Patricia Grisafi
Some people think practical jokes and pranks are funny. I am not one of those people. So any story that involves someone pulling a prank on another person is likely to get the thumbs down from me, no matter how benign the joke is.
Yes, some jokes can be considered harmless. But some pranks are downright cruel and intended to cause distress.
One Redditor who has a family with a history of playing birthday pranks had to endure a “revenge prank” from her much-older cousin.
Now, the OP wants to cut ties with her cousin—and that’s honestly a pretty good idea.
“Ok so this is much different than it sounds. My cousin Milly 30f is an ER nurse. Her birthday was a few days ago and we planned a birthday prank, which was leaving a fake snake on her cake. All fun and games cause we do this every year to every family member. Well apparently this year Milly didn’t want it. So she was pretty pissed at the fact we did it. Now a few days ago while I was in school, I got a call from Milly during lunch,” the OP writes.
“I thought it would be her saying she’s picking me up. Well no it wasn’t. Milly proceeded to tell me that my mother had passed away in a car accident. My heart dropped and I felt like puking. My mother and I don’t have the best relationship, but I still love her. Milly began to tell me the details of the death and what exactly happened to the point I hung up on her and called my mother. My mom, who was supposedly at work as a nurse, didn’t pick up and I ended up running to the bathroom.”
“I called my dad bawling my eyes out and telling him what happened. He didn’t understand what I was talking about cause he talked to my mom right before I called. He made me explain everything and understandably he was pissed. He picked me up from school and called my mom in the car, just to prove that she was alive and ok.”
That night, the family called a meeting to talk about what had happened with Milly’s “prank.”
Everyone was pretty upset with Milly’s choice, but she apologized. Still, the OP decided that was through talking with Milly ever again and did not want a relationship with her anymore.
Milly eventually got engaged and asked the OP to be a flower girl (the OP is 15). The OP said no thanks and blocked Milly on all social media.
“Her fiancé (who I am close to cause He and Milly took care of me when I was younger) ended up messaging me, asking me to come. I told him no and what his fiancé did was disgusting. He said, while what Milly did was wrong for doing it at school, it was just a prank. I blew up at him,” the OP explained.
“‘She told me my mother was dead, f**king dead, I ended up yelling. He sounded generally confused and asked me what the hell I was talking about. I told him what happened and turns out Milly and her mother lied to him and said that Milly just sent a gory picture to me while I was at school. Next thing I knew is that he left to stay with his mother and apologized with me. I apologized to him cause I did call him a dick while I was yelling. Now I’m getting blamed for ‘ruining’ Milly’s relationship.”
There is a lot here, but I find myself once again wishing people just quit pulling pranks of any kind! No one wins!
“Wait you’re 15? So a grown a** adult tells you your mom is dead in brutal details and that’s funny? Snake on a cake is mild now where near traumatizing unless you have an extreme phobia. NTA,” said SNC__94.
“Maybe Millie’s relationship is going down the crapper, because she can’t stop lying? NTA, how the hell could you have known she lied to her fiance? And making you believe that your mother is dead is just sick – I don’t blame you for not wanting to be a flower girl for someone, who did that to you,” said Spinthiscity.
“NTA. I’m actually terrified that Milly is a nurse because that means this cruel individual has access to vulnerable people. Straight up, I loathe pranks, but if you’re tired of getting pranks you just put down boundaries. What you don’t do is LIE TO A CHILD THAT THEIR PARENT HAS DIED IN A BRUTAL ACCIDENT. To say that her reaction was disproportionate is a disservice to the word ‘disproportionate.’ Hell, it was mental torture. This woman should be under professional evaluation. You did everyone a favor by telling them what happened, including the fiance. He was going to marry someone with a horrific cruel streak–that would have left him terrifyingly vulnerable and he absolutely needed to know. She DESERVES and NEEDS consequences for this kind of behavior. If I was you, I’d be even less kind–I’d consider telling her place of work. Anyone happy to lie so brutally shouldn’t be taking care of the sick and injured. What if she snaps one day and makes a ‘joke’ that a patient has died? I am so sorry, OP. Stay out of that woman’s path, and I hope your family keeps having your back. Good on them,” explained WonderFluffen.
“The power balance is the scariest thing, it doesn’t sound like OP is some troublesome teenager wreaking havoc on the family with their own pranks, but rather it was a widespread and understood family tradition that she herself even partook in. Yet when it came for her to get revenge for her birthday prank, she deliberately singled out the the 15 year old kid and went for the cruelest form of payback possible—made even more believable by her occupation. I bet there was any number of other family members involved, but she targeted OP,” noted Megamedium.
“You are not why her relationship is ending. Her relationship is ending because her fiancé is a decent human & she is someone who thinks it is ok to call a teenager at school & tell her that her mother just died in violent & painful way. She does not think she did anything wrong & she and her mom are lying about it to make you look bad, after she purposely hurt you in the worse way imaginable. This is all her. Milly & her mom are not good people. They are not empathetic people. It terrifies me this woman works in a hospital. I know they are related to you but you, your mom & dad should never speak to them again,” advised itscoldouttherebrrr.
Featured Image: Unsplash
