In Relationships, Am I the Asshole?

Oh yeah, I remember those feeds.

They had stopped posting, so I was like, I’ll just go straight to the source and read it there instead of waiting for this weird bot account to post it. And I just so happened to get into a stupid argument with my boyfriend at the time, and I was like, you know what? This is funny because it’s ridiculous, and I think other people will enjoy this. So I typed it up and put it on Reddit. I think I wrote that post at 2 or 3 in the morning, so I didn’t even expect anyone was going to see it.

Did they?

Within two hours I had 1,500 or so upvotes. It started just gaining notice quickly, and I was like, oh wow.

There were a lot of responses.

I knew how I felt, and I’m a pretty strong-in-my-feelings person. If I think I’m right, I probably am, and he was always wrong. I like that some people [call their partners “Daddy”]. It’s none of my business, not my bedroom. But I wasn’t sure if some people were going to be like, “No, that’s a fair thing to ask. And you could have just said no.” You never know how people are going to react on the internet on any given day.

Especially on AITA.

It could have been a different day, and I could have gotten a different crowd and got a really completely different answer, someone who told me I was kink-shaming and being awful. So I liked that everyone was on my side, of course, because no one wants to be called wrong, and it just made me feel vindicated. I was just giving it back to him, and he deserved it, so it made me feel good, and I’m glad everyone agreed.

What about the less serious responses? My favorite was the person who suggested you play the theme to Golden Girls.

The responses made me die.

So what happened after the post? Did your boyfriend see it?

Oh yeah, I showed him.

What was his reaction?

He had already kind of accepted that it was a losing battle. I’m pretty like, “You’re not going to get away with it for long, and I’m not going to stop.” I enjoyed typing it, and I thought it was hysterical. I showed him, and I was like, “Hey, a thousand people think you’re wrong too.”

How’d he take it?

He was like, “OK, I already know I’m wrong.” I was like, “Yeah, tell Grandma she’s right.” But he accepted it. No one was called Daddy ever again.

Are you two still together?

We broke up for a little while and we got back together. I’m with a different person now.

You didn’t break up over the “Grandma” thing, did you?

No.

OK, good. One thing I like about AITA is that people don’t always jump to “dump him”—they give thoughtful feedback.

I have a new boyfriend now. He’s lovely.

Do you have any personal favorite AITA posts?

I’d have to think about it. I have the brain of a gerbil when I’m put on the spot.

I always try to save particular posts, but a lot of my favorites and a lot of the things that attracted me to Reddit came off Twitter, and Twitter is no more, so it’s hard.

Yeah, Reddit feels like the last of a dying breed.

[Scrolling on phone] Oh, this is actually a good one. And it was pretty well loved at the time. This person made their ex jealous with a picture of a potato they posted that looked rather girthy—I guess phallic in nature—and they really flew off the handle about it.

Reddit!

I love Reddit. I think it’s one of the last untouched places. With Twitter turning into X and the TikTok ban and Mark Zuckerberg with his weird chain on Facebook, there’s nowhere safe to just be a regular person and have a conversation. I love that about Reddit. Some people suck. People suck everywhere. You can block them on Reddit.

Illustrations: Gaeton Sahsah