There are certain situations when it's (kind of) socially acceptable to ask for gifts back: after a breakup, when the gift receiver was completely in the wrong; when the gift giver recently learned the gift was a family heirloom, and that their mother is expecting to see it in the living room. An instance when almost no one would feel it's okay to ask for a gift back, however, is when that gift is a puppy, happily received over a year ago. But before you rush to judgment on the story Reddit user BarkBarkGo shared on the site, there are a lot of factors to consider.
BarkBarkGo explains that her sister Kacy's dog, Judy, had puppies a year-and-a-half ago. Judy gave one of the pups, Bucket, to the user. She describes Judy as "pretty much Kacy's child" and explained that the pup had been a gift from Kacy's late boyfriend. Sadly, last Sunday, Judy was hit by a car and died.
A few days later, the user received a text from Kacy, which read, "I know this is asking a lot, but would you be willing to give me Bucket? I can't stand being alone, it's like having [boyfriend] die all over again. I would buy you another dog, but I need Bucket back. It's something I need and if you care you would help me with this."
The redditor explains that while she feels for Kacy, she can't possibly part with Bucket and is looking to the Reddit community for ways to tell her sister no.
Commenters focused on explaining to Kacy that another dog won't replace the one she lost and reminding her that the redditor loves her dog just as much as Kacy loved Judy. It's not completely unreasonable in her grief for her to ask (though, as commenters pointed out, her language was manipulative), but even sisterly duty doesn't extend to parting with pets.
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