Woman Lying to Boyfriend’s Family About Needing Her Hands Amputated Backed

A Gen Z woman has been backed on Reddit after joking to her in-laws about needing her hands amputated, following a string of disappointing gifts.

The 25-year-old woman, u/rosieqp, a self-confessed craft lover, revealed on Reddit that her in-laws repeatedly gifted her disposable craft supplies. Sharing her dilemma in the “AITAH [Am I The A*****]” sub, the post quickly garnered over 8,500 upvotes.

She described her frustration, which culminated 12 months ago.

“Then last Christmas happened. A few days before, I’d hurt my wrists at the gym (nothing major, just a scrape and some bandages), but I hadn’t told his family about it since I hadn’t seen them. Only my family and my boyfriend knew what actually happened.

“So christmas morning comes, and we’re all opening presents together. His family gave everyone else these amazing gifts—new shoes, jewelry, an iphone, gift cards worth like hundreds of dollars.

“When I opened mine, I got… an empty soda bottle, some used (and dirty) aluminum foil, and a handful of soda tabs. That was it,” she wrote.

This disappointment came after an earlier incident during a joint birthday party with her sister-in-law, where the latter received a Pandora charm bracelet and Apple Watch, while she received similarly thoughtless gifts.

Although her boyfriend was angry, they chose to stay quiet until his family asked if she liked her presents. That’s when she decided to address the issue in an unconventional way.

“They looked confused, so I explained (very seriously) that my injury was worse than it looked and that both my hands would have to be amputated. My boyfriend nodded with a straight face and added that we hadn’t told anyone yet because it was a really emotional situation for me.

“Their faces went WHITE,” she explained.

The family appeared upset and apologized repeatedly before the couple left.

“Here’s the thing—my hands are totally fine. It was just a couple of scrapes, but I was so hurt and angry about the “gifts” that I wanted them to realize how thoughtless they were being.

“My boyfriend thinks I was justified, but later his sister texted me saying I was cruel for “making a scene” and guilt tripping the whole family on xmas (ig the word got to her that my hands are fine).

“So now I’m starting to feel a little bad. Did I go too far? AITA?,” she asked Reddit.

Expert Weighs In

Lisa S. Larsen, a licensed psychologist in California, shared her insights on the situation with Newsweek.

She acknowledged the woman’s feelings of exclusion and disappointment, noting that such thoughtless gifts could understandably hurt.

However, she also considered the potential impact of the woman’s lie on her relationship with her boyfriend’s family.

“It seems a bit extreme, and I wonder what the goal was,” Larsen said. “Did she want attention, or to make the family feel guilty? Did she consider how it would impact future interactions with them?”

Larsen suggested that a more effective and mature approach would have been addressing the issue directly when it first happened.

She explained that the woman could have thanked the family for their effort but expressed how the disparity in gifts made her feel.

“She could have said, ‘I appreciate your thinking about me, but it’s embarrassing to receive gifts like this when you give others more traditional gifts. I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but from now on, I will collect my own craft supplies and recycling objects. Please don’t continue to get me gifts like this,'” Larsen added.

She also mentioned that opening up a conversation about preferred gifts or gift-giving traditions could lead to better outcomes.

For instance, the woman could request items she truly needs, such as a gift card for Amazon.

While Larsen admitted it’s unclear whether the in-laws’ actions were intentionally malicious, she emphasized that an honest dialogue could improve the relationship and prevent similar situations in the future.

Reddit Reacts

The Reddit community weighed in on the dilemma, rallying in support of the woman.

“There’s more to crafts than just junk. There are tools and other mediums that can be bought like adhesives, epoxy, canvas, etc. that can be bought new and given as a gift to show much you care.

“They did treat you like an afterthought, rummaged through their recycle bin and expect you to be grateful for it,” said one user.

“Exactly. And the audacity of the sister to call OP out. I wonder how grateful she’d be if she got nothing but trash ‘gifts’ each time,” said another user.

“I got you this lightly used napkin. Enjoy it in good health!” joked another Redditor.

Newsweek reached out to u/rosieqpfor comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.

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