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A man has been bashed online after pulling a prank on a woman who has no sense of smell by putting a dead fish in her bedroom.
In a now-deleted post published to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole forum, a woman under the anonymous username u/TARottingFish shared her story in order to receive the opinions of the "AITA" community.
The OP began her post by explaining that she was born without a sense of smell and could never find out why—even from doctors. However, she wrote that it didn't bother her, and the only time it's brought up is when someone asks her to smell something. She admitted that her family was concerned when she was growing up and when she first moved out as she wouldn't be able to smell any hazards.
The OP explained where the conflict began, "The other day my boyfriend was over and after stepping into my room started gagging then vomiting. He said it smelled like rotting fish so I searched and found a fish wrapped in newspaper under my bed. I was mainly confused then angry.
"Today I found out that my friends boyfriend was the one who put it there because I was talking about it with them and her bf says he was the one who did it and that I should of told him I cant smell since I ruined the prank. I don't even know him that well, I didn't find it funny and its not even a good harmless prank so I told him exactly that. He didn't take it well and left to sulk," she continued.
Her friend agreed with her while other people think she was in the wrong for being "blunt" over a prank.
Newsweek reached out to u/TARottingFish for comment.
Newsweek has published several articles regarding pranks including a woman who was defended for leaving her fiance's family trip over a bathing suit prank, how the internet backed a woman for uninviting her brother and dad to her wedding over a prank and a woman was backed online after refusing to put fiance on the house title because of a prank.
What is "congenital anosmia?"
As defined by the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, congenital anosmia is a condition in which people are born with a lifelong inability to smell. Symptoms begin when a baby is first born or during infancy and can be determined by a doctor. It is a rare condition that has less than 1,000 cases in the United States.
If one is diagnosed with the disease, it could lead them to have less interest in food, causing unplanned weight loss and it could also lead to depression, per nysinuscenter.com. There is no known cure for congenital anosmia.
Redditor reactions
U/MrKrory questioned, receiving the top comment of over 20,000 upvotes, "[Not the a**hole]. Can people stop using 'pranks' as an excuse for being an a**hole?"
"A stupid 'prank' indeed! Just like jokes, it's only a prank if the target is laughing, too. Otherwise, it's just meanness and bullying. And in this case, nastiness. [Not the a**hole]. He needs to grow the f**k up," u/KaliTheBlaze exclaimed.
U/RiverSong_777 asked, "[Not the a**hole] and [what the f**k?] How can anyone think you're an [a**hole] for this? How can he think a) this prank is any good and b) pranking someone he barely knows is appropriate? Is he 13?"
"[Not the a**hole]. I hate pranks, especially ones like this...this is not funny. I will hold back my words as I don't want to get in trouble. Very simply you did nothing wrong OP, rotten fish man is the one and only [a**hole] here," u/FlyGuy1922 commented.
About the writer
Ashley Gale is a Newsweek reporter based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her focus is reporting on trends. She has covered trends, ... Read more