A man put his foot down regarding his little sister’s request for a viral pet — but now his parents think he was too harsh.
In a recent post on Reddit’s “Am I the A——?,” the man, 24, explained that his 16-year-old sister “has been obsessed with capybaras for months” and that the large rodent is “what she really wants for her birthday.”
“At first, I thought she was joking. But no, she had done ‘research’ (aka, Googled it for an hour) and insisted she could totally take care of one,” he wrote.
Plus, he added that his sister “swears she’ll make it go viral on TikTok and become “THE Capybara owner.”
However, he wasn’t convinced.
“I told her no,” he wrote. “First, we live in the suburbs — where are we putting a giant semi-aquatic rodent? In the pool?”
“Second, I’m the one who would end up dealing with it because my parents aren’t really pet people,” he continued. “Third, I feel like she’s only into it because it’s trendy, and the second TikTok moves on, she’ll lose interest.”
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As expected, this didn’t go over well with his sister, who “got super mad and said I’m a ‘gatekeeper of joy,’ ” he wrote.
“She even brought up how I got her an iPad last year, so why not a capybara this year?” he continued.
But, he added that even his parents thought he was “being too harsh and should just let her ‘live a little.’ ”
Not wanting to give in, the man turned to Reddit to ask what other people thought — and they were overwhelmingly on this side.
“If SHE wants one, SHE should purchase it and all of the requisite accoutrements. And if your parents agree, then THEY can finance it,” read one comment.
Another commenter noted that while the animal may be what the sister wants, it needs a certain environment to thrive.
“Capybaras are not good pets and they need other capybaras around to thrive. Also, they do best in wet, hot places like swamps,” the commenter wrote.
Meanwhile, others brought up some other good points, including the fact that owning a capybara isn’t even legal everywhere.
“Your sister needs to be told no. Period,” another commenter wrote. “No one is buying her an animal that she’s completely unprepared to care for. It’s cruel and she has no clue what its care and feeding entail or would cost.”
Credit: dotdashmeredith.com
