You’ve heard us say it before, and we’ll say it again. Every time we think we’ve seen the worst a—hole on the Reddit “Am I The A—hole” subreddit, some douche jumps on and says, “Hold my beer.” So what’s the latest drama to come out of this dumpster fire? A man took to Reddit with the question, “AITA for not switching a movie to accommodate my son’s friend?”
And we know what you’re probably thinking. It’s the same thing a commenter was thinking, “Man, I thought this was gonna be about a kid being scared of a horror movie,” they said.
“But then it took a turn.” An absolutely horrifying turn.
This man’s 16-year-old son “Josh” was having a movie night with three of his friends recently. One of the friends, “Matt,” is new to the group.
“I haven’t seen him too many times before so I don’t know that much about him except that he’s slightly younger than most of my son’s friends,” the man who originally posted (the “OP”) wrote, apparently getting ready to chock this all up to age.
“Anyway, the movies Josh and the other boys wanted to watch were horror or superhero-themed,” he continued. “Apparently Matt tried to come up with some other movie genres/ideas but was shut down.”
And soon enough, the friends wouldn’t be the only ones to shoot Matt down.
The Plea
OP was in the kitchen when Matt came in looking “kind of sheepish.” Matt told OP he was “really scared” to watch the movies the boys picked out because he has epilepsy and a lot of the films the boys chose have strobe or flashing lights.
“I said, ‘Why not just tell them?'” OP wrote. “He said he was very afraid that once they knew, they were going to try to trigger him on purpose ‘for the lols.'”
“Now I know my son like the back of my hand,” OP continued, “he would never do anything like that.”
“[Matt] basically begged me to switch just one movie so he could watch it with them and then he’d leave early (his logic being that if they didn’t listen to him about it, they’d defer to my authority).”
And the logic being that kids should go to adults with concerns.
The Solution
OP said he thought about it, but we find that hard to believe given what he landed on.
“I had to say no because I doubted my son and his friends would agree to just switch the movie without a good reason being provided,” he said in a very “woe is me” way.
“I suggested to Matt that if he really didn’t feel safe telling them to just close his eyes if he suspected a strobe/flash scene was coming up, and that if he still didn’t feel safe he could just go home.”
Just close your eyes.
Just go home.
Are you seething?!
The Initial Blowout
Matt went back downstairs prompting OP to believe “it wasn’t that big of a deal after all.” Right, it probably had nothing to do with feeling embarrassed and unsupported.
“But when my wife got home and I told her about how the day went, she was appalled that I didn’t switch the movie or confront our son about how they were treating Matt,” OP wrote.
“I told her it was no big deal and that the day went fine, the guys are old enough to handle conflicts on their own,” he continued. “She disagreed and won’t back down on this issue. I think I did fine tbh, like I said no harm was done and I don’t believe in getting in between my kids’ conflicts with their friends.”
More Ridiculousness
OP commented and said he got in touch with Matt’s parents the next morning “to confirm” because he “did have some concerns.”
“He is in fact epileptic,” OP wrote to no one’s surprise. “But [he is] more prone to petit mal rather than grand mal seizures. So I guess it’s not as bad as it could be.”
Are. You. Kidding. Me? Whatever OP was going for by sharing this, it just made Redditors even more mad.
“OP seriously needs to get a grip if they think that a dangerous condition ‘isn’t that bad because it’s not the worse it could be.'”
“OP, probably: ‘But did you die?'”
The Internet’s Reaction
“WTAF?!” the internet yelled in unison. Redditors could not believe their eyes with this one, wholeheartedly agreeing that OP is the a-hole here (because, duh!). A child went to him for help, and he turned him away. A child went to him for help with a medical issue and he did nothing. And so began the onslaught of spot-on comments.
“This poor kid was probably so worried he would be judged and ridiculed for this and you dismissed that. It would have been so easy to talk to your son alone and somehow have them switch the movie and not have it be a big deal.”
“Also, I don’t think OP thought this through, imagine if Matt had a seizure while watching the movies … Imagine explaining to Matt’s parents, ‘Hey I didn’t want to be the adult and do the adult thing and change the movies the kids were watching.'”
“Matt has a serious medical condition [and that is] ‘not good enough reason’ for them to change the movie?? And close his eyes when he suspects flashing lights?? Seriously? … Be the adult you are supposed to be. And I am sure, it was a big deal to Matt. He came to you instead of confronting your son directly for that exact reason.”
“It sounds like this scenario of intentionally triggering for lols has happened to him previously. He probably thinks other boys would do the same. The father’s response of ‘My boy would never’ is beyond naive. As a teacher, I hear this from parents all the time. Even when I and multiple people witness the behavior, the parents still can’t admit it.”
“YTA and you know it. The kid had epilepsy and asked for your help. Just because he didn’t have a seizure (that you know of) doesn’t mean it’s ‘fine.’ If he had, you might be hearing from a lawyer (for the lols). I hope Matt finds friends who care about others.”
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