People Want To Learn From The Mistakes They Made In These “Am I The Jerk?” Stories

"I’m a 17-year-old female who is ok at art and or creating things so I get asked by family and others to do art-related stuff for them a lot. I usually don’t mind and do it for them sometimes for money and sometimes for free so they’re pretty comfortable asking me for art favors. My sister K (30) asked me to do my niece J's (8) artwork for her school contest so she could win. I told her no because I don’t feel comfortable being used so my niece could win a contest when she could draw something herself and it would feel more rewarding if she won that way. After that, she totally blew up in my face saying that I didn’t want to do it because I hated her kid and that since I’m her auntie I should just do it. A little context before I show why you might think I’m a jerk: I love my niece but her mom hands everything to her on a silver platter. She could ask for the clothes off some girl's back and her mom would give it to her. Now because of this, I have gotten into lots of verbal arguments with her mom about how spoiled she was and how her mom just pretends not to see it so ever since then she’s just concluded that since I “didn’t have as much stuff as her” I was jealous and hated her kid. Because of all of this, I still refused regardless of what she said and I told her “The world isn’t fair and she has to learn that. If she doesn’t win this art contest it won’t be the end of the world she’ll be fine.” She flipped out some more and then told my mom who flipped out EVEN HARDER. I was called selfish and weird but in my opinion, they’re the ones who asked me so I have a right to refuse. I know depending on who reads this I’m gonna sound like someone who just needs to suck it up but I swear it goes much deeper than this post. I know the internet can be a ruthless place which is why I’m asking y’all…AITJ?" Another User Comments: "NTJ. The saddest part is that your own mom is encouraging this dishonesty. You're right. Internet users can be ruthless. Show the comments to your mom and sister. They're the ones who are being jerks here. Wow, on top of the dishonesty, this is what they're telling your niece: "Your art stinks so badly, we have to be dishonest to win. We have zero confidence in you. We will accept no less than 1st place, even if it's empty."" FuzzyMom2005 Another User Comments: "You sound like you're pretty mature and rational, and have an understanding of how the world works, and respect the difference between right and wrong. The alleged "adults" in this situation both fail hugely in every single one of those criteria. They're mad because you recognize that this is being dishonest, and it's wrong, and called them out on it. So now they're wrong, AND they've had it pointed out to them (by someone they deem as inferior due to the age difference), AND they feel judged (rightly so, seriously) so instead of correcting themselves, they lash out. Which just loses them even more Righteous Wisdom And Maturity points, and further illustrates that you're the only one involved who's making reasonable decisions. NTJ and well done, you." OrigamiStormtrooper Another User Comments: "NTJ. Your sister wants you to help your niece win a contest. That’s just setting her up for a life of believing that someone else will always do the work for her, and she will get all the reward. She will grow up to be an entitled brat. That’s really great parenting from your sister. Seriously, you not doing it is the only right thing to do. She enters the contest with an original piece of her own, or she doesn’t enter. She wins or she loses based on her own merit. That’s fair and honest. Anything else would be wrong, and if it were me, I’d find some way of letting someone know. Your sister is making a rod for her own back by instilling this sense of entitlement in her daughter. Maybe when she sees what a monster it makes her as she grows up, she’ll wish she’d done things differently. But that isn’t your cross to bear. It’s hers." JaneDoe_83