Am I The As*hole for giving away my brother’s parrot?
My brother Don has an African Grey Parrot. He fell in love with our uncle’s parrot when we were young. He always wanted one and when he got a job where he could take care of one he got it.
Don was neurodivergent. He had trouble connecting with people. But he loved that bird. And it seemed to return the affection.
Don didn’t like to travel. Or leave his home. Or do much besides work, play video games, collect Pokemon stuff, and interact with his parrot.
I, on the other hand, try and get out of town whenever I can. I also use every second of my vacation time and PTO.
Don passed away just after New Year’s. He didn’t have a girlfriend, much less a wife. He did have a will and he left me everything. Including Ash his parrot.
I don’t want his parrot. Trust me after listening to my brother talk about African Grey Parrots for the last 20 years I know more about them than anyone normal should. Including that they can live up to 60 years. That’s would have been great for Don. I on the other hand am not planning on taking care of any human children I have for 60 years.
I talked to my parents to see if they would take him They said their condo doesn’t allow pets. I checked with the rest of our family and nobody wanted to make that commitment.
I contacted a local bird rescue but they only take wild raptors. I tried the zoo. They do not accept birds. I guess there is a chance of diseases or something.
My brother loved this bird so I wasn’t going to do anything stupid with it. Ash was actually growing on me. I was considering keeping him. Lucky for me and Ash my uncle finally got back to me. His parrot had died a couple of years ago and since he is in his late forties he didn’t adopt a new one.
I gladly invited him over to see if he liked Ash. He told me that he and his old bird has met Ash. And even been over to Don’s house for a playdate before.
It was excellent. My uncle knows more about them than my brother did. And now I have that information stuck in my head.
Ash went to live with my uncle. I thought it was the perfect solution. Until my mom called to chew me out for imposing a bird on my uncle. He doesn’t make that much money and birds are expensive to take care of I guess.
Not that it was any of her business but my brother left me a nice chunk of change. And an impressive collection of Pokemon stuff. I had already told my uncle that I would be paying for food and vet bills for Ash. I even volunteered to birdsit him if my uncle needed and I’m on town. I know Don would want that.
She still said that it was a bad decision to give her brother the bird. I probably didn’t improve our conversation by giggling when she said that.
I honestly think I did right by everyone involved. But my mom disagrees. I need someone with no skin in the game to tell me if I’m missing something.
Am I the As*hole?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/112vqet/aita_for_giving_away_my_brothers_parrot/
