Household tasks like cooking, cleaning, and doing the laundry can be more manageable when you live with a partner. However, everyday routine can also cause stress in a relationship.

Moving in together is a big step, and you don’t want to go through all the effort and expense only to realize that the two of you weren’t ready for it.

So when this woman received a text from her long-term boyfriend saying that he was no longer sure about their future plans, she took it seriously. However, as she explained in her post on the subreddit r/AITAH, she later found out that he was playing a prank on her.

This woman and her boyfriend were planning to move in together, but he told her he started having cold feet

Image credits: Pablo Heimplatz / unsplash (not the actual photo)

They broke up over the phone and it seemed like the end of the relationship, but he soon showed up on her doorstep

Image credits: Fausto Sandoval / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: sedrik2007 / envato (not the actual photo)

Image credits: anon

People who prank those around them often isolate themselves with this behavior

Image credits: Brooke Cagle / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Just like the woman behind this post, some prank victims question whether they have the right to be upset, especially if the perpetrator doesn’t take their concerns seriously. But they should, says Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, who is a clinical specialist in child and adolescent counseling as well as nationally certified counselor and licensed mental health counselor.

“You have a right not to be pranked,” she writes. “You have the right to be treated with kindness and respect. You also have the right to speak out when you feel a sense of injustice or have witnessed an injustice towards another person.”

According to Sarkis, when people set a boundary with these pranksters, they are quite often told that they are “too sensitive,” that they “can’t take a joke,” or similar gaslighting statements.

“Ideally, a person would acknowledge your boundary, apologize for hurting you, and immediately cease any prank behavior. However, if a person was already willing to humiliate you, make you uncomfortable, or has already been told that the behavior is not okay with you, consider that you may never receive an apology or change in behavior.”

Which seems to be the case this time as well.

A study on the joint phenomena of “pranking” and “practical jokes” has been released by the Knoxville Institute. The 3-year-long research project revealed an extremely strong correlation — if not direct evidence of causation — between enjoying the planning and execution of pranks and practical jokes on people in your life, and having none of those people trust you nor hold any affection for you.

“Some of us were surprised by the results,” said Dan Margera, lead researcher of the study. “But it really checks out once you think about it. People don’t react well to abject cruelty and psychological torture, even if you laugh maniacally immediately afterward and say you ‘got them so good.'”

After reading the story, people said that those who play stupid games are supposed to get stupid prizes

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