AITA for ruining game night by telling the truth?

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A Redditor hosted a game night where a new guest, Matt, joined the group. During a card game with personal questions, the Redditor chose to downplay their answer to avoid dampening the mood.

However, Matt made a condescending remark about their “privileged life,” prompting the host to reveal the real answer — witnessing their sister’s passing. The mood soured, and game night ended early. One friend accused the host of making Matt look bad, leaving the Redditor wondering if they were at fault. Read the full story below.

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‘ AITA for ruining game night by telling the truth?’

A few nights ago, I hosted a game night for a small group of friends (we had all been quarantining and following the proper guidelines in my county). It was only going to be 5 of us (including me), but one of my friends texted me last minute that she was going to bring a coworker from work (Matt-fake name). Fine with me.

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We started playing a card game where you answer questions about yourself; based on the level (Level 1, 2, 3), the question could be extremely surface level (ex. what’s your favorite color?) to something deeper (ex. what characteristic of yourself do you not like about yourself?). Everyone was enjoying themselves, and I was happy with the way things were going.

Cue a question I drew: “What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to go through?” Some backstory: My sister passed away a few years ago when I was still in high school. I was pulled out of class and flew immediately to her college and watched her die in the ICU.

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Needless to say, this is probably the hardest thing I’ve been through. 3 of my friends in the group knew about this, the other 2 and Matt did not. I didn’t want to bring the mood down, so I answered that the hardest thing I’d been through was transitioning going to a college in a different state where I knew no one.

We were all ready to move on, but Matt immediately piped up and said, “Wow, if that’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through, you live an extremely privileged life.” Everyone got quiet. Now, if he had said it jokingly, I probably would have let it go and moved on.

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However, the way he said it was in a very condescending and patronizing tone, and I will admit, it rubbed me the wrong way. Instead of letting it go, I said “well, the hardest thing I’ve ever been through is seeing my sister die in the ICU and having to watch her being lowered into her grave when I was 17. I just didn’t want to bring the mood down.”

If things were quiet before, they were dead silent now. Matt mumbled an apology but game night ended shortly after. After my friends all left, my friend who had brought Matt texted me and told me I was a j**k for making Matt look bad, and I could have just let his statement go. I do feel bad about what I said and being the cause of game night ending so soon, but I also feel like I was just making a justified statement. AITA?

Here’s what people had to say to OP:

uhheyhowareyou −  NTA. Matt made Matt look bad.

lightwoodorchestra −  NTA. Matt was being a j**k and deserved to be heartily embarrassed for it. Maybe he’ll think before he opens his mouth a bit more in the future. It doesn’t take a genius to realize not everyone is going to feel comfortable answering that question honestly. And I’m so sorry for your loss.

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Recruiter19 −  NTA. He had a snarky response to someone he just met for the first time, you put him in his place. So it goes.

endlessnanosecond −  NTA. Going to college where you dont know anyone is something most people go through and clearly was just something to fill in space and move past a question. Matt decided he wanted to be a condescending j**k. Matt got shown why one does not be a condescending j**k. Matt made matt look bad. Not you. Hopefully he changes his behavior in the future because he seems like a j**kass

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[Reddit User] −  NTA. Matt was trying to be edgy and got an unexpected result.

DecodingSerenity −  “You’re a j**k for making Matt look bad but it’s *totally chill* if MATT wants to make snarky comments about a person he knows NOTHING about.”. Nuts to that, my friend.. NTA.

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[Reddit User] −  NTA Matt had no place saying that especially since he was a newcomer to the group

procedureszone102 −  ESH What kind of idiots play a game that involves sharing deeply personal and emotional information and not expect this to happen?

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cricket73646 −  NTA. Matt shouldn’t open his mouth when he doesn’t know the people around him.

socialjusticekimchi −  NTA. In any context that’s a pretty u**y comment to make. Hopefully he learns to keep his trap shut.

Sometimes, the truth can hit harder than intended. Was the host right to stand up for themselves, or should they have let it go to keep the mood light? Share your thoughts below!

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