Reddit Stories - Syl RIDICULED my OCCUPATION by stating that their HOUSEHOLD manager makes as much

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #funny #workplace #ridicule #householdmanager #career Syl mocked my profession, claiming their household manager earns a comparable salary. This comment left me feeling belittled and questioning my career choices. I never expected such a reaction, especially from someone who doesn't understand the complexities and challenges of my job. It was a surprising and hurtful moment. redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, workplacehumor, careeradvice, jobstruggles, personalstories, lifeadvice, humor, socialdynamics, professionalgrowth, selfworth, householdmanagement, incomecomparison, ridicule, relationships, communication, selfesteemBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6816713/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.

I hope you enjoy this story. Sill ridiculed my occupation by stating that their household manager makes as much as my annual income, so I informed them that their affluent spouse was being unfaithful. This led to nearly ending their marriage and my career. Mill blamed me for ruining their lives. Hi, Reddit. A few days ago, I said something at a family dinner and now, my sister-in-law and her husband are getting divorced and my in-laws are blaming me for it.

My wife is obviously with me, but I still want to know if I did the right thing or not according to you guys. So, for context, my wife, 33F, and I, 36M, have been together for eight years and married for five. I've always gotten along well with most of her family, apart from her sister. My sister-in-law, let's call her Sophia, 38F, is just not a good person. There is no other way to say it. She has always been really annoying and mean and I think she's one of those people who just peaked in high school and thought that that's the personality they should stick to for the rest of their lives. I have never liked her personality because right from the beginning, she has always acted very arrogant and I guess that's why she has never liked me since I have always maintained a distance from her. She also has a tendency to make underhanded remarks about people or pay them backhanded compliments and most people ignore it, but sometimes, I like to hand it right back to her.

And that's what I did at one of our family dinners that my wife and I were hosting last weekend. We had invited everyone from our families over to celebrate a promotion that I had recently received since it was a pretty big one. I was being promoted to the position of COO of the company and it was a huge deal because not only did it come with a huge raise, it was also a pretty prestigious position in the company and I had worked really hard for it. everyone in the family knew that ultimately, my goal was to become the CEO of the company that I was working in and I had a pretty good shot at it. So this was a step towards realizing my dream and that's why I think it was particularly nasty of Sophia to have said what she did. So before I announced it to everyone else, my wife and I decided to invite our families over and tell them about it first. I didn't really feel inclined to invite Sophia, but since she is a part of the family, we had to invite her unless we wanted to start a family. We had to invite her unless we wanted to start a family. feud, which we didn't. At the dinner, when my wife and I finally announced why exactly we had invited all of them and told them about my promotion, everyone was happy and congratulated me except for Sophia, who just kept sitting in her place with a weird look on her face, not even bothering to look at anybody and I guess everybody noticed it, but didn't say anything.

Even her husband, let's call him Jacob, 42M, congratulated me heartily but that was probably because he had no idea what was about to happen in the next couple of minutes. Once everybody had calmed down and returned to their seats, Sophia decided to ask me now that I had been promoted, how much would I be making? It was a pretty personal question that I didn't think was appropriate for her to ask, especially given our strained relationship. My wife tried to tell me that I didn't have to answer that

and tried to laugh off the question to cut the tension because she didn't want to make this dinner awkward, but I decided to answer Sophia and I told her the amount that I would be making after my promotion. Then, Sophia started to giggle and I thought that was really rude before I could stop myself. I ended up asking her why exactly was she laughing because I personally didn't think there was anything funny about whatever I had said. I shouldn't have done that because it's Sophia, I probably should have known that she

definitely would have something horrible to say, and she did. With a very smug look on her face, she told me that it was funny that I was so proud of this promotion because even after that, I would still be getting paid people. She then said that it was cute that we were celebrating this because it really put things into perspective for her, since apparently my annual income was around the same amount of money that her husband paid their butler every year as well. Everybody went silent at that point because I guess everyone realized that a line had been crossed and even I was shocked that she would say something like this. It's true that Jacob is extremely wealthy, but that's because he is

the son of the owner of a really successful chain of gyms. It's unfair to compare his situation to me because I don't have the kind of generational wealth that he does. My parents are ordinary people who had normal jobs and I'm pretty proud of the fact that I had achieved something like this without any help from my family. Besides, my income after my promotion was going to be a pretty decent amount, it was no laughing matter at all, but she just had to make that comparison because she wanted to put me down. It's true that Jacob does a private household staff who get everything done for them and they don't even have to lift a finger. I'm pretty sure she was bluffing when she said that their butler makes the same amount as I do.

She was laughing while she said it, so I could have just brushed it off as a joke, but I don't know what came over me when I decided to respond to her with the same energy. And I ended up calmly asking her if she was aware of the fact that not only did Jacob pay his butler well, he probably also spent the same kind of money on his mistress too. As soon as I had said those words, nobody knew what to say for a couple of seconds and then the room erupted. Sophia immediately started screaming at me, accusing me of lying and said that I had lost my mind and didn't know what I was saying, and Jacob started trying to calm her down.

My parents didn't say anything and neither did my wife, but my in-laws started telling me that I had to take back what I said because it was a little too much. I made it very clear that I was going to do no such thing and soon enough, Jacob was dragging Sophia out of our house because she was screaming at me hysterically. My in-laws followed them and then, it was just me, my parents and my wife left in the room. We stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, but then my wife told me that I had done the right thing by standing my ground because somebody needed to take her sister down a peg and she was glad that it was me. My parents also told me that what she had said was completely unnecessary and she was the one who had started that fight, so she deserved whatever I had said. And for those of you who are wondering, I was not just making stuff up to get on her nerves, it's actually true. Jacob has been cheating on her for the past couple of months and we have known about it, but we haven't bothered to tell Sophia.

It was not to protect Jacob or get back at Sophia, it's just that my wife and I found out about it purely by accident and we didn't. even have any proof of it, so we didn't know how we were even going to approach the topic with her. My wife and I had been having a dinner date at a restaurant that was a little out of town a couple of months ago and there, we saw Jacob canoodling with some other woman whom we didn't recognize. He had done his best to disguise himself by wearing an oversized hoodie as opposed to the kind of stuff that he usually wears so that he wouldn't be so easily recognized by anybody whom he knew, but unfortunately, for him, our table was positioned in such a way that we could see his face. The guy had glasses on even inside a restaurant and we found that weird initially,

but once we figured out who actually was, it made sense. We never confronted him about it because in the beginning, we were in shock and later on, it just became too awkward to bring it up with him. And if he had seen us and knew that we had spotted him with some other woman, he never let us realize because he never brought it up with us either. After that day at the restaurant, we met him several times and he behaved perfectly normally with us, not like we knew some secret about him. So I'm guessing that he had either chosen not to confront us or maybe he had no clue but either way, we knew that there was something going on. For a really long time, my wife and I debated telling Sophia about it because no matter how much she got on our nerves,

we felt like it would be wrong and unethical not to let her know. However, we also didn't want to speak to her about something like this without any proof because then, if she decided to confront her husband about it and he started to deny stuff, we wouldn't be able to back ourselves up and we knew for a fact that Sophia was the kind of person who would love to throw us under the bus and act like we were trying to ruin her marriage if she felt like trusting Jacob. Eventually, my wife and I decided that since we did not have any proof, it would be better for us to just stay out of it and let Sophia find out about it on her own or wait for Jacob to do the decent thing and come clean to her. The reason that we made the decision was mostly because if

Jacob was able to convince her that he wasn't up to anything behind her back, she would definitely try to villainize us and we didn't want that, but at the party the other day, I just couldn't help myself. The words had come out before I could even think about it and honestly, I didn't really feel guilty about it in the aftermath of the situation either. I only started questioning what had happened the other day after I learned from my in-laws that Sophia and Jacob had decided to part ways and apparently, Sophia had even moved back in with her parents the day after I blurted out the truth. It's really sad because Sophia and Jacob have been together for much longer than even my wife and I.

They have been together for the last 16 years and married for 14. They even have a 13-year-old daughter together and now that they are getting divorced, it's going to be quite difficult for her as well. All of this is really sad, but what I don't understand is how any of this is my fault because if they are getting divorced, it's obviously because Jacob decided to cheat on Sophia. All I did was tell her the truth, only because she was picking on me and trying to humiliate me. But for some reason, my in-laws have started trying to make me feel guilty for what happened and are holding me responsible for it, which seems a bit unfair.

My wife is completely and totally on my side and is even ready to cut her parents off, but before we do that, I just want to make sure that we are doing the right thing, and that's why I'm asking you guys for your opinions. According to my in-laws, do you think that it was wrong for me to bring up something like that and retaliation to what my sister-in-law had said about my income? They are willing to agree that what she said was completely unnecessary and was said purely with the intent of humiliating me, but in spite of that, the least I could have done was think about the consequences of what I was about to say to her. Since there is a child involved here, I should have been a bit more thoughtful, and not just blurted out whatever came into my

mind without even thinking about the consequences of it, just because I wanted to get back at her. They also told me that Sophia had spoken to Jacob, and apparently, the affair had ended last month so he hadn't even been seeing the other woman. It had just been a short-term fling with one of his high school exes and hadn't been anything serious that could actually damage their relationship, which is why he decided to never tell Sophia about it and had even blocked the other woman everywhere, so he wouldn't be tempted to go back to her at any point. Jacob was doing everything to stay loyal to her and make it up to her because he felt incredibly guilty about having cheated on her and on top of that, keeping the secret from her.

But now that I had told her the truth, he had decided to confess, and it had ruined everything for them because Sophia, regardless of when the affair had ended or how long it had gone on, had decided that she couldn't trust him anymore and couldn't be with him. I don't blame her for that, I think I would have done the same thing in her position, but I do feel kind of sorry for what she's going through now. Despite her behavior, I knew that she really loved Jacob. And their daughter is going to have to face the consequences of their divorce. It's not going to be easy for any of them because from what I hear, even Jacob was trying to fix things and while I have no sympathy for cheaters, I'm still taking that into consideration.

And it's true that whatever I had said, it had been coming from a place of anger, but I don't think that inherently makes it wrong if you guys know what I'm trying to say. Like, yeah, I might have said it because I wanted to get back at her, but that doesn't mean I was wrong. However, my in-laws don't agree with that sentiment and I feel like they want me to apologize to Sophia or maybe try to sort things out with her or something similar, which I'm absolutely unwilling to do. So I'd have for telling my sister-in-law that her husband had been cheating on her because she insulted me. Update 1. Hi, thanks to everyone who took out the time to comment on my post, I decided to speak to my in-laws and tell them that it was. was very unfortunate that this kind of information had to come out the way it did, I can't say that I feel sorry about it. It was very obvious that during dinner, it was Sophia, who was instigating

me and I think it was about time that somebody knocked her down a peg or two. Besides, when even my wife was in agreement with me, I seriously don't think that I did anything wrong. So I reached out to my in-laws this morning, a few days after we last spoke, and I told them that I'm going to stand by what I did and if they were actually expecting me to reach out to Sophia at some point to talk to her or apologize to her, they could just forget about it. It was a bit unexpected but when I said that, they totally lost their temper and started screaming at me, saying that I had ruined her life and the least I could do was say that I was sorry or at least pretend. They were shouting at me at the top of their lungs on the phone and told me that their daughter did not deserve this,

and that I had no right to do this to her, which was really weird because I hadn't even done anything. If they had to be mad at somebody, I think it should have been the guy who cheated on her and not me. I tried to reason with them and speak with them rationally, but they were just not having it. They just kept yelling at me so I lost my temper as well. I started shouting at them as well and I told them that it was beautiful that they were so concerned for their grown-up daughter, but I was not the one ruining her life, her husband was. Most importantly, if she had learned to keep her mouth shut and be kind to people, this would even be happening and she could continue living in ignorant bliss with Jacob forever while he continued to cheat on her. So maybe they should introspect and think about where they

went wrong with raising her. In the end, I told them that I was not going to pretend that I was sorry about any of this because none of this was my fault, and if they felt like it, they could cut me off for this, but it would only be their loss. Then I hung up and my wife and I discussed whatever her parents had said. Of course, she was the most upset and affected by all of this, because because it's her family that we are talking about, but she's very clear about what she wants, she knows that the way they are acting is unacceptable and she's told me that she's going to stand by my side and stay no contact with them until they apologize to me wholeheartedly. I count myself really lucky that I have such a supportive wife who is ready to stand by me

through thick and thin, even against her own family, it's really a blessing. Anyway, we have decided that we are going to completely cut her parents off until they come to their senses and apologize for acting like this. Update 2, hi, so it has been two weeks since the dinner fiasco and since then, as I said, Sophia had been living with her parents but her daughter had stayed with her father, presumably because she had no idea what exactly had gone wrong between them. But last evening, we found out that even their daughter had now moved to stay with Sophia because she had eventually found out from her father what had happened and why her mother was leaving him. We found out about it through Jacob because we have no contact with

anybody from that side of the family, my wife, and I have strictly no contact with them. Yesterday, in the evening, he visited us so that he could speak to me. Obviously, he looked really hassled and exhausted and the first thing that he said to me was that I shouldn't have brought it up that day. Apparently, he had known all along that we had seen him at the restaurant that day, because he had seen us too, but he had tried to play it cool and pretend nothing had happened, and it had worked for a while. He told me that the only reason he had even been having a fling was that he had been having a rough patch with Sophia and got distracted, but as a man, I should have understood what he was going through and kept my mouth shut. He was making it sound

like as a guy, I owe him some sort of loyalty because of the bro code or something, which was ridiculous because the last thing that a cheater should be preaching about is loyalty. Moreover, we were not even friends at any point, Jacob and I did not have much of a relationship. We would occasionally make small talk with each other at family gatherings, but that was it, so I didn't owe him anything. And I told him that I regretted the fact that I had waited for so long to tell Sophia the truth about him because honestly, we should have done the decent thing and told her about it way earlier and then, she could have decided what she wanted to do.

Either way, neither my wife and I were going to pretend that we were sorry for letting Sophia know that he had been cheating on her, and if he was expecting any sort of help from us during the divorce or the custody battle, he could leave that instant because it was not going to happen. He then got really upset and started telling me that in the morning, he had told his daughter about why exactly him and Sophia were fighting right now and she was so disgusted that she decided to move out within an hour and hasn't spoken to him since then. The way he was saying it, I was pretty sure that he was trying to blame me for it or at least make me feel guilty because I had torn his family apart or something, but I made it very clear to him that neither had my in

my in-laws succeed in making me feel bad about any of this, nor was he going to do so. I mean, I do feel bad for them in the sense that these kinds of things shouldn't happen to anybody because it's just upsetting, but they brought it on to themselves. And Jacob, all people, has no right to play the victim in this situation, so when he told me that he wanted me to tell my wife to convince Sophia and her daughter to come back to him and not go through with the divorce, I told him that I was going to do no such thing. My wife was not in the room at the time since she had to take an important work call but after he said that, I called her into the room, told him what he had said, and she told him that she was not going to do any of that. He had

created this mess, he could sort it out himself. That's when Jacob started losing it at us as well and started calling us names, and it was a particularly low blow when he said that whatever Sophia had said at dinner, the other day wasn't even too far from the truth, which is probably why it had hurt me so much. He called me a loser and said that he would make sure that he used his contacts and undid the promotion that I had just received. So to retaliate, I called him a talentless product of nepotism and I guess that really got under his skin because he came really close to throwing hands, but I guess he decided against it at the last moment when he heard my wife, screaming at her, saying that she would not hesitate in calling the cops if he didn't leave.

He left while cursing at me and that was it. I was really worried for a while if he would actually be able to undo the promotion by using his contacts because he is pretty influential, but my wife reassured me that it was unlikely since I had been a great employee and a hard worker, and I was really valued by my bosses. Besides, if in all these years he hadn't even been able to get any of us any promotions for us at work, then it was hardly likely that he would be able to get any of us fired from our jobs. She told that he just wanted to say something to intimidate me and that's why he said it without even thinking twice, but the truth was, he was not going to be able to do any of that and it was an empty threat. I'm still a bit worried though, because my promotion is still in the works now. I'm hoping for the best and I pray that my wife is right about this. Update 3, so it has been two days since Jacob visited and thankfully, I have nothing to worry about because today, when I went to work, my boss told me that the paperwork in stuff has been finalized and I can begin training for my new position now, so I don't think

Jacob will be able to do anything at this point. Just to lay my mind to rest completely, I even spoke to my boss very casually about this because we are actually on good terms as friends and he told me that I have nothing to worry about since I have an excellent work ethic and I have earned this promotion, nobody will be able to take this away for me that easily. So that really helped and now that I know that I'm safe at work, I'll talk about whatever is going on with the rest of the family. My wife has had no contact with all of them, but they have not respected it. Sophia tried to reach out to her a couple of days ago and told her that it was really disheartening that she had decided to take my side instead of hers, even though she was her sister.

My wife has been ignoring them but hasn't blocked them but after that message, she decided to block them because the conversation didn't really go well. After receiving that message, my wife decided to reply to her and told her that she was on the side of what was right, and if I was in the wrong here, she wouldn't have taken my side. But Sophia had unrealistic expectations from her and told her that family comes first, and then my wife told her that I am her family, Sophia got mad and started bad-mouthing me. At that point, my wife realized there was no point in speaking to her, and so she blocked her. It's just really disappointing how they're acting right now, trying to pin the blame for the situation on me. I have blocked all of them as well, and I think

that we are at the point where even if they apologize, I don't think I will be able to resume having a normal relationship with any of them, not even my parents-in-law. I have spoken to my wife about it and she understands where it's coming from and has been quite respectful of it. Of course, if she wants to continue having a relationship with them if they apologize, that's completely fine with me because I can't expect her to cut off her family forever, especially if they apologize. But she has told me that she's not going to be forgiving them unless I do and she's completely fine with following my example in this situation because I am the one who has been treated

badly by her family and honestly, I'm really grateful to her. I don't think that I would have been able to get through all of this without her being my rock. Update 4. Hi, everyone. So it has been two weeks since my last update and surprisingly, Sophia and Jacob have decided to get back together. We hadn't had any contact with them ever since my wife and I blocked Sophia and the rest of the family because we just didn't want anything to do with them. We found out about it through a couple of other relatives, since they had posted something on social media about their decision to renew their vows. People had reached out to us to ask about this event, but we had to tell them that we knew nothing about it because naturally, even if they decided to make a whole thing out of it, they would not be inviting us.

It obviously means that they have decided to sort out their differences and get back together. We have no idea why they came to this conclusion or how. Maybe it was because of their daughter, but whatever, at least there is a solution to their problem now and they're going to stop bothering us like they were so bent on doing up until two weeks back. Most of all, I'm glad that nobody's going to be holding me responsible for anything anymore, now that they are back together. My wife and I are still in no contact with all of them and are planning to remain so until they

apologize, but I don't think that apology is going to come anytime soon. If it hasn't come this far, it's highly unlikely that they're going to start feeling sorry after this. Anyway, it doesn't really matter to me and my wife because regardless of whether they apologize to us or not, we are happy with our lives at the moment. My work is going great and my wife is also thinking about quitting her job since she has saved enough money and starting a business of her own. So things are looking up for us right now and we might even consider moving into a bigger house in a better neighborhood, closer to my workplace

so I can cut down on the time for the commute and well, also because we've earned this. I do think that my wife really misses her family sometimes and I've told her that if she wants to get back in touch with them at some point in the future, I wouldn't have an issue with it. I really wouldn't. I understand how families are complicated, but she has told me that she has made her decision and she's going to stick to it because she can't let her family walk all over us and then get away with it. Things like this make me feel so blessed because I don't know how I got so lucky. Anyway, she and I are really happy and well, that is it.