I think that getting good in-laws is like winning the lottery because it’s so rare and rewarding. We come across numerous stories about couples complaining that their in-laws are ruining their marriage, which makes you wonder why these people can’t just live and let live.
Such is also the case with Reddit user Ordinary-Caramel-608, whose mother-in-law asked her to invite her husband’s friends to a dinner as a surprise for his birthday. However, the catch was that she expected the original poster (OP) to pay the dinner bill for everyone at the fancy restaurant. Let’s see what the aghast poster did!
More info: Reddit
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The poster’s mother-in-law asked her to invite her husband’s friends for a surprise birthday dinner
However, the catch was that she expected the poster to pay for 8 people at a fancy restaurant, and the baffled poster refused
This triggered her father-in-law, who complained to his son for not being able to pay the bill for his own birthday
In today’s story, we are right in the middle of a family conflict with in-laws that started over the poster’s husband’s birthday. His mother reached out to OP and asked her to invite a few of his friends for a surprise dinner and shared the list of people with her. Well, she happily agreed and made the reservation at a fancy restaurant.
Then the mother-in-law went on to ask OP whether they should rent a luxury car, but she declined this expensive idea as it might’ve cost around $1,300. Besides, the couple was also having a separate celebration, where they would be going away for the weekend. With a nice little surprise in tow, what could go wrong, or that’s what the poster might have felt.
However, a few days before the reservation, OP received a text from her mother-in-law asking if she needed help paying for everyone at the dinner. This utterly shocked her, as paying for eight people at a fancy restaurant is too much, so she wondered how to tackle the situation. Well, after Redditors motivated her, she told the woman that she couldn’t afford it.
This somehow triggered the father-in-law so much that he told OP’s husband everything (way to ruin the surprise!), as he felt they were in a “good enough place to pay for everyone.” Since they couldn’t afford it, the in-laws absurdly canceled the dinner and made the poster’s husband feel like the bad guy for not paying for his own birthday!
Netizens were baffled by the weird in-laws, and many commented that they could’ve asked everyone to pay for themselves instead of canceling and ruining the man’s birthday. The poster claimed that it could be because of their pride, while others chimed in that they are very nosy, as they wanted to see how much money the couple has.
Now, coming to the weird assumption that OP would pay for 8 people, let us show you some shocking statistics. According to professional chef Nic Vanderbeeken, such fancy restaurants might have varying charges, anywhere from $50 to $1,000 per person. We don’t need to do hard math to know that the bill for 8 people would definitely be high, so OP’s shock is obvious.
Moreover, she also mentioned that the couple was going away for the weekend. Data shows that $901.6 is the average cost for a weekend getaway in the United States, so the couple was also going to have to part with money there, and it’s no wonder they didn’t want to pay for everyone at the dinner. Besides, it’s an absurd request altogether, just like the Redditors pointed out.
The poster also commented that her mother-in-law is always curious to know about her bank account, and folks said that she sounds overbearing. Research suggests that interacting with an overbearing mother-in-law can be exhausting, stressful, and irritating. Well, we hope the poster doesn’t have to communicate with the weird in-laws too much.
If you were in her shoes, how would you handle it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Folks online were shocked by the entitled in-laws, and many advised setting healthy boundaries with them
