People rally around wife who wants divorce after husband's pile of dirty dishes 'prank'

Marriage takes effort, from planning thoughtful surprises to simply showing appreciation for your partner. But for one woman on Reddit, u/Specialist-Ask-1719, her husband's idea of a "surprise" left her humiliated and questioning their future together. Another Reddit user, u/SharkEva, shared her story and invited others to weigh in on the situation.

The post was titled: "AITAH for screaming at my husband to get out after he pranked me with flowers?" The woman explained that her marriage was already on shaky ground, and she had even talked about divorce with her husband. "I told him I wanted some effort. I wanted flowers, chocolate, and a nicely written note—something that showed he wanted to romance me," she wrote. It seemed like her husband was finally ready to take her requests seriously.

"When I came home from a 12-hour shift yesterday, he had laid a trail of rose petals in our house. It was so beautiful. The trail ended at the kitchen sink where he had piled a bunch of dirty dishes, pots, and pans to clean. He said he got the idea from TikTok. I screamed at him to get out of my house. He left after arguing a bit," the woman wrote, adding how it drove her to tears. On one hand, some of her friends took her side but others defended her husband's actions by calling it playful. In an update to the story, the woman elaborated on what happened after her husband's failed attempt at showing romantic gestures.

"My husband came back home last night. I had cooled off and then he ruined it by saying I was overreacting, that it was funny, and he wanted to make me laugh. I told him I was going to file for divorce because it was the last straw," the update read. Her husband begged her to give him a second chance but she wasn't having any of it. "I work in the medical field while he is a blue-collar worker. Both of our jobs require long hours. He once said that I went through all that schooling just to get covered in blood. He took it back after but he wanted to make me feel low. He started doing that a bit after COVID-19 started," the woman mentioned.

She has been doing all the household chores as well and her husband does nothing to help her out. "I make more money. I bought our house at a low rate during COVID-19 because his credit was too low. I had to save the money for a down payment. I pay our mortgage. What did he contribute to my life? If I didn’t have him in my life, I would have clean floors all the time and more money. At least he could contribute love," the frustrated woman concluded.

She added towards the end that she is absolutely done with her husband's behavior this time and is going to file for divorce. The Reddit community came together to support her in her decision. u/throwaway34_4567 wrote: "She even said that she'll gain more peace, clean floors and dishes when she gets home from work and that's the most important thing she needs at the moment. A clean freaking house that she can walk into and sleep without having to think about cleaning someone else's mess." u/Working_Movie2027 added: "If you want a good laugh: of course, I kept the kid with me. I was a single parent even when married, so why would that change? Even so, he swore up and down that I was going to have to pay him child support. His skill of delusion has no bounds." 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 12, 2024. It has since been updated.