Man asks if he was wrong for not defending wife during armed robbery, sparking debate

The saying, "Fortune favors the brave," is something that people should always remember in life. However, being brave is not the best idea in all kinds of situations, especially when in danger. In such times, one's intelligence and composure are more important than showing off courage. So, when a 33-year-old Reddit user and his 30-year-old wife were faced with armed robbers late at night, the man chose to succumb to the robbers' demands rather than try to fight them off. However, his wife was not so happy about it, which led to the man wondering if he was wrong not to protect her.

The husband and his wife decided to take a shortcut through a park while walking back home from their date night. Little did they know they would be in danger in such a "nice upper middle class" neighborhood. "We got approached by two guys who present what we believe are guns demanding our phones/wallets. We were totally caught by surprise and freaked out, so we handed everything over," he explained in his post. But that was not all. Those robbers asked the couple to strip down to their underwear as they would not believe them. After they left, the couple managed to call the police, who helped them cover up and file a report.

The husband was unsure if anything would come out of filing the police report and was quick to cancel all the cards in their wallets. But the problem was his wife became quite disturbed by the incident. "Obviously, she was upset and I wanted to give her space. But today, she confronts me, fuming that I didn't 'protect her.' It explodes into a big fight, but what am I supposed to do, fight two armed men to save us from walking down the street in our underwear and losing some cash?" he asked in his post. Wondering what his wife expected him to do, the man pointed out the robbers did not touch or physically hurt the couple. He sought the internet's help and got diverse opinions.

Many approved of the husband's response to the robbery, saying he did the right thing. "You both probably would have been shot and killed if you fought back. It happened to a family member of mine. You did the right thing," said u/Training_Mastodon_33. "As a woman, I would be upset if my husband tried to fight two men with guns. If anything happened to my husband, my life would be over. Material things are replaceable, but people are not," reassured u/Sufficient-Spray-986.

A few others validated the wife's anger, calling it a trauma response and suggested the couple take up therapy. "This is absolutely a trauma response. Not a doubt in my mind. Trauma affects everyone differently. It's really important to find some therapy help soon. And try not to take what your wife said personally," explained u/aparrotslifeforme. "I'm guessing that she's not upset about the wallets. If I were in your wife's position, I would 100% assume they were going to assault me when they demanded I take off my clothes. Therapy is probably necessary for you both," chimed in u/AffectionateTruth147.