“Prankster” Son Tries To Get Housekeeper Fired By Sneaking His Mom’s Jewelry Into Her Purse, Dad Is Outraged The Mom Called Him Out For It
Pranks are a very divisive issue. Some people love ‘em, some people hate ‘em, some see pranksters as bullies in disguise. We think some joking about is fine up to a certain point—so long as the person don’t overstep certain boundaries. Unfortunately, not all pranksters understand that there are limits. Some even go as far as putting someone else’s job in danger.
One mom turned to the AITA subreddit to hear their advice after she got herself involved in a very messy situation at home. Her prankster son tried to get their housekeeper fired by sneaking in his mom’s jewelry into her purse and telling her about it. However, things took an unexpected turn when the mom realized what actually happened.
Scroll down for the full story to uncover how both parents reacted to jewelry ‘theft.’ When you’re done, let us know in the comments what you think and what you would have done if you were one of the parents in this story.
Bored Panda reached out to comedy writer, aspiring pop star, and single mom Ariane Sherine from London for a few comments about the story. “The limits to pranking are when the prank could get yourself or someone else in serious trouble. In this instance, the housekeeper could have gotten a criminal record and been unable to get further work. Housekeepers earn so little as it is that this is seriously irresponsible verging on criminal,” she told us.
A housekeeper found herself being accused of stealing jewelry one day
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
Here’s the full story about what happened and how the son of the homeowners was involved
Image credits: Ivan Radic (not the actual photo)
Image credits: number64745834
Bored Panda asked comedy writer Ariane for her take on whether the mom should feel at all guilty for siding with the housekeeper. “Hell no. This boy had a track record of doing similar things and 16 is more than old enough to know better, so to side with him would have been foolish and meant the mom was in denial. Sure, if he hadn’t had form for pulling these stunts, that would have been different, but not in this case,” she shared her opinion with us.
In Ariane’s view, parents need to make the consequences of their kids’ actions very clear to them. “I think explaining the potential consequences of their actions and how serious they could have been is a given, but as this boy was 16 and still doesn’t understand right from wrong I don’t have high hopes for him,” she said. Keep an eye out for Ariane’s debut album, BITTER, which she plans to release later this year.
Redditor u/number64745834’s story got over 25.2k upvotes on the AITA subreddit. Most internet users thought that the mom did the right thing by siding with the housekeeper instead of her son in this case.
In their opinion, just because someone’s family doesn’t automatically make them a saint. Certain boundaries need to be set. Mean-spirited pranks need to be put to rest. Otherwise, what’s the limit, then? How far would the son have to go in order for the parents to finally step in?
Relationship coach Alex Scot explained to Bored Panda during an earlier interview how it is “extremely important” that we have boundaries set up. It’s vital that we have them even with our loved ones.
“Without them, we live our lives at the expense of ourselves. The mindset for many when it comes to setting boundaries is that they feel selfish, so they avoid doing it altogether,” she told us.
“This only causes resentment to build and overwhelm to set in both within the individual and the relationship as a whole. Boundaries are there for us to be able to take care of and to protect ourselves so that we can show up and operate within our lives as successfully as possible.”
However, she noted that we should aim to have flexible boundaries instead of strict ones when dealing with our loved ones. Boundaries that are too strict are unsustainable. We have to be willing to compromise when it comes to our family members.
Many internet users were appalled by what the son did. Here’s what they had to say about the entire messy situation
Can we stop calling an a-hole being a prankster? A prank is putting a plastic spider in your cup so when you grab it and look into it you're startled for a second. Touching a stranger's personal belongings (especially her money) who is in your house to work is criminal. Trying to make her look like a thief is even more so, and morally abhorrent. As the housekeeper I would've quit at the first incident and would've told my agency to blacklist this family because anyone working there will be in danger.
I completely agree with you. This boy, quickly nearing adulthood, has some serious personality issues, possibly disorders, and has been playing dangerous games with innocent peoples lives. There's no pranking involved any longer and may never have been, really prank based, but more malicious in nature the entire time. He has some serious malevolent attention seeking behaviors. When you can cause chaos and destruction to a person's life and livelihood, it's particularly dangerous for anyone around him. I don't believe he has any respect for anyone around him and everyone is fair game for his entertainment. He's a disgusting individual and needs psychological intervention immediately. Although it's a little late in the game, one could hope for some kind of understanding of his behaviors and possibilities of help.
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I own a cleaning business myself. I would never tolerate this type of bullying. The first time this behavior happened would be the last. This is a dysfunctional family. They need to get their s**t together. Situations like this only escalate with time.
A prank results in both prankster and pranked person laughing. THis is malicious vindictive crap.
Pulled on a person who can't respond in kind, who has the fewest resources, the most vulnerable person he knows. They've raised a monster.
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Prankster my ASS!!! That poor woman must really, really, really need that job with these absolutely nightmarish people or she would have left long ago. Your son is a psychopath and your husband an elitist monster, who probably both view the housekeeper as expendable subhuman who only exists to serve and/or amuse them. I would be absolutely crushed to have such pos as immediate family, how can you live in the same house like then. And a good housekeeper is worth a treasure.
Pretty telling that her framing of the first incident was "the housekeeper might quit and we don't want that". She only sees the issue as how it could affect HER, not in terms of right and wrong, or the impacts on others. Typical asshole thinking. It's not all about YOU.
The son isn’t a prankster - he is seriously messed up with a complete lack of empathy. He needs help today. His father is the same.
the fact that OP keeps referring to them as pranks and her son a prankster when clearly he is an asshole and grammar and the ridiculous part about the Dad saying she should believe her son over the house keeper and he being a bad mom makes me think this is bullshit or that the son wrote it hoping people will say his mum is an asshole it does read as something a spoilt kid would write
I see pranksters as bullies period. No "in disguise" about it. I hate pranks and pranksters with the heat of a thousand suns. Especially the ones who double down when they realize they're pissing you off because they think it's funny. They're assholes who have no respect for anyone.
NTA your son is the asshole and so is your husband. People are trying to do their job and make a living without having to deal with a spoiled brats antics. Your son needs to be smacked.
Give the housekeeper a secure place to keep her personal belongings while she is in your home. Throwing her purse and hiding her wallet are both egregious, the kid in question is old enough to know better - there should have been immediate consequences at that point. If I did that to a serviceperson, my parents would have separated me from every privilege imaginable. Might seem excessive to lock up your jewelry, but your kid is clearly not respecting your boundaries if they're going through your stuff.
That is a huge accusation. I would quit and never come back but at this point the son has become a huge liability. Imagine if the cops had gotten involved and the legal mess this would result in. These aren't pranks, these aren't jokes, these are becoming potentially serious crimes. I don't think worrying about the father's reaction is the thing to worry about here.
Your housekeeper should quit immediately, I wouldn't work in that house, the son obviously has something against her, maybe he'll claim sexual harassment and get her into real trouble. What the parents should do is pay the housekeeper her usual wages without having her come to the house, and let the son do her work.
NTA. You did believe yours son first, but then found out the truth. Your son lied, attempted to get someone into trouble with the police and lose their job (thieving jewellery only has one ending, and he knew it). I'd have thanked the kid who told you your son was lying, and thank his mother for raising a proper child. Then i'd take everything off of my son, grounded for a year, no TV, phone, laptop only for homework, i'd remove the door off his room so he can feel what a lack of privacy in jail feels like, no allowance, no car, no outings. Nada. He'll have a whole new list of chores to do daily which will basically be doing the cleaning lady's job for her - all while still paying her the properly due wage (if she even agreed to stay after this). Then i'd tear into my husband for enabling our son to be this level of an A-hole. Both the males in this story need to grow the fuc* up. I feel bad for the mother, now she has two idiot males to raise.
The biggest mistakes that parents can make is unconditionally believing their children. Children will lie and some of them will even lie when they whistle. The only children that don't lie are those who are sleeping and dreaming of new lies.
A prank is when you put shaving cream in someone's hand while they are sleeping and then tickle their nose so that they rub the shaving cream on their face, this just sounds like the son is abusing the help. If I was the housekeeper, I would just quit and tell people not to work at this house because the employer can't control their kids. Jeremy is a bully and the dad is enabling him.
His father is a gaslighting narcissist, no surprise
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ETA This "prankster" needs to face consequences of this and should have been held responsible for each so-called prank. If I were the cleaner, I would've quit the first time. She really needs the money or she'd be gone. She should leave her purse at home next time. Hubby sounds like an AH for believing this degenerate son!!!
Both the son and father are disgusting. That poor cleaner having to deal with these people. That boy needs serious parenting and the father is just a pretentious ass hat.
YOUR SON IS A SOCIOPATH. IN THE FUTURE HE WILL PULL ANIMALS APART FOR KICKS.
"It was just a joke" / "I was only joking" has become the favoured excuse of AHs everywhere. That's always the excuse. These aren't pranks, and both the parents (especially the father) are in denial. Their son is a bully. A bully who is going to get into real trouble if they don't reign him in ASAP. Should have been done years ago and honestly, it might be too late by this point. Want to bet he bullies kids at school too?
Jeremy is not a "prankster" he's dangerous. I guess it's q prank when he removes his condoms without consent or messes with a woman's birth control? Feel very sorry for some of these parents.
Jeremy has zero fear of consequences or punishment. Not a prank at all, it’s his get out of jail card. He has no fear and that’s the issue. He wants to play big boy games and ruin people then act like a kid. This boy needs an ass whooping from his Father. It’s not abuse, it’s a lesson. When he’s away from home and pulls this on his roommates he won’t get the daddy defense. Conniving, selfish, and flat out horrible. I feel bad for any future partner he has.
FTS and your husband too!!! "Not being a good parent" my ass!!! How dare he have that attitude!!! NTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Putting someone’s liberty and living at risk isn’t a prank. It’s cruel, nasty and vile. They don’t deserve their employee. Worst bosses ever
Your son is a horrible, spoiled entitled brat, who is way too close to adulthood to still have no idea how his actions can adversely affect others. Or maybe like his father, he just doesn't care. Or maybe he and his father just totally disrespect women in general. I fear it's too late to fix assuming that you're not about to leave your marriage.
I really hope you have the house keeper a raise and/or severance package because that's bullshit. Your sons a bully.
Yes, you suck massive amounts of ass, you married a monster and together you raised a monster.
A bit off topic. But I am just so tired of seeing these stories on BP just few weeks after I have read the original story on Reddit. If it was only once in a while, I'd just smh and let it go, but at this point it's almost every other day I see an obvious copy of a recent Reddit post here. Why? Whyyy?? Please Bored Panda, don't do this. It devalues your otherwise rather good name and brand. You can do so much better. Fewer posts that are original will be much more appreciated. All the many people who browse both Reddit and BP (and that's a lot), will recognise a copied post immediately and all right react the same: "*eyeroll* arghh... c'mon BP?"
If you go to dumpaday, you can see all the pictures that were on bored panda last week 🤷♀️ stuff gets repeated
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Need to kick the toxic husband out and "beat" (not literally) some manners into the kid.
One possibility no one mentioned: Suppose OP had called the police and the housekeeper asked them to fingerprint the jewelry. It would have been very interesting when her prints weren't on it and the kid's were.
What stunned me was the complete and total nastiness of this kid. Messing with someone's livelihood, especially now, is pure evil. Of course, he was showing off in front of his friends, doing this "prank". At least one of them was mature enough to stand up to him, but if he's the leader of this group, they're going to get worse and worse, and as one commenter said, in the future it's going to be bailing him out for a worse crime.
You're the AH but not for believing the housekeeper. Then kid got in trouble for harassing the housekeeper because you didn't want her to quit. Not because she is a human being who should be treated with respect. You raised an AH.
She returned home BECAUSE of the call, kinda weird. Prankster would have let it 'play out' A) housekeeper finds the jewelry and is baffled by how it got in there. Or B) See if Mom notices her pieces gone from the jewelry box (leave the housekeeper out of it) and reveal the jewelry's hidden location. Jerk move looks like this, tons of drama from all sides.
There was a witness. Just because you supposedly got robbed by a housekeeper doesn't mean they are all guilty.
Load More Replies... Can we stop calling an a-hole being a prankster? A prank is putting a plastic spider in your cup so when you grab it and look into it you're startled for a second. Touching a stranger's personal belongings (especially her money) who is in your house to work is criminal. Trying to make her look like a thief is even more so, and morally abhorrent. As the housekeeper I would've quit at the first incident and would've told my agency to blacklist this family because anyone working there will be in danger.
I completely agree with you. This boy, quickly nearing adulthood, has some serious personality issues, possibly disorders, and has been playing dangerous games with innocent peoples lives. There's no pranking involved any longer and may never have been, really prank based, but more malicious in nature the entire time. He has some serious malevolent attention seeking behaviors. When you can cause chaos and destruction to a person's life and livelihood, it's particularly dangerous for anyone around him. I don't believe he has any respect for anyone around him and everyone is fair game for his entertainment. He's a disgusting individual and needs psychological intervention immediately. Although it's a little late in the game, one could hope for some kind of understanding of his behaviors and possibilities of help.
Load More Replies... I own a cleaning business myself. I would never tolerate this type of bullying. The first time this behavior happened would be the last. This is a dysfunctional family. They need to get their s**t together. Situations like this only escalate with time.
A prank results in both prankster and pranked person laughing. THis is malicious vindictive crap.
Pulled on a person who can't respond in kind, who has the fewest resources, the most vulnerable person he knows. They've raised a monster.
Load More Replies... Prankster my ASS!!! That poor woman must really, really, really need that job with these absolutely nightmarish people or she would have left long ago. Your son is a psychopath and your husband an elitist monster, who probably both view the housekeeper as expendable subhuman who only exists to serve and/or amuse them. I would be absolutely crushed to have such pos as immediate family, how can you live in the same house like then. And a good housekeeper is worth a treasure.
Pretty telling that her framing of the first incident was "the housekeeper might quit and we don't want that". She only sees the issue as how it could affect HER, not in terms of right and wrong, or the impacts on others. Typical asshole thinking. It's not all about YOU.
The son isn’t a prankster - he is seriously messed up with a complete lack of empathy. He needs help today. His father is the same.
the fact that OP keeps referring to them as pranks and her son a prankster when clearly he is an asshole and grammar and the ridiculous part about the Dad saying she should believe her son over the house keeper and he being a bad mom makes me think this is bullshit or that the son wrote it hoping people will say his mum is an asshole it does read as something a spoilt kid would write
I see pranksters as bullies period. No "in disguise" about it. I hate pranks and pranksters with the heat of a thousand suns. Especially the ones who double down when they realize they're pissing you off because they think it's funny. They're assholes who have no respect for anyone.
NTA your son is the asshole and so is your husband. People are trying to do their job and make a living without having to deal with a spoiled brats antics. Your son needs to be smacked.
Give the housekeeper a secure place to keep her personal belongings while she is in your home. Throwing her purse and hiding her wallet are both egregious, the kid in question is old enough to know better - there should have been immediate consequences at that point. If I did that to a serviceperson, my parents would have separated me from every privilege imaginable. Might seem excessive to lock up your jewelry, but your kid is clearly not respecting your boundaries if they're going through your stuff.
That is a huge accusation. I would quit and never come back but at this point the son has become a huge liability. Imagine if the cops had gotten involved and the legal mess this would result in. These aren't pranks, these aren't jokes, these are becoming potentially serious crimes. I don't think worrying about the father's reaction is the thing to worry about here.
Your housekeeper should quit immediately, I wouldn't work in that house, the son obviously has something against her, maybe he'll claim sexual harassment and get her into real trouble. What the parents should do is pay the housekeeper her usual wages without having her come to the house, and let the son do her work.
NTA. You did believe yours son first, but then found out the truth. Your son lied, attempted to get someone into trouble with the police and lose their job (thieving jewellery only has one ending, and he knew it). I'd have thanked the kid who told you your son was lying, and thank his mother for raising a proper child. Then i'd take everything off of my son, grounded for a year, no TV, phone, laptop only for homework, i'd remove the door off his room so he can feel what a lack of privacy in jail feels like, no allowance, no car, no outings. Nada. He'll have a whole new list of chores to do daily which will basically be doing the cleaning lady's job for her - all while still paying her the properly due wage (if she even agreed to stay after this). Then i'd tear into my husband for enabling our son to be this level of an A-hole. Both the males in this story need to grow the fuc* up. I feel bad for the mother, now she has two idiot males to raise.
The biggest mistakes that parents can make is unconditionally believing their children. Children will lie and some of them will even lie when they whistle. The only children that don't lie are those who are sleeping and dreaming of new lies.
A prank is when you put shaving cream in someone's hand while they are sleeping and then tickle their nose so that they rub the shaving cream on their face, this just sounds like the son is abusing the help. If I was the housekeeper, I would just quit and tell people not to work at this house because the employer can't control their kids. Jeremy is a bully and the dad is enabling him.
His father is a gaslighting narcissist, no surprise
Load More Replies... ETA This "prankster" needs to face consequences of this and should have been held responsible for each so-called prank. If I were the cleaner, I would've quit the first time. She really needs the money or she'd be gone. She should leave her purse at home next time. Hubby sounds like an AH for believing this degenerate son!!!
Both the son and father are disgusting. That poor cleaner having to deal with these people. That boy needs serious parenting and the father is just a pretentious ass hat.
YOUR SON IS A SOCIOPATH. IN THE FUTURE HE WILL PULL ANIMALS APART FOR KICKS.
"It was just a joke" / "I was only joking" has become the favoured excuse of AHs everywhere. That's always the excuse. These aren't pranks, and both the parents (especially the father) are in denial. Their son is a bully. A bully who is going to get into real trouble if they don't reign him in ASAP. Should have been done years ago and honestly, it might be too late by this point. Want to bet he bullies kids at school too?
Jeremy is not a "prankster" he's dangerous. I guess it's q prank when he removes his condoms without consent or messes with a woman's birth control? Feel very sorry for some of these parents.
Jeremy has zero fear of consequences or punishment. Not a prank at all, it’s his get out of jail card. He has no fear and that’s the issue. He wants to play big boy games and ruin people then act like a kid. This boy needs an ass whooping from his Father. It’s not abuse, it’s a lesson. When he’s away from home and pulls this on his roommates he won’t get the daddy defense. Conniving, selfish, and flat out horrible. I feel bad for any future partner he has.
FTS and your husband too!!! "Not being a good parent" my ass!!! How dare he have that attitude!!! NTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Putting someone’s liberty and living at risk isn’t a prank. It’s cruel, nasty and vile. They don’t deserve their employee. Worst bosses ever
Your son is a horrible, spoiled entitled brat, who is way too close to adulthood to still have no idea how his actions can adversely affect others. Or maybe like his father, he just doesn't care. Or maybe he and his father just totally disrespect women in general. I fear it's too late to fix assuming that you're not about to leave your marriage.
I really hope you have the house keeper a raise and/or severance package because that's bullshit. Your sons a bully.
Yes, you suck massive amounts of ass, you married a monster and together you raised a monster.
A bit off topic. But I am just so tired of seeing these stories on BP just few weeks after I have read the original story on Reddit. If it was only once in a while, I'd just smh and let it go, but at this point it's almost every other day I see an obvious copy of a recent Reddit post here. Why? Whyyy?? Please Bored Panda, don't do this. It devalues your otherwise rather good name and brand. You can do so much better. Fewer posts that are original will be much more appreciated. All the many people who browse both Reddit and BP (and that's a lot), will recognise a copied post immediately and all right react the same: "*eyeroll* arghh... c'mon BP?"
If you go to dumpaday, you can see all the pictures that were on bored panda last week 🤷♀️ stuff gets repeated
Load More Replies... Need to kick the toxic husband out and "beat" (not literally) some manners into the kid.
One possibility no one mentioned: Suppose OP had called the police and the housekeeper asked them to fingerprint the jewelry. It would have been very interesting when her prints weren't on it and the kid's were.
What stunned me was the complete and total nastiness of this kid. Messing with someone's livelihood, especially now, is pure evil. Of course, he was showing off in front of his friends, doing this "prank". At least one of them was mature enough to stand up to him, but if he's the leader of this group, they're going to get worse and worse, and as one commenter said, in the future it's going to be bailing him out for a worse crime.
You're the AH but not for believing the housekeeper. Then kid got in trouble for harassing the housekeeper because you didn't want her to quit. Not because she is a human being who should be treated with respect. You raised an AH.
She returned home BECAUSE of the call, kinda weird. Prankster would have let it 'play out' A) housekeeper finds the jewelry and is baffled by how it got in there. Or B) See if Mom notices her pieces gone from the jewelry box (leave the housekeeper out of it) and reveal the jewelry's hidden location. Jerk move looks like this, tons of drama from all sides.
There was a witness. Just because you supposedly got robbed by a housekeeper doesn't mean they are all guilty.
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