Wedding planning, weddings themselves, and honeymoons have a way of bringing long-simmering family drama to the forefront. This drama isn't fun to experience firsthand, but it's excellent grist for the mill for anyone who appreciates some good drama.
One Redditor shared a recent wedding story, one that begins with a happy ceremony and ends with her sister-in-law getting exposed for being racist.
It's a doozy, so buckle up.
For context, OP's family is Middle Eastern, while her SIL is Caucasian.
"[SIL] was looking for a photographer that didn't bankrupt her so I suggested a friend of mine who's new in business and charged less than half because these things cost over €5K these days," wrote OP.
Everyone had a good time, the photographer did their job, and all was right with the world. For a day or two, at least.
OP saw a message that her SIL put in an iMessage chat. "[SIL] thanked [the photographer] but had a favor to ask him and wondered ... if he could take me off some photos because I'm too dark and ruined the color palette. Not all pictures. Just the ones [SIL's] in," wrote OP.
OP's SIL didn't reply.
"I took a screenshot and posted it on my Insta story tagging [SIL] in it," wrote OP. "She called my boyfriend crying her eyes out calling me [a jerk] for embarrassing her and ruining her honeymoon."
It's this assessment that gives OP pause, as she doesn't want her partner to think that she's being petty. So she turned the story over to the jury of Reddit to ask whether she was being a jerk or not.
The top comment, with a wild 41,200 upvotes, continues: "And while you're not likely to cure your sister-in-law, perhaps she will think twice before communicating such ugly thoughts in the future."
While OP's actions — publicly calling her SIL out on social media immediately after her wedding — might seem petty in a vacuum, context is everything. The fact that her sister in law made a racist comment was a totally unforced error on her part.
Considering the fact that her boyfriend's reaction was her whole reason for making the post, it's quite relevant here.
"OP should be just as angry at the boyfriend," one commenter pointed out. "It was his responsibility to immediately tell off his sister for this. His reaction is worse than questionable."
Some commenters noted that depending on lighting and a photographer's skill level, it can be difficult to work with different complexions. They argue that it's possible that OP's SIL was not being willfully racist.
Judging by the fact that the thread has been locked and there are many mod-deleted comments, it seems that things got heated for a time. But overall, the verdict is in: OP is not a jerk for publicly shaming a racist.
Let us know how you would have handled this, and what you think of OP's handling, in the comments section!
