I've always felt that pranks, in general, are a terrible idea, and this story absolutely proves that I'm correct.
A woman recently posted on the AITA subreddit about her husband pranking her, which resulted in him losing $10,000. Here's the full story in the woman, Dry_Cellist2768's, own words.
"This is the dumbest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life. This past Sunday, my husband and I (29-year-old male and 27-year-old female) were on our boat together. We were just relaxing and talking and having a good morning."
"All of a sudden, my husband gets really serious and tells me, 'Baby, I’m so sorry, but I have to tell you something. I’m so sorry; please forgive me. I had an affair.'"
"For context, my husband thinks he’s a comedian. He says dumb shit all the time, but he’s never joked about our marriage or relationship or cheating, ever. The way he said it, I fully believed him."
"I was blinded by rage and hurt, and I'm not a confrontational person at all, so all I did was stand up, take my rings off, and throw them into the ocean. I don't even know why I did it; it was just the first thing I thought of doing."
"My husband's jaw hit the floor. He immediately started to yell at me that it was a joke, a prank, he wasn't serious, and I was an idiot."
"My jaw dropped then, too. I yelled at him, too, and called him the same. I cried, too, realizing I had just thrown my lovely and sentimental rings into the ocean."
"We've been arguing for days. He says I'm the asshole, I say he's the asshole, and I have no idea who's right."
"Yes, admittedly, I threw about 10K worth of rings into the ocean, and we will never find them again, but he looked me in my eyes and told me he had an affair. I am upset about my rings. I've apologized for throwing them. But I just don't feel like the asshole."
$10,000...at the bottom of the ocean...is wild.
Reddit users flooded the comments to share their takes: "Someone who breaks your heart as a 'prank' isn't someone I'd wanna be married to if I were you. You're so young; don't be stuck with this jerk for the next 50 years. Not the asshole," user offbrandbarbie wrote.
"As a husband of over a decade, I would never ever joke about adultery or divorce. If he wants to be mad at someone, he can go look in the mirror for playing such a dumb 'prank,'" user burntllamatoes wrote.
Agreeing, user Carbon-Base wrote: "Original poster should not have apologized. In the worst scenario of this cruel joke, her husband wanted her to react, and she did. It's not her fault the reaction proved to be no laughing matter,"
"He should accept his mistake, say he's very sorry, and be grateful she was the bigger person who apologized. If this leads to divorce, it will cost him much more than those two rings."