A gag that might have gone a little too far

United States
October 5, 2008 3:13pm CST
My boyfriend and I have a little thing with playing jokes and gags on each other. It's just one of the little games we like to play. Anyhow, I pulled one recently and I think I might have gone a bit too far. Every now and then he'll go out with his buddies and have too much to drink. Doesn't happen a lot, so thats not a problem or anything. Well recently I got up one morning to find him sleeping it off in my back yard. So of course my first thought, after making sure he was still alive, of course, was to strip him to his boxers and turn on the sprinkler. Well, that would have taken more effort than I was looking to put into it so I just decided to take away his glasses and make him think he lost them. Now you have to understand that boyfriend can't see a thing without them. We're talking feel for the walls blind here. So a couple hours later I look at back and he's awake. So i go out and he's surprised to hear my voice (since he couldn't see me). Didn't know where he was, couldn't remember how he got there. After the "where am I" question was "where are my glasses?", as he's blindly groping along the grass. I told him I didn't know and he wasn't wearing them when I first saw him there. Now this wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining if he actually had another pair for emergencies. Those got lost months ago when he moved and his prescription is so bad that the one hour places can't make them. So after pretending to look for them for a while, I guided him inside. I let him go on for about an hour, feeling his way around, thinking he had lost his only pair of glasses. By then I figured the joke on mister tough guy was over so I sat him on the sofa and I gave them back to him. Ha Ha, right? Not exactly. At first I thought he was going to get mad at me, maybe like I did when he put crisco in the toes of one of my favorite pair of pumps. But instead he looked up at me, and very softly said "Do you have any idea how scared I was?" Sensing that I had screwed this up big time I profusely apologized. He said it was ok. After that he didn't want to talk about it. The next day we were ok but I still feel really bad about it. Yes, I knew I was taking advantage of a weakness and he was vulnerable but I honestly didn't think it would scare him like it did. I mean I was there the whole time and wasn't going to let him get hurt or anything. Did I really screw up and violate a trust that will be hard to rebuild? Any ideas how I can get him to talk about it?
2 people like this
8 responses
• United States
9 Oct 08
It's great that all is well now, just remember in the future a prank or joke can hurt people deeply. You sound sorry and that's a great thing adn I'm sure your boyfriend knows that. But, I still have a question- was there not a point where you felt like it was getting out of hand and that maybe you should give him the glasses back. Please know that I only ask because I think that we have all at some point pushed a joke to far- me included.
• United States
11 Oct 08
To answer your question, yes, there was a point where I knew it was time to give him back his glasses but I honestly didn't think it was getting out of hand at the time. We were on the sofa and he was laying down with his head in my lap and he just seemed so lost. Yes, I knew he was vulnerable because I had taken away his glasses but I didn't think I was scaring him as badly as I did. Had he told me before about the times where he had been without them then I wouldn't have done that in the first place. I don't blame him for that. How could I?
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Oct 08
Honestly- I think if it is a lesson learned for you and you talk with your boyfriend about you can move on. However I would suggest that in the future keep your pranks to a little less intense. He has to know that he can trust you not to hurt him where he is most vunerable- if he can't then he won't be able to trust you. Good luck and I hope it all works out for you.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Oct 08
Don't let it get to you too much, he will get over it in a day or so, it's not like you did anything horrible to your relationship. I suppose some men do not like feeling weak and vulnerable in any way, I have known, and known of many men who are really sensitive about their disabilities, it gives them a complex almost. Just let it slide, and perhaps expect a practical joke in return. Good luck!
2 people like this
• United States
8 Oct 08
I guess that's just a guy thing. He got embarrassed once when he knocked them off of the nightstand in the morning. They fell behind my bed and I had to find them for him.
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@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
9 Oct 08
hi luckygirly how old are you? thats a really cruel thing to do to a person who is almost blind without them. put this on the other foot? if you were the one that couldnt see without your glasses and someone pulled that trick on you, wouldnt you be furiouis? you are lu cky he did not blow his top. I know I wou I would've you are acting very childish and immaturee.that was not a joke to him, he was really frightened.You should feel bad about it, it showed you are really immature. You did really screw up badly.
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• United States
11 Oct 08
I'm in my mid to late 20's. And yes, I feel terrible about it. But he seems to have forgiven me for this thoughtless act of mine.
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• India
6 Oct 08
Oh it can be tricky at times if over done.
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@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I imagine that not only was he scared without his glasses, but also a bit embarrassed by the whole situation. He will probably safe guad his glasses a lot more from now on. If the two of you play pranks on each other regularly, all I can say is watch out, he is probably brewing up something for you now. You did exploit a weakness in him, in a way, but I doubt you violated any trust. If he has a good sense of humor, he'll laugh about the whole thing in time.
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• United States
11 Oct 08
I've realized now about the embarrassed part. It drew me back to when my big sister tried once to tell me about the fragile nature of the male ego. I probably should have paid more attention to her then! And as far as him safeguarding his glasses, you should know that it's rare for him to take them off. He even wears them in the shower. And he's very careful about where he leaves them when he goes to sleep and I get that, knowing how much he needs them. My issue was I thought him being without them was just uncomfortable when for him it was really scary. And I know now that there is a big difference between "Kelly has my glasses and it's ok because I trust her and I'll get them back" and "OMG, my glasses are gone!" And yeah, I'm fully expecting a payback. In fact, I'll be a little disappointed if I don't get one soon.
1 person likes this
• South Africa
6 Oct 08
You sound like a sweet girl, it's ok! Calm down, it's not like you broke them and he clearly isn't mad at you and the remorse that you exude more than makes up for it !
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• United States
8 Oct 08
Thanks for the encouragement! I finally got him to talk about it a couple nights ago and I understand why he reacted the way he did. He told me about a couple of really bad times he had in the past. One time he went for a hike on some trails and tripped and fell down a hill. His glasses got knocked off and of course he couldn't find them. Fortunately someone came along after a while and found them for him. And he admitted that one of his biggest fear is of his glasses getting lost or broken.
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• Lubbock, Texas
14 Oct 08
Since you don't wear glasses I can understand you not realizing how vulnerable and frightened he would have felt. From a person who has been very dependent on glasses I can tell you that you could have stripped him naked and put him on the sidewalk in front of the house and he wouldn't have felt as vulnerable as he did without his glasses. He would have been embarrassed, but not frightened and vulnerable. Oh and by the way, now that it's over look out! He'll get you back.
• United States
14 Oct 08
I don't think that it's very funny. I wear glasses too, and if something like that happened to me, I'd be scared too. I mean, you know he has a extremely bad vision. He probably didn't know what was going on. If someone played a trick on me like that, I'd really would hurt them.