Q&As

I (28F) have been working at my company for five years, and until recently, I loved my job. I was eight months pregnant when this happened(about a month ago) so I started having contractions while at work. Since I was not due yet, I thought it was just Braxton Hicks because they weren’t that intense. Just a week before that, I had experienced Braxton Hicks and went to the hospital, but it was a false alarm. This time, I was still working when the contractions started in the morning, and I again thought it was Braxton Hicks. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I tried to keep working. Last time I went to the hospital, my boss, "John" (45M), made sarcastic comments about me being overly dramatic and joked about how I should "schedule" my labor around important meetings. I have social anxiety and tend to take people’s crap without pushing back, so I just took it.

By noon, the contractions were getting stronger and closer together, and I knew it was real labor. I needed to go to the hospital. I informed John that I was in labor and needed to leave. He rolled his eyes and said, "Just stay for the meeting at 1 PM. It’s crucial, and we need you there."

I was stunned. I reiterated that I was in active labor and needed to go to the hospital immediately. John snapped back, "It's just a meeting. Sit through it, and then you can go. It’s not like the baby is going to pop out right now." Feeling pressured and scared for my job, I reluctantly stayed.

The meeting lasted an excruciating two hours. By the end of it, I was in so much pain that I could barely walk. I finally left and drove myself to the hospital, where I was admitted immediately. My husband reached 30-40 minutes later because he was on the other side of town for a meeting. My daughter was born later that evening, thankfully healthy despite the delay.

When I told my husband what had happened, he was furious and insisted we report John to HR. I was hesitant because I didn’t want to jeopardize my job, but I agreed it was the right thing to do. HR was appalled and assured me they would handle the situation. John has since been suspended pending an investigation.

The real kicker? During the investigation, it came out that John had emailed the entire office while I was in labor, complaining about my "lack of commitment" and making fun of me for "overreacting." He even implied that I was using my pregnancy as an excuse to get out of work.

Now, my coworkers are pissed at me saying I overreacted and that I should have just sucked it up for the sake of the company. I’ve even received messages and emails from a few colleagues saying that I’ve "ruined" John’s career and that he was just doing his job under pressure. One even said that I should have "toughed it out" like their wife did during her pregnancy.

The stress from this whole ordeal has made it difficult to enjoy my first few days with my newborn. I’m constantly second-guessing myself and feeling guilty, despite knowing I did what was best for my baby and me.

To make matters worse, the interim manager who took over from John is even worse. He's made it clear to everyone that he resents my actions and has made my return to work unbearable. Now that my maternity leave is over, I find myself isolated at work. People give me side-eyes and whisper about me. During lunch, I’m alone because no one wants to sit with the "troublemaker."

It feels like high school all over again. I dread going into work each day and facing the hostility and judgment. I never imagined that doing what was right for my health and my baby’s well-being would turn my colleagues against me like this. It’s gut-wrenching to feel so isolated and vilified for simply standing up for myself and my rights.

I cry most of the time when I come home and sometimes even in the office washroom when someone passes a comment. In the worst moments, I get mad at my husband and blame him for making me tell HR, even though I know he did the right thing. He’s so sweet and never takes it to heart. I apologize soon after, but he always says he wasn't even mad and that he understands how I’m feeling, especially since I’m just one month postpartum. He says I should take action and complain, but I don't want to make things worse. He's also saying he can’t see me like this and that I should just quit because it’s hurting him. I don’t know what to do; I’m just such a sensitive and emotional person in general and now it's been worse since giving birth.

AITA for reporting my boss after he forced me to attend a meeting despite knowing I was in labor?

My sister bought a home and it needs a lot of work. I told her that I would be willing to do it if she provided food and the materials.

I am anemic and fainted a lot as a child. Almost all of my meals have some type of meat in them or are very heavy on protein. This is the problem, the meals my sister have been serving have left me hungry and light headed. The work is labor intensive and me working in the morning to late afternoon usally makes me feel awful by the end of the day.

I brought my own food one day and it wasn't an issue, so I asked she tot make heavier meals that have more protein in them. It hasn't been working.

Yesterday I fainted and after I informed her that I need her to make meals with meat in them or I will not be remodeling things anymore.

She thinks I am a huge jerk for asking this one her and I am standing firm on this. I am also not willing to bring my own food since I am going her a huge favor already to remodeled her home.

My husband (30M) and I (30F) have been together for 9 years and married for 2. I'm currently 5 months pregnant, and we recently found out we're having a girl. I've always dreamed of naming my daughter a particular name that I've loved since I was a teenager. My husband knew about this name since we were dating, and he was excited about it too, as he likes the name as well. We had a deal: if we had a boy, he could choose the name, and if it was a girl, I'd get to choose.

However, when we shared the news with my MIL, she said we could name our daughter whatever we wanted, but it had to start with the letter given by the Babaji in the gurdwara. After the call, I told my husband this wasn't fair since I've always wanted to name our daughter according to my choice. To my surprise, he did a complete 180 and sided with his mother. He also suggested that she should have a chance to name our child since she would like it.

I snapped and told him if his mother wants to name a child, she should give birth to one. I also mentioned that since I'm the one carrying the baby for 9 months, enduring all the hormones and pain, I should have the first right to name her. Now, we're not speaking, and I'm starting to wonder if I went overboard.

AITAH for insisting on naming our daughter despite my MIL's wishes?

So 2 weeks ago I 35f went to a wedding in our college town for a member of our college friend group.  My husband and I left the kids with my parents and we went.  We got a Vrbo with another couple I went to college with for a few days.  My husband and I don’t have a ton of time to ourselves away from the kids so we were excited to let loose.

 On the invitation it said the wedding went to 11 with an after party with the bride and groom at the venue.  The venue was a gorgeous mansion and the bride and groom had it for the night, they were leaving for the honeymoon the next morning.  

Cut to wedding day and it’s a dry wedding.  Apparently the groom is 2 years sober.  No one told us this and we were admittedly bummed.  When we found out there was no alcohol we told people we were going to some bars after and not going to the after party.  We left the wedding at 9:30 because we were itching to go out and the wedding was boring.  

Pretty much the whole college crew left around that time and went out.  Apparently, the bride's friend group did not stay for the party, the grooms did and the optics were very lopsided at the party.  We all heard from the bride about this and she called us assholes for leaving.  She said that she didn't feel supported and felt like we were spiteing her now husband for his sobriety.  I told her that she was reading too much into  it.  We just wanted to go out.  She is especially mad at me as i'm looked at as the ringleader of this outing.  I don't think i've done anything wrong AITA?  

Edit: Ceremony was at 5, Reception at 6.

My bio family really sucks, my sister and I became close to one of our friends ( Beth) and her family basically adopted us. They were our rock when our lives sucked with our own parents.

They helped put us through college and I do consider them my parents. The problem started earlier this year. Beths dad passed away and it was a bad time for everyone. Funerals are a huge deal in their family. If you don't go to the funeral it is considered a fuck you to the dead and the family.

My sister has a fear of the dead, she refused to go to the funeral. I tried to get her to go but she still refused. The day came and went and they did not take it well. Beth's mom really didn't take it well, and basically banned her for my her home. Her words that he gave so much to her and she basically spat in his face by not going.

Basically everyone in the family is pissed at her. She has not been invited to the home and got kicked out when she showed up once.

They have a big family reunion in July each year. We both have been going for years but this year she did not get an invite.

She called me up and asked me to not go. I told her that I plan on going even though she is not invited. We got into an argument and she thinks I am huge jerk for going and I pointed out that she knew they would not take it well that she didn't go to the funeral

Not long ago, I was engaged. My girlfriend seemed like someone you could build a life with. She was beautiful, intelligent, admired, and respected by everyone who knew her. She always had good ideas and instincts when it came to making money. She was the girl of my dreams, and I genuinely wanted to spend my whole life with her. After two years together, I proposed, and we planned to get married in Bali in 2025.

In March of this year, I noticed something off about her behavior. She started coming home 4-5 hours late, often with excuses that didn't add up. I also noticed she put a privacy screen on her phone, making it impossible to see what she was doing on the phone. She began leaving the house looking like a diva, with impeccable makeup, dyeing her hair more frequently, and changing her hairstyle. She had always been well-groomed, but these changes seemed excessive, like something only models and stars do. I felt uneasy, and the feeling wouldn’t go away.

So, I put an AirTag in her car to track where she was when she was late. The same day I did this, I saw she was far from home, and her car was parked in a rough area. I drove like a madman until I found her car and waited for her to return. After several hours, she came out of a house with a man. Surprise! They kissed passionately as they left.

Despite my anger, I remained calm and decided to talk to her when we got home. I let her leave first so she wouldn’t see me and then headed home myself.

When I got home, I found her in the kitchen making dinner. Although I was furious during the drive, I managed to stay calm during our confrontation. After several hours of listening to her excuses, tears, and lies, she finally told me the truth.

She had started a relationship with that guy. He was involved in stealing credit card data from online store customers and convinced her to create an OnlyFans account and other adult live streaming sites. Together, they used stolen credit cards to fund her “model” accounts and split the profits. At my insistence, she showed me her OnlyFans and other accounts. After that, I quietly went to the couch and fell asleep.

The next day, I contacted the police and sent an email to the FBI explaining what my fiancee was doing. I didn’t tell her anything. I pretended to be upset but passive, and she believed me. Nothing happened for more than a week until one day, police officers knocked on our door and arrested her.

One month later:

The FBI took over the case because her lover was part of a larger online scam group with many victims.

A few days ago, I got a call from my ex-fiancee, who is currently out on bail. She accused me of ruining her life, saying I overreacted and should have just broken up with her instead of getting her arrested.

Now I want to ask you all: Am I the asshole in this situation? Should I feel guilty for contacting the police and the FBI?

My husband (31m) and I (30f) are currently 7 months pregnant. We decided to have our baby shower back in our hometown so that our family and friends could make it. We arrived 5 days before the shower in order to spend some time with our families. We usually stay at my parents house, which consists of my parents and my sister (28f). Our families had not seen me in about 6 months and this would be the first time they saw my pregnant belly.

The first day we arrived my parents were joyful and excited to spend time with us and finally see me pregnant and showing. My sister showed up after being out with friends later that night and as soon as she saw me she looked disgusted. She slowly walked towards me making a disgusted face and saying “omg I can’t believe you look like that”. She said hi and proceeded to tell me that on the drive home she was thinking about how it would feel like to punch me in the belly. Dead pan. There was no chuckle after or any sense of it being even remotely a joke. I was in shock and immediately felt unsafe but tried not to have a visible reaction for my parents sake. I stood there a couple of minutes while she poked my stomach while making a disgusted look and just felt incredibly uncomfortable and on guard to any sudden movements. I then excused myself and said I was going to sleep.

Throughout the following days leading up to the shower I avoided her and shared what happened with my husband and my parents who had overheard the conversation but hadn’t quite grasped exactly what she said to me. They were all concerned and my mom spoke to her friend that happens to be a therapist. This therapist friend told my mom that what my sister had said was extremely concerning and needed to be addressed. When my parents addressed it with her she blamed her anxiety and depression and told them that my husband and I have everything and now we are having a baby and she has nothing to live for. She said all she does is go to work and sleep.

For background, she has been going to therapy and on depression and anxiety medication for about 10 years. She has been extremely rude and selfish her entire life. This isn’t the first time she says that she has suicidal thoughts. During my college years I moved out of my parents house and she blamed her depression on me leaving the house “leaving her behind" and threatened my parents with suicidal comments. throughout the years she has made my parents feel like I need to be responsible for her mental health and happiness. It’s comes off to me and other family members like she manipulates my parents into doing everything for her because of her depression.

After the baby shower and some long conversations between my husband and I, we are trying to un pack it all. We are considering not allowing her to have any contact with our daughter once she’s born. We assume she doesn’t even want to make any effort to build a relationship with our child anyway. Are we overreacting?

Also, what should be illegal to do when you are drunk?

My girlfriend was sleeping when her 5 year old nephew unlocked the front door and left the house. The cops found him wandering the streets while she was sleeping. She’s now being charged with a misdemeanor child endangerment. (He was perfectly okay, no physical or mental distress)

Can somebody please explain how you can get charged with child endangerment for a kid leaving your house while you’re sleeping? She’s an amazing mother and she raises her kids so well and she’s always doing everything for them! But now the court is saying that she’s neglectful for something that could happen to any parent or guardian while they’re sleeping!? I’m genuinely confused on the subject

When my husband and I got married, his daughter "Catherine" was 11 and my girls were 10 and 8. We thought we did our best to blend the families. Catherine never expressed any issues. She didn't interact much with my kids, but she didn't like playing with other kids at school either. We figured it was just her personality. We did our best to treat all 3 kids fairly.

Catherine got engaged about a year ago and said she didn't want a wedding and would probably just elope. We were happy for her, but we recently found out she did have a wedding and we weren't invited (nor was her mom, stepdad, halfsister). When my husband confronted Catherine she blew up about how she never asked for a blended family. She said she would never invite him and not me, as she would never go to a wedding if her husband wasn't invited, but one day was supposed to be about what she wanted and not "pretending some people were her family"

My husband was blindsided. He really didn't feel we had done anything wrong and he was devastated he had missed so many signs. Personally I think a lot of this has to do with Catherine hearing how her MIL never even dated when her husband was a child, and I think that made her jealous. I did my best to support my husband, but ever since his talk with Catherine, he has been pulling away from my daughters. My younger one still lives at home while she finishes school and he has hardly been talking to her. My older one is planning her own wedding and he is showing no interest. I get it is hard, but he has been in their lives for fifteen years and to me this is unacceptable.

I told him that he can't punish them for what Catherine did and that I could never be married to a man who didn't love my kids like his own. He took that as an ultimatum/threat and says he can't believe I would talk to him like that with everything he is going through.

Wow I never thought I would post on this sub reddit and I most definitely never thought I'd be in this position.

I've been best friends with this girl for 15+ years now. We go on vacations together, we're even neighbors. I was her maid of honor at her wedding. Real ride or die bff.

I dated this real narcissistic asshole for 7 years. We were engaged and ended up splitting up because he cheated on me. Actually wrecked my life but this was almost a year ago now so I'm good in that aspect...

My best friend got married 2 years ago. She's been cheating on him pretty much the whole time. I feel like I'm the only one who knew and I never said anything because like why would I?

Anyways, I find out last night (after many MANY drinks) that she's been sleeping with my ex for a while now. Probably while we were still together but she won't admit that part. Too damn proud I guess. I don't intend on talking to her ever again because fuck that..

But like.. AITAH if I tell her husband? I know she should be the one to do it.. but I so badly want to tell him everything. He's a good person and we were all friends back In the day. I just feel so heartbroken and she's just dragging him along and he doesn't deserve it. Just like I didn't deserve it. Oof 🥲

EDIT: okay yes, should have told him before. I've been telling her for a long time to just get a damn divorce but she won't do it. It wasn't my place to say anything and I wasn't going to backstab MY best friend like that. Though she apparently has no issue doing it to me LOL. Anyways I texted him and told him we needed to talk. I hate this and I hate that I have to come to reddit because I just lost the only person in my life I confided everything to. Sucks. But yeah I'm the asshole. Don't gotta tell me twice.

I (26 M) have a brother (29 M) who is going through a rather nasty divorce from his wife (30 F) right now that is completely his own fault. My SIL is apparently divorcing him because she got fed up with his lack of respect for her and his relationship with our mother. I’ve seen what she’s talking about firsthand not just with her but in all his relationships.

For context, My brother is the golden child ESPECIALLY to my mom. My parents have always thrown me and my sister (the oldest) to the side for him and his accomplishments and it’s turned him into a giant entitled mommas boy even as a grown man. I’m not gonna mince words, my brother’s relationship to our mom is unhealthy. He claims I just don’t know what a good mother-son relationship is like (which is fair as my mother doesn’t like me) but they don’t have any boundaries with each other and my mom is overbearing and one of those “I’m the most important woman in my sons life” moms. She gets competitive with his girlfriends and is plain nasty to all of them, SIL was no different she was just willing to put up with it more until she snapped after a recent incident.

While he was at our parents house, my SIL texted him to discuss custody arrangements for their daughter, it devolved into an argument with him calling her all sorts of names and telling her to grow up with my mom egging him on. The last thing she texted was “We’ll talk when you take your mom’s tit out of your mouth and stop choking on her milk so you can actually act like a man.” and then blocked him. He was pissed and telling us about it and I couldn’t help but laugh and I asked what he expected, he’s literally at our mommies house crying to her about it. This really set both him and my parents off and they all yelled at me about not supporting my brother and now none of them are speaking to me.

My sister sides with me and our SIL but says maybe laughing at him when he’s already hurting is an AH thing to do. AITA for not defending my brother?

New to Reddit as I need opinions.

My fiancé and I (both 30s) are getting married in a couple of months. We now need to finalise our menu choices for our guests. Now, we are vegetarian. In general, we are pretty relaxed vegetarians. If we go out, we totally don't mind if our friends/family choose meat or fish to eat, same if we visit family. As long as there is a veggie option, then great. Now back to the wedding. On looking at the choices, and given it's our day, we thought it would be nice to have a fully vegetarian menu. My (32F) parents are paying for the meal and have been absolutely stunned by this choice. They say it's disrepectful to people who aren't in the vegetarian culture, and also disrespectful to our own values in terms of ensuring our friends have a nice time. They say it's forcing our ethics on other people. My viewpoint is: it is one meal only, on our day, where I'm sure it will be delicious whatever they're served. None of our friends have ever complained when coming to our house for (vegetarian) food but my parents say it's different at a wedding because people "expect luxury food", especially if they are travelling from abroad (many are) and apparently this needs to include meat. I am honestly Natalie Imbruglia-d (torn) on this. Personally I don't mind that much if our guests eat meat but it is inconsistent with our own life choices and it is our day, so that could make it feel inauthentic. And I think the whole focus on meat thing is quite generational (my parents are in their 60s). My fiancé agrees with me but the issue is my parents are (very kindly) paying for the meal. WIBTA if I got everyone only vegetarian food?