Kid makes joke about dad divorcing third wife; she looks 'thrown,' leaves room. AITA?
When this son makes a joke that upsets his dad's wife, he asks Reddit:
'AITA for telling my dad's wife a joke that made her uncomfortable?'
My dad (M) divorced my mom when my brother was four, I was three and my sister was one. He divorced my stepmother when my half brother was three and my half sister was two. My dad is currently married to his third wife and they have one son, who is six.
My grandmother really likes my dad's current wife, but she has a weird sense of humor; most people in our family do. Sunday my grandmother said to my dad's wife that she liked her so much that when they get divorced she will keep her and get rid of my dad.
My dad's wife looked a little thrown by the comment and said she and my dad aren't getting divorced. I joked 'of course not, you don't have a daughter.' She stared at me and asked what I meant.
I explained that my dad only divorces women when they have a daughter. That isn't the reason my parents divorced, it was just a joke about a coincidence, but she said it was a horrible thing to say about my sisters.
My grandmother then joked that it was the opposite, because it implied my dad wanted daughters and only stayed with a woman long enough to get one, so as long as she doesn't have another kid or only has sons he'll stick around waiting for a girl.
We both started laughing, and my dad's wife stared at us silently and then got up and left the room. At this point I started to wonder if I crossed a line. My grandmother said I was fine, that she was just a sensitive person, and a little ribbing is good for her. Still, I do feel bad and wonder if I should apologize. Am I an a%$hole?
Let's find out.
orindasinda writes:
Hey OP, I agree you're NTA... but something to think about. If you like this woman, if you think she's a nice person, it wouldn't hurt to find a quiet moment and tell her you're sorry you upset her.
Tell her you realize your sense of humor isn't for everyone, you didn't mean to make her feel bad, and you'll lay off those types of jokes in the future.
Then crack them with granny whenever you want, but not around her. It is funny, and it'd be nice if she had a little more self awareness, but she obviously doesn't, and if you genuinely didn't mean to upset her, it doesn't hurt anyone to tell her that.
talyax writes:
NTA - You were just pointing a coincidence and cracked a little joke, no harm intended, specially at your father’s wife, because she doesn’t have daughters. You followed you granny’s joke and she even landed another one. Apologize to your father’s wife, she took the wrong way, but you are not an AH because of that.