When harmless and funny — like hiding fake insects to scare relatives or replacing family photos with that of a celebrity — pranks are an enjoyable form of entertainment that elicit hilarious reactions.
However, it’s imperative to be mindful and not take them too far, as one mom did.
An ‘embarrassed’ dad took his kids and left his wife at a restaurant after she pulled an ’embarrassing’ prank.
In his Reddit post, the man explained that he has been with his 35-year-old wife for 10 years, and they have an 8-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son together.
“We have had good times and bad times in our relationship, but we have always managed to get through it together,” the dad wrote. “Until last weekend — now I am questioning everything.”
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He explained that she recently developed an interest in prank videos on YouTube and has begun pulling harmless and funny pranks on him and their kids. However, she recently took a certain prank way too far during an anniversary dinner.
“She seemed absent for most of the evening, and I didn’t pay attention,” he said. “While she was waiting for our meal, she suddenly stood up and started screaming that I was choking her. She was holding her throat, tripping and falling to the ground, pretending to choke.”
The scene attracted the attention of concerned guests and employees in the restaurant, but the dad was bewildered. He surely did not anticipate that his wife’s volatile behavior was her idea of a prank.
“I was in shock and trying to figure out what was going on. A few people came over to try to help her, and I just stood there, unable to understand,” he expressed. “Then she started laughing and said, ‘I’m kidding.’”
The dad said he was ‘mortified’ and ‘angry’ by his wife’s childish and harmful prank.
“The kids were crying, the other customers were staring at us, and the manager came over to see what was wrong,” the dad detailed. “I couldn’t believe she thought it was funny.”
He added that the other guests were “disgusted” once they realized what unfolded, and the manager continued questioning them, understandably concerned and confused.
“I told her I had had enough and couldn’t take any more pranks like this. I took the kids and left alone, leaving her at the restaurant,” he wrote. We went home. I packed a duffel bag for the kids and me and went to my brother’s.”
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The wife continuously called and texted her husband, claiming he overreacted in leaving her behind and she was only joking. However, admitting that it was just a joke doesn’t undo the damage of her thoughtless prank.
“She thinks I owe her an apology,” he shared. “Our friends are divided. Some think I was right to leave, and others think I should have handled the situation differently.”
While the husband could have reacted differently, he was valid for feeling angry and embarrassed after his wife put him and his kids in an uncomfortable position. Suffice it to say that pulling a choking prank in the middle of a restaurant is bound to result in a disaster.
Reddit users agreed the mom’s prank was far from funny. Rather, they felt it was inappropriate and traumatic.
Pranks can certainly be entertaining, but when not approached ethically, they can go horribly wrong, as they’re essentially playing with others’ emotions.
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“I am a full-grown adult and just recently witnessed my mom faint and fall to the floor at a restaurant. Thankfully, it ended up being nothing serious, but I am still scarred by it,” one person shared in the comments. “I can’t imagine what kind of harm that did to those kids.”
And that’s one of the biggest issues in all of this. Rachel Melville-Thomas, child psychotherapist and spokesperson for the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), explained to the BBC that although young children understand and enjoy jokes, pranks are a whole different ballgame. They can’t grasp that style of humor yet, and ultimately, because it’s coming from a parent, it’s a violation of trust.
Out of all the pranks the wife could have chosen to pull in the middle of a public place, she faked a serious health concern that not only terrified her kids and strangers but painted her husband as an abuser, which could have escalated into something much worse.
“Didn’t she realize that you could have been hurt by that? Imagine the trauma of your kids watching their father being attacked by strangers or taken into police custody,” someone pointed out. “Those kinds of jokes could have even got you in jail since many police officers would arrest you first and ask questions later in these situations.”
It’s one thing to play harmless jokes on each other in the quiet of your home, but it’s another to pretend you’re being harmed while in a public place surrounded by strangers. All this behavior does is reduce the chances of others taking you seriously in the future.
Francesca Duarte is a writer on YourTango’s news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, adventure, and spirituality topics.
