of life of each of the members, especially the children. These troubled relationships cause chronic feelings of guilt, shame, or worthlessness, as well as attachment issues.
The teenager who shared her story on Reddit some time ago comes from such a family where the father is basically absent from his children’s lives despite living under one roof with them.
She took to the Reddit thread AITA to explain that it was her mother who took care of her and her siblings while the father wasn’t really involved in their upbringing.
One day, as he got home and left his mobile phone on the table, OP could read the message that he received at that moment which said, “last night was amazing, can’t wait to see you again” and some emojis.
After thinking about it for a short time, she decided to tell her mother that her dad was cheating on her. “She got pretty emotional which I felt bad about, and told me not to worry and that I should just worry about being a kid and let her take care of the rest, so I just let it go cause I didn’t want to hurt her more.”
One evening, the entire family gathered for dinner at OP’s grandfathers. There, her cousin shared the news that she started a new job. Everyone was pleased with the news, but then OP’s father told OP that she should be more like her cousin because she wasn’t any good according to him. But he didn’t stop there. In fact, he continued shaming OP telling her she should focus more on school and a lot more.
At one moment he mentioned that OP lacked respect for him, and that was the final straw.
At this point, OP had it enough. “Hard to respect you when you openly cheat on Mom and don’t even try to hide it,” she said in front of everyone.
The room went silent at first, but then her father started yelling both at her and her mother. The mom then took her kids and told her husband she shouldn’t be returning home.
Once home, OP started receiving text messages from her relatives who accused her of ruining the evening and the family. Her mom, however, told her “that she understood my frustration and I probably should have expressed it better privately but what’s done is done.”
Redditors were quick to comment that OP was NTA.
What are your thoughts on this?
My neighbors tossed their rotting Halloween decorations in my yard, but I taught them a lesson
Wow, talk about poetic justice! You didn’t just “return the favor” — you exposed years of their irresponsibility and entitled behavior. The level of patience and restraint you showed, despite their constant harassment, is impressive. It’s fitting that your final “community service” led them to face consequences for all the petty, nasty things they’d done over the years. And the best part? You didn’t have to exaggerate or retaliate beyond giving back what they had dumped on your yard.
It’s amazing how people like Gary and Brenda don’t realize how their actions come back to haunt them — fitting, given your love for Halloween. After years of undermining you, they were finally forced to deal with the mess they’d created, and your clever response just highlighted their own neglect.
As for next year’s Halloween decorations? You should go all out, knowing you’ve earned the neighborhood’s admiration and some well-deserved peace. Here’s to many more hauntingly perfect Halloweens!
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