Man With 5 Years Of Sobriety Wants To Cut Off Sister For Prank She Pulled On His Niece’s Birthday
Dragana Gordic | Shutterstock A sister thought it would be a funny prank to trick her sober brother into eating a cake covered in rum on his niece's birthday, and understandably, he feels like he has no choice but to cut her off. Pranks are something that should perhaps be banned from society as a general rule. It’s entirely possible to pull a prank out of a good-natured wish to have some fun, but that’s rarely how it feels when you’re on the receiving end.
Pranks can be especially cruel when they draw on someone’s past trauma. It feels like social media is riddled with people telling stories about how someone close to them weaponized a past bad experience for humor’s sake. This sister's prank fell in that category, and it might just cost her her relationship with her brother.
A woman pranked her sober brother into eating a cake made with rum.
A TikToker named Jessy shared the tense exchange that took place between her brother and sister after her sister put rum in her daughter’s birthday cake. Their brother used to struggle with alcoholism, but has now been sober for five years. “Why are you putting rum on a princess cake?” he asked in distress. “Why is Ariel and Cinderella on the cake with rum in it?”
The man’s sister was completely unperturbed. She even argued that she was not responsible for making the cake, but only for serving it, so it really wasn’t her fault at all.
“There’s rum in a kid’s cake, and now look at me,” he said. “I’m going down the drain again. I’m not gonna show up at work tomorrow. You’re gonna find me in a ditch, dude … I’m spiraling.”
This man was rightfully concerned about the state of his sobriety, and he thought he might have to cut his sister off because of her nonchalant attitude.
Jessy made a follow-up video explaining the events in further detail. “So my brother has been sober for five years,” she shared. “My sister had gave him a piece of cake and didn’t tell him that there was rum in it. My brother started having almost a panic attack.”
Jessy also addressed the issue that many people brought up in her comments. “A lot of people have been saying the alcohol cooks out when you cook the cake, but there’s rum cakes that the rum is poured on top of the cake after it is baked,” she said. “And that is exactly how this one was made. Hence why my sister did not cut the cake at my niece’s birthday party.”
It’s not clear why a little girl’s princess cake was made with rum, as her brother repeatedly asked, or how he ate it when the sister didn’t cut it at the party. One thing was clear, though. “My brother no longer wants to talk to my sister,” Jessy continued. “He just wants to cut all ties with her. I honestly think it’s messed up because you don’t mess with anyone’s, like, sobriety.”
If Jessy’s brother avoided alcohol for five years, he probably wasn’t looking to start drinking again.
There isn’t a lot of information available about how common it is to relapse and misuse alcohol again after becoming sober. American Addiction Centers suggested that about two-thirds of people who achieve sobriety will experience a relapse within the first six months of their sobriety. Of course, Jessy’s brother had been sober for five years, so it’s tough to say how that statistic could potentially apply to him.
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Alcoholics Anonymous reported, “So far as can be determined, no one who has become an alcoholic has ever ceased to be an alcoholic. The mere fact of abstaining from alcohol for months or even years has never qualified an alcoholic to drink ‘normally’ or socially.”
When Jessy said her brother has been sober for five years, she likely meant he had completely avoided alcohol during that period. Of course, the cake probably didn’t have a huge amount of alcohol in it, but it’s still concerning that a sister would be so uncaring that she would knowingly serve her sober brother alcohol. He would be justified in cutting her off.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, help is available. Reach out 24/7 to SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or text 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
