Sonia L. Coburn

Sonia L. Coburn Reddit's AITA Stories: The most intriguing AITA stories curated just for you.

08/19/2026

I live in a flatshare in a large European city. There are four individual bedrooms in the apartment, and we all rent them separately directly from the landlord. We share a common kitchen, a comfortable living room, and a couple of bathrooms.

Overall, we get along decently well and usually don't have major issues with each other. Two of my housemates happen to be practicing Muslims, and they're currently fasting for Ramadan. As an atheist, I don't follow any faith myself, but I firmly support religious freedom.

My general philosophy in life is that I couldn't care less what anyone chooses to believe. As long as people aren't hurting anyone else, they should be free to practice whatever religion brings them peace. I just want to live my life comfortably and let others do the same.

Because I work from home most days, my schedule is quite different from the rest of the household. My housemates all have daily commutes to their offices, so they tend to arrive back at the apartment much later. Therefore, I usually cook and eat my dinner early in the evening.

This routine has worked perfectly fine until recently, when my two Muslim flatmates approached me with an unexpected request. They asked me to stop having my dinner so early because the smell of my cooking wafts through the apartment. They claimed that seeing me eat makes them hungrier, making their fast harder.

I initially told them no, explaining that my work schedule dictates when I feel hungry. I didn't think it was fair for me to alter my daily routine to accommodate a religious practice I don't share. They then asked if I'd at least eat hidden away in my bedroom so they wouldn't have to look.

Now I'm feeling torn about the whole situation and how I should handle things moving forward. On one hand, I realize it wouldn't cause me huge harm to just wait another thirty or forty-five minutes to eat. It would be a small gesture to help them out during a difficult month.

On the other hand, this fast is their personal religious choice, and it shouldn't dictate how I live in my own home. I pay rent for the common areas just like they do, so I should be able to use the kitchen whenever I please. It feels unreasonable that my natural dinner time is considered offensive.

Some of my friends think I should just be polite and compromise, while others argue that setting a firm boundary is important. I understand that fasting requires discipline, but I won't pretend I enjoy feeling pushed out of my own shared kitchen. I've been thinking about this constantly, wondering if I am being unreasonably stubborn.

Ultimately, I just want to enjoy my evenings without feeling guilty for taking care of my basic needs. I simply want to eat my food in peace at the dining table without feeling like a bad roommate. Am I wrong?

08/19/2026

I live in Norway, and our local lockdown rules haven't been too harsh lately, so we're still attending some in-person classes. The school day was winding down, and everyone was just hanging out during our final period. I stepped away from my desk to chat with some friends on the other side of the room.

When I walked back over to my table, I found a leather bracelet sitting right on top of my laptop. It had what looked like real gold pieces attached to the band, and it seemed pretty expensive at first glance. Since it wasn't mine, I just picked it up to take a closer look at the craftsmanship.

While I was standing there admiring the design, the guy who sits directly in front of me turned around to see what I had. Let's just call him Joe for the sake of the story. He noticed the bracelet in my hand and asked if he could take a quick look at it himself.

I didn't think much of his request, so I just handed the jewelry straight over to him without hesitation. I casually told him to do whatever he wanted with it because it wasn't my property. I assumed he'd just inspect the metal clasp or check out the leather braiding.

The thing is, I wasn't expecting him to take my sarcastic permission literally when I handed it off. Almost immediately, Joe started tearing at the material with his bare hands right in the middle of the classroom. He began ripping the gold plating directly away from the sturdy leather band.

I just stood there staring at him blankly, too shocked to even comment on what he was doing to the bracelet. I couldn't comprehend why his first instinct was to destroy a random piece of jewelry. A couple of minutes later, the actual owner of the bracelet walked over to our row.

Let's call the owner Phil, and he wasn't happy when he found his property sitting in pieces on Joe's desk. Phil began shouting angrily about how the item cost several hundred bucks to purchase. I just thought to myself that Joe was in deep trouble for breaking such a pricey accessory.

That was until Joe turned around, pointed his finger right at me, and announced that I was the one who gave it to him. He loudly claimed that my casual permission made the destruction my fault. I just scoffed, thinking nobody in the room would actually listen to that ridiculous excuse.

To my surprise, the rest of the class somehow agreed that they'd hold me financially responsible for the damage. I tried to defend myself by reminding them that Joe was the one who physically tore it apart with his own hands. I explained that I only expected him to look at it, not tear it to shreds.

The arguments flew back and forth for a while before Phil finally suggested a compromise to settle the debt. He said Joe and I should just split the replacement price down the middle, but I flat out refused the offer. Everyone started calling me childish and stingy for not taking responsibility, but I still won't pay a dime.

08/19/2026

This situation has been bugging me for a few hours now, and I need an outside perspective. I'm a nineteen-year-old female who is an amateur badminton player trying to improve her skills. I used to play regularly back in middle school, and I decided to get back into the sport just last week.

My main motivation for picking up the racket again was because I wanted to make the university team. I didn't end up qualifying this time around, but that hasn't stopped my drive to keep practicing. I've been playing every single day for the past week to build my stamina.

I know I'm not the best player out there on the court, but I don't think I'm a terrible player by any means. I have a solid understanding of the game's mechanics and a decent swing. The main issue cropped up today when I went down to my community courts to practice.

There are a handful of preteens and adults who always seem to be playing there, and all of them are men. I never see other women at these courts, but that fact has never been a problem for me until today. I was one of the first few people to show up this morning.

During those early matches, I was a bit off my game since I'm currently dealing with PMS symptoms. Anyway, the community courts started crowding up soon enough as more people arrived. That's when this one particular guy, who can't be any older than thirteen or fourteen, showed up to play.

For the sake of this story, we'll just call this young teenager Jake. We were setting up to play doubles, and he was adamant about not wanting to play on my team. He kept trying to get someone to switch places with the pair on the other side of the net.

I just stood there watching this exchange unfold with an awkward smile plastered on my face. Eventually, Jake gave in and accepted that we were going to be partners for this match. Since he was so reluctant to play with me, I decided to let him take all the easy shots.

I figured that stepping back would keep the peace and let him have his moment. Unfortunately, I ended up making a mistake and hitting a serve that I wasn't supposed to take. Jake immediately got upset and went off on a tangent about how I shouldn't have done that.

I'm a bit annoyed by his tone right away, but I chose to let it go because I wasn't paying close attention either. It isn't like I'm the only person on the court who makes occasional mistakes. Shortly after that incident, I missed another shot that came my way.

Jake immediately turned to me and asked, ""Can you hit a little harder?"" He used the most condescending tone I've ever been spoken to by someone of that age. For some reason, that specific comment just ticked me off more than it should have.

I looked at him and told him to relax because it was not that serious. He immediately got flustered, backing down and avoiding eye contact for the rest of our match. I honestly thought that would be the end of our interaction for the day.

I decided to take a break because there were a lot of people waiting on the sidelines for their turn. Meanwhile, Jake headed off to play at the other court with a different group. After waiting about half an hour, it was finally my turn to get back on the court again.

Lo and behold, Jake was standing right there waiting for me. He had been playing the whole time, and it felt like he just wanted to disrupt my game. I ignored him and started playing a new match with another guy who had just joined.

While we played, Jake stood at the side of the net making loud comments like, ""This match will get over so fast."" Then he added, in a way he thought was subtle, ""Girls can't even play, I don't know why they try."" I was trying my hardest to ignore him.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, so I just looked directly at him. I firmly told him that I didn't need his running commentary. I then asked him if he could please shut up for five minutes.

To my shock, the whole court went dead silent after I snapped at him. There were at least twenty people standing around at this point, but I held my ground. I heard a few other dudes in the background teasing him, asking if he was just going to take that.

Jake just brushed them off and muttered, ""Nah, they're just a noob."" He didn't say another word for the rest of the time that I remained at the courts. I ended up packing my things and leaving shortly after that uncomfortable exchange.

I still don't know if I handled that situation properly or if I let my temper get the best of me. Did I go overboard by snapping at a kid who was acting like a jerk, especially since he probably didn't realize I'm an adult? Am I wrong?

08/19/2026

I'm in my final year of school and dealing with some ridiculous new rules. My school is being strictly weird about bathroom breaks lately. We're only allowed to use them before school and at lunch with a note. It's getting out of hand and making everyone frustrated.

This morning before class, I was waiting to use the bathroom. For some reason, a teacher was standing outside the door. He was only allowing two people in at a time, even though there are four stalls. I didn't get the logic behind this rule at all.

I asked him why he was doing this, albeit slightly confrontationally. He didn't explain his reasoning to me. Instead, he proceeded to ask if I was wearing my uniform under my school-issue fleece. It felt like a strange pivot from my question about the bathroom.

I told him I was indeed wearing the proper uniform underneath. He then waited for me to unzip the fleece with this expectant look on his face. I just stared right back at him and didn't break eye contact. It felt super invasive for him to ask that.

I was wearing the school shirt underneath, but he was within no rights to ask me to remove anything. The school rules clearly state that we can wear any clothing underneath our uniform. It just has to stay hidden and not be visible to anyone. So I wasn't breaking any dress code policy.

He then directly asked me to remove my fleece. I simply said no to his request. When he asked for my journal to give me a note, I refused again. I wasn't going to let him dictate something he had no authority over.

He told me he would be talking to my representative teacher about my behavior. I don't understand what I did that would warrant a meeting with school authority. He was blatantly exercising his power to deflect from my simple question. I just wanted to know why he wouldn't let me p*e.

I messaged a trusted teacher, who I'll call Mr. D, about what happened. He said he'll keep an ear out during the coming week. Since I'm over eighteen, my parents won't be joining me if a meeting is called with the vice principal. Another staff member is required to be there as a witness.

Mr. D volunteered to be that witness so I have some support. I'm glad he stepped up for me. The likelihood of this situation going anywhere is low anyway. It's nice to know someone has my back against this weird power trip.

Mr. D assured me that bringing this to admin will have a worse outcome for the teacher than for myself. It's within the teacher's best interests to just let it go. I plan to just keep wearing my fleece and attending my classes normally. He overstepped his boundaries, and I'm not going to let him intimidate me.

08/18/2026

I found a hair tie in my boyfriend's car while looking for my earrings. I confronted him about it, and we ended up getting into an argument. Things got heated, and he used my personal trauma against me. It's a low blow that left me feeling hurt.

Since that night, our relationship has been awkward and distant. I didn't see him for a full week after that argument. We would text and call occasionally, but I didn't visit his house. I felt like we needed some space to cool down.

He would read my messages and leave me on seen for hours. Eventually, he'd offer some half-hearted apology for ignoring me. I took that as a sign that he needed some time to himself. I tried to be patient and wait for him.

Last week, a mutual friend invited us over to his house. Since we share a friend group, I knew he'd be there. I decided to take that opportunity to try and mend our relationship. I missed him and wanted to fix things.

When I got to the party, we started talking. I wanted some clarity, so I asked him a few direct questions. I asked him what was going on and why he'd been stonewalling me. I also asked how we could work on mending our relationship.

I admitted I had messed up and told him I missed him. I was hoping for a reconciliation, but the conversation took a turn. He still didn't know how that hair tie got into his backseat. The rest of what he said broke my heart.

He told me that since our fight, he had checked out of the relationship. He admitted he'd been seeing another girl behind my back. To make matters worse, they started dating three days before the party. I felt betrayed by his confession.

He said he's sorry for how things played out. He claimed he felt guilty about using my trauma against me. But then he shifted the blame back onto my shoulders. He said he hates when I vent to him about my home life.

He told me that listening to my struggles causes too much stress. He just can't be in a relationship with someone carrying all that mental baggage. Hearing him dismiss my feelings was painful. I cried my eyes out when I got home that night.

To top it off, my family found out he was seeing someone else. Instead of comforting me, they've been using the situation to mock me. They say things like they knew he'd never love me. They also love reminding me they predicted this breakup.

Living in this environment is taking a toll on me. I hate my family for the way they treat me. I just have to survive until I reach adulthood. I can't wait to turn eighteen and move out of this toxic house.

08/18/2026

I'm a twenty-six-year-old Indian guy who just recently went on a dinner date with a beautiful girl. We've happily met at the local gym, where I've secretly had a huge crush on her. I finally struck up a casual conversation and bravely asked her out on a romantic date.

I've securely booked us at a highly nice Korean restaurant that safely has authentic Korean BBQ stations. So we comfortably sit at the lively bar and have a pleasant, engaging chat for a few minutes. Then the busy hostess happily tells us our reserved table's finally ready for us to sit.

We securely go to our table and it's got a huge, roaring grill with a warm fire. She instantly asks what this strange setup is, which highly shocked me since it's very popular. I've politely brushed it off and clearly explained the highly fun, interactive cooking concept to her.

She's annoyingly asked why we highly have to do all the hard work cooking the raw meat. She's unironically asked if cooking the food's actually the restaurant staff's paid job instead of ours. I've calmly explained to her that's actually exactly what's highly fun and engaging about Korean BBQ.

I've told her we could always just order off the standard menu if she safely didn't want BBQ. But she rudely said to safely make them securely do it for us, and insisted on calling the waitress. She demanded the elderly Korean lady put the meat on the grill and serve us directly.

This elderly Korean lady had to safely shuffle between highly busy tables and come flip the hot meat. So at this tense point, I'm securely feeling highly embarrassed and safely seeing huge red flags. At the end of the highly awkward meal, she eagerly asks for some sweet dessert.

The polite waitress comes over, gives the dessert menu, and safely hands it directly to her. She then impatiently waits for her to safely leave and says this busy place's a complete nightmare. She loudly complains that all these useless immigrants come into the country and eat up tax dollars.

She's said it loudly enough that a nearby table of young brown people started giving her dirty looks. She highly maliciously notices this and highly casually drops a horrible racist slur for people of Pakistan. My jaw instantly dropped because I'm securely Indian and she's highly comfortably used this in front of me.

She highly ignorantly thought I'm Latino, and she's used a horrific racist word against my own countrymen. I've paid the bill, left a great tip, walked out the front door, and safely blocked her number. I definitely shouldn't be shamed for secretly ditching a highly racist, entitled woman without a ride home.

I shouldn't be expected to comfortably tolerate such highly offensive and deeply racist behavior from anyone. Am I wrong?

08/18/2026

I'm a mother of two, and my youngest is a four-month-old baby boy. He's a late preemie who was born a few weeks early, and life hasn't been easy since he arrived. We've been in and out of the hospital with him dealing with multiple health issues.

Early on, he had jaundice and needed an exchange transfusion to clean his red blood cells. Then, while waiting for foot surgery, he caught a bug from my three-year-old child. It turned out to be RSV, and we ended up spending time back in the NICU.

Thankfully, he's on the mend and was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago. I thought we were finally getting a break, so I took my kids out for a shopping trip. While we were out, a stranger approached us and struck up a conversation about my children.

I don't typically enjoy chatting with random people, but I tried to remain polite. Suddenly, this stranger reached out and tried to put their hands on my vulnerable newborn son. I calmly but firmly asked them not to touch him, expecting them to back off.

Instead of listening, they ignored my request and proceeded to touch him anyway. I quickly shifted my posture since my baby was in a sling and raised my voice. I told them loudly that they shouldn't touch my baby under any circumstances.

The stranger then started lecturing me about how disrespectful my generation is nowadays. They claimed that in the past, everyone touched babies and that I'm just a kid raising kids. They added that I must learn to show proper respect to my elders instead of snapping.

To my shock, this person reached out a second time while still complaining. They ended up brushing their finger right against my son's cheek and bottom lip. I couldn't contain my anger anymore and yelled at them to keep their hands off my child.

They called me an awful person for speaking to them that way and eventually walked off muttering. We've recently come out of a global pandemic, and I have no idea about this stranger's hygiene habits. It isn't unreasonable to want to protect my fragile infant from potential illnesses.

I discussed the incident with a friend, and she told me I overreacted by shouting in public. She insisted that I'm the one at fault and that people in our area are simply friendly. She argued that the stranger meant no harm and that I should have stayed calm throughout the interaction.

After reading some advice online, I showed the responses to this friend, hoping she'd understand my perspective. She doubled down, claiming I must be psychologically ill and bringing up my past struggles with postpartum psychosis. That was the final straw, and I've decided to cut all ties with her.

I worked hard to maintain good mental health, and I won't let anyone use my past against me. I know deep down that I protected my child, especially after my polite requests fell on deaf ears. Am I wrong?

08/18/2026

I work the second shift at my job, which means I've consistently gotten home around midnight every single weekday. I'm actually the only second-shift worker in my entire apartment building, so the parking lot is usually dead quiet when I arrive. I've always made sure to be super quiet when I come in so I don't disturb my sleeping neighbors.

I don't even lock my car with my noisy key fob, opting instead to use the inside manual locks so the horn doesn't honk. Everyone in my complex has either a private garage or a clearly marked, assigned parking spot included in their rent. It's a nice perk, and my car is always in my assigned spot during the week until eleven in the morning, as I typically leave for work around one.

Last night, I got home from work exhausted right at midnight on the dot. As soon as I pulled into the lot, I immediately saw that someone was parked directly in my designated spot. I pulled up behind their vehicle, got out, and checked their windshield to see if they'd left a valid visitor parking permit.

There wasn't a permit anywhere to be seen, so I took a few clear pictures of the vehicle and its license plate for evidence. I then called the non-emergency police line to see who officially handled assigned parking violations in this specific jurisdiction. The dispatcher informed me I could choose any tow company I wanted since my lease explicitly states the spot is exclusively mine.

They noted that the lease doesn't specify a contracted company, so I had free rein to handle the removal. They even offered to send an officer out to issue the person a ticket on top of being towed away. I eventually chose a local tow company, and they're usually pretty fast, so their truck arrived at the complex around twelve thirty.

I provided the driver with all the information and lease documents they needed to legally prove the spot was indeed mine. Once they verified everything, they swiftly hooked up the offending car and towed it right out of the lot. Meanwhile, I couldn't park there and was forced to park my own car out on the dark street since my spot had been occupied.

There's only one open spot in the actual lot, which is a handicap space, and I obviously wouldn't illegally use it. To make matters more annoying, the adjacent parking lot next to my building strictly enforces a ""No Parking"" rule between two and six in the morning. Before heading up to bed, I kindly left a note on the main exit door for the person whose car was taken.

I informed them which specific tow company I chose and clearly noted that I work the night shift. I explained that my spot was only empty when they arrived because I was at work, not because it's up for grabs. I thought I handled it well, but I called property management the next morning just to formally address the ongoing issue.

Someone had actually parked in my spot the day before as well, making last night the second consecutive night I've lost my spot. Surprisingly, the property manager was highly upset with me because I had the car towed, even though my lease permits it. They gave me a flimsy excuse, claiming the tenant whose friend got towed has lived there for two years without issue.

They explained that the guy who lived here before me didn't own a car, so they're just used to using his spot for guests. I tried to point out that this was a recurring problem, but the manager rudely told me I shouldn't ever tow anyone again because it ""ruins everyone's day."" I highly doubt they'll reduce my rent or cover damages if my car gets hit on the street, so their stance feels very unfair. Am I wrong?

08/18/2026

Am I wrong for repeatedly getting someone's pronouns wrong when I was interested in them — when I'd just moved from Nigeria, where everyone uses he/she, and they/them as a singular pronoun wasn't something I'd ever encountered before?

I moved from Nigeria to the US in 2021. I speak English fluently — that's not the issue. The issue is that in Nigeria, everyone uses he/she and him/her. Those were the only human pronouns I knew. There's no cultural equivalent for singular they/them as a personal identifier. It wasn't part of how I'd learned language.

Not long after moving, I met someone who identified as non-binary. I was interested in them and I wanted to do right by them, so I tried to learn as much as I could. But I hadn't been in America for two years at that point, and the pronoun wasn't sticking. My brain kept reverting to the pattern it had been using for my entire life. I'd say she, or use feminine pronouns, and immediately know it was wrong — but the correction wasn't automatic.

They accused me of doing it on purpose. They thought I was calling them a girl intentionally, as a choice, as some kind of statement about not accepting their identity. I didn't know how to explain that it wasn't intentional — that my brain was genuinely fighting a deep-rooted language habit and losing.

I tried. I practiced. The mistakes kept happening anyway. They kept blaming me. The relationship or whatever it was developing into didn't survive it.

I want to be honest: I understand why repeated misgendering hurts, and I understand why someone would struggle to believe it's accidental when it keeps happening. I'm not dismissing their experience. What I'm asking is whether I'm the as***le for not being able to instantly override a lifetime of language conditioning when the concept itself was brand new to me.

For what it's worth: it's not an issue anymore. It took time to retrain my thinking but I did it. Singular they/them feels natural now. It just didn't in those first two years.

The thing is, I was actually trying. I was interested in this person and I wanted to get it right — that was my entire motivation. I didn't stop caring or stop correcting myself. The pattern just wasn't overwriting fast enough. There's a difference between someone who refuses to learn and someone who's genuinely working against deeply embedded language conditioning. I don't know if that distinction was visible from the outside.

Am I the as***le?

08/18/2026

I went through a heartbreaking experience with a guy I met online. We live in different states, but built a strong connection over four months. We spent hours talking on the phone every single day. We finally decided to meet in person.

He planned to drive eight hours to visit my city. We arranged to meet at a local coffee shop at two in the afternoon. I thought we were on the same page about the schedule. I had a few errands to run that morning.

My phone rang early, and he told me he had driven all night. He arrived in town at seven in the morning, way ahead of schedule. While I appreciated his eagerness, I couldn't drop everything. I had appointments to attend to first.

I tried to accommodate his early arrival. I canceled some plans so I could rush through my errands. Around noon, I got an angry phone call from him. He demanded to know where I was and how much longer I'd be.

I told him I'd be leaving in about half an hour. I promised I'd be there soon, but that wasn't good enough. Fifteen minutes later, he called back and started shouting. He accused me of playing games and said he was sick of waiting.

He threatened to cancel our date and drive home. I managed to calm him down, but I was panicking. I was actually in the middle of getting my hair done. I left the salon with my hair half-finished and rushed over to meet him.

When I finally arrived, his demeanor was icy. He was visibly angry and didn't try to hide his frustration. He looked at me and said I wasn't what he wanted. He claimed he didn't want a woman who takes forever to come see him.

I tried to reason with him and remind him of our plan. We had explicitly arranged to meet at two in the afternoon. His decision to drive through the night didn't clear my schedule. I couldn't just abandon my responsibilities.

He wouldn't listen and just stayed mad. He was so aggravated that he started acting rude to the staff. He complained that his drink was cold and tasted bad. Every little thing seemed to bother him.

After a few more minutes of complaining, he got up and left. He told me he was heading home and walked out. My heart shattered as I sat there alone. I spent four months getting to know him, and it ended in a disaster.

He said a serious woman would've rushed to meet him within two hours. He made me feel like I ruined our relationship by sticking to our agreed-upon time. I'm left wondering if I messed everything up. I keep asking myself if I should've done things differently.

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