Two Hot Takes - 200: EPISODE 200! Your Time to Shine..

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Two Hot Takes host, Morgan, is joined by guest co-host... oh wait there isn't one. For the first time ever, I'm being joined by only YOU! After almost 4 years and 199 episodes we're here at 200, and I... don't have the words to express how truly grateful I am to everyone listening. This episode is a wild ride--From someone's partner pretending to be his friends to a baby being named after a dog to someone telling her husband he can't control his own body. But I am so happy I have you all here to help! Share your takes in the comments.. let's dive in. Special thanks to my Patreon family for helping create this episode. Truly a labor of love! Help support our THT community here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1arinXNGBgzO656_ROdpVxp-oWGHj8rOEDLGUtKKSnx8/edit?usp=sharing MERCH IS ON SALE HERE ! https://shop.twohottakes.com I can't wait to see you all in these, especially at our live shows!! Our PO Box!! Two Hot Takes. 5042 Wilshire BLVD. #470. Los Angeles, CA 90036 Our SubReddit to Submit YOUR Stories!!! https://reddit.app.link/twohottakes Full length Video episodes available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoHotTakes Partners: Rocket Money: http://rocketmoney.com/tht LiveGood: http://livegood.com/tht for 10% off! Talkspace: Get $80 off your first month with promo code SPACE80 at Talkspace.com/THT Shopify: http://shopify.com/tht for $1 per month trail period! 

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Whew, okay. This is really, really weird. This is the first time I've ever done an episode without someone sitting in a chair next to me. It feels a little goofy, but that is episode 200. I have no guests today. It is just me and you guys. If you're on our Patreon, you already know, but Episode 200 is really about getting the takes from you guys.
Starting point is 00:00:33 The amount of people I meet at live shows that tell me they pause the story after I'm done reading, and then give their takes, or talk to their friend or their partner, it gave me the idea of starting to do fan cam reactions. You guys are really the whole reason this show exists, truly. I am not going to cry off the jump, but I am just so grateful for each and every one of you listening and watching and sharing this show, and I really wanted to highlight your takes. Really hear you guys this episode because there wouldn't have been more than five, for sure, ten episodes if you guys didn't start chiming in.
Starting point is 00:01:14 This community has turned into something so, so special. I cannot believe we're at episode 200. Two hundred. It feels like episode 100 was yesterday having Lauren, Alejandra, my dad, Justin read to me. And I'm so grateful for all of my co-hosts who have helped along this journey. Wouldn't be here without them either. But it is now your time to shine. So let's dive in. Okay. Okay, how crazy do we want to get off the jump? One to ten.
Starting point is 00:02:11 We think in a seven or a ten. Okay, okay, I hear you. Let's get into this first one. So this one is coming from r slash am I overreacting? It is titled, am I overreacting after I found out my boyfriend's online friend group I became a part of two years ago has been just him the whole time? I guess I should have been less obvious. But since a little before we started dating in 2022, I was added to my boyfriend's just
Starting point is 00:02:44 friend at the time, three-person Instagram group chat with what he explained were some of his closest online friends. The two other accounts seemed like real people because they had real followers and comments on their posts, and drastically different aesthetics slash looks to them. We eventually made a Discord server for us, and that alone was convincing enough, since multiple times we'd all be active at the same time. We never voice-chatted, but I used to never voice chat either, so I didn't think twice. The group got closer though, as more and more time passed since I was first added to their
Starting point is 00:03:21 group chat. And last month, we got together and planned a research trip to Hawaii for August. We live on the East Coast of the US, like we booked everything. So imagine my surprise when I'm over at his house tonight and his computer is open. And I just wanna log in to my Google Docs
Starting point is 00:03:41 when I accidentally stumble across, first of all, follower bot sites and also him logged in and chatting with me as one of the individuals I thought I'd become close with. And I just got this inking feeling. I didn't jump to the idea that they could be fake. I was like, maybe he just has their logins since they're all so close and is way too interested in their messages. But then I noticed their only chats were the group chats and the server. And the real kicker was the email address it was signed up under was his backup email
Starting point is 00:04:18 with his full name. I quite literally snooped until he got out of the shower and caught me, which I'm not saying was right of me, but I couldn't help myself. During my snooping, I gradually became devastatingly confident that he was behind not just one, but both accounts. I've never seen his face so red, and he just absolutely panicked and started shouting at me to get out of his business. I couldn't even form the right words to say to him. In the end, I just walked out of his apartment sobbing.
Starting point is 00:04:50 It's very early in the morning. I get that. But this screenshot is what he has to say, and I'm starting to feel crazy. Am I overreacting about my discovery? Okay, are we ready for the screenshot? Or do we want to get into it first? Get in screenshot? Okay, okay, okay, I hear you.
Starting point is 00:05:10 I hear you. Okay, so it's a screenshot. Blue text at the top is her. I just want to know why. When it finally came time for the Hawaii trip, how were you going to explain that? What were you thinking? He replies, you know something I've noticed about you? You can never just be calm and there
Starting point is 00:05:31 always has to be an issue. I know you were raised in a volatile environment and still have to relearn a lot about healthy relationship dynamics, but it's like you thrive on chaos only. And we were gonna see Wicked tonight. Pfft. I guess there goes that. Okay, so our writer responds back to his messages. You can't be serious. I deserve answers. I'm honestly so creeped out. Basically half of my life for the past two years has been a complete and total lie and you were behind all of it." He responds, "'Okay, don't be dramatic. You know this isn't a big deal.
Starting point is 00:06:09 You're just giddy to harp on this and make a bigger issue.'" I am so flabbergasted. I can't believe he's actually trying to gaslight her this hard. But okay, let me hear your takes first. I have so much to say. First of all, volatile? Well, that's a big word for Emma.
Starting point is 00:06:36 I don't get where he thought he was going with this. Obviously, if Hawaii was coming up, as you said, how was he planning on just saying, oh sorry they couldn't make it, they don't exist. I don't get what his plan was. Here's my question and just in general, I really hope we get an answer to this, but I doubt that we're gonna find out. How did it even start? Because if he said, hey, let's join this group chat with my friends, that's one thing. But if he slowly became friends with her on all of these separate accounts and then just said that he knew each other, each other, and then they were like, oh, let's make a group chat. That's even crazier because he went out of his way to plan this out. It's so premeditated. It's concerning. It feels stalkerish. It does not feel safe. It's very weird.
Starting point is 00:07:32 Yeah, it just doesn't make any sense. Like, why do this for two whole years? There had to be an ulterior motive to do that. Like, is he trying to cut her off from everybody and like know everything that like all of her friends know because they're not even real like what exactly is going on here because this red flags all around. This feels really creepy and icky. I feel like it could point to some like isolating tendencies or him trying to isolate her especially like playing the part of two different people and like portraying them as friends and like integrating her into the group. It feels like a way to maybe take her away from her support system or yeah just try to isolate her. It doesn't seem great and it could stem from an
Starting point is 00:08:20 insecurity and like not feeling confident enough to be able to be with someone just by himself and feeling like he needs to have outside validation and support and maybe he's not getting it. I think he would benefit from some therapy or counseling just to like look at this behavior and maybe address this insecurity of feeling like he's not good enough but not a cool thing to do. I think it is a good idea if Opie leaves this relationship, it doesn't feel like it's right for her or for him and ah this is not a relationship I would want to save. Especially because you could have told these friends things in confidence about your partner or your relationship and it just doesn't seem right or
Starting point is 00:09:06 okay and if she leaves him we're all the better for it. This man either needs to be in jail or institutionalized because his reality is quite literally not on this planet. However, you know, it is impressive just how steadfast he is in his reality and belief in his reality that he can literally look this girl in the eyes and turn it on her. I just, I am trying to understand one, how does he have that much time? What does he do for work? Because I can barely respond to texts, let alone be able to maintain three different social medias and hide it from someone that I'm dating. Honestly, I think when it comes down to it, it's about control. Like one of the known signs of an abuser is that they isolate their partner from their friends. And I think this is just like an extreme version of that, where he's like,
Starting point is 00:10:14 well, if I'm all of her friends, then who's she going to go to but me? And you know, it's a massive invasion of privacy. If she's venting to them about him, or if she's telling them things that he doesn't necessarily want him to know So my conclusion is that this girl should run and leave this man because this is not normal behavior I mean, what was he thinking when we got to get to Hawaii? I bet you that he was probably going to fake an emergency like they can't come anymore because their family member died or something like that Or he was gonna try plan B where he puts on different hats and pretends to be other friends. Try out his improv skills maybe. Listening to this I was like could I have written this? Like did I write this? Because
Starting point is 00:10:55 literally did this to me. Oh I don't know. Oh well. I gave my names. Blur that out. Except it was with an ex-girlfriend and she was like crazy or whatever and crazy. If they say crazy, they're lying. We started dating like right after they broke up and this Ashley girl ex was, you know, still feeding for him or whatever. She added me and she would like harass me on Instagram. It was the whole time it was him? Yes.
Starting point is 00:11:24 That's crazy. Yes. Send me also the text. But then what if it was him? Yes. That's crazy. Send me also the text. But then it was- What if it's him? It's her ex. This story triggered me so much because I was like, is this my ex? Because it happened. It was genuinely insane.
Starting point is 00:11:38 But it was like, he just wanted to test boundaries and see like how far I would believe him and stuff. Yeah. And so he just made up this entire girl's profile and then all of a sudden one day texted me back and on her profile I was like, how bitch you thought? Like I'm not done.
Starting point is 00:11:53 Like. I think she needs to leave him because I think if he's lying about that, I think he's lying about a million other things in her life. Like. Yeah, you can't trust him after that. And you never know.
Starting point is 00:12:02 You never know what he's lying about. Like, oh, what's in this food? Or what my job is? Or like so many different things to create friends like that is like, it's like a siree going off. Insane. It is insane. That's insane behavior. Let's get into the top comments, shall we? Top comment on this one? Yeah, this is...not okay. I'm blown away that this is actually real because what?
Starting point is 00:12:29 How could someone do that to you? Your partner of all people. And like, was he ever planning on telling you or just letting it ride out? What does he gain from this? So many things running through my mind, but the most disgusting factor is how he responded to it. And honestly, someone so manipulative and like
Starting point is 00:12:46 he's deflecting instead of owning up to his actions. I'm sorry you're going through this. Next comment after that. Letting it ride out. I mean, what was the end game here? I can't even begin to figure that out. Like night of the rehearsal dinner. Hey babe, about my groomsmen, they were driving here and all died in a freak accident involving a flock of geese. It's killing me. Oh well, show must go on. Which, good points, good points. This next comment has a big yellow box.
Starting point is 00:13:17 The why is my biggest question here. Pathological liars though, there's typically no real slash logical reason. Next comment down also yellow box, 4k upvotes. I just want to point out that this level of premeditated and targeted manipulation, complete with textbook example of gaslighting when discovered by the target, is an extremely concerning behavior. If this is indeed real, then OP should be very concerned for her own safety
Starting point is 00:13:47 and put as much distance as possible between themselves and this individual." Yeah, very concerning. Comments really go on too. Someone goes, it immediately made me wonder if it's a tactic to cut her off from everyone in her life while maintaining the illusion
Starting point is 00:14:02 that she has her friends still. I'm baffled. Like I'm honestly, it is so scary. Like I cannot even imagine having two years of friends, people you've told things to confided in, grown to love are just fake and created by your partner. Do you have any hunches on why he was actually doing this? Or do we just genuinely think he was ill? I definitely agree with the top comments.
Starting point is 00:14:38 One is weird, but it definitely feels very controlling and manipulative in a way that is not safe. I feel like I didn't touch on the fact that he was trying to gaslight her. Yeah, no, that's, that is wild. He's extremely immature and sounds very manipulative. Girl, please run. Yeah, I didn't even think about the fact that he was manipulating even before they got together. Like when they were still friends, how he would like hype himself up on behalf of himself is really really scary. I think there is something
Starting point is 00:15:13 mentally wrong with him. Like he just wanted control. I wouldn't say control, I would say more like he wanted to be her everything maybe. Just like I want to be all your friends, I want to be the one you confide to, I want to be the one you confide to. I want to be the one you're telling all your secrets to. So let me let you get close to this person who you think is your friend and see what you say. Are you saying things to them that you wouldn't say to me? And be all knowing. And then just the gaslighting at the end of like just turning it around and making her seem like she's insane. Like that was crazy. We need to put like alerts out on guys like this because god forbid he ends up with someone else in the future and does the same
Starting point is 00:15:58 thing and it gets worse. I have the same thought about the gaslighting. He's getting defensive because she found out your secret and now you're gaslighting. He's getting defensive because she found out your secret and now you're gaslighting her into thinking it's her fault and she's being dramatic. I would be just as mad as she is because you literally lied to me and catfished me for two and a half years about who your friends are. Makes me wonder does he have any other friends? Are these the only people he introduced her to? And did she pay money for these people to go to Hawaii? Or was he paying for their tickets or whatever just so that she could see that there was tickets but then not going to have them show up or something?
Starting point is 00:16:39 I know the whole thing's really fishy and huge red flags that he is turning it around on her. She's being dramatic when it is a big deal. Well, we do have some comments from OP actually. Someone is very concerned that OP is not safe and needs to leave, especially if they live together. OP responds, Thankfully, we have never lived together, so it will be easy to discard him from my life ASAP. Someone else says, that is seriously so fucking creepy. He probably made those accounts to try to get with you back when you were just
Starting point is 00:17:16 friends and then just continued with the little lie after he won his prize. This is gross and unsettling. I wouldn't even want to be anywhere near him after that. OP responds, God yeah, that tracks. Looking back, they did hype him up an awful lot. Da da da da da da da da da da. Bruh. Okay. Well, we have an update. This is posted the same day as the original post, December 30th, 2024, so just a couple weeks ago. It was an hour after.
Starting point is 00:17:49 I honestly have the biggest migraine of my life and I haven't slept at all. Nothing similar to this has ever happened to me before, but my life has been crazy enough to where I wasn't able to prepare for the huge reaction something like this gets. I knew it was bizarre, but I didn't know it would jump to the top of everything. I assumed it would collect some advice or opinions I could read and then post would get lost into the void, like how it goes with the majority of my others,
Starting point is 00:18:17 but I sincerely appreciate every bit of support. Unfortunately, I'm also being bombarded with hate and nasty messages, and my headache keeps getting worse, so I need to get off Reddit today, but I don't want to just ghost and make people think something horrible happened, because I am taking the steps to make sure nothing does. He does have my address, but I live with my family in an apartment building that needs a key fob to get in, so I have at least those two layers of safety for now.
Starting point is 00:18:43 But for some reason, I doubt that, at least today, there will be any attempts at a personal confrontation. And even then, I am confident I will be able to remain safe as far away as possible in the case he does come around. I have alerted some of my real friends of the situation as well, and they will be close to me as much as they can. So please do not worry when I'm not active for the rest of today. I'm just getting nauseous from my headache and I don't wanna start the day feeling like this.
Starting point is 00:19:12 This is another little update. Same day, 11 hours later instead. I still see people concerned for my safety. So even though I'm taking a break for today, I just wanna share that I've received no communication from him today and ended up going on a hike with a friend and then out to dinner and drinks and had a nice time.
Starting point is 00:19:30 I'm home with my family now and hopefully the rest of the night is uneventful. So that is the last update we have on the best of Redditor updates. I'm going to go to the account, see if we can find anything else. But that was it on Boru. And Boru's pretty good about maintaining. So we do have comments from 17 days ago. A lot of people were accusing OP of making this up or making it up for attention.
Starting point is 00:19:56 OP responds, if I wanted to make up a story for attention, I would probably at least make it well-written. Please stop harassing me and making my day worse than it already is. You have been harassing me in my messages. Why are you so obsessed with me? I'm sorry. Like I said before, came from some boring mayonnaise life where nothing ever happens,
Starting point is 00:20:14 but believe it or not, should happen to people sometimes, even if you can't comprehend it. So OP has been posting on other subreddits, slash anxiety r slash college but I'm not seeing any other comments about this issue most recent comment from OP was on r slash chat GPT and it was 17 hours old so OP I'm gonna need you to update. I'm a little concerned, but what do you guys think of this and the fact there isn't another update? I'm glad that they don't live together. That makes things a lot easier. But I do also wish that she would update, especially since she's active on Reddit. Kind of wish we had some closure.
Starting point is 00:21:05 It is what it is. Hopefully she's safe. That just overall, it's very scary and weird, the way that he did all that. Very controlling, crazy, psycho. Not well overall. I'm really glad she got out. I'm glad she's safe.
Starting point is 00:21:22 I'm glad she's having fun. I do hope we get another update somewhere in the future, just being like, hey, all good, no need to worry. But for now, it seems like we have a resolution or at least a decent one. So I'm really happy where this story ended up. Okay, onto the next one. This one is coming from r slash aith12h,
Starting point is 00:21:43 12 hours old, titled, am I the asshole for refusing to demote my dog after my sister gave her baby the same name? I, 26 female, have a dog named Charlie. Charlie is a golden retriever I adopted four years ago, and he's my best buddy. My sister, Emily, 29 female, recently had her first child, a baby boy.
Starting point is 00:22:05 She and her husband named him...Charlie. At first I thought it was funny and didn't really think much of it, but then Emily pulled me aside during a family gathering and said it was confusing and disrespectful for me to keep calling my dog Charlie now that her son has the same name. She asked me to rename my dog. now that her son has the same name. She asked me to rename my dog. I told her no. Charlie has had his name for four years. He knows it, responds to it, and it's on all of his paperwork. Changing it would be weird for him and for me. She got really upset and said it's not fair for her son to share a name with a dog, especially in family settings.
Starting point is 00:22:45 She thinks it'll lead to jokes and confusion as her son grows up. My parents have weighed in, and while my dad says it's ridiculous to expect me to change my dog's name, my mom says I should just consider it to keep the peace. Now, Emily is barely speaking to me, and a few family members think I'm being stubborn.
Starting point is 00:23:04 I have no idea how I'm in the wrong here. The world's gone crazy. I love my dog, and I didn't name him to spite anyone. I also think it's not my fault they chose a name already in use in the family. So am I the asshole? Come on. Come on. Charlie already had his name.
Starting point is 00:23:24 Technically, she named that baby after a dog, right? That's weird. But let's hear your takes. This is a busy one. Yeah, no it's- Like the asshole, these dumb motherfuckers. No, you can't say that. These dumb motherfuckers.
Starting point is 00:23:42 These dumb motherfuckers. I think the weirdest thing. And the mom keeps saying, yeah, consider to keep the peace. No, you fight. OP, you fight. Yeah. And your dad, he's on your side. You fight.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Yeah. I mean, it's always weird with these parents taking the side of the person creating the problem. Just to keep the peace. Yeah, just to keep the peace. It gets me so frustrated. I was literally going to say the same thing. She named her son after the dog. The dog was there first. The dog had the name Charlie first and she went ahead and named her son after the dog. Like, come on.
Starting point is 00:24:21 It is not that simple to change a dog's name. The dog has had that name for four years. It knows to respond to that name. How am I going to reprogram myself to call my dog a different name and hope that he's gonna, you know, respond to the new name? Like, that's gonna be confusing for the poor dog. Like, that's not nice. And plus, the baby is just a baby. He doesn't know what's going on. What family member is going to make fun of the baby and the dog having the same name? Like, that's not a family I want to be a part of,
Starting point is 00:24:57 quite frankly, because what jokes can be made? This is so odd. First of all, Charlie is such a common dog name. Like I'm so sorry to break it to you, there are so many other dogs that have, I personally know like three Charlie dogs. And the way that the sister thought that the kid's gonna get picked on growing up because it's gonna have the same name as a dog, that doesn't happen. Like that just doesn't happen. Two of my best friends growing up, one of them had a name and the other one had a dog with the same name. We didn't make fun of her for it, we just thought it was funny.
Starting point is 00:25:32 I have a hilarious story that kind of relates to this. I have a very good friend from school. Growing up, she had a dog named Bob. One day, we're in college and she calls me up, ring ring. And she's like, guess what? I've started seeing someone. I'm like, oh my God, tell me everything about him. And she's like, his name is Bob. We proceed to burst out in laughter
Starting point is 00:25:53 because that is hilarious. A couple of months later, I'm chatting with her again. I'm asking about her sister. How is your sister? She goes, guess what? I go, what? She said she's dating a guy. I'm like, oh my God, tell me about the guy. Can you guess what the guy's name was? That's right. It was Bob. These
Starting point is 00:26:11 are all fake names, by the way. So yeah, there was one point where there were three Bob's, one was a dog and two were boyfriends. It's very funny. We laughed about it to this day. She used to get a little bit annoyed about it, but then she got over it and she really just saw the humor in it and it was fine. No one got confused. At most we said when she started saying Bob's name I'd be like, which one? It will be fine. Your sister will be fine. Trust me. I do think that the lady with the baby is a little bit cuckoo. I mean, when she was picking up the baby names that didn't cross her mind that, oh, Charlie, that's my sister's dog's name.
Starting point is 00:26:44 If she really did overlook that, that's her fault. If this name Charlie is special for any reason, she should have came to you before the baby was born and said, hey, you know, I don't know. Grandpa's name was Charlie, it's really special to me and I really want to name my first son Charlie. Is there anything we can do with your dog's name? I think you just either need to let your sister
Starting point is 00:27:03 get over it with some time, maybe distance yourself, unfortunately. I think it's outrageous that she's asking you to change your dog's name and I definitely would not do that. I would not recommend it. I think this could be really cool and special. Like the kid and the dog could have a really cool bond, maybe do things together, dress up as Halloween, something to do with their names. But instead it's kind of turned into this negative thing where I think it could be really special. So I hope that it all works out and you guys can figure it out and Charlie one and Charlie two just become best friends. The dog was named Charlie first. If only one gets a name it's a dog. Now more than one can have
Starting point is 00:27:43 the name. It's totally fine. More than one kid has the same name, especially when you go to preschool, especially with more common names. You'll have multiple Charlies, and usually they don't, you know, nickname one that kind of comes in like later years. So they'll be okay. Kids Brainy's are forming very, very fast at this age. So he'll be able to tell that when you call Charlie and you're looking at him, you're
Starting point is 00:28:10 not referring to the dog. Now the dog may be confused. If anything, this tells me that the family has been excessively babying the younger sister just because why else would this even be a suggestion? I don't understand how anyone, unless the youngest sister is a lot to deal with, why they would even consider telling the sister, oh yeah, you should rename your dog. Like that's odd behavior.
Starting point is 00:28:43 I mean, this is just so stupid. It's not even funny. Peace? Are you serious? If the only way to maintain a peace is by me changing my dog's name, that I want none of it. Let's bring war at this point. Like, what's the point of entertaining this idea whatsoever?
Starting point is 00:29:10 What is it about it? I don't. I don't understand it. I... That would be my dying hill. Quite frankly. It gives main girl energy, the sister it's giving. You don't know what hardship is. If you're that so fucking hell bent on, well, you need to change your dog's name. Why?
Starting point is 00:29:41 What's the point? If it's to keep peace in the family, then I don't want it. What's the point? What's the point of peace on a trivial theme? Okay. So the top comment on this one, there was a post years ago about a guy who had a cat named Nigel and his sister or roommate started dating someone named Nigel So they called the cat cat Nigel and the guy human Nigel Next comment down my husband's uncle has the same name as our cat cat came with the name No one has been confused when I talk about either of them Next comment down god damn it uncle slash cat name shit on the floor
Starting point is 00:30:23 This next comment has a big gold box. This actually happened to me when my dog, Jenny, who wasn't feeling well, crapped on the floor while my friend Jenny was over. Me yelling, mom, Jenny just shit on the floor. Mom yelling back, why on earth would she do that? Hilarity ensued. I also think this is just like
Starting point is 00:30:44 not something that's that serious. I actually don't know how I didn't think of this sooner, but Justin's grandpa got a puppy a couple of years ago and it came with the name Penny. Guess what his mom's name is? Penny. Yeah, she turns 100 this May. But it's like, if that's not a big deal for him
Starting point is 00:31:09 having a dog that has the same name as his mom, and this sister knowingly named the kid after her sister's dog, I mean, come on. Before we move on, there is one comment that OP responds to. Someone goes, suggest that she changes her son's name to Spot or Rover. Next comment, adopt a second dog. Name it Emily. Next comment down, complete the set. Get a guinea pig and name it after a brother-in-law for the plot. Then ask mom to change Emily's name to keep the peace.
Starting point is 00:31:44 Or just call the dog baby Charlie for extra fun and confusion. So OP responds to one of the comments somewhere in this thread and goes, buddy can also do. But okay, moving on to the next one. One of this week's partners is Rocket Money. How many of you have signed up for something for a free trial and then forgotten to cancel before it ends? Me! And how many of you are probably still paying for things
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Starting point is 00:32:45 members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with RocketMoney. Go to rocketmoney.com slash THT today. That's rocketmoney.com slash THT. Rocketmoney.com slash THT. This is coming from our very own tuha.take subreddit. It is six days old and titled, Am I the asshole for refusing to let my brother-in-law name his baby after my late husband?
Starting point is 00:33:16 I, 33 female, lost my husband Mark three years ago in a car accident. It was devastating. And while I've worked hard to rebuild my life, my grief is still there. Mark and I didn't have kids, but he always wanted to be a father, and his name holds a lot of sentimental value for me. My sister-in-law, 36 female, is married to Mark's brother, Ethan, 38 male. They're expecting their first child, and recently, they've told me they want to name their son Mark to honor him. While I understand the sentiment, I immediately felt uneasy. Mark's name is deeply personal
Starting point is 00:33:52 to me, and the idea of someone else in the family using it feels...wrong. I gently told Ethan and my sister-in-law that I wasn't comfortable with the idea. I suggested they use Mark's name as a middle name or consider something else entirely, but they were upset and said it wasn't fair for me to claim the name when it's a part of their family too. Ethan even said that this would help keep Mark's memory alive, especially since they were so close. The argument escalated when I pointed out that if I ever had a child, I might want to name them after Mark, and it would feel strange if there was already another Mark in the family.
Starting point is 00:34:30 Ethan said, that's a hypothetical situation, and accused me of being selfish for gatekeeping a name as if it were only mine to use. Now the family is divided. Some think I'm overreacting and should let them honor Mark however they want. Others say it's my right to set that boundary given how close I was to him. So am I the asshole for saying no to them naming their baby after my late husband? Yeah girl, I think you're being the asshole. I think grief is hard because everybody's grief like comes out in different ways but grief doesn't absolve you from being an asshole. It's kind of like whether you intend to hurt somebody or not. The intention doesn't really matter in the end because it's still doing harm of some sort. That is his family and if there's two Marks in the family, it's not a big deal. But that is his brother.
Starting point is 00:35:27 He does want to honor him in some way. I don't think it's fair to gatekeep that from them. It feels harsh. Initially, when I heard the title, I instantly thought, yeah, you're the asshole. But knowing that Mark's brother wants to use the name is completely different. I was expecting it to be outside family members who aren't related to Mark in any way, but it's his brother, that's his family. Yes, it's important to you, that's just important to them. That's their entire life. They've been brothers and he should be able to honor his brother in that way.
Starting point is 00:36:11 I feel like it's more of just a courtesy that he told you. Now if Mark and him weren't related, then the story would be different. But they're brothers. That's his family too. And I don't think you should be able to tell them that they can't name their baby after their baby's late uncle. I think first and foremost, it was really respectful of the brother to reach out to OP, the wife, and get her thoughts on naming his son Mark. I understand where the wife is coming from. It's difficult because, you know, this was your person that you were supposed to spend
Starting point is 00:36:43 your whole life with and it's difficult to have someone else in the family with that name. I can understand that. I can understand how that would weigh on you heavily, but I find it interesting how she mentioned that she might want to reserve the name mark for a future child of hers. So you can't really have both. You can't say that it would make you emotional to have someone else in the family name Mark, but then at the same time possibly want to reserve it for your own child. Hearing someone's name that you love that has passed away is so hard. But then to associate that name with a baby that's not yours, I truthfully feel like that's harder. We played around with the idea of my dad's name for my sister's baby, and it just didn't seem right. And while we loved his name, we just couldn't imagine us and my mom constantly
Starting point is 00:37:50 calling this little baby my dad's name. Like we wanted to honor him in some way, but that wasn't it. And I hate that they're using this to kind of hold over her. Oh, well, we're just doing it to honor him. Well, okay, there's so many other ways to honor him. Like, let's find one together that makes me comfortable and you comfortable and is equal for everybody. But then the audacity to be like, Oh, what if I want to honor that name? I feel comfortable enough to then give my child that name. Okay, well, that's her right and her comfortability. So absolutely, she should get to do that. But no, that's a hypothetical situation. God forbid that you fall in love again or doesn't even don't even need a man. In vitro adoption something of that nature. You don't get that name.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Not not nope. No name for you. That's not for you. Mm-hmm. It's all about us. We just wanted to use this name and try to look good in the eyes of other people. And now you're the bad guy. So no, they're assholes and they shouldn't be using your dead husband's name if it makes you feel uncomfortable and they claim to care about you.
Starting point is 00:39:21 I think if it was any other situation in the way that these people were related to Mark, I would think they were pushing boundaries. But this is his brother. Like, at least from my perspective, if one of my sisters were to die, like I would definitely want to be able to name my future child after them. And if they're partners, because obviously we don't know after them. And if they're partners, because obviously we don't know, like how close that they were as a family, like,
Starting point is 00:39:48 maybe like, oh, people wasn't close with a brother, maybe they were. But I just think that like, if my sister's partners were like, no, you can't name your child like, I'd be so mad. And I would do it anyway. Like, I get that it's very difficult for OP. I don't think they're being unreasonable because I understand where they're coming from. But I personally think they just need to back down. Nothing's stopping them also using the name Mark, but also nothing's guaranteeing that they will in the future have a son. And it could potentially go the other way when no one ends up honoring him by using his name. I find it kind of hard to use the word asshole on someone grieving their dead
Starting point is 00:40:31 husband and having feelings connected to his death. I wouldn't. I don't. I think that they're in their rights to honor Mark in their way they they've grown up together and it's obviously a loss for Ethan as well as well as OP so no I don't think she's the asshole for having conflicted feelings about that name being used and expressing those to Mark and his wife I think they're also in their rights to ignore those wishes. Top comment on this one. I am so sorry for your loss. Respectfully, you are overstepping
Starting point is 00:41:14 here. Mark was not only your husband, he was a son, a brother, a friend, and likely so much more. He had a role in so many lives, and each of those lives has the right to grieve and remember him in their own way. If you do adopt, I hope you use whatever name you feel is right. Adoption is an indescribable blessing. I am an adoptive mom. Let them live their lives how they see fit. Because you almost never see them, any choice they make will only be as big as you allow it to be in your own life. I mean, solid point. For me, hearing this, I feel very torn because I understand like where OP is coming from and I can't even imagine dealing with that loss. But having like your partner's name kind of taken,
Starting point is 00:42:07 that option taken from you, I would be really distraught. I do appreciate the fact that the brother-in-law and sister-in-law are coming to her first and like having this conversation. And at the end of the day, it kind of is their choice, like that was his brother. But it's a tough one. You want to be sensitive. But, but we do have an edit and get a little bit more information. Edit. I'm adding an edit here, although it's only been a little bit since I posted, to add some
Starting point is 00:42:41 info that could be important. Apologies, I didn't include it before. But thank you everyone for your insights. It's given me a lot to think about. First, Mark and Ethan have been almost zero contact since Mark turned 23, for a much longer reason. They've only spoken a few times since then, at Ethan's wedding, our wedding, and most recently, about a year before his death, at a funeral. Ethan and his wife didn't attend Mark's funeral, giving no reason about why, but the rest of the family dismissed it, and I'm still not sure why.
Starting point is 00:43:17 They didn't even send so much as a card. I only found out that they were expecting and intending to use the name at a family holiday party that I go to every year, which they attended for the first time. Apparently, every single person at that party, and it wasn't a small one, had known about the pregnancy, but not their plans for the name. At the party, Ethan and his wife, never been very chummy with her, announced their intent for the baby's name. So I asked them about it later, and that is where the argument began.
Starting point is 00:43:49 The thing that set me off was that Ethan said he wanted to use Mark's name since they were so close in childhood, but hasn't spoken more than a few words in ages. So I mainly feel that he has no right to use the name because of his relationship with Mark before he passed and the apathy to me when he did die. Secondly, adoption was always the plan for Mark and me. And we were in the process of figuring out the steps to adopt in our area around the time he passed. As an adopted child, I would have it no other way.
Starting point is 00:44:20 And I'm also infertile. So this was pretty much the only route I've been able to take. At this moment, since I've gotten back on my feet after the loss, I've been considering adopting as a single mom, because fortunately, I do have the means and the support system, mainly my side of the family and some friends, to raise a child alone. As of right now, I'm not sure if I'll ever remarry,
Starting point is 00:44:43 but chances are, I will adopt before I do. Adopting a child and naming him after the man I'd always planned to adopt with seems like the best way to honor him and keep his memory alive. Thank you everyone for your comments, and so sorry if this is a long edit with quite a few spelling errors. You guys, why didn't OP include that context at the beginning? For me, totally changes things. Totally changes things. But I want to hear from you first. That was a lot of information to leave out.
Starting point is 00:45:19 I'm just going to say that. Screw that brother. You had us in the first half. Screw that brother. No. He you had us in the first half. Uh. Screw that brother. No. He didn't even go to the funeral. I hope OP adopts a baby and is able to name this baby Mark before her sister-in-law gives birth and then Mark is already used and if they want to be the one using the name twice
Starting point is 00:45:37 then they can go ahead and be the one using the name twice but I hope OP steals it right out from under their feet because this just makes me so mad. If he hasn't even had a relationship with Mark, no, screw that. That all goes out the window. Yup. Bye. Opie needs to name her child Mark.
Starting point is 00:45:55 And you know what? Actually go ahead and name said child Mark middle name, last name, the second. Like now we're not only using Mark. This is Mark Jr. Like I don't. We're going all the way there. I'm using every single one of his names and the rest of you can kiss my butt because now none of the names are available. That's how I feel. I'm so flabbergasted at the second edit of that one. I haven't spoken to him in years and now wants to use his name. That just like an attention-seeking kind of thing.
Starting point is 00:46:26 Oh, it was named after my deceased brother. Oh, it makes me so angry. They do not deserve to use the name of someone and act like they're honoring them if they literally have had no contact in years and didn't even come to the funeral. You just want to say you're honoring him so that it looks like you care when it's very obvious they don't. I'm going to play devil's advocate here for Ethan. I can't remember if she mentioned how long it's been since her husband passed, but what if Ethan is feeling guilty and remorseful and is now reminiscing on their childhood and he feels that naming his son Mark is a way to almost like make up for lost time, make up for the things he now feels guilty for.
Starting point is 00:47:16 I mean, grief hits everyone different, man. I mean, yeah, maybe they weren't close, but maybe it is hitting him, and he does really miss his brother. We don't know. It's hard to make a call. In the end if you're not close to them and you're never going to see them really after this, let him name a mark. Name your baby mark. There's so many marks in the world. Maybe that's insensitive. You're not an asshole. Maybe nobody's an asshole here. There's just not I just feel like there's still kind of missing context of like why they were not close. She's not an asshole for feeling the way she does feel like I was
Starting point is 00:47:54 going to say no assholes here. I was going to say she's still in the wrong, but because she's facing grief the way she's facing it and the brother would be facing the grief the way she's facing it and the brother would be facing the grief the way he's facing it. However, it doesn't with that edit it doesn't even sound like this is a form of grieving for him. It sounds like it's a form of attention grabbing which if I were her I'm impressed because I if I wrote that original post I would have said they're doing it for attention and this makes me mad. And I told them no, because of that reason,
Starting point is 00:48:28 on top of the fact that she wants to adopt a kid and have that be the kid's name. Now for me, I feel like this totally changes it. And Ethan naming his child after his brother that has passed feels so performative. He didn't go to his brother's funeral. He didn't go to his brother's funeral. Come on. Didn't send a card?
Starting point is 00:48:58 I mean, if you didn't go to your brother's funeral, I don't think you should be naming your child after your brother. Just me. Just me. Some of you might disagree. If you do, please tell me why. But this feels very performative and it doesn't feel genuine. I mean, granted, okay, they were close as kids and whatever reasons, they stopped being close, but you weren't close when he passed and you didn't go to his funeral. So no. I think regardless, if OP adopts and has to pick a name, I think OP should still go with Mark.
Starting point is 00:49:43 I think that even if there's two Marks in the family, whatever, like you have the closer proximity to Mark, I think, at this point. So just go with it. Don't let someone else squash it for you. I think names are so deeply personal and it doesn't matter if Ethan and his wife decide to use it. Like you're going to have more meaning. You're going to be able to tell this story to your adoptive child, but, but adoption can happen in so many other ways. Like OP might not even get the opportunity to name a child.
Starting point is 00:50:19 So I think it'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but I wouldn't let Ethan ruin this for me. Okay, I'm going to peek and see if there's any other comments from OP since this. None. No comments from OP after the edit. So... And before the edit. No comments from OP. Just so. Just so you guys know. But I'm very curious how this one plays out. It's only six days old, so we might get another update on this one. Okay.
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Starting point is 00:51:56 That's livegood.com slash THT. Don't miss out on this opportunity to invest in your health without overspending. This is coming from AITAH, it is a month old at this point, titled, Am I the Asshole for Breaking Up with My Girlfriend Because of a Caught Cheating Prank. I, 26 male, broke up with my girlfriend, 25 female, of two years because of something that happened recently. And now my friends are saying I massively overreacted. So a few days ago, my girlfriend and a close mutual friend decided to play a prank on me.
Starting point is 00:52:31 The prank was that they filmed a scenario where I caught them in bed together, pretending they were hooking up. They set up a hidden camera in the bedroom, and when I walked in, I saw him in just boxers and my girlfriend in a bra and panties straddling him, acting like they were mid hookup. To make it more realistic, they even made some noises and tried to act like it was happening for real. I was shocked, furious, and immediately confronted them as I thought it was real at first, like an actual betrayal. And then I walked out of the room and started leaving the house.
Starting point is 00:53:06 When they followed me screaming, it was just a prank, and then showed me the video they had been recording. To be honest, I felt completely betrayed, not just by the idea of the prank, but also because of how they had gotten undressed to film it. I know it's meant to be funny to some people, but for me, it felt disrespectful, and I was hurt. The whole thing felt like a violation of trust, even though I know they
Starting point is 00:53:30 weren't actually cheating. I told her I couldn't be in a relationship with someone who would do something like that, and I ended things right there. She's devastated, and our friends have been telling me I overreacted. They think it was just a harmless prank and I should have taken it better. But I can't shake the feeling that it crossed a line for me, especially with how intimate and uncomfortable it felt to see them in that situation, even if it wasn't real. Now I'm left wondering if I made the right decision.
Starting point is 00:53:59 I'm starting to doubt myself because everyone else seems to think I blew it up out of proportion. Thoughts, concerns. What? What? I'm really trying not to have my inner New York, New York city side of me pop out because that was just absolute disrespect and like disrespecting the
Starting point is 00:54:22 block would be, would run very differently. And so I just think that he just stood up for himself and hit his friends, his so-called friends that are saying that he's overreacting. If I was a friend and I heard that you that someone did that to my friend I would be like no you are so in your well in your right to to not tolerate that to say, yo, this is done. I'm not taking this disrespect. This is absolutely wild. You have me all the way messed up.
Starting point is 00:54:52 That is not happening. What the actual fuck was that? First of all, obviously OP is not the asshole. And I think 2025 should be the year where we stop doing these pranks that are just like emotional abuse disguised as a prank I feel really similarly to pranks as you Morgan like I think a lot of times they're just like hurtful and Unnecessary and at the expense of somebody else and so I don't know I have a lot of thoughts on this
Starting point is 00:55:20 My biggest question with this story is like who is this mutual friend that pulled the prank with her? I wonder if her and him were friends first, or if the boyfriend and him were friends first, or like just what their general dynamic is as a friend group. Because I'm getting the vibe that the girlfriend and this mutual friend who she pulled the prank with are secretly in love with each other, and that this was like a desperate attempt to like have a lone time together or like an excuse to get naked in front of each other and do all this slimy shit behind the scenes. I'm sorry but you don't just like plan a prank faking to like have sex unless you've been like actively thinking about it prior. Like how did you pick the friend and essentially you're bumping and grinding on your mutual
Starting point is 00:56:14 friend. After two and a half years it's just super disrespectful and you're also just dumb to think that that's like okay. How do you not know your partner's boundaries after two years? Personally I do not think that OP was overreacting in there. I would have reacted the same way. When a line is crossed that you cannot go back from, it's honestly just best for both parties if you cut it off. And I feel like that is such a betrayal of trust even if it was a prank. A prank is supposed to be funny and that's just not funny to me because even if after everything's said and done like oh we were just kidding that
Starting point is 00:56:54 feeling is still there and the feeling is very real and the feeling is very valid and if you can't move on in your relationship with that feeling still there weighing on your chest then like it's better for both of you to end it. I just really am not buying that it was an innocent prank. I think regardless, the girlfriend and this mutual friend guy have some sort of ulterior motive because I don't see how any part of trying to see what your boyfriend's reaction would be to you cheating on him could result in a funny outcome. Like he's either gonna scream, get angry, cry, be heartbroken and depressed,
Starting point is 00:57:34 or have like a major anxiety panic attack. Like, I don't know. Like there's no path that that situation could have taken where any rational human being would be like, hee hee, so funny. Like, oh, and like it's already crossing so many boundaries that like she was like in her bra and panties like straddling the sky. Like that alone would be enough for me to like leave somebody.
Starting point is 00:57:59 Okay. That doesn't feel like just a prank to anyone, right? Like it feels like they were setting it up so that if they did get caught down the line, they could be like, oh, it was just a prank. Who thinks of that? Also, who wants to even be that close to their partner's friend? I can't even imagine ever, ever, ever, ever,
Starting point is 00:58:20 like, getting undressed and straddling someone that's not Justin. Like, the thought of that honestly repulses me. So to even set this up as a prank and record it and strip down into underwear, panties, bra, like I'm perplexed. Top comment on this one though. Not the asshole. How does your girlfriend of two years not know you well enough to know what you'd find funny?
Starting point is 00:58:44 Like even if you prank all the time with each other, she should know you and what you would actually find funny. If you're not laughing, it's not actually a prank. It's just that I'm hurting you and then blaming you for being hurt. OP responds to that one. Yep, I told her that. She says she wanted to try something new and unexpected and didn't think I would feel so strongly about it
Starting point is 00:59:05 Someone responds after that But she should be trying something new and unexpected with you and not the friend Yep, the fact that she didn't know you'd feel so strongly about it means either she doesn't really know you or she doesn't care about your feelings Yeah either she doesn't really know you or she doesn't care about your feelings. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how you would expect that to end well, to make it seem so real. Also, like what happens if OP would have like forgotten something in the car and would have gone back outside or not walked into the room right away? Like, would they have just kept going for the plot? Well, guys, we do have an edit from OP. Edit. I did not expect this many responses. Thank
Starting point is 00:59:55 you guys. She posted here earlier and sent me a link to her post. I know she wants me to watch the video to prove it was all set up and planned, but I feel like she still doesn't get that I'm upset about her disregard and disregard for me and our relationship. Anyways, I'm going to sign off for the night. Well, I guess we got to go find that other post. Her version. Oh, I didn't know it existed until just now. Let's see if we can find the other side.
Starting point is 01:00:25 Okay. We got the girlfriend's post. Has been deleted. Coming from AITAH, I think my boyfriend is overreacting for breaking up with me over my caught cheating prank. Am I the asshole? My boyfriend posted here a few hours ago
Starting point is 01:00:42 and shared the link with me to show me what people thought about what I did and that he is not overreacting. I thought I'd come on here and give my version of events for a more nuanced take. I planned the cheating prank with our close mutual friend several days ago. We were hanging out and scrolling through TikTok videos and came across prank shorts between couples. We went down the rabbit hole and ended up watching YouTube videos of cheating pranks. And I mentioned it would be funny
Starting point is 01:01:08 to try cheating prank on my boyfriend to find out what his reaction would be. He said he would do one with me and I agreed because it was someone my boyfriend liked and trusted. So I thought it would be harmless. It started out as a hypothetical plan, but over the course of the conversation and while hash no details, it turned into a real real plan and we agreed to the day we would do it when
Starting point is 01:01:29 my boyfriend would be out and come back home and find us together. We set up a camera and filmed ourselves talking about the prank and set it up on top of the dresser in the bedroom and got into position. We were laughing throughout and it is all on video. To make it believable, I told him to take off his shirt. He said, I should probably do the same, so we did. Then he thought it would be even more believable and provide that shock factor if we also took off our pants.
Starting point is 01:01:59 In hindsight, this was a terrible idea, but I agreed to it. You know how the rest of the story went from his post, but what he didn't mention is that he refused to watch the video I recorded showing that it was a planned prank, that we only took off our clothes and got into sex position when we knew he was home. I understand that this prank was extra and hurtful to him and for that I am sorry, but I am not cheating on him and I did not mean to disrespect our relationship. I thought him breaking up with me is a massive overreaction because other than this incident, which I now massively regret, our relationship was great. We shared two wonderful years together
Starting point is 01:02:42 and moved in together over the summer. I plan on deleting the video and won't be sharing it on social media, but I will share with him first for proof of my intentions." What would you do? What's to say they didn't record that video after he ran out. I don't know if you could ever get the trust back with this person and therefore the reason feels over. But I don't know, like would you guys forgive your partner? Would you watch the video and make sure it's legit and then forgive them? Would you be able to do that? I don't know. I need to hear what you guys would do.
Starting point is 01:03:29 You're fucking weird. What type of response is that? You're weird as fuck, girl. Like, why would you think that's funny? One, why are you sitting with his friend and watching TikToks and YouTube videos or cheating pranks together? It feels like a setup. Two, yeah, of course you'd be like, oh yeah, take off your pants now. That would make it shock factor. Loser. Weird.
Starting point is 01:03:56 Take off your shirt. It seems like you guys were joking and then it was like, you got like hot and bothered about it and you're like, actually, yeah, let's just like take off our clothes. It'll be funny. Video doesn't matter. Intent doesn't matter. You hurt the person. Take the L. Move on. You fucked up.
Starting point is 01:04:14 Like, don't care if it's a prank. Don't care if I know for a fact that you guys didn't sleep together. You're gone. You're we're done. You're both out of here. Fuck your prank. It literally sounds like the guy that said his girlfriend's sister tricked him into sleeping with her. For them to get to the point where it's like,
Starting point is 01:04:36 ooh, let's make it more believable. You take your pants off, you take your pants off. I take my shirt off, you take your shirt off. No! No. No. I think she's missing the bigger picture here because she mentioned like how she thinks that he doesn't believe that this was set up,
Starting point is 01:04:52 it was planned, it was a prank, like she wasn't actually cheating on him. Yeah, we got that. Doesn't change the fact that it's still weird. Like, why did you do that? They still did that, they still got undressed and were all over each other. Whether it was real or not, that's a weird thing to do and she still did it. I think she's missing the point of that he believes her, but she wasn't really thinking
Starting point is 01:05:19 at all when she did it or she wasn't thinking about him when she did it. I just, I don't know. I feel like these are probably like one of those things that is really really needs to be talked about before you get into relationship. Like what do you consider as a prank or not or what do you consider cheating or whatnot and all this kind of stuff because this is those conversations where like you can have good intentions but the impact is still there. You had good intent, very questionable good intentions that it was just a prank, but the impact was still there. You still made the impact of
Starting point is 01:05:50 making him feel what he felt. And so to him, the impact was that you did not care. If you cared, you would not have done that. And I think that's what a lot of times people find a hard time forgiving. And so like I would, if I was him, I would forgive, but I would not put myself in that boat. Because I don't, they were just, it was, they were just way too comfortable. And I don't think I like that. It was, it was too comfortable for them to be in the bed together, take off 90% of their clothing, and then just really have a conversation like that or a prank like that. I can forgive, but I don't think I can go back to something like that. Nicole So going back on OP's post,
Starting point is 01:06:38 little bit of an update. My ex-girlfriend was really upset with all the hate she received online and blamed me for painting her in a bad light. I told her I did no such thing. She just didn't like that she got called out on her behavior. The mutual friend who was a part of the prank is now also pissed off at me and saying I went way overboard. I told them both to fuck off and have blocked their numbers. Our friends have since started taking this more seriously after reading some of the comments
Starting point is 01:07:04 on here, with a few taking my side and saying what my girlfriend and the friend did was horrible. Others still think this was all unnecessary and I should have just laughed it off and moved on. And I don't agree with that. I think this is something that's very traumatic to walk in on. It would really damage me and how I saw those people I loved and trusted. So this doesn't feel like an overreaction. And he's entitled to his feelings. If he can't trust her, if he is hurt, doesn't want to be with her anymore, that's fair. You can't force someone to be in a relationship with you. And I feel like these friends would be saying a different tune if this happened to them.
Starting point is 01:07:50 Okay, moving along. Another one of this week's partners is Talkspace. Maybe it's just me, but things have felt really crazy lately. And I'm getting back into therapy. But I know it can seem challenging and you might think it's unaffordable. That is where Talkspace comes in. Talkspace is the leading virtual therapy provider that makes getting the help you need easy, accessible and affordable.
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Starting point is 01:08:56 that's Talkspace.com slash THT, promo code space 80. Okay, this next one coming from Am I the Ass? It is titled Am I the asshole for getting engaged after my brother's wedding. My brother and his now wife got married three days ago, a very small destination ceremony under 15 people total. My now fiance and I extended our trip after everyone went home and spent a couple of days exploring the Grand Canyon, a couple hours days exploring the Grand Canyon, a couple hours north of the wedding, where he proposed.
Starting point is 01:09:29 When I shared the news with my brother and now sister-in-law, he responded with hostility, saying that it looked like we were competing. I apologized, quickly realizing that he was advocating for my sister-in-law and that she felt hurt, although I'm truly failing to understand why. I also texted her a separate apology and explained that it was not our intention to encroach and just wanted to share the news with family and that it's my belief that there's room for happiness for everyone. She did not respond. In response to my apology, my brother doubled down and said the timing and location were hurtful and that we shouldn't have planned around the wedding. Am I the asshole here? Okay, as someone who just got married this year, you get one day, alright?
Starting point is 01:10:18 You get the big day, it's all about you, spotlight's on you, blah, blah. Three days later, yeah, no, you're, you're out of line. You don't get a location. You don't get a week or a year or a month. You get a day. All right. You are not the asshole for getting engaged. Congratulations.
Starting point is 01:10:44 This is a recent relation for us because we got engaged on the 21st of December. I'm excited. I've been insufferable since. But anyway, they did their best to separate as much as they could. They went a few hours away. They extended their trip. Everybody's gone. And he said, okay, we're doing this really special thing. And we're on a really, in a beautiful
Starting point is 01:11:09 location and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'll do it here. Cool. That I feel like that's fine. For me, I guess it kind of depends on how soon after those three days, three days is kind of soon I wouldn't soon. I would have waited like a week and let them have that week of marriage, being a new married couple, and then kind of started saying things. But I can understand the excitement, you know? I do commend the brother for standing up for his now wife. Yeah. Yeah. There was effort there. I go to the source. She did go to the source. That wasn't the intent. Like, try to explain the situation to the source. She did go to the source. That wasn't the intent. Like try to explain the situation to her directly.
Starting point is 01:11:47 Like avoid any possible instrument. I can see both sides of this because from OP's perspective, the second half of the trip for the proposal was not at all related to the wedding that they were there for. I mean, they waited until everyone else went home and it was just the two of them. It was more of a private trip which is why the proposal happened. From Sister-in-law's perspective I kind of get it. Like the only reason they were in Arizona was for the wedding and then they just kind of piggybacked off that trip which was not initially meant for them. I do feel like Sister-in-law is kind of playing the card of like, oh well, they got engaged at my wedding. Well, that's not true. That didn't
Starting point is 01:12:31 actually happen. I understand why she's hurt, but I don't... I feel like that might just be something you keep to yourself and say, congratulations, like I'm happy for you. Keep it to yourself. You can be annoyed. It's a fine line because this wasn't their wedding, but it was the wedding trip. Very weird, kind of a weird situation. I'm a little bit more on the side of OP. I hope there's more details that show the relationship between OP and sister-in-law
Starting point is 01:12:56 that it's maybe hiding something. I feel like I need to know more about the relationship between OP, like the sister, and then the brother who just got married. Has there always been this sibling rivalry? Has he always felt like she was trying to one-up him? Because that's what it's feeling like. It's feeling like he just got married.
Starting point is 01:13:21 They're still in the bubble of, oh, was three days ago, you know, we're still celebrating this, it's still very exciting for the family. So I could see that if there was some sort of like rivalry or whatever to feel like your thunder was being taken by her getting engaged. The fact it was on the same trip too, is a little interesting. I can understand wanting to do it when you're abroad in a nice place of course, but it does feel a little bit weird to be getting engaged on this trip
Starting point is 01:13:59 that was intended for a wedding. I don't know. I wouldn't go as far to say asshole because people are allowed to propose when and where they want and however they want to do that. Maybe they genuinely thought that it wouldn't be an issue at all. I don't really know but I think there's some sort of sibling rivalry going on and that's why he's so upset. People who feel like they have a very secure relationship with their sibling and people who feel like they have a very secure relationship with their sibling
Starting point is 01:14:25 and people who feel like they've gotten enough attention in their life are totally fine. They're like, wow, I just had my wedding. We're about to have another one in the next year or so. I'm so excited. I'm so elated. I love that my love inspired them to take that next step. Of course that's the ideal perspective and I think that's the healthy, the psychologically healthy perspective. But I do think realistically people do have wounds that come from their family, that come from their childhood, where they don't necessarily feel like they got enough attention or enough focused individualized attention. And I think our society makes weddings out to be this thing that you finally have this space to be just about you. And I think what it might be is the sister-in-law
Starting point is 01:15:22 might have certain family dynamics where she's never felt like she got to be the center of attention, she never felt like she got to be the one people focus on, or maybe even the brother potentially. Like it sounds like she he was defending the sister-in-law but that's just an assumption that OP made. It's not coming from nowhere. These people aren't coming from a place of being irrational necessarily. I think it's just coming from a place of hurt and coming from a place where there is just like a hole that needs to be mended and wounded.
Starting point is 01:16:00 So again, I don't think that OP needs to delay their life because of the brothers timeline of their wedding. But I also think it's worth letting that be a conversation for a bigger problem that they seem to have. And obviously like in an ideal world, everyone goes to therapy, everyone goes to family therapy. But yeah, I think it just really stems down to wanting the space to celebrate. As long as you didn't propose during my wedding or like you were talking about it during my wedding to kind of take away from my special day, I don't really care because I had a great time. That's all that matters. I had a great time. The wedding went well, nobody impeded on it. You know, I don't care.
Starting point is 01:16:47 If you wanna do it the next day, doesn't bother me, you know? It's very much so giving. I wanted to be the child that had the most recognition on the Christmas card this year. You shouldn't have gotten engaged all this year. You should have let this be my time to shine on our Christmas card. Like, that's. It's like, it's my birthday month.
Starting point is 01:17:08 Right, yeah. It's also, it's giving, why did you give birth and my birthday? Like, that's the type of like, unhinged, like, I'm going to have to share the family celebration with this child. Yes, it was in the general series of events of the wedding, but it wasn't at the wedding. And also like the proposal was a private thing done between them. Like the chances are probably not every single person who went to the wedding will even know that this proposal then happened after on their own little holiday, person who went to the wedding will even know that this proposal then happened after on their own little holiday which just happened to the girl in the wedding. And especially if they've had this idea, obviously we don't know, if they've had this idea of like a
Starting point is 01:17:56 destination proposal, like they're already on holiday, like by the sounds of it they're American, so I don't know how much holiday they'll even get in the year. So this may be their one chance to actually get a destination proposal without having to go on a separate holiday. I really think they're not on the wrong. And it was very nice of OP to apologize in the way that we did over message. And I think that's all they owe them, to be honest. I would however be scared of if this couple does feel really wronged, if they're going to retaliate at a peace wedding in any way. I don't see what the arm is. I mean, if anything, I'd be I'd
Starting point is 01:18:37 feel happy for them. I mean, I'm glad that my love, and my new wives love inspired you to also decide to settle down and get married. I think that's a beautiful thing. I truly do not understand why you would be so upset about that or feel like it's taken away from your moment. No, your moment was beautiful and now you, we have another beautiful moment coming that was inspired by it.
Starting point is 01:19:07 Okay. I'm imagining what you guys would say. This could go two ways. You guys could say, hey, you know, it was only a day or two after their wedding. Similar location. Could have been a little more respectful. Or you're saying it was days after the wedding,
Starting point is 01:19:28 hours north of where they had their ceremony. This is fine. I'm trying to guess what you guys are thinking. Me, I am in the boat of, it was hours north of their wedding in the Grand Canyon where a lot of people get engaged all the time. It wasn't like they got engaged at their reception. Like we had those stories in the past, right?
Starting point is 01:19:55 This feels so different. So I'm fine with this. I think the sister-in-law will get over it eventually. You know, maybe she's still kind of being that brideszilla in a sense, a little entitled. But I think after your wedding is done, and as long as it's not at your wedding, I think it's fair game. I wouldn't be pissed if I had my wedding this September and someone got engaged up on the North Shore when they extended their trip after.
Starting point is 01:20:26 That would not bother me at all. I would actually find that really, really cool. Like my love inspired you and your love? Okay, I dig that. So I don't know, this is giving weird possessive for no reason. But okay, let's read the top comment and see what that says. Top comment, not the asshole. And I can see you're trying valiantly to understand,
Starting point is 01:20:51 but I'm not sure your brother or his wife will be able to give you a good reason for their reaction because their reaction is wild. Sure, it's rude to propose at someone else's wedding, but that's not what happened. The fact that you and your fiance got engaged a few days after their wedding before you flew home is a totally different thing. Also, the level of hostility in that message from your brother is nasty and definitely
Starting point is 01:21:15 not normal. I'm so sorry that he treats you like that. Next comment down. Which has a big yellow box, but a lot of downvotes, over 5,000 downvotes. So let's get into it. It sounds like it was the day after and I don't know. If I was on the first day of my honeymoon and instead of fully enjoying my new newlywed bubble, my sibling texted me not to tell me they hope I'm enjoying my honeymoon or congratulations on my marriage, but that they're engaged and instead of them congratulating me on my marriage,
Starting point is 01:21:50 they're trying to get me to congratulate them on their engagement. I don't know that it'd be the most thrilled in the world, but also I don't have a good relationship with my siblings and that would inform how I felt about it. I don't think reaching out to someone who is that freshly married to tell them your good news is the most tactful thing in the world. At least wait a few days so they can have their newlywed bubble for a bit." Hmm. That kind of goes back into option A, I said. And I'm curious. I'm curious if a lot of you agree, even if this was downvoted so much. If you agree, please tell me now. Comment after it though.
Starting point is 01:22:33 That was an unfortunate time for the sub to go down. You may have piped the record for most downvotes I've ever seen on this sub. You think people would have stopped around negative 100. Your comment wasn't even that controversial, even if people did disagree with it. Someone does quote what that comment said though, about if I was on the first day of my honeymoon and instead of fully enjoying it, my sibling texted me, blah, blah, blah, blah. They go, I would be ecstatic for them.
Starting point is 01:22:58 What the hell? Last one I'll read with 13k upvotes. Not the asshole. Your brother needs to calm down. The bride gets a day. Her one wedding day. She does not get a location, a week, or anything else. She gets her wedding.
Starting point is 01:23:12 That is all. You did not encroach. Well guys, we have no comments from OP. But OP, this is a real account. I mean, this person has been active on Reddit for years. The first thing I see on this account, I'm scrolling, hold on, let me get there. I'm scrolling. First thing on this account is from over 13 years ago.
Starting point is 01:23:41 It is a picture of a McDonald's order on the subreddit r slash what the fuck. My friend orders a plain double cheeseburger and gets this instead. And it literally is the bun and a slice of cheese. I think they misunderstood the assignment, but hilarious. So this is a real account. I would not be surprised if OP gives an update eventually because of how active they have been on Reddit for over a decade. But as of right now, we got nothing. Nothing. But on that note, congratulations OP. Don't let this, don't let this take you, take the wind out of your sails, you know? Don't let it steal your thunder. This is really exciting.
Starting point is 01:24:27 And your brother and sister-in-law will get over it eventually and hopefully will feel as silly as they should. But moving along. Another one of this week's partners is Shopify. Cha-ching! Is there a business or maybe a product that you have this idea for, but you've been putting it off? Stop.
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Starting point is 01:25:38 Okay, buckle up for this next one. I think there are gonna be a lot of you with hot takes on it. So this is coming from r slash true off my chest, 19 hours old, titled, My friend wants me to help him get a vasectomy against his wife's wishes. I understand this sounds bad, but please reserve judgment until you've read the post. My friend, let's call him Adam, 24 male, got his wife pregnant when they were on their second date. They rushed to get married before the kid was born
Starting point is 01:26:10 because their families are religious, deep south. And in under three years, she has had two more kids. The problem is serious birth control failures, so much so he doesn't trust her on the matter anymore. She was supposedly on the matter anymore. She was supposedly on the implant when Kid 1 was conceived, and on the pill with 2 and 3. She refuses any type of sterilization because she might want more, but he is struggling on all fronts and can't afford the kids he has now. He had to drop out of school and works a chemical factory job to keep the lights on.
Starting point is 01:26:48 He has expressed his desire for this ever since the third kid, and she won't budge. He even pushed the my body my choice argument only for her to say men don't get that choice. And he's pretty upset about her always getting her way and making his life hell if she doesn't. His work would pay for it, entirely free, because they work with chemical and it increases the odds of birth defects thousands fold so he doesn't have to worry about the money it'll cost. He's setting up the date and wants me to drive him there and back. And he's going to tell her when it's already done.
Starting point is 01:27:23 I'm hesitant to be involved in this, but I think it's the right thing to do. He asked me to research into it to make sure he won't get into any trouble and he doesn't need her permission on any front in our state. Just like she doesn't need his permission to stop birth control without telling him. I think he should just tell her he is doing it and she can deal with it, but he doesn't want to fight about it anymore I've agreed to drive him and it's not for a few months anyways, but I'm already getting second thoughts I can't really even tell mutual friends in case he gets back to his wife weird secret to keep
Starting point is 01:27:59 That's it that's how they end the post on us weird Weird secret to keep. No, what do I do? Nothing. This man needs to run. And not literally run because he has three children run, but run as in, oh my gosh, this is terrible. And I think we live in a society where we're so used to it being so glaringly obvious when it's a woman in this situation that we can say, you need to run. But like the fact that OP is even asking if it's okay if they drive their friend to a medical procedure that they basically need
Starting point is 01:28:49 for more than likely their own mental health, honestly, their own physical health, and potentially like the wives because if the company is willing to pay for a medical procedure because it increases birth defects and birth issues. Oh my gosh, this is insane. The levels of insanity that this is is just oh my gosh. Wow, this is a wild situation to be at. I don't know just because and this can be very much because I'm a guy. I think this is an example of like being baby trapped. Morgan, this reminds me of the story of that one time that one person was you know poking holes in the condom. I don't remember it was the guy or the girl that did that but it gives me that vibe. It gives me, oh I was taking this and I was taking that but maybe they weren't doing it now. I'm not blaming it on her. I just know that there's been many cases
Starting point is 01:29:53 where both sides have done it and so this just kind of screams that one of those situations. I was kind of caught off guard when he was just kind of like it's kind of like his body his choice and she was kind of like men don't get that I don't know that just comes from a place of you know cuz rightfully a lot of choices for women have been many bad men and so I don't know if that was a response in the frustration of that and the situation and everything this whole thing just gives me the heebie-jeebies and I'm just like, I kind of also with like a little bit of like, Opie, like I don't want to kind of be in this situation because this situation is kind of like, is that one situation where like you're
Starting point is 01:30:34 over your friend's house and your parents screams at your friend and you just look at the wall, you're like, that's a pretty wall. And you're like, can I go home? It's kind of, it gives me that kind of vibe. It gives me that like, this is kind of awkward. I don't want to be in the middle of this kind of situation. Yeah, this was a little trickier. I think I, it sucks.
Starting point is 01:30:53 Anytime I think you have to sneak behind your partner's back, but also I fully understand where he's coming from. I'm a father myself and I have two and I couldn't imagine having a third. I'd be tough. I mean, I'd probably make do make do but at certain point you just so only so much you can do but that being said I do kind of have a question for him which is are they using condoms because if the birth control keeps failing and he's aware that he can't have more he can't support more children then I's aware that he can't have more, he can't support more children, then I would think that he would be doing that as a backup. But if not, I think a little
Starting point is 01:31:33 of the blame is also on him. But I do not think that I'm him or his friend would be in the wrong to go and get a vasectomy seeing as how his wife is against it and also the whole men can't pull them my body my choice I mean I think any person can we're all have control over our own ourselves I mean absolutely I mean when you're in a partnership of course you have to work together with the other person but if the birth control and other things aren't failing, you have to find something else. If she's not willing to go, you know, get her tubes tied or something, then I think he has every right to go do that. They should have more better communication.
Starting point is 01:32:19 And if they can't talk about it, then maybe they shouldn't be together in the first place. And then they always are compromises, freeze the sperm, get it done now so he doesn't have to worry about it. And then if they want to, they can continue. That's the solution right there. I agree. But the entire time I was also thinking she baby trapped him. 100% she baby trapped him. She was on she was supposedly on the implants the first time the baby was conceived and then on Multiple other types of birth control. I am NOT great at taking medication But not
Starting point is 01:32:58 if you have an implant, you don't have to remember you just have to exist and Hopefully a baby does not happen. In her defense, apparently, I mean they are obviously not a hundred percent and they're not a hundred. He has a vasectomy but you know. No. But it's pretty good. It's pretty high chances of not having a baby. It kind of sounds to me, I don't know about you, but it sounds to me like she baby trapped him. Yeah. Like. Oh, absolutely. Are you kidding me? I don't know about that. You're telling me that you're starting off with the implant and it failed you.
Starting point is 01:33:33 Yeah. And then you did birth control, like the next two, like the pill twice. Like. Yeah. No, something is definitely off with this one. Like they're I Can't but also not to like shame him or anything, but also
Starting point is 01:33:53 Dude, you could have been using condoms Yeah, so that's kind of on him. But whatever yeah, I don't like this Argument that like men don't have a choice of my body my that's fucking stupid. Yeah No, that is stupid. Are you kidding me? Everyone has a freaking right to their own autonomy. I really hope one of those kids, one of those three kids they had is not a boy because then she would be fucking telling her son
Starting point is 01:34:17 that bullshit. Hell no. It just feels very selfish of the wife and to be like, oh, I don't care what you think Yeah, it's what I want. I might want another one. Why would you want another one? You had three kids in how many years like only a few years? This girl she sounds like she needs some help She's delulu and I think also if the friend is feeling like oh, I don't know should I actually take him?
Starting point is 01:34:47 You're not a good friend. You're not a good friend. You're not the wife's friend. You're this guy's friend Be his friend like come on. I think we can all recognize how bad this is, right? This is very deceptive This is very deceptive, cohesive. You know, it's really hard when people, especially people you should be able to inherently trust, like your wife, tell you they're on birth control or have an implant, and then it fails. Like on her end, if she is knowingly removing
Starting point is 01:35:21 that birth control, that is sexual assault. On his end. I don't know what more he can do besides watch her take a pill every day. But I mean, that's crazy. You shouldn't have to do that. And if he doesn't trust his partner at this point, he needs to leave her because this is
Starting point is 01:35:42 feeling like abuse to me. This is intense, very intense. And I completely disagree with her saying men do not get to use the my body my choice. He absolutely, without a doubt in my mind, has the right to get a vasectomy. That is craziness if she feels that she can dictate what he does with his body. Vasectomies are also reversible. Reversible. And her body has proven that birth control doesn't work.
Starting point is 01:36:22 You know, if she's truthful and has been on it, birth control on her just don't click. I don't know control doesn't work. You know, if she's truthful and has been on it, birth control on her just don't click. I don't know. It doesn't work. They've got three kids at 24 years old to prove it. So let him get the vasectomy. This might be the safest birth control method for you guys. And you have three kids and you definitely should not have any more if you cannot afford them. That's a hot take. Right there. But okay. You've had your initial reaction. Do we have any more thoughts on this one?
Starting point is 01:36:54 I understand the friends issue here though. It's like, do I do this? But is it seems like he's more the guy's friend than the girlfriend. And then honestly, it's like, just do it. You know, it's just a drive. Would you do that? It would. Would Trevor? Would Trevor or Aaron? Yep. Not even a problem.
Starting point is 01:37:09 Okay. No questions asked. I would just drive them. I don't care. They'd be like, I need to drive somewhere. Cool. And they'd be like, oh, it's for surgery. I'd be like, oh, it's crazy. I think tell your wife it's not an option. I'm getting a bisectomy, point of plane period, and have her drive you to the hospital. Don't keep secrets from your wife, but at the same time, it's not an option. I wouldn't be intimate with her for the entire month and have a case she is not taking her birth control or lying about birth control methods, but she's not a bad friend for helping him out.
Starting point is 01:37:45 He's undergone so much to keep these kids eating and breathing and being alive. So he doesn't want any more kids, he doesn't want any more kids. And that's just the end of it. I don't feel bad for her. In all honesty, the guy getting vasectomy, the husband getting vasectomy, could have just approached their friend and said, hey, I have a favor to ask of you. I really need you to drive me to and from this appointment. I can't get into details, it's personal,
Starting point is 01:38:16 but it would really mean a lot. I'm sure a good friend would be like, okay, great, no questions asked. I know you need help, I'm here for you. So I don't think that OP should be taking on the weight be like, okay, great, no questions asked, I know you need help, I'm here for you. So I don't think that OP should be taking on the weight of, is this the right thing to do? You're just driving him there and back. It's his decision to be lying to his wife to go against her wishes. I mean, it is completely his decision to have pursued this and gone
Starting point is 01:38:48 through with it. If OP had turned down that, you know, offering to help, if he said, no, you know what, I can't drive you, I'm sorry, I am sure OP would have found another friend to have driven him or maybe have gotten an Uber or something. I don't know, but I don't think that OP should be like having this way on him. Top comment I'll get into now, okay? Your friend is in an abusive relationship. Okay, so I wasn't far off saying that. And his partner is using reproductive coercion to have more kids. If he was my friend, I'd be encouraging him to leave her, but at the very least someone should help him get that vasectomy.
Starting point is 01:39:32 Yeah, I know it can feel wrong to like lie and help someone lie to their partner, but I think in this case the lie feels very necessary. And I do think he needs to get control over his autonomy again and his body. Bottom line with this story, these circumstances, he definitely needs to get the vasectomy. But other than that, moving on to our last story. This one is coming from r slash relationship advice. It is seven days old titled my 29 male boyfriend wants me 28 female to do housewife duties when we both work full time. How do I explain why this isn't fair?
Starting point is 01:40:20 We are not engaged yet and no kids. He makes triple what I make in income, so he decided he would pay the total rent and I would cover utilities and groceries. We both work full time and he sometimes works some overtime, but I still work 40 hours a week. He thinks because he pays all of the rent that I have to do all of the cleaning in the house, including picking up his messes because, quote, it's your job as a woman to be proud of a clean house. So when I get home from work or have a big day off,
Starting point is 01:40:56 he expects me to do all of the cleaning where when he comes home, he can sit and watch TV. I can't afford to go 50-50 on the rent with my current income, and he doesn't want to do income based bills. But I really don't think it's fair even if he pays the rent with my current income and he doesn't want to do income-based bills. But I really don't think it's fair even if he pays the rent because I feel like we both deserve rest time and free time and I'm not a maid. But when I try to bring it up he says, then we can just go 50-50. I'd have to find a second job to afford that. What do I do? How many of you are screaming right now? Just pulling out hair?
Starting point is 01:41:28 Ah! What do we think on this one, guys? Is there a way to explain and articulate why it's not fair with someone like this? Or do you just cut your losses and run? Let me hear it. Morgan, I pulled out all my hair listening to that story. Or do you just cut your losses and run? Let me hear it. Morgan, I pulled out all my hair listening to that story. All of it.
Starting point is 01:41:52 All of it. Every little bit. Every last one. Uh-huh. Pull it out. I did. Okay. This is wild.
Starting point is 01:41:58 What the fuck? This is wild. Oh, it's a woman's fucking dub Bitch that's crazy though. Like this is so Expected hearing this kind of story is like, oh no another one Like Jesus Dump them leave them all I can really say is that no I wouldn't I would not be with that kind of person. Time and experience are the two most valuable things you can ever have. And if your time and your experience is being undermined by your partner, they should not
Starting point is 01:42:37 be your partner. Also like disrespecting you. Telling you what your role is. What your role is? What you should do with your time? No. No. Absolutely not.
Starting point is 01:42:52 Split the fucking chores 50-50. Like, it's already my way or the highway. Like, even before he mentions the word housewife, or even before he mentions as a woman, or even before he mentions any of that, those immediate red flags that say, oh, I know who this guy is.
Starting point is 01:43:08 Even before all of that, it's just saying you expect to get your way regardless of how the situation affects anybody else. Yeah. I'm just going to say run. I'm just going to say run honestly at this point. Opie's wife wants to be able to work. She wants to be able to do To do things that she's working. She wants to do all these different things. And so like I It just this whole thing just rods me the wrong way like just saying that like oh you should
Starting point is 01:43:38 And also the fact that you should have a house or you should have you should be responsible for having a clean house Or whatever that he said That's just absolutely wild I'm if he makes triple what she makes Can she not just be if he really wants her to do these things? Can he just not been be like hey, you can be a stay-at-home whatever another have kids, right? I would gladly stay at home and clean if you were going to pay all the bills No kids fair, I don't think it's the asking of the wifey material thing because he is,
Starting point is 01:44:13 they are sharing space and he is doing more financially. It's not about that. It's kind of the disrespectful way he's asking it. And then if she, and then kind of like allowing him to grow a mess. It's like, okay, does he leave his dishes? Does he not rinse his coffee cup out? And, you know, she keeps asking him to do it. It's a little things. I feel like there's a lot of little things that I feel like we're missing, like hours that they're both doing, what types of jobs do they have? How much is the rent?
Starting point is 01:44:46 How much of the mess is actually like the mess? Is it like constantly leaving giant piles of clothes outside the hamper or is it like, I have to pick up a pair of socks outside the hamper. They are not ever gonna be a team. He's always gonna think less than of her. Even if she made what he makes, he would still find a way to manipulate her into believing that it's her job to wait on him hand and foot and take care of his every need while
Starting point is 01:45:23 he gets to lay around. It's just it's really sad to waste your time on someone who you find out that just isn't right for you. I know I wasted a lot of time on somebody who wasn't right for me. Like my mom always said many hands make light work. So all of my kids have always picked up after themselves. Nobody has just one thing they need to be doing in my house. We all do the things and get all the things done. My husband never did, he never even pitched in, and it's really sad that there are still younger generations coming into adulthood thinking that a woman is made to
Starting point is 01:46:16 be a maid, just to pick up after you and to wait on you hand and foot. It's not fair, and when you hand and foot. It's not fair and when we meet people like this we need to learn to just walk away. I hope that you haven't spent too much time on this man and things will never be fair and I'm sure you're in a financial situation now that you feel like it's hard to get out but do it before you get married or have kids because it's so much harder. So much harder once you're married and it's even more hard when you have when you add children to that whole mix and the level of abuse will grow. Right now it's
Starting point is 01:47:02 just him trying to manipulate you and just staying in this little bubble with him and doing everything that he says and not saying no I can't I need to rest too. Don't let this be the narrative for the rest of your life. Don't waste any more of your time on this. You can do better. Don't ever sell yourself short. Life is way too short to live like this. I hope that you find your way out and things get better. And I really feel like you could be taking the right step if you just get out now. Run, run as fast as you can, just go. He doesn't respect her. I don't think he understands that both of them work the same amount.
Starting point is 01:47:56 Yeah. I don't think he, I think he correlates the amount or the importance of his work more than hers because he makes more money. Yeah, it seems like it's important for him to have a clean home than he should have the clean. He has the woman that does it for him. So he got that check. Yeah, I mean, this is not actually about dividing the cleaning between them. I mean, if it was that, I think there would be so many solutions from hiring someone to do the cleaning to making a schedule to like whatever, there are so many solutions, but this isn't actually about it. It's like you're saying, he does respect her.
Starting point is 01:48:46 And he also has a worldview that she obviously doesn't agree with. Um, and that's really, in my opinion, so outdated. This last story made me so mad. It's unbelievable. Like I can't grasp. You guys are partners. Like I don't think the 50-50 thing, unless you literally both make a hundred thousand, that's a lot of money, both make a hundred thousand dollars
Starting point is 01:49:13 a year and you both work there 40 hours a week, that's a 50-50 draw. Then you can do that. But until then, that's not how that works. That's not how life works. If you bring in more money, that does not mean that you are not able to do chores. He sounds like a man child, all right? He sounds like he can't do anything for himself because that's just unacceptable behavior from anyone. Like I don't care how much money you bring in,
Starting point is 01:49:44 you are not like excluded from doing housework at all, ever. Because how much vacuuming, cleaning, making dinner, doing all these things is so much work. It's a second job. That is her second job. So if she had to get another job to go 50-50 on rent, she'd be doing three jobs. This is a man that if you ever have children with him will say, it's your duty to raise the children. You have to clean after them. You have to also work. You have to help.
Starting point is 01:50:20 There's no way you'll be able to juggle that in the future. Children are your responsibility. Like, I am the man of the household, I'm providing a roof over your heads. These children are your responsibility. Which he's not even providing an actual full roof, because he's not paying electricity. He's not probably paying internet. He's not providing food. You're not providing a home. Well, you're providing the shelter.
Starting point is 01:50:39 That's it. She can't live off of just the shelter. She needs the water. She needs the food. She's providing that. I hate this for OP. I really do. I think she deserves better. What kind of control relationship does he want on her? They should be dividing the household chores 50-50.
Starting point is 01:51:00 I mean they both work 40 hours a week and it doesn't seem fair that she has to also come home and do all the cleaning and cooking and everything because she doesn't pay some of the bills. Like she can pay the bills she can afford and with whatever money they have left over if he doesn't want to clean hire a cleaner or something. Why doesn't he want to clean up after himself? Like what expectation does he have in his head that he deserves to just come home and have everything set up nice and neat for him? Yeah, so this guy's a piece of work. He's clearly sexist. He's financially abusing her. I mean, could be just downright abuse as well. I'm not sure. Hopefully he's not cutting her off from family and friends
Starting point is 01:51:53 and she has someone to turn to or go to to get out. But it doesn't even sound like he's treating her like a partner or a girlfriend. It sounds more like, you know, a narcissistic roommate or parent or something. They only care about what they're getting out of the relationship and not making sure that it's be cool or fair or that the other person's even happy. I feel bad for OP and I hope she can get out. I hope that, you know, he's not gonna make it tough or impossible. I'm not sure how she stands with friends or anything, but no, I think Opie should get out, definitely.
Starting point is 01:52:37 This guy's not the right one, definitely. I think she could definitely find a better guy. You gotta run, right? Everyone said run, run, because this is crazy. He's making triple her income, and he thinks this is fair. I mean, he clearly knows she can't afford 50-50, so it's a trap, it's a trick.
Starting point is 01:53:01 And why would you wanna be with someone who doesn't respect you? I mean the quote, it's your job as a woman to be proud of a clean house. So you're with someone who's sexist. He doesn't want to see you win as a team. He'd rather use this as manipulative or manipulation and a motive to get you to keep cleaning and being a maid versus having like an equitable, fair, healthy life. This is not your person. You need to break up.
Starting point is 01:53:31 Need to. But let's see what the top comment said. Top comment. So it sucks to find out you're incompatible after moving in together, but at least you're not married with kids. You can move back out. You're right that it's not fair,
Starting point is 01:53:45 but don't waste your time explaining the basics of fairness to a grown man. He's not a time traveler from the 19th century. He's aware of how modern relationships work. He just doesn't want one. You could tell him that if he wants a trad wife, you'll quit your job, but I don't think you'd be happy with that life either.
Starting point is 01:54:08 Yes, that, all of that. Next comment down, this, it isn't going to get better. He's showing his true colors. This is a value difference, which cannot be changed. Don't have kids with someone who will expect you to either stay home and do all of the cleaning, household management, or work, childcare, and all of the cleaning and managing. Choosing a life partner, someone to literally choose to spend your life alongside and in tandem with, is a big ass deal. Having kids with them is an even bigger deal. Don't fall into the sunken cost fallacy. A long relationship isn't necessarily a good one. You're young, you've got time.
Starting point is 01:54:46 Do some soul searching, and maybe therapy if that's a tool you can afford, to figure out your own values so that going forward, you can more easily and quickly eliminate people whose values don't line up with yours. Late 20s are a weird time. Give yourself some grace and really make sure you're doing what you want and not what you think is expected of you. You've only got one short life. Don't spend it in service of things that don't serve you. Love and hugs, friend." Holy shit was that comment. Amazing. But I'm sure all of yours are gonna be really good after hearing those, so come at
Starting point is 01:55:26 me. Give me your final thoughts on this one, okay? Okay, that is all I have, my friends. Ah-ha! I appreciate you guys so much. I really, I don't have the words to say thank you for what you guys have done for me and my life, my family's life, you know, my co-host's life. Everyone's life has changed and I love this community so much. It has really become such a safe, fun, happy, crazy place and I'm just, I'm blown away. So thank you for being here and I'm really
Starting point is 01:56:07 excited for this episode to come together and see what everyone else on the other side thinks of it and all of our takes. Don't be scared, put your thoughts out there. Okay, let's see how this one goes. Thanks guys.

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