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She doesn't take his job seriously.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Nov 29, 2022
A 26-year-old woman wondered if she was in the wrong for interrupting her husband’s work meeting so he could celebrate her sister’s birthday.
She aired her conflict on the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA), a forum where users post about arguments that have been bothering them.
She explains in her post that her family invited her to celebrate her sister’s 18th birthday at a restaurant, and she asked her husband to join.
He declined the invitation because he had a dinner meeting with clients that same night.
She admits that her family felt let down, especially her sister, because turning 18 was a big deal to her.
She arrived at the restaurant with her family on the night of her sister’s celebration and saw her husband at a table in the corner with 4 other men.
She posted that she was surprised by the coincidence, stating that her husband was “obviously” as shocked as she was.
She waved hello, but he pretended not to notice and didn’t wave back.
When her sister’s cake arrived, her parents asked why her husband didn’t acknowledge them, prompting her to stand up, leave the table, and approach her husband's table.
He sat silently while she said "excuse me," and introduced herself to his clients.
She asked her husband to leave his meeting so he could watch her sister blow out the candles and sing "Happy Birthday."
Her husband responded politely, saying, “I don’t think so, I’m busy right now.”
She “insisted” he come with her, as it would, in her own words, “just take a couple [of] minutes and mean so much to [her] sister.”
Her husband stared at her, then stared back at his clients who said nothing in response.
The woman’s parents motioned for her to hurry up, after which point her husband got up from his table and joined her.
She said, “he sat with us while my sister blew [out] the candles and cut the cake. My parents insisted he take a piece and join us in the selfie but he got up and walked back to his table looking pissed.”
The couple didn’t interact any further until later that night when they got home.
Her husband said she made him look unprofessional and ruined his business meeting.
She believed he was overreacting, “since it only took a few minutes and it was [her] sister’s birthday and [her] family wanted him to join since he was literally in the same restaurant.”
Her husband called her ignorant, accusing her of “tampering with his work.”
She said that ignoring her and her family’s presence at the restaurant was “unacceptable.”
After arguing further, her husband “started stonewalling” her and gave her the silent treatment.
At the end of the post, she admitted only seeing an issue with it she saw him at the restaurant.
She defended her decision by saying that the whole thing “literally took 5-7 minutes. He didn't even eat nor drink. Just sat down and watched.”
Reddit users unanimously agreed that she was wrong for what she did.
In a post that was upvoted over 55,000 times, a user wrote that she “embarrassed him in a professional setting. Also, he is allowed to have boundaries. No is a complete sentence.”
Another user responded directly to the woman, saying that “what you did is the same as walking into a board room and demanding that he leave his meeting to come watch someone blow out some candles. You interrupted his work and wouldn't listen when he said no.”
Some doubted whether her presence at the restaurant was actually a coincidence.
“I have a strong suspicion she knew where he was having this meeting and decided to have the celebration there so this exact situation would play out,” wrote a user.
Whether she knew or not, she crossed a clear boundary by ignoring her husband’s refusal, undeniably making her "the a--hole."
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.