Going out to eat can be a nice way to end a long day or to celebrate a big event. Unfortunately, some patrons have controversial opinions on tipping, bill-splitting, and waiter manners that can sour any happy occasion. From one poster thinking serving small portions is the same as false advertising to another being embarrassed by their fiancé singing “Happy Birthday,” these Redditors took to the internet to find out if they were in the right or wrong.
Vote up the stories that have you agreeing with the original poster, and vote down the stories of people who are so in the wrong that they should never enter a restaurant ever again.
Note: Submissions may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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From Redditor u/buizel123:
My friend Jack and I after a long stressful week like to go to the local pizza place. It’s not fine dining by any stretch of the imagination but there are booths and tables of people sitting down. I see a large table near us of like 10 people – a few couples and a bunch of small kids between like 4 and 8 – and the kids are running around the restaurant being loud while the adults are drinking wine and eating their pizza.
I ignore the commotion for like 20 minutes when suddenly, I feel like a hand on my leg and one of the little kids is crawling under Jack and my table. I wasn’t thinking and snapped at the kid, and said “Get away from our table!” and the kid ran away and burst into tears. One of the parents at the other table came over and started tearing into me about how cranky and mean I was and how dare I yell at her kid, who was just playing. Meanwhile her and the other middle-aged forty-something parents are letting their kids run amok and be loud and obnoxious while my friend and I are trying to enjoy a night out.
I ripped her a new one and said “How entitled do you need to be to think it’s ok to let your kids just crawl under other people’s tables?” She called me an a**hole and walked away in a huff.
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AITA For Leaving In An Uber After What My Husband Did At The Restaurant?
From Redditor u/Vicky0034______:
Me (31F) and My husband (35M) have been married for 14 months. He’s a middle-school teacher. Very close to his family. Loves to help out but can be firm at times. He adores his 1.2-year-old niece. His sister’s baby. He always babysits whenever he’s got nothing to do. I help with whatever I can. We haven’t gotten out for a nice dinner in a while.
I asked if we could go out to a new restaurant and try their food… He agreed. I immediately made reservations and took care of everything.
Since I couldn’t take the day off I left work early and went to meet him there at the restaurant. I walked in and saw my husband sitting and his niece in a carseat by the table. I asked and he said his sister had work and wanted him to watch his niece. His family was out of town so there was no one else beside him. I noticed the restaurant staff were giving us looks since it’s not a child-friendly restaurant and I was worried the baby would cry or something. She was asleep then.
We ordered our meals while he was calming his niece down cause she was crying out loud. He kept asking the waitress about stuff they don’t have for his niece. I couldn’t take the looks from people unable to enjoy their meals cause of the noise my husband’s niece was making. Especially when he started singing “You’re welcome” from Moana while swinging her.
I got up to the restroom. Few minutes later I heard him arguing loudly. I went to see that he was actually trying to change his niece’s diaper on the table. The waitress was arguing with him. I was in shock. The manager came after my husband said he’d take a minute to get it done. The manager spoke to me and asked me to leave… I was livid. We left and I blew up outside. I asked my husband why he used the table while people were eating… And that I wouldn’t have picked a restaurant that doesn’t allow infants. That he embarrassed me, ruined dinner, and got us kicked out.
He started arguing with me like I was one of his students after I refused to get in the car. Giving me 0/10 for my reaction and claiming I picked a bad restaurant. Said that he was helping his sister and I needed to understand that. After the argument I took an uber and went home. He went to his sister’s place and called saying I shouldn’t have left like that and make him feel guilty for wanting to help. But I didn’t respond.
3AITA For Telling My Friend I Didn’t Appreciate Paying For A $200 Meal At Her Husband’s Birthday Party?
From a former Redditor:
My friend invited my husband and me to a 40th birthday party for her husband. The party was going to be at a fairly upscale restaurant with dancing afterwards. We’ve been working on some remodeling projects, so we’ve been on a strict budget. My husband and I wanted to attend the party without breaking the bank, so we decided to share an appetizer and entree and only have one drink apiece.
When we got to the party, we were ushered into a private party room. When we were seated, we were given preplanned menus with several options for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. I asked a passing waiter if I could order a la carte instead of getting the preplanned menu. The waiter indicated that the meal was being paid for by the hosts and because we were part of the party, we needed to order from the preplanned menu.
My friend is a bit wealthier than we are and has always been really generous about their parties, but I was blown away that they would host 15+ people at this restaurant.
As the meal was ending, the main server approached my friend’s husband with the check. My friend’s husband seemed to be a little upset, and said, “I know this isn’t how you normally do things but we are only paying for the wine. We told you that.” I suddenly started panicking inside. I was trying to catch someone else’s eye to see if they were panicking as much as I was. One other couple looked horrified, but everyone else seemed calm. I opened the check, and the total was $211. I thought I was going to throw up. I have never spent that much on a meal.
I held my sh*t together because I didn’t want to make a scene. The couple that looked horrified sidled over to us and we asked if they knew how much it was going to cost and that our friend wasn’t paying. They said they had asked the waiter too, and he had indicated the hosts were paying.
I ended up messaging her and said, “Thanks so much for inviting us to ***’s party. We had a great time. Just a heads up for next time, we really need to know if going to a party is going to cost more than $100. We are on a really tight budget, so a heads up would be appreciated. Thanks again.”
My friend said, “Sorry! Should have given you a heads up. Glad you came.” And we haven’t spoken or hung out since. I’ve tried to set up coffee dates and girl’s nights but she just bails or never responds. It’s been almost 3 months, and she doesn’t seem to want to talk to me at all.
4AITA For Refusing To Pay For A Meal At A Restaurant?
From Redditor u/Excellent_Heart_4837:
My girlfriend and I recently went out for dinner. It took them a while to seat us as they were short-staffed.
We ordered an appetizer to split as well as a meal each. I noticed that they were really trying to rush us along, bringing out our meals at the same time as the appetizer. The server kept grabbing things off the table, asking, “All finished with this?” and beginning to walk away with it in her hand, before I stopped her and told her we weren’t finished. After the third time, first the bread, then my half-filled beer, and then the appetizer. I had enough.
“I understand you have a job to do. Please do not touch anything in front of me until it is cleared and off to the side. Stop interrupting our meal, please go away,” I said very sternly.
A friend of mine came in and was seated at a table nearby, I turned around to greet him and engaged in chit chat for about two minutes. When I turned around my meal, which I had barely touched, was gone. My girlfriend hadn’t even noticed it go missing. I called the waitress over, who handed me the check and asked, “Will there be anything else?”
I told her my meal had disappeared.
She blankly replied, “Oh, I thought you were done.”
I said, “No, I am still eating. Go get my dinner and bring it back here.”
She replied, “Ummm… it got thrown out? Because you looked like you were done, so yeah…”
I told her to go get her manager. She responded that he didn’t have time to see me. I told her that he needed to make time because I was about to make a scene in four seconds.
She left and a minute later came back and said that he was too busy. I told her to reprint the check without my meal on it. She refused saying I ordered it, I had to pay for it, and walked away.
I let my girlfriend finish her meal. Took the check, put a line through the cost of my meal, pulled cash out of my wallet to cover the appetizer, drinks, and my girlfriend’s meal, wrote, “No Tip: Your server was rude, incompetent, and threw out my dinner”, and handed it to the cashier as one bundle as I walked out.
My girlfriend thinks I went a bit overboard and that I should have at least tipped for the other employees involved. My mother, a retired waitress, is furious that I took it upon myself to alter a check and leave without paying for food I ordered. She thinks it was an honest mistake and I need to be more understanding.
5AITA For ‘Embarrassing’ My Cousin And Getting Us Kicked Out Of A Restaurant?
From Redditor u/Used_Mention_1364:
I F(25) don’t have kids yet. I never really wanted them growing up but I figure I’ll eventually have kids in the future once I get my life together. My cousin Sarah (29) has two bad behaved kids from a previous relationship and a newborn baby with her boyfriend MJ (40).
Last night my mother, sister, Sarah and I went to a sushi restaurant – and this was my first time having sushi. After we ordered, I had a hard time using the chopsticks. My cousin started obnoxiously laughing.
The waiter came over and asked me if I wanted “training wheels” which is a little plastic item that attaches to the chopsticks and helps you hold them in place. My cousin laughed and said “sorry about her, she constantly embarrasses herself and us.”
I just gave her the side eye and put the training wheels on. When it was time to order desserts, her boyfriend MJ finally joined us – claiming that he was “busy.” She went on to tell him how “stupid” and “slow” I was for not knowing how to use chopsticks and how the waiters and everyone around now know that I’m an embarrassment. My mom asked her what her problem was and she goes on a rant about how I’m so embarrassing and it’s no wonder I’m “jealous of her being a mother” and “no one wants to have kids with me.”
I finally had enough. I said “I don’t have kids because I don’t want them to come out like your rude pieces of sh*t” and “you’re calling me an embarrassment? Didn’t MJ just have a baby with his wife? Your baby literally has a sibling a week apart from her. You probably learned how to use chopsticks by eating his wife’s leftovers.”
I guess when she was attacking me it was fine because everyone turned on me. It got so loud that management had to get involved. Sarah was screaming and crying, MJ was yelling at me, and my mom and sister were berating me for being “mean.”
Management brought the bill and told us to please pay it and leave. My mom paid the entire bill but my sister said I’m an AH for embarrassing Sarah and getting us kicked out – and how she’s probably going through postpartum depression.
6AITA For ‘Not Allowing’ My Girlfriend To Send Her Food Back For A Second Time?
From Redditor u/GFeggsThrowaway:
I (28m) work the graveyard shift as a corrections officer in a prison. I’ve been dating my girlfriend (26f) for just under a year now.
About once a week or so some of my co-workers and I like to stop at a local diner to get a bite to eat on the way home. They are very accommodating to us COs as well as our brother cops and other people who work the third shift at an area factory as we give them a lot of business. They happily make burgers, sandwiches, nachos, etc. for us first thing in the morning which we are all very appreciative of since it’s “evening time” to us.
So, the other day I felt like stopping after work. None of my buddies wanted to go so I texted my girlfriend to see if she wanted me to treat her to breakfast before work. She said that she did and so we met at the diner. We both ordered the eggs/hashbrowns/bacon/toast combo. She ordered her eggs “halfway between over easy and over medium” and her bacon “chewy; not crispy but not limp.” When the food came she decided that her eggs were too close to medium. She told the server that she wanted them “mostly easy but just barely starting to set on the outside so that there are no runny whites.” The server took her food back. I was slightly embarrassed because her food was just fine and was what she asked for from what I could see, but I didn’t say anything.
When the food came the second time she decided that her eggs were still overdone, even though they looked less done than her first batch. The server offered to bring her food back but I interjected: “No, the food’s fine. They did a good job. She’ll eat it.”
Long story short when we left the restaurant we got into a huge fight. She had to work so we didn’t have much of a chance to discuss it, but when she came over later she laid into me about how I had “treated her like a child” and said that I had no right to decide for her whether or not her order was right. She then accused me of caring more about the server than her and implied that I wanted to have an affair with her, which is crazy since she’s at least 40 and I’m pretty sure married with kids. I shot back that she was being way too demanding, that it was embarrassing since I was a regular there, that they did a perfectly good job with her food; it wasn’t as if she’d asked for over easy and they gave her scrambled, that it wasn’t fair for the restaurant to lose money over her being so picky, etc.
The way I see it if you are going to ask someone else to cook your food you have to give them at least a little leeway. But I can kind of understand what she meant when she said that I had treated her like a child.
7AITA For Not Taking My Girlfriend’s Side Over A Sexist Tradition At A Restaurant?
From Redditor u/godfhshs:
I (M26) am a second generation French immigrant to the US. I speak French and most of my family lives in France, so I try to make a trip back to France once or twice a year.
I have been dating an American girl (F24) for two years now. My girlfriend does not speak French at all. The actual events in question happened this winter.
I usually go to France around Christmas time. The most recent Christmas, my girlfriend wanted to come with me. I said sure as she had never been to France before and we’d been dating almost two years so it seemed reasonable.
My family comes from the South West, but I also have family in Paris so we stopped in Paris first. My gf wanted to eat at a fancy French restaurant while we were there, something with Michelin stars…
We showed up and everything was fine at first. They took our coats, we sat down, the restaurant was beautiful, etc. The waiter then gave us our menu. I had to do all the communication as my gf doesn’t speak French.
I was showing my gf something on my menu and she noticed that mine had prices and hers didn’t. I had completely forgotten about this tradition because it’s just not common at all in the US.
She asked me why mine had prices but not hers. I explained to her that it was just a tradition in many upscale French restaurants. She called it sexist and said it was ridiculous. I told her that it’s just the way it is in these kinds of places, and that we shouldn’t have come here if she was upset by this.
She wanted me to ask for a menu with prices for her. I refused because we already had the prices and I didn’t want to make a scene. She demanded that I confront a waiter about it or she would walk out. I called her bluff and she ended up staying, but didn’t talk to me for the whole meal, which was delicious by the way.
We’ve been back home for several months but she keeps bringing it up. I’m honestly considering ending the relationship over this because she will not stop talking about. She keeps accusing me of being sexist (I’m not) and has been making ridiculous comparisons.
8AITA To Be Creeped Out By How A Waiter Treated My Daughter And For Making Her Say Thank You?
From Redditor u/QueenNephrops:
During a long road trip I stopped off with my 4-year-old daughter for dinner at a family-run rest stop type café/restaurant we’ve been to many times before. My daughter is almost 5 and a very gregarious child who talks to everyone she meets. She also is very tall for her age so could easily be mistaken for 6 or 7 and as a result adults often expect quite a lot from her conversationally and behaviourally…
A bit later we were sitting at our table and I noticed one of the waiters kept looking over and smiling at her, to begin with I was proud as she’d clearly made a bit of an impression on a few of the staff as it was quiet and she’d been pretty funny.
When he brought the food over though he didn’t acknowledge me at all and said directly to her “do you know you are really beautiful?” She was looking at a game she was playing on my phone at the time and didn’t look up or respond and so he said it again. I got her attention and said “the man is talking to you” he said it again and she just stared at him so I made her say thank you.
I was uncomfortable for a few reasons:
-I didn’t like his tone or the look on his face, I’ve seen it before in my 35 years on this planet as a woman
-It’s one thing to compliment a child on their behaviour or something but I found his word choice “beautiful” inappropriate
I made her acknowledge him and thank him for a compliment that made me uncomfortable.
Later on he came back and brought her a slice of cake I hadn’t ordered for free and (again not acknowledging me at all) told her it’s their secret and not to tell mum.
I feel like I witnessed the first time my daughter was noticed by a creep.
AITA or is it impossible for a man in his 50s to talk to a little girl anymore?
Also did I let her down by making her thank him when I thought he was being a creep?
I’m a single mum but her father who has an active role in her life thinks I should complain to the restaurant.
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AITA For Refusing To Pay For My BF’s Food On His Birthday And Getting Him Banned From A Restaurant?
From Redditor u/leopardprintcats:
I (18f) have been dating my boyfriend, John (20m) for a little under a year. We have a pretty toxic free relationship but there’s quite a bit of tension when it comes to me being vegetarian. I’ve been vegetarian since 11 and I have very strict morals around it. The one thing John has a problem with is me refusing to spend my money on meat. Ever since I started making my own money, I swore to myself that I would never spend a cent of it on meat. On our dates, we usually split the bill and sometimes he pays for it all. I told him if he orders something meat-free, I’d happily pay for both of us but he never does. When he pays for my food, I spend money on the activity. Normally concerts and festivals. That’s me paying €120+ on tickets and him spending maybe €50 on food.
His birthday was a few days ago and we went out for dinner at his favourite fancy restaurant. He got the most expensive steak they had along with a side salad and a bottle of wine. When we finished our food, I asked the waiter to split the bill and John looked at me shocked. He asked if I was joking and I said no. Then he told me he thought I was going to pay since it was his birthday and he didn’t budget for the meal. I asked him why he thought I’d pay since I’ve been very clear about my rule but he couldn’t give me a reason other than it being his birthday.
I told him I’d pay for the wine and the side salad, but he’d need to pay for the steak. He was furious with me and stormed off to the bathroom. I paid for my meal, the wine and the salad and waited for him to come back. He didn’t. After waiting for 20 minutes, I left.
I found him sitting on a bench near where we parked the car. I asked him why he left and reminded him he needed to pay. He looked shocked when I said that and asked me if I didn’t pay. I told him I’d paid for everything but the meat and he lost it. He started yelling at me, telling me I was selfish, that I needed to grow up. I stayed calm and told him he needed to go back and pay. He scoffed and walked away. I ended up driving home without him.
Now he’s saying it’s my fault that he can’t show his face in his favourite restaurant since he dined and ditched. It’s a pretty small restaurant so he’d 100% be recognised and kicked out.
EDIT: To the people commenting about me not “treating” him on his birthday, yes, I did. I even dipped into my savings for his present.
EDIT 2: I did not “take him out” for dinner. He was the one that suggested it.
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AITA For How I Insist On Food Order When Eating Out?
From Redditor u/ASIMOVSAGAN:
I believe that meals come in courses. If an app is ordered it comes first. Then soup, then salad, finally entree. I think I started with this because I like hot food actually hot. Eating one thing while watching something else get cold bothers me. So I’ve begun to (much to my wife’s dismay) push back when restaurants don’t listen. I try to make it clear. “We’ll start with this appetizer, then I’d like this soup…” etc. If multiple things appear at once I immediately repeat my request and make them take it back. Too far?
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AITA For Telling My Friend I Don’t Like The Restaurant She Wants To Celebrate Her Birthday At?
From Redditor u/Regalefeutute:
For the past few weeks a friend (28F, Lisa) of mine (25F) really tried to get somebody from my friend group to go to a restaurant in the city we live in with her. It’s a vegan place that basically like those cheap “Chinese” restaurants. It has a very long menu that is categorized by the type of “meat” in the dish, all the “meats” are of course fake though. My issue isn’t that it’s a vegan place, I’m vegetarian myself – I just find the heavy emphasis on replacement products a bit odd. So when Lisa asked me if I wanted to go to the restaurant and I checked out the menu I told her that I wasn’t a fan of the concept but I’d love to go to another place if she’d like. Apparently she asked the other people in my friend group as well and got similar responses.
Since you read the title you know what’s coming – we (Lisa, three more friends and I) discussed what she was planning to do for her birthday and Lisa said she wanted to go to a restaurant and out for drinks afterwards. When asked which restaurant specifically she revealed she wanted to go to the vegan place she had talked about previously. When she said that I guess all of us must have looked a bit startled so she asked if anything was wrong. I tried to brush it off first but she asked again so I told her that I was a bit surprised that she chose a restaurant that she knew all of us weren’t really a fan of and my other friends agreed. She replied that it was her birthday so she could choose whatever she wanted and that basically concluded our conversation about the topic. She was very silent the rest of the day and has been kind of cold ever since.
In my mind it’s a valid point to bring up, at least I personally wouldn’t choose a restaurant that I know my friends aren’t going to like. And it’s also not like we’re refusing to go there, if she decides to go through with it we’ll come and not complain. It is of course true though that it’s her birthday and therefore her choice of restaurant so maybe I should have denied that something is wrong.
So AITA for telling her truthfully?
The restaurant itself isn’t even that big of a deal, most of us were more startled by the fact that she had asked all of us about the place pretty close to the conversation about her birthday and then knowingly chose the restaurant anyways despite our reservations.
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AITA For Not Leaving A Tip After Getting Horrible Service?
From Redditor u/RogueWaiver:
I live in California and recently returned to working in person. My job’s hours have recently been erratic because of this. Yesterday, I got out of work around 8PM and was too tired to make myself dinner. I figured I’d stop at a restaurant for dinner which would also help a local business that’s had a tough year. I got to the restaurant a bit after 8:30 but I had looked it up beforehand and knew it was open until 9 which I thought wouldn’t be a problem.
However, as soon as I sat down the waitress was clearly rushing me and actually told me to not order a burger because “they’ve already shut down the grill.” I informed her that the restaurant’s posted hours were until 9PM and that it wasn’t my fault they were shutting down before that. She gave me a bunch of attitude but then shrieked “fine” before storming off.
The burger took a long time to make, probably because they shut down the grill too early, and I didn’t get it until after 9. While I was eating it, the waitress was constantly hovering over me which I didn’t appreciate after a long day’s work. By the time I was finished and paid it was around 9:25. I thought the waitress was rude and inconsiderate so I didn’t tip her (I pay for good service not to be berated).
After all this, the waitress confronted me while I was walking to my car and kept calling me an a**hole. I feel like this further justified my not leaving a tip but some folks at my work today actually took her side! What do you all think? Shouldn’t a restaurant’s posted hours mean they welcome customers before then? Shouldn’t going on a tirade against a customer mean you don’t get a tip?
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AITA For Agreeing To Go To A Restaurant That Only Serves Spicy Food When I Can’t Handle Anything Spicy?
From Redditor u/throwaway8293947:
My (37M) wife’s (35F) birthday was this past weekend and she wanted to go to this specialty Sichuan restaurant because she is from that region. Sichuan food is known to be really spicy, and is a lot more than I can handle. She knows I can’t do spicy, and we’ve been trying to work on my tolerance with her cooking, but it’s still not that good.
I told her this and suggested we go to a regular Chinese restaurant, but she claimed it’s not the same. She said there will be non spicy options and at worst, she can ask them to make it not spicy. She clung to me and gave me those cute eyes that I couldn’t say no to, so I gave in and agreed. It’s her birthday so I didn’t want to ruin her day.
Well turns out I did anyway. We were at the restaurant and the entire menu was in Chinese. They had an english one but it didn’t really tell me what was spicy and what wasn’t. I let her order a few dishes, the food came, and it was all spicy. Even the ones she said weren’t. I tried to eat it, but I couldn’t so I asked her if she can ask them to make it less spicy. She told me to take it slowly and to eat more rice. But I wasn’t enjoying it and asked her again. She got a little huffy but called the waiter over. The waiter kind of gave me a look, like one of those confused “why are you here?” looks, but took a dish back. It came back out and it was not as spicy but still has a kick. I think it was the sauce they’re using or something.
I told the waiter it’s still spicy for me, and the waiter said they can’t make it any less spicy than that. My wife was getting embarrassed I think, because the tables next to us were all looking now. When the waiter went away, I asked her if we can go to another restaurant. She said she didn’t want to, since we’re already here and we already have food on the table. I may be TA here because I started getting frustrated and saying that we’ve been out all day, and I haven’t eaten and now I won’t be able to eat because everything is spicy. She told me to just eat the rice and we’ll get something for me after.
I got really offended by that and got up and left, walked around for a bit to cool down then came back to see her by our car. She was furious and said I embarrassed her. I said she knew I couldn’t handle spicy, and she said I shouldn’t have agreed to the restaurant.
AITA for agreeing? In hindsight, I could’ve probably eaten the dish that came back with a lot of rice… but I wouldn’t enjoy it. I don’t think I can get used to spicy food.
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AITA For Refusing To Pay At A Restaurant That Was False Advertising?
From Redditor u/GimmeBigSteak:
So my girlfriend (her 27, me 28) wants to go to this fancy new restaurant in the city that she’s heard good things about. We get there and it seems like one of those hipster places but whatever, I’m hungry.
I look at the menu and this place is crazy expensive – like every dish is more than $15-$20 and half the ingredients I’ve never heard of. I order the bison steak ($26) and my girlfriend orders some weird pasta, noki I think ($18). Very important, these were listed as ENTREES on the menu. Mind you with drinks plus tip this is going to come out to over $60 which is already ridiculous for dinner for two people.
So anyway we order as we are starving. My steak arrives and I am shocked, it’s like 6 small pieces of sliced steak with some weird sauce on the side and a small handful of salad. I joke to the waiter “where’s the rest of my steak?” and he explains they serve smaller portions at this restaurant because they focus on getting the highest quality ingredients. I don’t care if this bison was blessed by the pope himself it’s absurd to charge that much for such a small bit of steak, it’s highway robbery. When I go to restaurants I expect an entree to fill me up and be enough for leftovers.
I’m complaining to my girlfriend and she’s getting annoyed with me. Similar situation with her pasta it was like maybe 12 pieces of noki dressed up with some frou frou bullsh*t. Granted the food was pretty good but I can not get over how tiny these portions are. I’m a big guy and I like to eat, what can I say.
When the waiter comes back I inform him we will not be paying for our meal, and that they are falsely advertising entrees that barely qualify as a light snack. My girlfriend is begging me to stop but that’s where we’re different, I don’t let businesses push me around and rip me off.
A manager comes and apologizes but asks us to leave. I don’t end up paying as they realized I called them out on their bullsh*t. My girlfriend is silent the entire time on the way back. I’m still hungry so I drive through McDonald’s and get a burger, and when I did that she asked to be dropped off at her place. It’s now the next day and I’m starting to think I didn’t handle the situation as well as I could have (I could have probably just asked for a discount). My girlfriend hasn’t responded to my texts so now I’m starting to think I’m an a**hole.
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15
AITA For Telling My Fiance That He Embarrassed Me When He Started Singing The ‘Happy Birthday’ Song To His 5-Year-Old Son At The Restaurant?
From Redditor u/ThrowRaBirthdaysong5:
I F30 have been with my fiance “Ned” M36 for a year and a half. He has a 5-year-old son with his ex-girlfriend. They don’t have a custody arrangement but he has him most of the week because the mom is currently sick. His son is lovely but I noticed that Ned takes him everywhere he goes, including places that aren’t child friendly and we have an issue with that now but we’re working on it.
His son’s 5th birthday was days ago, Ned took us out to a restaurant to celebrate. The place was nice and looked a bit unfitting for the occasion because it was a somewhat expensive place.
Anyways, we ordered food then got the birthday cake which was a surprise to me because I thought we were going to celebrate at home…so we could be free to sing and play however we wanted. I still had no issue with that til Ned started singing the “happy birthday” song to his son. I was stunned I almost dropped my plate. He was singing it at the top of his lungs not even looking around or paying attention to how many people were staring at us awkwardly. I felt so embarrassed I kept whispering for him to stop but he ignored me. Of course my future stepson was hyped and a little too active which isn’t good when we’re at a public place. I expected the staff, the manager, anyone to get involved and stop him but no one did. In fact some woman came up to us and offered that she “help him take a video recording.” I wasn’t in it at all. I froze in my seat looking stunned and a little angry.
He looked at me later asking what was wrong. I didn’t say anything except “thanks for finally noticing!” He didn’t understand what I meant and I didn’t explain til we were in the car. I flat out told him that he embarrassed me the second he started singing in the restaurant. He looked shocked saying he didn’t get why I would be embarrassed by him celebrating his son’s birthday and cheering him up. I told him we could’ve done this at home when we’d be more comfortable and free. He took it as in I was ashamed of him and his son but I denied it and said that it just felt awkward and embarrassing to me, maybe because I’ve never been in this situation and also judging from the restaurant we were at. He said that his son’s mom is sick and he’s trying to do all he can to cheer him up and that all families do that and no one had an issue with that except me. When I tried to explain, he got mad and said he no longer felt like talking.
We haven’t been speaking since then. It appears he’s still salty about me saying what I said and insisting that I see him and his son as an embarrassment.
AITA? I think he’s being too harsh with the whole ignoring me thing instead of talking it out.
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16
AITA For Reporting A Waiter For Tax Evasion?
From Redditor u/:aitathrowaway___:
Yesterday my wife and I went out for dinner with her parents. Her dad was paying by card and there was an option to leave a tip on the card machine, so her dad asked the waiter if he preferred a card tip or a cash tip. He replied that he preferred cash tips because tips that get added on the card machine are part of his monthly pay packet and thus get taxed. I told him that it was his responsibility to report any cash tips to the government as he needed to be paying tax on all of his income and he rudely rolled his eyes and said that nobody actually declares their cash tips.
I thought this was disgusting behaviour. I work hard at my job and pay the tax I owe, and so should everybody else. When we returned home from the restaurant I submitted an online report to HMRC with the waiter’s details and the details of the restaurant.
My wife saw what I was doing on the laptop and called me an a**hole, saying the waiter probably makes minimum wage and needs the tips to pay for his lifestyle. I responded that plenty of people make minimum wage and don’t get tips, and anyway, I don’t want people to stop tipping him, but I think it’s important that he’s honest with the government about how much he really earns and pays the proper tax on it so that society continues to run well.
FYI we live in the UK where waiters are paid properly anyway and don’t completely rely on tips to get by.
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17
AITA For Not Attending My Husband’s Celebration Dinner Due To The Restaurant Not Having Anything I Could Eat?
From Redditor u/Willing_Strawberries:
My husband has been working really hard the last two years to advance at his company and he finally got the promotion he’s been after. I’m really, really proud of him. His parents are too and wanted to take us all out to dinner to celebrate. My husband absolutely loves prime rib and there’s only one place in our area that serves it so he picked that restaurant. Thing is- I’m not fond of steak. I’ll eat it but very rarely. I prefer chicken or fish… The place had only one fish entree and two chicken entrees, and none of them sounded good for various reasons. I suggested that he pick someplace else so everyone can eat. He refused, citing that we rarely get to go to this place but go to other places in our area regularly which is true, but those places have lots of variety so everyone can eat.
He suggested that I ask if they could prepare the fish or chicken without the marinades or sauces but I didn’t want to be difficult for the kitchen staff. His next suggestion was that I order dessert while everyone else ate entrees and then when we were done, he would take me where I wanted so I could eat dinner while he and the kids ate dessert. So I opted to just not go because I didn’t want to sit there not eating and not having a good time while everyone else was. My husband asked me to go so he could celebrate with the people most important to him. I told him no again and that he needed to get going before he was late. He did go but came back a little over an hour later with the kids and they all had to go boxes. He said he couldn’t think of what to tell the kids about why I didn’t go when they kept asking without lying or making me sound bad so he just got an order for them to go and let the kids spend some time with their grandparents talking in the parking lot. I told him he should have stayed but he said that I put him in a bad spot with the kids and that I knew he wanted everyone there and that I should’ve just gotten over my picky eating for one night. I maintain if he really wanted us to all eat dinner as a family then he should’ve picked a restaurant with a more accomodating menu.
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