rSlash - r/AITA My Friend is the World's Worst Teacher

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

0:00 Intro 0:05 Horrible teacher 4:16 Airport 8:08 Biting 9:44 Stepson 12:28 Mask off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So no matter what day of the week, Go's got you covered. Find out more at goadransit.com slash tickets. Welcome to R slash Am I the Butthole, where Opie's friend is a genuinely terrible teacher. Am I the butthole for telling my wife's friend that I don't have to see her in the classroom to know she's a horrible teacher? My wife's friend was at our house for dinner. She's a teacher, and she complains about it a lot. She says the parents are impossible to deal with.

The administration is not supportive, everyone has an opinion on curriculum, and the kids don't listen. I'm including these complaints for context for you guys. She told my wife that she was working on her lesson plan for February and Black History Month and that she was making a fact sheet for Martin Luther King Jr. for her kids. Our son, who's a huge Star Trek fan, said that she should include the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Star Trek fan. My wife's friend, with a very patronizing tone and expression, I might add, said that maybe he would have been if he'd still been alive when it aired. My son said that MLK Jr. was alive when the show was aired, and that he used to watch it with his daughters. My wife's friend said that Martin Luther King Jr. died before the show aired.

I told her that she was wrong and my son was right. She said that I was a perfect example of a parent that can't acknowledge when her child was wrong. I said, no, you're a perfect example of a teacher that assumes she knows everything and can't connect with her students because she doesn't respect them. My wife forced us all to change the topic. After dessert, I pulled up a video on YouTube where Nichelle Nichols was discussing talking to Martin Luther King Jr. about Star Trek. Okay, I have to stop reading here because this is a super, super important point. Nichelle Nichols played Uhura on Star Trek. And she actually made history by being the very first interracial kiss on TV between her and William Shatner.

So Star Trek was literally great. groundbreaking for the African-American movement, so it feels super, super relevant, and this is actually a really interesting talking point that the teacher could have brought up to the students. Actually, I have to wonder if that's part of the reason why Martin Luther King likes Star Trek. Anyways, I just wanted to share that little bit of history, back to the story. I showed the video to everyone. My wife's friend asked why I couldn't let the topic lie. I said I didn't want my son to feel like he was wrong for sharing facts that he knows about his interests. My wife's friend said that I don't know what it's like to be a teacher. I said, I don't, but I know she's a bad one. She said I've never seen her in the classroom.

I said, I didn't need to because I see how she is in her daily life, and people are who they are regardless of where they are. That's a good line, O.P. So my wife's argument is that I'm a butthole for bringing the topic back up after it was settled. She said I could have played the video for our son after her friend left and taught him about giving others grace and not needing external validation. I disagreed and think it's important our kid knows we'll always stand up for him. So, am I the butthole?

Oh yeah, down in the comments people are talking about Nichelle Nichols. I didn't know this. Apparently, Martin Luther King Jr. actually convinced her to stay on the show as a beacon to other people of color who saw her as an inspiration and hope for the future. Interesting, as a little girl, Whoopi Goldberg, saw Nichelle Nichols and was inspired to become an actress herself, which she did. Whoopi eventually ended up on Star Trek the next generation.

It's a great story of why representation matters. Also, O.P., I'm on your side. The friend does sound like a straight up garbage teacher, and your wife is wrong for not having her son's back. On top of all this, your son is just literally, factually correct. He is right. The wife's friend only wants the matter settled when she seems like she's the right one. But now that you seem like you're the right one, suddenly it's bad to bring up the topic again.

A bunch of hypocrites, man. Opie, you and your son get zero out of five buttholes. I'm giving the wife's friend and your wife 1.5 out of five buttholes. Actually, you guys, I just fact-checked what I said about that being the first kiss on TV. And to be clear, it's not the first interracial kiss on TV, but it is the first scripted interracial kiss on TV. Am I the butthole for leaving my mom at the airport with no ticket and no plan? My mom was abusive growing up. It got bad enough that at the age of 12, I left home through the courts and moved in with my dad.

That decision fractured our family. On the court paperwork under the name of child, my mom wrote something like, I have no son. I've carried that with me ever since. I had little contact with her after that. Briefly at 17, again in my early 20s, and not consistently until much later. I'm now almost 40. I spent over 20 years drinking heavily and finally got sober in 2018, which is when I made an effort to reconnect with my family, including my mom.

She's closer to 70 now and has zero contact with two of her three kids. Reconnecting wasn't easy. When I asked if she ever reflected on the abuse, she told me that I was an adult and I needed to let it go already. That was a turning point. I realized any forgiveness would be one-sided. If I wanted peace, it was on me. Since then, our relationship has been rocky but present. We've had family reunions and even traveled overseas together for three weeks.

We argue often, usually over small things, but we stayed in contact until this. Last summer, I invited her to my city to see a band that she's loved since I was young. The plan was simple. She'd arrive on Wednesday. We'd go to the concert on Thursday. She'd fly out to visit my sister on Friday. And I'd leave early Saturday for my own trip. She agreed. When she arrived, she mentioned she'd only bought a one-way ticket and would book the

Friday flight later. That made me uneasy, and I reminded her several times to make sure the ticket was booked. I thought I was clear in my wording and tone that I didn't want anyone staying in my house while I was gone. Friday came, the concert was fine. Then she told me that she still hadn't bought a plane ticket, and now, with prices having gone up, she planned to stay a few extra days. While I'm I was away. I told her plainly, I'm leaving at 5 a.m. tomorrow. You need to get on that plane. I even offered to cover the difference in cost. She refused and invited herself to stay at my place. That's when I said, clearly, that I wasn't comfortable with anyone staying in my home while I wasn't there. She accused me of not trusting her and said that she was my mother. I said it wasn't about

trust. I just didn't want anyone in my house. The argument escalated. Finally, she said, fine, take me to the airport. I think she expected me to cave. I didn't. I packed the car, grabbed my daughter, and drove her to the airport in silence. When we arrived, it felt like a standoff, like she was waiting for me to say, never mind, don't go. But I didn't. I took her bag out, set it on the curb, and told her, if you can't find a ticket, let me know. I can help you pay for a hotel. Then I left. Months later, I'm still thinking of it. I'm still thinking, about it. I don't think I stranded my mom with no options. I offered to cover the cost of the flight and hotel, but I did leave her at the airport knowing she hadn't booked a ticket. Am I the

butthole? This can just be summed up with that popular phrase, poor planning on your part is not an emergency on my part. So, I mean, tough luck. Fork over the money, buy a ticket, and leave, go away. Your mom is clearly still being abusive and just stepping all over your boundary, so I don't really have any sympathy. Op, you get zero out of five buttholes. I'm giving your mom, based on this story alone, one out of five buttholes, but I'm guessing the actual score is probably way, way higher because of the undescribed abuse that O.P. suffered when he was a kid. So it's greater than are equal to one out of five buttholes. Am I the butthole for spilling hot sauce on my sleeves and teaching my nonverbal cousin not to bite? Before you say anything, it was just tapatio, not ghost pepper or

Scotch Bonnet or anything. I have a four-year-old cousin who's non-verbal. He's a reasonably good kid, but he bites. And since I'm the oldest non-adult whenever our families get together, I'm the designated childcare for all the kids, including him. He bit me over the summer. He bit me at Thanksgiving and Christmas. He's bitten me many times. So I've been wearing my jean jacket around him for protection. Nobody else will do anything to help me, so I helped myself. New Year's Eve, I spilled a bunch of Mexican hot sauce on the sleeve and the cuffs of my jacket. He bit me. Then he stopped really fast and started screaming. Everyone came to check on him, but he wasn't hurt. He finally settled down. I washed my jacket on the first and didn't say anything. My aunt came over yesterday

and I wore my jacket. He settled down and played. He didn't bite me. I told a friend of mine what I did and she said I was wrong for doing that. I don't know. He needed to stop and my aunt wasn't doing anything. I'm a 16-year-old girl, by the way. I'm going to read this top post from physical front, not the butthole, and I'm proud of you for coming up with something simultaneously villainous, educational, and harmless. I don't think I would have come up with such a neat solution at that age. And then Consequence Ferry says, my oldest was a biter, until I bit her back. Sometimes basic mammalian parenting instincts really are the easiest way to get through. Am I the butthole for threatening to stop contributing to my stepson's college fund after my wife said that

he's not our son. We got married in our mid-30s. I was single, and my wife was a single mother of a three-year-old son. The boy's biological dad is totally absent since the divorce, and neither does he give any child support, so I was supposed to totally take his place as the father of that child. I had no issues, mainly because he was just three at that time. I believed he would surely accept me as his dad. Things went smoothly, as I expected, for the next six to seven years. Currently, we're in our mid-40s and the kid is now 14 years old. As he grows, he started arguing, questioning things, basically doing all sort of parent-child things that a teen normally does. I tried to be the best dad since day one. But for the last four to five years, whenever a quarrel happens with our kid and I try to

involve myself in it, my wife shuts me up by saying things like, don't get between me and my son. I know him best, he's my child, etc. Even though she says that in complete anger, it hurts badly. I feel that such things shouldn't be said no matter what. Although I've been doing a full-time job, it's not like I'm an absent father. I give most of my remaining time to my family. My connection with old friends as weekend, and I made new attachments at work. I've discussed this with her two to three times in the past, and she just shrugs it off, although she doesn't argue, but she gets kind of sorry. She very rarely says sorry directly. It just reflects in her behavior. But the same thing happens even after that, like in four out of every ten fights we have with our kid. The same thing happened last week.

This was the final breaking point, and I made her sit and talk last Sunday for an hour when our son was out. It quickly turned into a fight between us, and I told her that if he's her son and not our son, then all of his financial responsibilities are hers as well. And she shouldn't be really expecting me to put monthly money into his college fund as well, because she's her son, right? To be clear, we both make money. We started saving for his college fund two and a half years ago. Until now, both of us have contributed towards it monthly and equally. I'm thinking of not putting any money into it until she apologizes. I know it sounds like I'm punishing our son, but I'll just be secretly saving that money elsewhere until then. So am I the butthole? She's highly upset. Yeah,

she's a hypocrite. It's her son when it helps her, and it's our son when it also helps her. So you get the worst end of the stick in every situation. O.P., you get zero out of five buttholes. I'm giving her 2.5 out of five buttholes. Am I the butthole because I took my mask off when I, I knew that I was sick. My wife and I were traveling and I happened to catch COVID. We had no option but to travel home with me being sick. I wore a mask and distanced myself from people as much as possible. At the airport, I sat in an area where there was no people. But I could see this boomer staring at me, and I knew that he was itching to say something about my mask. Eventually, he worked up the courage. He walked over to where I was and sat down next to me and started telling me all about how masks were

effective and I shouldn't be scared of catching a cold at the airport and stuff about immunities, blah, blah, blah, all the regular BS that they say. I pulled the mask down, leaned in, looked him in the face and said, I have COVID and I'm trying not to get everyone else sick. My wife said that I'm the butthole for pulling my mask down and talking to him so close when I knew that I was sick. I say, F them! Also, people keep asking what he did. He just kind of looked at me with this smug look and walked away. I'm not even sure he believed me. O.P., I wouldn't sweat it.

You literally gave him exactly what he wanted. That was our slash am I the butthole. And if you like this content, be sure to follow my podcast because I put out new Reddit podcast episodes every single day.