The famous ancient philosopher William of Ockham wrote that in science, you simply eliminate the most implausible possibilities, and the remaining hypothesis will prove correct. But sometimes, we can agree, it happens that a guess or suggestion made in jest turns out to be true.
For example, the author of our story today certainly resorted to some kind of dark revenge on the rude and entitled neighbor, but the effect was absolutely unexpected for her. And it was definitely way more than she could even imagine. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
More info: Reddit
How often it so happens that we, planning a joke or prank on someone, receive a really unexpected effect, sometimes considered an overreaction!
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author of the post once lived with her little sis in a town where most of the population was Mormon
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One of the neighbors, the dad of 10, was incredibly rude and hostile towards the author and her sister from the very beginning
Image credits: freepic.diller / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He often resorted to petty and mean deeds, and so the woman decided to clap back, by writing to a random prisoner pen pal "on his behalf"
Image credits: aleksrybalko / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman wrote that "he" was a closeted gay man and always wanted to have an affair with another man
Image credits: anonymous
Apparently, the prisoner replied in the same way, and it wasn't the first case the neighbor had had an affair with men, as his wife, after getting that letter first, kicked him out
The story we’ll tell you today happened before the pandemic, when the Original poster (OP), then 20 years old, lived with her little sis, for whom she was the guardian, in a town where the majority of the population was Mormon. The author, however, is not a Mormon, and this was probably the reason why one of her neighbors treated her so poorly.
For example, she heard a man tell one of his ten kids to go kick her garbage can onto the lawn. He also stole her cat, gave it to a shelter, and tried to euthanize it, claiming it was his pet. And it all started, as the OP recalls, when he demonstratively threw out a plate of baked goods that the author’s sis had brought to their porch when they first moved there.
So, some kind of revenge was brewing on the OP’s part, and she came up with a joke. A rather dark one, of course, but let’s not forget that we’re talking about a former teen. The author found a website where one could find a pen pal among prisoners and wrote to a man awaiting capital punishment. Moreover, she wrote “on behalf” of the neighbor.
The woman wrote that the sender of the letter was a closeted gay man who had always dreamed of having an affair with another man. Apparently, the prisoner replied to “the neighbor” - except the letter first reached his wife, not the guy himself. And, as it later turned out, this wasn’t the first time she’d caught him cheating on her with men. So she just kicked him out, leaving the OP completely stunned.
Image credits: REDfox / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Interestingly, according to one Pew Research survey, 83% of LGBT respondents in the USA said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) is “generally unfriendly to LGBT people.” However, latent proclivity toward a particular issue in people is often accompanied by public displays of intolerance and even aggression towards it.
As for revenge, per se, research - for example, this extensive article on the APS website - shows that revenge rarely produces the “sweet” satisfaction people actually expect. In particular, because, according to numerous experiments, the avenger wants the “recipient” to know who’s taking revenge on them and why. Otherwise, the effect will be incomplete or will appear to be pure overreaction.
By the way, many people in the comments had mixed feelings about this story. On the one hand, yes, an adult man being unreasonably rude toward a young woman and a kid seems at least strange. On the other hand, the responders believed the author’s plan of revenge also seemed quite grim and cruel.
The original poster, in response, once again noted that this was far from the first instance of rudeness and insults from her neighbor, and that she hadn’t expected such an effect from her “joke.” But, in any case, some people wrote that they were more horrified than amused by this story. And what about you, our dear readers?
Most commenters were left with mixed feelings over this story, and some folks even wrote that they were mostly horrified by the author more than amused
