Revenge is a dish best served cold
March 18, 2015 7:26 PM Subscribe
My family read my email on my phone without my permission. How can I pay them back in kind for this blatant disregard of privacy? (hopefully in an annoying/aggravating way)
At my brother's birthday celebration with my family recently, my family plotted to and succeeded in getting my phone with neither my awareness nor permission, and read an email.
At the dinner was my mom, dad, brother, and myself. Earlier in the evening, I decided to provide some entertainment for the evening by getting my car stuck in the ditch outside my parents' house. It was pretty funny; I couldn't've gotten my car into the ditch at that angle if I tried! Even with the whole family pushing the car from behind and my mom accelerating, we couldn't get it out, and decided to head to dinner with the plan to call AAA roadside assistance after dinner, or try to attach a chain to my parents' SUV and yank it out.
I communicated the situation via email to my spouse (who was out of town and unable to attend the dinner), who asked exasperatedly how much the tow truck would cost. This made me chuckle, because I've had awful luck with ditches lately. Exactly a week prior, I had gotten stuck in a ditch during the icy aftermath of a snowstorm [AAA wouldn't send a tow truck (which is incredibly ridiculous, and something we're looking into), so we had to pay $175 out of pocket to pull my car out of the ditch, even though I pay for AAA.] When my family asked why I laughed, I told them my spouse's response, which they found funny, because AAA wouldn't charge a paying customer to tow and my frugal spouse apparently didn't remember that, further highlighting his frugality. I realize I shouldn't have shared my partner's email with my family.
I got another email at dinner from my partner talking about being worried about our financial situation as of late. When my nosy family members asked whether I got another email from my partner, my response of "None of your business" was correctly interpreted by them as 'yes.' They unsuccessfully tried to goad me into sharing the contents of the email with them.
Fast forward to later that evening, we're sitting around the kitchen table eating birthday cake. I go to the bathroom right off the kitchen. Mom, Dad, and Brother are whispering to one another, but I don't think much of it. I get back to the table, and Mom asserts that her iphone is much smaller than my phone. I call BS, they're the same size. Mom says prove it, and I grab my phone from my purse to make the comparison.
Note: I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I hardly ever use my phone; it's for emergencies, or communicating with my spouse when we're away from one another. Because of this, I am very unaware of my phone and its presence; half the time, I forget my phone at home, and hardly ever check it while at home. So, I didn't pay attention to where my phone went after my mom held it up to her own phone.
Clueless, I continue eating. No one is talking at the moment, and I see my dad is fiddling with something in his lap. He starts grinning at his crotch, so I assume he's using his phone. (I should have realized that if he was using his phone, he'd use it above the table.)
Concession: I didn't put a password on my phone, and I realize that this is a consequence. And you better believe, I put a password on my phone within 60 seconds of this little stunt!
I finally realized what was happening when my dad began reading aloud my partner's last email. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, and teased me for not putting a passcode on my phone (totally deserved that!) while brushing off my indignation of them accessing my private correspondence against my wishes, at my partner's expense. They told me to lighten up, take a joke, and see it as a learning experience.
Now, I'd really like to get back at them in kind! My dad doesn't use his own phone much, but both my mom and brother do, and I know their phone passcodes. I'd love to mess with them (especially my mom, who was the ringleader in these shenanigans).
1) What's the most relevant way I can prank their phones to get back at their invasion of privacy? I'd love to do something along the lines of these computer pranks, but for phones (one apple, one android).
2) Is that going too far? Is it totally inappropriate to break the boundaries they broke against me? Should I just take it as a lesson learned? Be my moral compass, Mefi!
3) Any ideas for more relevant payback?
Thanks in advance!
At my brother's birthday celebration with my family recently, my family plotted to and succeeded in getting my phone with neither my awareness nor permission, and read an email.
At the dinner was my mom, dad, brother, and myself. Earlier in the evening, I decided to provide some entertainment for the evening by getting my car stuck in the ditch outside my parents' house. It was pretty funny; I couldn't've gotten my car into the ditch at that angle if I tried! Even with the whole family pushing the car from behind and my mom accelerating, we couldn't get it out, and decided to head to dinner with the plan to call AAA roadside assistance after dinner, or try to attach a chain to my parents' SUV and yank it out.
I communicated the situation via email to my spouse (who was out of town and unable to attend the dinner), who asked exasperatedly how much the tow truck would cost. This made me chuckle, because I've had awful luck with ditches lately. Exactly a week prior, I had gotten stuck in a ditch during the icy aftermath of a snowstorm [AAA wouldn't send a tow truck (which is incredibly ridiculous, and something we're looking into), so we had to pay $175 out of pocket to pull my car out of the ditch, even though I pay for AAA.] When my family asked why I laughed, I told them my spouse's response, which they found funny, because AAA wouldn't charge a paying customer to tow and my frugal spouse apparently didn't remember that, further highlighting his frugality. I realize I shouldn't have shared my partner's email with my family.
I got another email at dinner from my partner talking about being worried about our financial situation as of late. When my nosy family members asked whether I got another email from my partner, my response of "None of your business" was correctly interpreted by them as 'yes.' They unsuccessfully tried to goad me into sharing the contents of the email with them.
Fast forward to later that evening, we're sitting around the kitchen table eating birthday cake. I go to the bathroom right off the kitchen. Mom, Dad, and Brother are whispering to one another, but I don't think much of it. I get back to the table, and Mom asserts that her iphone is much smaller than my phone. I call BS, they're the same size. Mom says prove it, and I grab my phone from my purse to make the comparison.
Note: I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I hardly ever use my phone; it's for emergencies, or communicating with my spouse when we're away from one another. Because of this, I am very unaware of my phone and its presence; half the time, I forget my phone at home, and hardly ever check it while at home. So, I didn't pay attention to where my phone went after my mom held it up to her own phone.
Clueless, I continue eating. No one is talking at the moment, and I see my dad is fiddling with something in his lap. He starts grinning at his crotch, so I assume he's using his phone. (I should have realized that if he was using his phone, he'd use it above the table.)
Concession: I didn't put a password on my phone, and I realize that this is a consequence. And you better believe, I put a password on my phone within 60 seconds of this little stunt!
I finally realized what was happening when my dad began reading aloud my partner's last email. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, and teased me for not putting a passcode on my phone (totally deserved that!) while brushing off my indignation of them accessing my private correspondence against my wishes, at my partner's expense. They told me to lighten up, take a joke, and see it as a learning experience.
Now, I'd really like to get back at them in kind! My dad doesn't use his own phone much, but both my mom and brother do, and I know their phone passcodes. I'd love to mess with them (especially my mom, who was the ringleader in these shenanigans).
1) What's the most relevant way I can prank their phones to get back at their invasion of privacy? I'd love to do something along the lines of these computer pranks, but for phones (one apple, one android).
2) Is that going too far? Is it totally inappropriate to break the boundaries they broke against me? Should I just take it as a lesson learned? Be my moral compass, Mefi!
3) Any ideas for more relevant payback?
Thanks in advance!
This post was deleted for the following reason: Revenge questions are specifically disallowed on AskMe, sorry. -- restless_nomad
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