A.I.T.A? stands for ‘Am I The A******,’ and these stories below have us questioning just that. Leave it to Reddit to produce some of the most crowd-splitting true (???) experiences on the Internet. Whether you love the drama or love to hate it, here are some of the most controversial stories we found on Reddit this year that will surely drive in some mixed opinions.
Refusing To Give Cousin Their Heated Blanket
From Redditor u/Bossy_Aussie_:
So, I (17F) have an 8-year-old cousin, who we’ll call Katie for the sake of the story.
For my 16th birthday, my best friend Jasper gave me a heated blanket because I mentioned how my room can get freezing… [It’s] basically a red blanket that plugs in, you pick one of four settings, and it auto shuts off after 3 hours so it’s not a fire hazard. Safe to say, I love this thing. I’m actually using it right now lol.
So two days ago, my aunt and uncle and Katie came over for dinner. I asked Katie if she wanted to play a game on our Switch; she excitedly said yes so we went up to my room and set it up to my TV. Just my luck, my room was freezing cold, so I set up my heated blanket for Katie and I while my heater slowly heats up the room.
When they were about to leave, Katie came running to me with the blanket, asking if she could take it home. The thing is, they have two dogs who ruin stuff in 2 seconds, while she doesn’t take the best care of her stuff either ([understandable] since she’s 8).
I nicely took it from her and said no in the nicest way possible. I told her that it was a birthday gift that Jasper gave to me. She looked disappointed but smiled. She’s met Jasper, and aside from her parents and I, he’s gotta be her favourite person, and he absolutely adores her. (She’s told Jasper and I that we need to get together and get married so that she can see him more often lol.)
She ran to her parents and got her stuff on, and my aunt and uncle asked why I couldn’t just give it to her. I said again that it was a birthday gift from Jasper. They just said that I could’ve given it to her and Jasper or I could get another one. I don’t wanna give it away since it was a birthday gift from my best friend, and he had a hilariously hard time getting it. (He paid for it, but he had to ask his mother to order it, and tried his best to not mention that it was a gift for a girl, since you can probably tell how she’d respond lol.)
I stood my ground and told them that I would not be giving it to them, and they just huffed and left. Later they texted me saying that I was an AH and I should’ve just given it to her. I was older, and I should’ve been the bigger person. The thing is, Katie had literally no problem with me saying no, so I have no idea what their problem was, but the way AH was thrown around it reminded me of this place. So Reddit, AITA?
Telling Their Daughter She Will Never Get Her Late Mom’s Jewelry If She Doesn’t Change
From Redditor u/Willing_Ad6818:
…My wife passed three years ago and she owned really expensive jewelry. In total I would think it cost more than 100,000. A lot is passed down and she would save for years to buy an expensive piece.
My daughter, 27, is bad with money. She works [on] commission, so her cash flow is different each month. One month she makes a ton and the next she is broke and sells what she bought last month. She will spend all her money and then have to sell to make ends met next month. I have tried to get her to be responsible with money but she is an adult and there isn’t much I can do.
I have watched this dance for years. [S]he called me up and asks when she can take her mom’s jewelry. I told her I would prefer to keep it at my home. This started an argument about how I am not using it. I told her she will never get her jewelry unless she changes – that I would prefer to keep it in a box, then let her sell it when she ***** up her money again. She called me a jerk, and my wife’s family is getting involved.
Edit: …[E]verything went to me when she passed. Daughter has no claim on them and I would hand them over if she wouldn’t sell them.
Demanding Cousin Reimburse Them For Her Kids
From Redditor u/Formal-Grocery5838:
So I (24M) am a Dragon Ball fan. It’s something I’ve loved since I was a child and I bought some merchandise over the years. Basically I had a shelf in my room with some figures, some sets of Dragon Ball Z and a Goku drawing I worked really hard on. My cousin (33F) comes over unannounced today with her three kids (15M), (16F), and (14F). Now I love my cousin and her kids; I don’t mind them stopping by even when I’m not there. My cousin’s been like an older sister/mother to me all of my life. She told me they stopped by my place because the kids wanted to see me. I let her know I’ll be back in a few minutes. I had just left to go buy some groceries.
I return home, put my groceries up and speak with her and the kids; all is going well until the 14-year-old asks me for some money. I deny her request as I don’t get paid for another week and nothing special is happening so I’m not just out here giving money away. She gets infuriated and says I let her down. And yada yada. It’s whatever to me and we chill for a few hours and they leave.
That was yesterday. I come home from work today and get a text from the 16-year-old saying, “I’m sorry Unc, she just said she left something there.” I’m mainly relaxed since she has a habit of leaving things and I go to my room. My shelf is annihilated, everything is thrown down and broken, all the figures are missing body parts, my Dragon Ball Z are broken and that drawing I spent 3 months on finishing is cut to shreds. And some of my hoodies and shirts are gone, my Capsule Corp hat is gone.
I broke down crying and called their mom. I tell her I need her key back and tell her what her daughter did. I then let her know she owes me about $1,500 over this and this is me being generous. I’ve spent well over $3K on this whole thing but I needed **something** back for this. She tells me she’ll give me the key but I’ll be seeing no money from this.
I tell her it’s her responsibility since they are her kids and she also just leaves the key open and in the world when I said it’s meant for her. Not her whole family. She said she didn’t care and I’m not getting any money that’s it. I’ve banned her from my house until she pays me and she says so be it and refuses to pay me, saying it’s my fault for not locking my game room door. That door doesn’t even have a lock.
AITA for demanding she pay me back?
‘Snooping’ On Baby Camera
From Redditor u/dumblonde7:
AITA? My mother-in-law was helping my husband with our baby. I got a notification on the baby camera in his crib and checked on it. When I opened it, my MiL was talking about me to my husband (he was standing up for me, of course). She was lying, to my husband, about a conversation [she] and I had. I confronted her about what she said and she is mad I was “snooping.” AITA?
Edit: …I opened the camera because she told me “the baby cries all the time,” so I was checking to see if he was crying. I can tell what is wrong with him based on his cry. She was in the middle of a lie about me when I pressed “volume on.” I did not linger. I heard the lie and immediately contacted my husband.
Store Owner Allowing Children To Board Game Nights
I (35M) own a game store and hold board game/DnD [Dungeons & Dragons] nights three times a week. I have a few tables set up in the back so people can come in and play games, along with a small “kitchen” (really just a fridge, microwave, sink, and cupboard) so people can have some snacks and drinks while playing.
One of the regular groups have been playing DnD in my store on a weekly basis for the past three years (and I’ve sometimes joined them as a guest player), and it’s always been great fun. About a year ago they had to find a new DM [Dungeon Master] because their usual DM didn’t have the time to dedicate to preparing campaigns anymore. While they were looking they still came in weekly, but just played regular board games instead.
Now a few months ago this 10-year-old girl (let’s just call her Emma for convenience) showed up with her mother at one of the game nights. According to her mother, Emma had been spending months making all kinds of materials for playing DnD, but didn’t know anyone who would play with her. So her mother wondered if it was okay for her to ask at my store if anyone would be willing to play.
The regular group was more than happy to join in for a session, and it ended up going so well they asked Emma to DM for them regularly if she wanted to. Fast forward to now, and Emma is DM-ing two days a week, one time for the regular group and one time for one-off sessions for other people to jump in if they want. I swear this girl is a genius; she has memorised the entire player’s handbook and monster guide, and made a fully homebrew campaign that’s genuinely fun and exciting (though sometimes also surprisingly dark).
Now for the problem. A few other people have started complaining about there being a child on game nights, saying the reason they’re playing here is because they have children at home. Now that Emma is also coming to the game nights, they feel like they can’t play games as they usually do because they keep having to think about whether their language or jokes are inappropriate for the presence of a child.
I told them that I never said anything about providing a child-free space, so I won’t be banning Emma from coming, so I’m sorry if they don’t like it. But they’re welcome to plan their nights on days where Emma isn’t there, or find a different place to play. I did tell Emma’s mother that Emma is only allowed to be here as long as one of her parents is also present (not going to take any risk).
AITA for not banning children from game nights and telling people to basically suck it up?
Telling Husband They Didn’t Want To Use The Bathmats His Parents Gave Them 10 Years Ago
From Redditor u/scarsandstrips:
…We recently renovated our bathrooms and I thought the bathmats needed an upgrade to match. My husband was really, really upset and said, “What’s wrong with the old mats?!” So I responded that they are 10 YEARS OLD, and furthermore, I didn’t even pick them out – they were a gift from his parents. He was livid and said that I was being super rude and offensive and that he was going to give them back to his parents, saying I’m ungrateful. Then he started to berate my parents, saying that he’s going to tell them how much he doesn’t like their gifts.
I was caught off guard [because] I really didn’t mean to insult his parents. I was si[m]ply making the point that they weren’t something I had picked out. Plus, that was 4 bathrooms ago, and they don’t match our current place, even putting aside the fact that they’re 10 years old.
He’s been giving me the silent treatment since then (last night) and told me to do the kids’ drop-offs and pickups myself this week. He also angrily tossed and turned yesterday, shouting that he’s so mad he can’t sleep.
I tried to be calm, and said I apologized and didn’t mean any insults, and that I am still learning his trigger points, and can he please consider that he misinterpreted? He got even more mad and told me to get off my high horse.
Is this a gross overreaction or was my comment really offensive?
For context, he is very frugal and doesn’t like to spend money on anything, so sometimes I will just make purchases anyway…
Booking A Venue Without Telling The Owner That The Celebrity Her Daughter Loves Would Be There
From Redditor u/PumpkinProper7830:
After high school my friends and I left our hometown and I settled in a major city about a couple hours away. My friend Elizabeth, who lives several states away, wanted to have her wedding back home. I helped her look for venues, specifically ones that were self-contained (i.e., where we could sleep, eat, have the ceremony, and have the reception). Nancy, a hometown acquaintance, runs the venue we chose, and while in the process of visiting and getting everything finalized, I discovered that Nancy’s young teenage daughter Natalie is obsessed with a specific celebrity, Alice, to the point of having Alice-themed merch and posters on her walls.
Elizabeth became friends with Alice a few years ago, but I didn’t know until we had a logistics call that Alice was going to attend the wedding. Alice mentioned that she wanted to be just another friend at the event instead of doing things like taking photos and signing autographs, and that she was fatigued from her latest project, which involved a lot of fan interaction. I reassured her that we were going to stay out in the countryside with a small group of people, so everything would be fine and she’d be just another wedding guest.
The wedding went off without a hitch, but afterward Alice posted few photos with no location identifiers to social media. Still, Natalie follows her, recognized a couple of distinct landscape features, and was hysterical that Alice was at her mom’s venue and she didn’t get to meet her. Nancy is furious with me, and thinks that not only should I have told her Alice was going to be there, but that I should have gotten Natalie in front of her. I’m honestly torn and genuinely feel badly for Natalie, but it also feels like I would have been violating Alice’s privacy to do so.
Laughing When Their Son Came Home From Meeting His Girlfriend’s Parents Because He Chose To Behave Like He Does At Home
From Redditor u/UnlikelySalary409:
My son burps a lot while eating. I have tried telling him multiple times that it is rude. I’ve told him to slow down so he doesn’t swallow air with his food. I’ve told him that it is disgusting.
My wife will instantly jump in to defend him. She will say that’s just the way he is and that it’s not his fault.
The thing is he can control himself when I remind him. He just chooses not to.
He just went on a date with his girlfriend last night… It was his first time meeting her parents since they live in another city.
They went out to a fancy restaurant and he burped all the way through supper. He came home almost in tears from her chewing him out for behaving like a jack*ss in front of her family.
I heard him telling my wife about it and I laughed. She asked what was so funny and I reminded them both that I had tried dozens if not hundreds of times to teach him table manners and he rejected them and she protected him. I said that now he is a grown man and he had to learn the hard way.
They both think she overreacted and that I’m the ******* for being amused by his experience.
Making Husband Take Their Son’s Old Car (Or The Bus) Because They Will Not Lend Him Their Car
From Redditor u/BeautifulPayment2878:
Our family does not have anything that requires a full-size truck. We don’t haul anything, we don’t camp, we do not own a trailer. We have zero reason to own a $100,000 truck. Other than my husband really wanted it.
It was in our budget and he was adamant that it was what he wanted. We have three kids; our oldest is 17, our daughter is 15, and our awesome surprise baby is 2. Not planned but a joy to be sure.
We never take the baby anywhere in the truck. My husband keeps it pristine. My son has a Jetta that he purchased with help from us and his grandparents. It is a reliable car but it is not in great shape. I have a Porsche Cayenne that is our family vehicle. The back seat has the usual stains from the baby. That’s life.
Well, my husband recently got a promotion and he has to go downtown twice a week now. He tried driving his truck but it won’t fit in the parking garage at his office. He had to park a block away at a surface lot where hooligans and ne’er-do-wells might harm it. He asked me if he could use my car on the days he goes into work. I said that would not be a problem; he just had to put the car seat in the truck so I could drive with the baby.
Nope. He wanted me to drive our son’s car and chauffeur the older kids and not touch his truck.
I declined his generous offer and told him my car was off limits because I needed it for myself.
So now he has had to borrow our son’s Jetta because his only other option is public transportation. He could afford to Uber in but he doesn’t want to do that either.
He says I’m being a jerk not letting him use my car, but I think he’s being unreasonable about his truck.
Refusing To Give Airplane Seat To A Tall Person
From Redditor u/Such-Error-34:
Bit of a weird situation and I’m not sure if I am TA or not. Happy to have my perspective challenged.
Last week I was taking a 12-hour flight that I had booked months in advance. At the time of booking I paid extra to choose my seats. The seat I chose was $55 extra and right at the front of the plane (trying to arrive somewhere on time upon landing). The seat also happened to be an extra legroom seat and I am a 4’11” female.
I check in, board, sit in my seat as usual, but as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off I had a man come over and ask to change seats. The first time he asked politely, saying that he is 6’4″ and flying is painful for him; can we please change seats. I was open to it until I saw that his seat was way in the back of the plane and so I told him no, sorry, I paid extra to sit up front. He kind of got increasingly mad and wouldn’t leave, saying that there’s no reason someone of my height needs extra legroom (I told him I paid to be up front). I suggested that he ask the other people in those seats if they could swap but he refused, saying that he wouldn’t want to bother other men or split up couples. He kept getting rude and angry so I just called over a flight attendant who told him to go sit down. For the rest of the flight he would walk past for no reason slamming into me (I was sitting aisle).
Was I in the wrong? Should I have swapped with him? TIA.
Going On Vacation With Friends, Not Babysitting Niece Who Was At Same Hotel
From Redditor u/gulghy:
I (M29) and three of my friends booked… a weekend trip… a few weeks ago. It‘s my first time off since the beginning of May; to say I am thrilled is an understatement. We plan to party at night and chill at the pool by day.
I also told my brother (43) and my [sister-in-law] (39) a few weeks ago that I was really excited to stay in this specific hotel since it is on the pricier end.
Yesterday my brother contacted me [to say] that they will be staying in the same hotel with my niece (4) at [the] same time as me.
In the message he wrote me that they are also really excited that I can help with my niece since I am also there and they can relax in the meantime, and according to them I have nothing better to do. Do not get me wrong, I love my niece to pieces, but I really want to enjoy this weekend and not have any responsibility for anyone besides myself. I want to relax, be drunk, and have fun with my friends. They are staying in the same hotel so I can‘t avoid them even if I wanted to.
The vacation is not refundable. I am either stuck with babysitting (her parents are really pushy and I am the worst at setting boundaries) or my family will think I hate my niece. I am frustrated…
So AITA if I tell them I don‘t want to spend time with them?
Making Husband Sleep In The Guest Room After He Refused To Clean His Own Vomit
From Redditor u/alisonlogann:
Last night my husband had some work friends over for a BBQ and drinks. I worked today and I did all the prep work, cooking and cleaning so him and his friends could enjoy their time together. He ended up getting pretty drunk and threw up in our bathroom sink, left it, and refused to clean it up when I asked him to. His refusals included “I don’t know what to do to clean it up” and “I closed the drain on the sink and now I can’t get it open” (it’s one of the drains that you push to close and push to open). Also “I don’t have time to clean it because I have to work early.”
…[H]e works full time (pays 60% of bills) and I work part time (40% of bills), therefore I deal with all domestic house duties. Don’t get me wrong, I love my role in our home and I truly am happy to do it. However, this just feels like straight-up disrespect. I was super upset after him feeding me excuses of why he [can’t] clean up his own vomit; he smelt horribly of liquor and was starting to raise his voice at me when he was explaining he couldn’t clean it because he “had to go to work to pay for all the things we want.” To be clear, we have our own individual bank accounts and he doesn’t pay for any of my personal bills or recreational purchases.
…I didn’t engage or continue with the argument because when you’re sober there’s no reasoning with a drunk person, so, I had asked him to sleep [in] the spare room. Now I just feel guilty, so tell it to me straight, and I the ******* in the situation?
Rescinding An Offer To Help With A Niece’s Wedding
From Redditor u/Early-Retirement-22:
I have always been good with money and am careful with it. I also inherited a good chunk, to be fair; I was able to retire last year fairly early as these things go. I am not married and have no children. My sister-in-law asked me to help with her daughter’s wedding. This is my brother’s stepdaughter; there is no blood relationship. I suppose she is not really my niece, but they call me her uncle.
I initially told them I would help, I was thinking maybe $1,000 or so. I was going to give the same amount as a wedding gift, but they did not know that. They started booking things and asked if I could give them $15,000. Yes, I could, I just don’t want to; I would give $1,000. My sister-in-law started pressuring me for more; I said no – $1,000 was a nice contribution for a stepuncle (for lack of a better term). She then got angry and called me names, etc. This is where I might be an *******.
I told her that the offer of any money is rescinded, I would not give a cent, not attend the wedding, and not give a gift. She called me an AH and all sorts of other things. My brother called me and apologized for his wife and asked if I would consider $5,000. I told him that I loved him, but did not like his wife and that my decision to give nothing stands. He then joined the AH chorus.
AITA for rescinding my offer to $1,000?
Update: …My family talked to my brother and he gave a better apology. I told him his wife is no longer allowed to talk to me. I will skip the wedding, then reach out to the couple. My brother told me his stepdaughter knew nothing about this so I am leaning toward offering the $1,000 to her directly…
Telling Their Mom They Don’t Want To Spend Time Together If Their Stepbrother Is Around
From Redditor u/CleanGeologist3480:
My mother had me (22F) at 15, which isn’t the point of this post, but when she started dating when I was in middle school, it wasn’t a surprise that the men in her dating pool that had kids had much younger children and that was something we talked about before she got serious with [“V”].
Mom started dating [“V”] when I was 16 and married him when I left for college. He has a now 12-year-old son, [“O”].
I didn’t live in the house with them for very long and obviously the age difference is big, so [“O”] and I get along but we’re not close at all. He’s a nice kid but I don’t know him super well. He’s very attached to my mom though, which I totally get; my mom is awesome.
After I graduated this spring, I moved back closer to home (about 30 minutes from my mom). I was really excited to be nearby; we’ve always been really close and I missed her a lot when I was at school.
I wanted to have a dedicated girls’ day with my mom at least once or maybe twice a month now that I’m home and we got to do that for a couple months, but the last two times, my mom has shown up with [“O”].
Again, I like the kid but we were doing stuff like getting our nails done, having lunch at new places, seeing plays… [“O”] changes that entirely. Last time we went to the zoo because he wanted to visit the reptile house and then got cheeseburgers. It was fine, but that’s not the day I planned with my mom.
We got into an argument on the phone that night and it came out that [“V”] has demanded that [“O”] be included on our days together because he felt that my time alone with my mother was her showing me favoritism.
I didn’t even know what to say. I’ve never known my mom to be so spineless, especially when it came to me. It really hurt me to say it but I told her I wasn’t interested in that and if that was my only choice, I guess I would just have to see her on holidays and family gatherings.
She’s been calling me and begging me to change my mind but she won’t stand up to her husband about it so I’ve just kept apologizing and saying I’m not interested in having a kids’ day every month. I miss my mom though and I feel really guilty and [I don’t know] if it was an ******* thing for me to say or not.
Forcing Brother To Buy Another Engagement Ring After He Used It To Propose To Someone Else
From Redditor u/ThrowawayNewRing:
I’m (26M) proposing to my girlfriend (24F) on our fourth anniversary, September 30. I’ve been planning this for about a month, and I picked the ring a couple weeks ago. The one I got was on sale, so I managed to get it at a surprisingly low price.
Last weekend, I told my brother (33M) about my plans, and showed him the ring. He informed me that he was proposing to his girlfriend (29F) as well.
The next day, my brother came to my apartment while my girlfriend was out. He asked me if he could “borrow” my ring to propose to his girlfriend.
I thought he was joking at first, but no. His plan was to propose to his girlfriend, explain he was using my ring as a “placeholder,” and then take her to pick her own ring later. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to spend too much money right away in case she didn’t say yes. I’d never heard of “placeholder rings,” so I said no and the conversation moved on.
On Tuesday, he proposed to his girlfriend. With my ring. He’d taken it before leaving my apartment. I got distracted at work and didn’t notice it was gone until his fiancée sent a picture of herself wearing the ring to our family group chat.
I called him to ask about the ring, and he immediately apologized and said he’d “keep his promise” and give it back to me. But at this point, my girlfriend had seen it and his fiancée had posted about it on social media, so it was pointless for me to propose using the same ring.
We fought about it, and he confessed that while he’d told his fiancée the ring was a placeholder, he didn’t tell her where he’d gotten it from.
I felt more angry and betrayed about him going behind my back and taking the ring after I said no than the fact that he stole it. I also know his fiancée enough to know she wouldn’t like to learn her engagement ring had been stolen from me, so I told my brother I’d tell her the truth if he didn’t buy me a new engagement ring.
He fought against it for a few hours, but finally gave up and agreed. We went to a different jewelry store yesterday, and I picked a new ring. I managed to stay in the price range, but the new one was still $100 more expensive.
My brother bought the ring, but is still accusing me of being inconsiderate and childish. He is insistent he would have given me the ring back had I given him the opportunity, and I didn’t need to threaten him to spend so much money on me. He’s now refusing to talk to me.
I don’t know how to feel about this anymore. I’d usually talk to my brother about these things, and it’s surreal that he’s the one I’m fighting. I can’t tell my fiancée, and many of our friends overlap.
The only other person who knows about this is our mom, who’s divided: she thinks what my brother did was wrong and I’m right to be ****** at him, but I didn’t have to stoop as low as I did by threatening his relationship.
AITA?