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A mother with a megaphone goes on strike.

Every parent knows that sometimes their kids, especially teenagers, can say things in the heat of the moment they don’t really mean. But the mother at the center of this story took her teenage son’s outburst seriously and turned it into an opportunity to teach him a lesson. The question is, did she go too far to make a point?

A 35-year-old mom wanted to learn if she had been too hard on her 14-year-old son, so she shared her story on Reddit’s AITA subforum (we've abbreviated the forum's name to avoid printing foul language). AITA is where people vote on whether the poster was right or wrong in how they handled a situation.

“Lately, he has been acting out a little at home and school, so I decided to sit him down to try and figure out what was happening,” the mother wrote in a post that received over 800 comments. She said that the boy had been cursing out his parents as well as his teacher.


“He is my only child, and his dad and I are still together. I tried to sit him down and ask why he was acting out…but he wouldn’t budge," the mother wrote. “I asked him whether there were any issues going on at school because if there was, I would be more than happy to help him.”

But all the boy could muster was that “all 14-year-olds should act out a little.”

When the mother pressed her child for an answer, he blurted, “My life would be better if I didn’t have a mother.”

The mother was immensely hurt by her son’s words, so she decided to show him whether his life was, in fact, better without her around and she went on strike.

Spoiler alert: His life wasn’t better.

That night, the mom made dinner for herself and her husband. “When my son smelt food, he came downstairs and asked where his was,” the mom wrote. “I responded, ‘I made dinner for myself and your dad. Since life is easier without a mom, there’s some heatable food in the freezer.’”

The next day when he got up for breakfast, there was none to be found. “Where’s my breakfast?” the son asked. “Your mother would normally do that for you,” the mom responded. “But if life is easier without one, you’ll need to prepare your own breakfast. Also, take the bus to and from school.”

After “a few swears,” the teen made cereal and hopped on the school bus. The mother believes the teen may have complained about his mother’s strike to her mother-in-law, who called her, saying that she was “a horrible mother” who was “starving my child” and “being petty.”

To see if she did the right thing by going on strike, the mom posted her story to AITA, and the commenters overwhelmingly said that she was right in the situation.

"It’s not like you actually deprived him of anything," Shrimp-34 wrote in the most popular post on the thread. "He still had access to food and a way to get to school. It was definitely petty, but he wasn’t harmed in any way, and maybe sometimes you have to fight fire with fire?"

"He isn't being starved, he's 14, he can feed himself,” bahahahahahhhaha wrote in a post that received over 2,300 upvotes. “He isn't being kept home from school, he's 14, he can take the bus. [You would be wrong] if you kept this going for weeks, but doing it for a couple of days to help him realize all the things you do for him and appreciate them better is actually a really good life lesson—and its natural consequences. He doesn't want a mom? You are letting him have his wish."

A few commenters thought the mother should have taken the high road.

"I know it's hard, but you can't take that stuff personally and then retaliate like a teenager," Turbulent_Cow2355 wrote. "You have to model the behavior that you want to see in your kids, and that means taking the higher road, even when don't want to. You are being petty. Don't teach your child that pettiness is a good idea for conflict resolution."

The good news is that the mother and son were able to patch things up, and the teen’s realization helped him avoid further trouble.

“My son had a half day, so I texted him asking if he would like me to pick him up or the bus,” the mom wrote in a story update. “He texted back, saying he wanted me to get him. So I did. In the car, he immediately apologized for what he said, and he said that his friends were acting out, so he wanted to fit in. His friends got suspended today for something they did, and they wanted my son to join. My son did not, and he said he was sorry for how he was acting. I also apologized for my actions.”

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," Nina Simone and Weird Al Yankovic.

In the age of quick bops and catchy choruses, kids today have no appreciation of the value of long, intricate, dynamic musical pieces. Yes, I just used the phrase "kids today." It's happened. I'm old.

Songs serve two purposes. One, to elicit a certain mood, feeling or ambiance. And two, to regale a compelling story. Longer songs can easily do both. There's something cinematic about them. And if done well, long songs become iconic. Case in point, the mini opera of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which by all accounts should not have received astronomic radio play, but did.

A nostalgic, impassioned Reddit thread began when one person asked the simple question: "What is your favorite LONG song (over 7 minutes)?"

Here were some of the highlights. Maybe some you know, maybe some will surprise you.


“I Feel Love” by Donna Summer

Ah, this song is a psychedelic delight. It's so good, it's so good, it's so good that the Blue Man Group recreated their own kooky version of it. Yes, it's a dance song, but man does it transport you to a place where love is real, but time, somehow, is not. Is it dreamy? Oh yes. But is it pure fluff? Certainly not. Not to mention its innovative and artistic use of synthesizers gave disco music a never-before-heard futuristic up-level.

As this is the "beach day song" for me and my boyfriend, I was personally happy it made the list.

“Echoes” by Pink Floyd

Not sure we can have a "list of long songs" without mentioning Pink Floyd. This band is pretty much synonymous with intricate rock compositions. "Echoes" in particular is a fan favorite, and a song that surprisingly came by accident when a rotated speaker caused an interesting feedback sound that became the beginning of this legendary science fiction acid trip set to music.

Roger Waters explained in an interview that the meaning behind the song was to explore "the potential that human beings have for recognizing each other's humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy." With lyrics like:

"Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me."

…I'd say that checks out. This song is really more of a rock 'n' roll mediation, above anything else.

“Roundabout” by Yes

Not many songs can boast popularity in both the rock and anime crowds. But this one can. The progressive rock tune from 1971 makes an appearance in the 2012 anime "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" as the show's ending theme song.

But what really makes this song a standout is its use of "deceptive cadence," which is basically putting a note or chord in an unexpected place. Not to mention there are approximately 57 false stops where you think the song is about to end. It doesn't. Not for a whopping eight-and-a-half minutes. There's so much that shouldn't work musically in this song, that for some magical reason does. So it doesn't surprise me that it made the list.

“Sinnerman” by Nina Simone

Originally an African American spiritual song, "Sinnerman" weaves the tale of a man running from God on Judgment Day. Spoiler alert: He doesn't succeed. Simone masterfully mixes the Southern styles of blues and jazz, making it even more of a religious experience. According to an article on udiscovermusic.com, Simone would often close out performances with this tune in order to "shake people up." And since it has everything from plinking piano sound to an all out rock 'n' roll guitar solo, how could it do anything but shake people up?

If you've never heard Simone's epic "Sinnerman," listen now. And repent.

“Albuquerque” by Weird al Yankovic

That's right. The Parody King himself made the list. I truly saved the "weirdest" for last. This song, the final track of Al's "Running With Scissors" album, is just shy of 12 minutes. It's a long, meandering odyssey for the ears created as Al himself said, "to annoy people." The full lyrics never even made it to the album's liner notes (you know, those little pamphlets that came with the now-ancient CDs). Instead, it includes an apology from Yankovic and a cheeky message that the listeners will have to just finish the song to get all the lyrics. Well played, Al. Well played.

It's a story that starts off with force-fed sauerkraut that logically leads to a contest to guess the molecules in Leonard Nimoy's butt, and then a one-way ticket to (you guessed it) Albuquerque. Somehow a plane crash, donuts, weasels and a "one-nostriled" man are involved. Oh and a love story is crammed in there.

There were several honorable mentions I could list: Led Zeppelin, Tool, The Velvet Underground, Iron Maiden. But despite the subject matter of this article, I wanted to keep things brief.

One thing's for sure, there's still a hefty amount of appreciation for musical sagas that really take us on a journey. I'm sure Billie Eillish will get the idea eventually.