Ah, the in-laws.

We all have a story where they’ve either intruded where they shouldn’t have or set up a ridiculous rule or boundary that seemed completely out of place.

This story from Reddit has a little bit of both, but ends up pretty sweet.

He told me I couldn’t use women’s body wash. I’ve been using it for 20 years now.

Around 20 years ago when I was in college, my girlfriend (girlfriend then, she’s now my wife) and I had plans to go to a nice dinner in our parents’ hometown.

I had another commitment during the day that was going to leave me sweaty and dirty (I don’t remember what it was, but I remember REALLY needing a shower before going to dinner).

So the plan was that I would finish up during the day, meet her at her parents’ house where I would quickly shower, and then we’d leave for dinner.

Sometimes you don’t just want to freshen up, you need to.

After I got done, I went to their house. My gf and her parents were asking me about how things went.

All I remember is feeling so insanely dirty that I didn’t want to stand there talking to them because I was sure that they could smell me from several feet away.

He just wants to get up the stairs!

I continued to inch my way up the stairs where I knew I would be showering.

When I felt like I could safely leave the conversation without being rude, I asked my gf, “you have soap/shampoo/etc up there that I can use to shower?”

She said, “yup.”

At that point, he was simply going to take what he could get.

This is when her dad (my now FIL) literally jumped up out of his seat saying, “no, no no, let me find you some men’s soap, you don’t want to use her soap!”

I don’t think he cares.

I quickly tried to stop him as I REALLY didn’t care. I just wanted to shower.

He insisted.

So I stood there halfway up the stairs for a few minutes, desperately wanting to go up and shower while he rooted around in his bathroom trying to find some manly soap.

This seems so unnecessary.

He eventually found something, handed it over, and I went upstairs.

Being annoyed at 1) his overall insistence that I couldn’t possibly use soap that wasn’t intended for men and 2) having to wait longer to take the shower, I decided I was going to be petty and use my girlfriend’s soap any way (TAKE THAT!).

Got him!

But the actual petty revenge continues to this day.

He’s going to keep up the ruse, it seems.

Her parents still live in that same house and we still live in a different city. So every time we go back to visit, we stay at their house.

We still use that same bathroom when we go back. And that bathroom is always stocked with both “manly” and “girly” body washes.

Guess who uses the girly body wash every time I’m there? Even though I prefer the scents of the manly stuff.

Sacrificing a preference in the name of pettiness. You love to see it.

Even though not a single soul knows about how I was wronged or the revenge that I’ve been exacting for 20 years now…

This is a completely harmless revenge story that is pretty funny in its petty level.

Let’s see if the folks on Reddit are in on the joke, too.

Top comment says the author should overwhelm his in-laws with a beautiful scent.

Another comment wants the author to repay the favor in reverse next time the in-laws come to town.

A subversive message was sent, according to this comment.

Maybe you just like the smell, like this commenter.

They advertise for both!

Guys want to be pretty, too.

Since when is soap gendered?

The moral of the story is, everybody deserves to smell pretty, no matter what that smell is!

And father-in-laws should let that toxic crap go.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.