While most of us prefer to be in a relationship rather than alone, some folks are such downright horrible and nasty people that it might be best to simply allow them to remain alone. But some netizens refuse to go quietly into the night and will, instead, aim to get back at their exes from hell.

A woman shared her petty yet brilliant bit of revenge with an abusive and alcoholic boyfriend. As a result, he ended up with not a single sock remaining in his home. OP debated some readers in the comments, while others shared puns and similar stories.

Dumping a bad partner is the best-case scenario

Image credits: Jisu Han / pexels (not the actual photo)

But one woman decided to also get some petty revenge

Image credits: voronaman111 / envato (not the actual photo)

Image credits: AnonymouslyTryin

OP was smart to leave a bad relationship

First and foremost, OP did the right thing by ditching an abusive, alcoholic boyfriend once his true colors became clear. There are zero reasons to stay with such a person, particularly if they have a tendency to drink. A mean, egotistical person who can’t handle their liquor is a long-term risk to life and limb.

It probably doesn’t help that he is a bit of a slob as well. An irritable person who also misplaces things is a match made in hell. Should this relationship have continued, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that at some point, a more “important” item than socks would be lost, leading to even more conflict. If OP already described him as abusive, this would have been even more dangerous.

Fortunately, she left him, according to the text, quite a while ago. Many people who get into serious relationships that young often don’t have the right frame of reference or independence to understand if it works or not. All in all, this story is a classic example of things going right, of OP dumping a loser and moving on with her life.

We like these sorts of stories because we find justice to be important

Image credits: Timur Weber / pexels (not the actual photo)

More importantly, while many would have chosen to run, OP decided to get revenge first. Perhaps, as some readers pointed out, this was childish, however, there are psychological benefits. We as members of society understand that people who do bad things should be punished. Otherwise, society devolves into chaos.

While there is an important distinction between punishment and revenge for the sake of revenge, this is a pretty clear-cut case. Some might argue that, if he really was abusive, OP could have gone to the authorities. However, there are a handful of reasons to not do that. Instead, OP chose the equally legitimate path of “petty revenge.”

Revenge makes for a good tale

Image credits: Lum3n / pexels (not the actual photo)

Humans tend to love a good revenge story. After all, it fulfills our almost instinctive desire for justice. At the same time, most people also possess a sense of proportionality. OP stealing her ex’s socks was fine because he was abusive. Burning down his house might be a bigger issue, although some might see it as justified, depending on the abuse.

Revenge also carries an excellent narrative structure. Naturally, for something to be revenge, someone has to be wronged by another. This is a classic case of an inciting incident. The act of taking revenge is something a protagonist would do. Generally, we tend to enjoy stories with a protagonist.

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Interestingly, even animals understand the idea of revenge, even if their understanding of justice is a bit more limited. Crows, most primates, elephants, some fish, and even camels, have all been documented taking action against things that have “wronged” them in the past. So OP perhaps shouldn’t feel too bad for participating in a storied part of the natural world.

Some readers disagreed with OP’s methods

Others saw it as a golden opportunity for some puns and jokes

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