A man has revealed how he kicked his stepson out of the car on the night of his engagement night, and people are coming to this stepdad’s defence.
In a recent post shared in the Reddit community, “Am I The A**hole,” @u/Trees50956 explained how on the night his stepson, Rowan, got engaged, this husband-to-be was forced to walk home. According to the Reddit user, Rowan’s fiancée comes from a “very conservative” family, so the couple won’t “live together till after marriage.”
So, once the engagement party was over, the stepdad went back home with his wife, stepson, Rowan, and Jack, Rowan’s best friend.
However, when they made a stop at a store, Rowan and Jack made some fairly inappropriate comments to someone passing by them.
“Rowan and Jack kept laughing then this young lady [walking] towards us cause her car was parked next to mine in the parking lot,” the stepdad wrote. “Rowan kept trying to speak to her while she was trying to load her stuff in the car. He and Jack kept throwing words at her and she seemed annoyed.”
After that, Jack told the woman, “hey, he just wanted to look at that a**,” and then Rowan said: “Let me see it jiggle, baby,” leaving his stepfather shocked.
“I was appalled,” the post continued. “I told them both to knock it off but then Rowan sarcastically replied ‘Relax I was just giving her a compliment, bet she doesn’t get many of those often.’”
The woman then got into her car and left, as the stepdad “started arguing with [Rowan] about his behaviour and shamed him for acting like this on his own engagement night.” After Rowan continued the argument, the stepdad “lost it.”
“I told him to get out immediately, Jack got involved so I kicked him out too,” he added. “My wife got back and started engaging in the argument sayingI can’t let her son walk home from his engagement party.”
In response, he told her that “her son can’t be harassing other women on the way back from his engagement party.” However, the wife defended Rowan and chose to stay with him, as her husband drove off.
Rowan stayed at a friend’s house that night instead of going home. “ From what I understand, he’s p***ed at me and [refuses] to see me,” the stepdad wrote.
“My wife said it was my fault, I escalated the situation over some stupid s*** boys his age do all the time,” he added. “I told her he can’t do this while in my car but she took it as [if] I was holding it over his head.”
She then emphasised to her husband that he needed to apologise and that he “should have never made [Rowan] walk” that night.
The Reddit post has 23,800 upvotes so far, with readers in the comments noting how Jack and Rowan’s actions in that parking lot shouldn’t be considering “stupid s***.”
“This is not stupid boy stuff, this is hateful, degrading, and creates a dangerous environment for women,” a comment reads. “Men like that know they aren’t complimenting women, they like seeing them squirm.”
“Yeah I bet she felt super safe while having to load her car in the presence of 3 men, 2 of which were harassing her,” one person said about the woman in the parking lot. “She’s probably worried if she’s gonna make it back home that day.”
Many commenters praised this step dad for kicking Jack and Rowan out of that car.
“I am proud of you,” one wrote. “You stood up for decency and respect in the community. I truly wish more people held their sons accountable and attempted to train them in the same way.”
Other readers noted how Rowan’s bride-to-be should be made aware of this situation, one of which said: “I don’t know about you, but as a fiancée, I would absolutely need to be aware about my future husband’s disgusting behaviour because I would refuse to get married to such a misogynistic a**hole.”
The Independent has reached out to @u/Trees50956 for comment.
