AITA for Leaving After My Husband Dangled Me Off a Parking Garage as a “Prank”?
What happens when a joke is so far-fetched that it sounds like a near-death experience? After her husband played a joke he thought would be fun, one woman found herself hanging over the edge of a multi-story parking lot. She wanted to run away, but now she’s not sure if bailing on the date makes her the bad girl. This scary situation makes me think a lot about emotional safety in relationships, getting permission for jokes, and the line between being funny and being traumatising.
You must be able to trust your spouse with your life
This woman, however, felt her life had been threatened thanks to her husband’s “prank”
People have become more aware in recent years of how emotional abuse that is passed off as humour or pranks can have long-lasting effects on mental health. This woman wasn’t just having a bad joke; she was being lifted and held over a ledge, which set off her fight-or-flight reaction.
Psychology Today says that pranks that cause real fear or make people think they are in life-threatening situations can leave behind stress, mistrust, and mental scars that last a long time. The prank in this case involved yelling “SAY GOODBYE!” and then pulling someone over a multi-story drop, which is clearly unsafe from a psychological point of view.
What’s scarier is how people responded, which was to ignore it. Instead of recognising how scared his wife was, the husband said she was ruining the night. Many times, this is a sign that someone is gaslighting someone because they are downplaying or invalidating their feelings (Healthline). Saying “I’m sorry you got scared” instead of “I’m sorry I scared you” shifts the blame, making the person who was scared feel bad about how they reacted to the stress.
It’s also possible for this kind of behaviour to be emotional manipulation, especially if it’s followed by passive violence or acting guilty. Studies have shown that having these kinds of experiences over and over again can hurt trust and mental safety in a relationship, which are both very important for healthy relationships (Verywell Mind).
It makes sense that high-CPD keywords like “emotional abuse in marriage,” “toxic relationship signs,” and “emotional trauma in relationships” would be used to describe this problem. Even though it looks like a Reddit post at first glance, it brings up a very serious point: being afraid for your life is never funny, and if your partner laughs at your fear, it could mean that there are greater problems in your relationship.
Going home wasn’t just the right thing to do in this case; it was also a way to protect yourself. When safety, trust, and understanding are broken, staying away is often the only smart and healthy thing to do.
Most people sided with the woman, with some urging her to run away
