Literature and cinema teach us nobility - not to finish off a fallen enemy, not to respond to a vile blow with a blow, not to imitate the despicable deeds of entitled people. But real life, unfortunately, is not literature at all, and everything is much more complicated here. And much dirtier, too.
For example, the user Namechange20002, the author of today's story, once encountered provocative behavior on the part of a relative and, by not making everything public, probably made a mistake. However, let's take things in order.
More info: Mumsnet
The author of the post has a husband, whose 60YO uncle is a very entitled and overstepping person
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The uncle and his wife, who are also the husband's godparents, had been behaving quite inappropriately in recent years
Image credits: 5FeetToBeExact
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Recently the uncle even dared to send the author nudes - and his further comments proved that he did this deliberately
Image credits: 5FeetToBeExact
Image credits: benzoix / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author told this to her spouse but they decided not to expose the uncle to their family - just went no contact with him
Image credits: 5FeetToBeExact
But recently the woman got an angry call from the aunt, bashing her for being "rude and impolite" - and started considering unveiling the truth anyway
So, the Original Poster (OP) has a husband and a kid. And the husband, in turn, has a godfather, who is also his uncle. This uncle is about 60 years old, and he and his wife, as our heroine notes, have always been overstepping and quite entitled. So over time, the spouses came to the sound idea of keeping these relatives at a distance.
For example, one visit a year, at Christmas or some important holiday, is quite enough. The OP and her spouse, after all, are quite polite and well-mannered people. Unlike many family members on the husband's side, who are not averse to abusing booze and making hasty and not always justified conclusions.
However, recently the spouses decided to go no contact with the uncle - after he, allegedly by accident, sent the author a photo of his, so to speak, "family jewels." Literally a minute later, the uncle wrote something like "sorry, that wasn't for you."
When the OP got indignant and demanded that he delete the nude pic message and never send her such a thing again, he did as she asked, but he then sarcastically added that he was leaving the rest to her imagination...
Of course, the author told her husband about this prank, at which he was obviously damn furious. However, the couple decided not to disclose this story - after all, it was probably an accident. They simply stopped communicating with the uncle and his wife.
And then, after some time, our heroine received an angry call from her auntie. She slated the author for "being extremely rude and impolite" for not having invited her and her husband over for quite a long time. And our heroine simply listened to her aunt's fuming screams and wondered whether she should unveil the true reason for them going no contact...
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
"Most likely, this was indeed a deliberate provocation on the part of the uncle - and his comment after deleting the photo only confirms this," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, with whom Bored Panda got in touch for a comment on this case. "And this woman, of course, made the only right decision in that situation."
"But then, when they didn't make this fact public, I'm not sure that they did the right thing. Noble - yes, without any doubt. But such kind of people often don't understand and don't perceive nobility. I think if this woman hadn't demanded that the provocative message be deleted immediately, they'd have immediately started badmouthing her behind her back."
"And now, I suppose, it's time to tell the relatives about the uncle's inappropriate behavior. At least his wife, at the very least. On the other hand, it's quite possible that they will call it a fake or a provocation - and will start scolding the spouses with even greater force... Dealing with entitled people, you never know what to expect," Irina summarizes.
People in the comments also agree that in order to stop such attacks, the author's aunt should be told everything. "As the image has been deleted, send the screen shots of the conversation, tell her they are lucky you didn't report his crime to the police, then tell them you never want anything to do with them ever again, then block," someone suggested a real roadmap for the OP.
Also, many responders rightly note that it's not the author who should be suffering mental anguish, but the lustful relative. "It's not your shame, it's his. Let him deal with the fall out," another person reasonably added. And what do you, our dear readers, think about this tale? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
People in the comments urged the woman to let the aunt know about her husband's despicable deed - and then to block them both
