'She Forgot': Dad & Son Slammed for Testing Mom with Band Practice Pickup

Commenters on a viral internet thread were left bewildered after one man revealed how his wife "forgot" to drive their college-aged son to band practice.

In a Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/thekids617 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said he was outraged upon discovering his son missed a recent practice and explained why his wife was to blame.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for telling my wife she should've written it (my kid doing summer band) on the calendar?" the post has received nearly 10,000 votes and 3,000 comments in the last day.

Writing that his son is 17 and just graduated high school, the original poster said the teenager doesn't yet have his driver's license, but is scheduled to get it before he goes off to college in the fall.

The original poster also said that his son decided to join their community's summer band program, which meets for 90 minutes every Tuesday night, and added that his wife is responsible for transportation to and from.

"When he first started, I told her...to write it on the calendar in the kitchen while she was nearby so we wouldn't forget," OP wrote. "Today, I got home at about 6:50 and noticed she had just gotten dinner ready."

"I asked her if she forgot about the summer band and she said yes," OP continued. "I then asked her if she had written it on the calendar and she said she forgot to do it."

After asking his son if he forgot about his own band practice, the original poster said the teenager assured that he hadn't, and had not said anything just to test his mother.

"He said no and he was waiting to see if she remembered," OP wrote. "He said she should've wrote it down on the calendar and that he shouldn't have to remind her every Tuesday."

For a majority of teenagers, securing a driver's license and access to an operable car is a life-changing ordeal. But according to data collected by Statista, fewer and fewer American teens are actually driving.

In 1983, more than 80 percent of 18-year-olds in the United States held driver's licenses. Twenty-five years later, that figure plummeted to 61 percent. Similarly, in 1983, 46.2 percent of 16-year-olds in the United States held driver's licenses. In 2018, that figure dropped to just 25.6 percent.

Over the last decade, Insurance Journal reports that the proliferation of rideshare apps and an increasing draw to more environmentally-friendly transportation options have kept many teenagers from even attempting to conquer the open road.

But a lack of teen drivers, combined with waning interest in cars and driving in general, does not excuse a lack of responsibility for those reaching the end of their teenage years.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, Redditors called out both the original poster and his son for absolving themselves of any responsibility for the latter's missed band practice, while questioning why a soon-to-be college freshman tested his mother's memory instead of reminding her himself.

"Why didn't you write it on the calendar?" Redditor u/windyafternoon wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 10,000 votes.

"Or the son," Redditor u/Pleasant-Eye-61 added, receiving nearly 4,000. "He was waiting to see if she remembered?! She is no one's servant, it's his camp and he is almost an adult and should have some responsibility too."

Redditor u/SiteElectrical8401, whose comment has received nearly 2,000 votes, offered a more tongue-in-cheek response.

"Imagine thinking your 17 year old is prepared to be an adult and attend college but needs his mommy to maintain his social calendar," they wrote.

"Your son is 17 and headed to college...now is a good time to act like the young adult he is," Redditor u/lynncross2001 chimed in, receiving nearly 9,000 votes. "You both are the a**hole."

In a separate comment, which has received more than 3,000 votes, Redditor u/Covert_Pudding said they couldn't believe the original poster's son didn't speak up, opting instead to let his mother flounder.

"It's wild that he just sat there to see if she noticed," they wrote. "Maybe don't treat your mom like an actual child you're condescending to when you could act like an adult responsible for your own stuff."

Newsweek reached out to u/thekids617 for comment.