AITA For laughing my ass off at my wife’s expense?
A man shared a moment where a cashier mistook his wife for his daughter due to her petite height. His uncontrollable laughter upset his wife, as she’s sensitive about her height. Now, he’s questioning if his reaction makes him the bad guy. Read the full story below:
‘ AITA For laughing my ass off at my wife’s expense?’
Just for context, I am 6’2 and my wife is 4’11. She is insecure about her height and while I try my best to tell her that she is stupendously beautiful the way she is, she got bullied about it pretty bad and it’s just an aspect she doesn’t like about herself.
With this in mind, we recently went to one of my favorite places to eat. Now, this restaurant has a really large counter and my wife is petite, so the cashier couldn’t really see her. We ordered our food, and were heading out when the cashier held out a giant piece of candy and said ‘for your lovely daughter’ to me.
I honestly couldn’t help but burst out laughing to the point that I had tears in my eyes and I had to compose myself before driving back home. My wife was obviously pretty pissed. AITA?
Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:
rosalux97 − YTA. Dude, come on! You know this is a point of pain and insecurity for your wife. Like she’s told you that she’s been bullied for this and you laugh at this to the point where there were tears? And you haven’t apologised for this? She’s your wife man. So Yeah. You’re the A-Hole here bud.
tree_leaf_tree − “I laughed at my wife in public about her biggest insecurity that she was bullied for throughout her life” yeah YTA
scelestus66 − YTA. I can understand an initial laugh, but really, you know it upsets her and it’s a sore spot for her, and you’re just going to laugh hysterically? That’s pretty mean, and in her place, I’d be pretty pissed at you too.
asilentthrow − YTA. My boyfriend is the same height as you and I’m 4’11. It’s extremely frustrating to not be taken seriously your whole life based on your height. We’ve heard every short joke in the world.
I’m not insecure about my height, but it’s definitely colored the way people treat me in my life. It gets extremely annoying and old sometimes. I can imagine how demeaning it felt for your wife when she saw you laugh so hard over her lifelong insecurity.
DrFishTaco − YTA – not for the initial outburst but it takes more than a few seconds to get to the point of tears in your eyes and that’s plenty of time to have composed yourself
sometimesnowing − NAH – honestly, sometimes s**t is just funny and laughter that brings tears to your eyes isnt easily stopped. One time I laughed my arse off at the expense of my child. Full tears, hands on knees, gasping for breath hysterics. I had to gesture to my husband to console him because I couldnt pick him up I was laughing so hard.
(6 yrs old, held his sandwhich above his head so the little monkey couldnt get it. Monkey scaled my child, shot up his wee arm, and snatch his ham and cheese. Kid wailed, mother died laughing). I’m sorry she was bullied, that’s real s**t and the effects can last a long time. Sometimes inappropriate laughter is very hard to stop however, so while I dont think you’re an arsehole I do think you’ve a s**t tonne of sucking up to do.
Happy_Craft14 − YTA, you’re not the a**hole for the initial laughter but you know this is a sore spot for your wife you could have been considerate
euphoricembrace − NAH / very soft YTA. I’m a petite girl, I understand the pain of being taken as a kid. Being mistaken as your daughter is understandably very funny, but it’s a soft point for your wife and you should’ve tried to keep it in. (Still though, I chuckled)
TaleFree − YTA. If she’s insecure about her height having you laugh at that isn’t going to make her feel any better and she will just be more insecure in the future.
flo1308 − Seems like people here think laughter is completly voluntary. Were you guys never in school and couldn’t stop from laughing even though you really wanted to? I would go for NAH, depending on how you behaved after. But just so you know I understand why you laughed and sometimes there is nothing you do about it.
The fact that you shouldn’t / don’t want to laugh means nothing usually, because it only makes you laugh harder. Hope you and your wife can talk about it. It seems as if you’re usually very understanding about her insecurities concering her height.
Was this husband wrong for laughing, or was it just an innocent reaction to an awkward situation? Should he have handled it differently, considering his wife’s insecurities? Share your thoughts!