AITA: Sister sparks drama by telling brother his friend’s parents threw away college acceptance letter

On the 'AmItheAsshole' subReddit, a user by the name of foxtrotcrewneck recounted a distressing incident involving her family and her brother's best friend, an 18-year-old named Stephen.

The drama unfolded when the mother of a 20-year-old sister casually inquired whether it would be wrong to discard a college acceptance letter.

Sister tells brother his friend’s parents discarded his college acceptance letter

At first, it seemed like a joke, but the situation became grave when her mother disclosed that Stephen's parents, Matt and Amy, who are also friends with her parents, had discarded an acceptance letter from a college Stephen had been eager to attend.

The OP mentioned that during a casual conversation, her mother disclosed that Matt and Amy had disregarded the letter, dismissing the college as too distant, even though it was merely a four-hour drive away.

Taken aback and dismayed, OP expressed her disapproval of their behavior. Her mother had confronted Amy regarding the matter but implored the 20-year-old to keep it confidential, especially from Stephen, to avoid disclosing her as the informant.

Nevertheless, the OP chose to inform her brother, who felt deeply for his friend's situation, "I immediately told my brother. I called him and let him know, he was gutted for his friend."

During a subsequent discussion, he recommended that their circle of friends start monitoring the online status of their college applications. The OP added, "He let me know that he would encourage his whole group of friends to check online statuses of colleges they applied too in case acceptance letters got lost."

She went on to say, "That way my mom would not be put in the middle of it."

The situation intensified when the original poster shared her intentions with a college friend, who believed she was intruding by interfering in other people's affairs and accused her of being "a**hole."

She explained, "I thought it was a pretty good plan until I mentioned it to a college friend and she thought I should stay out of others people’s business. She said that I’m an asshole for trying to meddle."

Reddit community backs sister for revealing brother's friend's parents threw away college acceptance letter

As soon as the OP inquired on Reddit with "AITA," the community supported her, declaring "NTA."

A user said, "Don't they email those now? But, in case this is true, NTA."

Another added, "They are linked in the application portal however many colleges also mail letters. All of my acceptance letters were sent to me both digitally and a hard copy mailed. If the friend was not checking his portal and planning to rely on the mailed letters then OP's brother did the right thing by encouraging everyone to check for the e copy. NTA OP."

A third commentator remarked, "NTA - No, you are not the a**hole at all. That's a horrible thing to do, and very selfish to toss away someone elses future because of what you want. Normally, I stay on the 'keep out of it' line, mind your own business, but you were asked directly and it was right for you to let him know the truth."

The comment further read, "God that is so manipulative... You weren't meddling, you were literally dragged into it!"

"NTA. They did awful thing. Moreover, it's illegal to open letter addressed to another person, it is a crime called "Obstruction of Correspondence." It is a serious felony that could lead to prison time. People don't usually think about it, but meddling in correspondence between other people or person and school is illegal, not saying immoral. Phew," one said.

A person said, "NTA but it was a tricky situation. While you had good intentions, telling your brother might be seen as meddling since your mom asked you to keep it private. It could have been better to let your mom handle it."

Another chimed in, "If mum wanted to keep it quiet she shouldn’t have told OP.  If the friends parents wanted it kept quiet they shouldn’t have told anyone."

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