Photo: TikTok
People were loving his pettiness.
By Jessica Bracken — Written on May 17, 2023
As a parent, you want what’s best for your kids, and you never want to see their feelings get hurt. One father took this sentiment to the next level after a little girl in his neighborhood refused to let his daughters play in her inflatable pool.
A dad went viral on TikTok after posting his plan for petty revenge on an 8-year-old girl in his neighborhood.
In a video that now has over 7 million views, the father said that a girl in his neighborhood wouldn’t let his daughters play in her “$20 dollar general pool.” In retaliation, he ordered a giant inflatable water slide with a pool and climbing wall for hundreds of dollars.
Tons of people thought his idea was genius and asked for updates. In his most recent video, the dad told viewers that he was planning to surprise his daughters with the slide when the weather was right for it.
On all of his videos about the water slide situation, commenters were eager to see reactions–both from the man’s daughters and from the girl who had originally refused to play with them.
“Please set up a camera so we can see the other girl's reaction and your children’s reactions!” one commenter asked. Another person responded to a comment asking for reactions by saying “Now have beef with the 8-year-old too… I wanna see tears.”
Commenters were excited to see how the girls would react.
Surprisingly, while there were many comments asking for reaction videos, there weren’t many people commenting on the inherent weirdness of wanting to see an 8-year-old girl upset. However, it does make sense that the people still keeping up with the situation would be the ones most eager to see the outcome. It might also be that lots of viewers had similar experiences with mean kids in their childhoods, and want to live out their petty revenge fantasies through TikTok.
In the comments of the original video, some people pointed out that we don’t know why the girl refused to let the man’s daughters play in her pool. “If it's a $20 pool then it's probably not big enough for all of them,” one person said. Many also suggested that the girl’s parents might have told her not to let other kids play in the pool.
“I don’t let other kids play at my house either. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else’s kids. Nope,” one commenter said.
“I wouldn’t let a strange kid I don’t know use my stuff either. Ain’t nothing personal,” another said. One person asked the father “Why are you mad they didn’t share THEIR things it’s probably the parents saying no anyways,” to which he responded, “Because we just got done sharing all our s–t with all the little bullies involved…” implying that he’s familiar with the kids involved and there may be more context than we’re getting from his videos.
To commenters who brought up that the girl wasn’t obligated to share her pool, people responded that this just meant the man’s daughters wouldn’t be obligated to share their new slide either. “Her pool, not ‘your girls’” one commenter said. The father responded “Their slide, not hers.”
Ultimately, while most people saw the video as harmless, petty fun, some disagreed with its message. “Solid lesson for kids here,” joked one user. “If someone tells you no, it’s definitely a personal attack and you should try and make them feel bad.”
Jessica Bracken is a writer living in Davis, California. She covers entertainment and news for YourTango.