Man Throws Flask That Stepson Gifted Him on Father’s Day in the Trash – People Praise Him for It

A man became stepfather to a boy whose biological father was still very active in his life when he married the kid's mom. They kept things cordial until one day when he received a father's day gift from the boy, which he threw into the rubbish bin.

Becoming another child's father is not always an easy thing to do. It is doubly more challenging when the child's father is still in the picture because it becomes almost impossible to foster a close relationship with the child.

That was the situation Mr. John (not his real name), whom this story is about, found himself in. John fought alcoholism for three years, and after his life improved, he married a divorcee with a 16-years-old son named Jake.

HIS PLEAS WERE IGNORED

Despite his parent's separation, Jake maintained a close relationship with his biological father, so John knew that he would never be seen as a father to Jake. Nevertheless, as far as he was concerned, it wasn't so bad because they kept things polite between them.

However, in the months that followed his marriage to Jake's mother, John noticed that the boy would sometimes do things to spite him. Sometimes he would ruin John's items and make him pay for them; other times, he would get in trouble and have John sort it out.

That's not all. The boy had also developed the habit of mocking John's sobriety anytime he got the opportunity which John hated. Over time, they got past some issues, but the child refused to stop mocking his sobriety.

John told Jake he did not feel comfortable about the topic and told his wife, but they both turned deaf ears to his pleas.

THE UNUSUAL GESTURE

On Father's day, John's in-laws celebrated with them. They had a great dinner, and after it, Jake stunned John by handing him a gift and claiming it was for Father's day.

John thought the gesture was sweet, but he also knew it was unusual for Jake to do something so nice. It also didn't help matters that the boy wore a smug smile as he presented his gift.

Nevertheless, John accepted it, and as everyone in the family watched, he opened the gift, which turned out to be a flask and a glass. John saw it as the highest form of ridicule he could endure from Jake, who was laughing as the scene unfolded.

It angered John, so he packed it all back into the box, told Jake it didn't belong in his home, then took it outside and dumped it in the bin. The boy went to another room afterward while John's wife engaged him in an argument.

He was ready for that, and they both started going at it, after which her parents left. His wife told him he had been childish with his response because Jake had only been teasing him.

She said he needed to lose the chip on his shoulder and stop being dramatic, but John refused to draw out the argument, which led to tension in their home and radio silence from his in-laws.

WAS JOHN WRONG?

After the events, John took to Reddit with an anonymous username to share the story with app users. He wanted to know if he had reacted the way his wife said he did.

Most of the commenters seemed to be vouching for him, with many congratulating him on his three years of sobriety. One user said that Jake knew exactly what he was doing and praised John for reacting "just fine."

Another user called out John's wife and noted she was wrong for not joining her husband to chastise Jake for doing such a terrible thing. Many agreed with that sentiment.

One user wrote: "More than that, the kid obviously reflects the parents' own attitude to addiction and recovery. How would a 16yo (and it sounds like it has been going on for a while) get these ideas anyway?"

Many questioned why the woman allowed her kid to act horribly towards her husband, and some advised the man to be ready to move on if the woman couldn't get on the same page with him.

Question to ponder:

• Do you think the father did the right thing?

Should the man have taken a different approach while reacting to the boy's mischievous gift? Perhaps he could have set it aside and returned to it after the celebration. At the same time, he had already made the same complaints and had been ignored, so maybe taking action before the whole family was for the best.

• Was the wife supposed to support her husband?

Should the mother of the child not have stuck with her husband? The child had been getting away with mischievous deeds like that before, but she only seemed to see it as teasing even when it hurt her husband. It implies that she is not sensitive to the relationship between her new husband and her son, so perhaps she fails to see how wounded her husband was because of the gift.

• What would you do in his place?

The man dumped the present rather than accept it, but could he have made a better decision in the heat of the moment? Maybe. However, it is common knowledge that when you bait an animal long enough, it is bound to lash out; that is what the man did. What would you have done differently?