Lady Comes Up With Ingenious Plan To Curb Younger Sibling’s Habit Of ‘Conveniently’ Forgetting His Keys On Her Day Off

“I am no one’s doorman, and it’s time he learned that the hard way.”

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• February 17, 2024

Living under the same roof with family can be both a blessing and a curse, and our narrator (Original Poster) had seen both sides numerous times. 

OP worked tirelessly throughout the week, with only Thursdays off to indulge in her gaming passion. However, her brother seemed to have marked Thursdays as the perfect opportunity to conveniently "forget" his keys.

OP found her much-needed respite constantly interrupted by the persistent ringing of the doorbell. Now, you might think, "No big deal, just let the lad in." But here's the catch: every time she graciously opened the door, she was met with a barrage of complaints about her supposed tardiness.  

Hello, she was in the middle of an intense gaming session—and it wasn’t like that was the only solution. Their ever-available neighbors had a spare key he could easily retrieve. 

Yet, instead of opting for this convenient alternative, he chose to disrupt her precious downtime with relentless doorbell chimes—each ring more obnoxious than the last.

After enduring this one time too many times, OP decided she’d had enough. The very next Thursday, it happened again like clockwork, but OP came prepared. 

She casually slipped on a pair of noise-cancellation headphones, banishing those persistent rings into oblivion. Two hours of relentless ringing later, he made the wise choice of obtaining the spare key and letting himself in. You see, easy peasy!

OP’s parents considered this a ‘heartless’ act and tried to extract an apology, but she refused. This act of resistance earned her the silent treatment. Was OP truly at fault here?

The story in detail

OP’s brother has formed a habit of forgetting his key on OP’s day off

To make matters worse, OP constantly gets berated for taking too long to let him into the house

OP got fed up and decided to play deaf the next time her brother came home

When OP’s parents heard about what happened, they accused her of being ‘cruel’ and are currently giving her the silent treatment

First edit

Second edit

We gathered some reactions from the Reddit community:

“NTA. He needs to learn a lesson. Eventually, he'll figure it out.“

“I don't think it is cruel as he did have the option to come into the house anytime by conveniently grabbing the key from the neighbor”

“If he wants to be lazy, then he can make the extra effort to then have to go to the neighbors to get the key.”

“Yes you are! But you are justified in needing to teach him a lesson in responsibility.”

“This is some really screwed up behavior from both of you tbh and both of you should grow up.”

Redditors were solidly behind OP—it was high time her younger brother learned some responsibility. One commenter suggested that OP should make herself absent on Thursdays, right around the time her brother gets home—a few weeks of this should jog his memory.

We’re sure that a 16-year-old is old enough to remember to carry their house keys. What OP did is a valuable lesson in independence and accountability that'll serve the boy well beyond the doorstep.

Do you agree with this verdict? Let us know in the comments.

Jesse