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A prank is only harmless if it doesn’t leave someone in genuine pain afterward.

One chronically ill woman found herself on the receiving end of a thoughtless prank that all began as an afternoon of lighthearted joking around.

What seemed like a funny moment, 38 hair ties strung across her curtain rod, turned into a 40 minute ordeal of climbing, reaching, and repeatedly straining her body just to take them all down.

By the end, she was in so much pain she couldn’t stand, her knee gave out, and she spent nearly an hour lying on the floor unable to move.

When she explained this to her friends, expecting some understanding, she got dismissal instead, and even backup from other friends calling her dramatic.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITAH for getting angry at my friends for pulling a “prank” on me that left me in tears?

I am chronically ill and disabled. I have hypermobile EDS and chronic pain and fatigue, and my friends know about all of it. This is important to the story.

So her latest hangout with friends started off normal enough.

So me and two of my friends were hanging out in my bedroom and just messing around and having fun. We ended up playing some pranks on each other, just harmless stuff like changing each other’s ringtones or swapping water with juice, etc.

She was amused at first, but then the reality set in.

I left the room, and when I came back all of my hair ties were hanging from my curtain rod (there were 38, I counted). I found this funny at first, but when they left I realised I had to get them down.

This involved climbing up on a stool, forcing them all under my curtains, and lifting up the heavy curtain rod to slide them off the end. Because of my disabilities, I find it difficult to stand for long periods of time, and I find it especially difficult to lift my arms for more than a minute max.

So this turned what should have been a harmless prank into a cruel punishment.

This meant by the end of the process of removing the hair ties (which took about 40 minutes because I had to keep taking breaks) I was in so much pain I could barely move and couldn’t stop crying.

My knee gave out from under me as soon as I stepped off the stool, and I lay on the floor with my arms and legs shaking, unable to move for the best part of an hour.

She told her friends exactly how she felt, but they didn’t seem to care.

I was quite upset and texted them that although I didn’t think they intended it to be, their prank was really harmful to me and my health, and it actually made me really upset. They both told me it was just a joke and got some of our other friends involved who told me it was funny and not to be so dramatic.

Now she isn’t sure what to do next.

Now I’m doubting myself, because I’m not sure they understand the full depth of my disabilities, and I’m sure they didn’t mean to really upset me. I’m not sure I’m in the right anymore.

AITAH?

The first thing she needs to do is get some better friends.

Redditors weren’t as sympathetic as you might think.

This user agrees she was being dramatic.

This commenter tries to see both sides.

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Maybe she should have made her friends help her instead of doing it all herself.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who can’t figure out why her babysitter quit after what she thought was a routine question.

Is it really that hard to apologize when you did something wrong?

Intent and impact are two different things, and this situation is a clear example of why that distinction matters so much.

Even if the friends never meant to be malicious, it’s just plain heartless to accuse your friend of being dramatic when they’re clearly upset and hurting.

She wasn’t even asking for a huge apology tour. A simple acknowledgement of what she was going through would have been more than enough.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.