Story of the Day: Man Defends His Boyfriend Who Has a Tattoo against His Sister

John and his boyfriend Mark have always been very accommodating toward John's sister and her fear of snakes, but Mark's tattoo is one too much for the sibling, causing family strife.

John's boyfriend Mark has a great love for snakes and even has one as a pet, but John's sister, Lesley, despises and fears the reptiles hence the couple have always had to balance their relationship with snakes and siblings.

In the past, John and Mark have always arranged a pet sitter to watch their snake for the day when Lesley would come around to their house, but the snake inked into Mark's arms, and back is a little more challenging to get rid of.

John and his boyfriend's choice of animal to have roaming around their house has always been a sensitive subject seeing that Lesley would always put up a big scene whenever their reptile was in the vicinity or even spoken of.

When Lesley and her parents were invited over to her brother and his boyfriend's home for lunch, she worryingly asked whether the slithering snake would be let loose. John replied reassuringly:

"As always we have organized someone to take our snake for the day. We would never want you to feel uncomfortable so please come over, it'll be snake-free."

John's family arrived the next day around noon. It was a perfect day to share some drinks in the backyard and make good use of the clear blue pool. Everyone was relaxed as they chatted around the table.

Mark suggested that everyone take a dip in the pool, and as everyone shed their top layers to get ready to jump in, Lesley let out a terrible shriek that had everyone's hair stand up straight.

Shocked and frightened by the shrill that Lesley had let out, John turned around to ask what was the matter. Lesley was as white as a sheet and trembling like a leaf when her brother looked at her. She pointed at Mark, saying:

"A snake, there's a snake on his body. Please get it out of my sight, I can't stand to look at it."

Everyone looked at Mark and saw the snake that had been tattooed onto the majority of his upper body as it twisted around both of his arms and across his back. John let out a sigh of relief as he realized it wasn't a true crisis.

The problem was that to John's sister Mark's inked snake was a very real problem. She insisted that her brother's boyfriend put on a shirt that would cover the reptile so that she could recover her inner peace.

Both Mark and John were shocked to hear Lesley make such a request and turned to John's parents for some support on the matter, but they both just shrugged and asked that they comply to avoid conflict.

Things escalated, and John's sister demanded that Mark leave the house if he refused to cover the snake that coiled across his body. John stepped in, saying that it was Mark's house, so if anyone left, it would be Lesley.

John's sibling ended up hiding out in the house for the rest of the afternoon and needless to say the brother and sister have not spoken two words to each other since. Should John have had more sympathy with Lesley in this situation?