A woman has been praised for refusing to help her younger brother pack his suitcase—and letting him get arrested at the airport, in the hopes of teaching him a lesson.
There is certainly no love lost between Reddit user u/Interesting_Life_890 and her brother, according to her post. The woman wrote that she has been treated as "his servant since he was born." He is five years her junior and "has always been spoiled" by their parents, she added.
The woman relocated to Vancouver and was recently visited by her parents and brother. The family had an enjoyable time together, but the parents tried to resume their old habits by asking her to pack her brother's suitcase.
Since she was no longer under their roof, the woman felt that she "didn't have to follow their rules" and declined to help.
Without her help packing, however, the younger brother made a glaring error that got him into trouble at the airport.
"He got angry and just crammed his stuff in his bag," she wrote. "Fun fact about cannabis in Canada, each province sets their age limit for use. Next door in Alberta, you can buy alcohol and weed at 18. In my province, it's 19."
In Vancouver, adults are permitted to carry up to 30 grams of dried non-medical cannabis in public. But it is not permitted to be transported over the border, as the brother was attempting to do.
He was unaware of the restrictions and "got in trouble for not being careful," according to the woman's viral Reddit post.
Unfortunately, her parents are now angry with her because she didn't help pack his case.
"My parents are mad at me because I was so irresponsible to let him pack that in his luggage," she wrote. "My brother thinks I'm an a****** for not packing his luggage. And I actually feel quite badly about the idiot getting in trouble. He is a spoiled little jerk but I do love him."
Florence Romano, a childcare advocate and author who is herself the eldest child, admits that parenting can involve a lot of trial and error. She added that the Reddit user in this case has no reason to feel guilty.
"This situation is absolutely ridiculous," Romano told Newsweek. "The sister is clearly kind-hearted and didn't want to see her brother get into trouble, but I wish she would let herself off the hook from feeling any guilt.
"The brother is absolutely spoiled and he needs to grow up. His parents are enabling this entitled behavior and are a big part of the problem. Hopefully this is a lesson learned, on his behalf, about accountability."
Reddit readers agreed that the woman had done nothing wrong. Her post has racked up over 8,100 votes and more than 800 comments since it was shared on March 19.
One user posted: "I'm glad you set a boundary and stuck to it. Natural consequences for him and your parents."
Another wrote: "The brother should be thankful that [the original poster] finally taught him a valuable life lesson, that his parents failed to teach him."
Newsweek reached out to u/Interesting_Life_890 for comment via direct message. We could not verify the details of the case.
If you have a family dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
Update, 03/30/23, 11:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with replacement expert comment from Florence Romano.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Alyce Collins is a Newsweek Life and Trends reporter based in Birmingham, U.K. with a focus on trending topics that ... Read more
