Marriages require a lot of compromise from both sides. When two people work together and join hands – they grow stronger together and become a happy couple. But today’s Reddit story is about a wife who didn’t much care for her husband’s time.
Reddit user Striking_Still_3721 shared his story on AITA (Am I the A**hole?) to ask whether he did the right thing or not by ditching his wife at a mall. He wrote:
“I’m a 34-year-old man, and my wife is 29. We have been married for five years.”
“Since we started dating, she has always taken her sweet time doing everything. Getting dressed, doing her makeup, eating, whatever it is, she takes forever. I’m generally a patient person, but I get extremely anxious when I’m late for something with a scheduled starting time. Alone, I have never been late for anything. With her in tow, I’m late for everything.”
“The most frustrating thing about this is that she seemingly has no ability to comprehend that she’s making people wait. If I even suggest that she move a little faster, she gets really defensive. A few years ago one of her best friends dumped her because she was tired of her chronic lateness.”
“Last night, we went out to see a movie. Getting to the mall before the movie started was a battle itself, but miraculously with the prospect of doing some shopping before it, she was able to gather her necessary belongings and get there with time to spare. She started shopping while I more or less followed her, until it was about time to get to the theater. When I told her this, she was talking to a sales clerk about the clothes that she wanted to buy, and she told me to ‘hang on’ for a second.”
“As usual, ‘hang on’ meant ‘I have absolutely no concern about your needs because I’m doing my own thing right now and anything other than what I want to do is out of the question.’ I waited around for a couple more minutes until she started taking jeans off the shelves to try on new combinations. The previews had already started. I told her again, and she said we can just skip the previews.”
“At this point I just walked away, which she naturally didn’t notice, turned off my phone, and enjoyed the movie myself. As a side note, I missed the first few minutes of it waiting for her, standing in line, and making my way to the theater. On my way out of the theater I saw her on a bench in the lobby beside herself because I ditched her. I honestly didn’t feel bad at all and told her that I’d do it again. This made her more upset, and finally we had an awkward quiet drive home. Apparently she was actually looking forward to the movie too.”
“Was I the a**hole in this situation? I felt it was supposed to be tough love, but she seems really hurt.”
The Responses
Reddit’s community unanimously supported this husband. For context, NTA means “Not the A**hole.” Here are some of the top comments:
overseas-mango shared some great advice:
“NTA”
“This is what you have to do moving forward. Tell her that you’re leaving in 15 minutes and follow through. One warning, then go. Stop discussing and explaining. Start showing.”
“Though, in the future, send a text: ‘I’m at the movie and I’m sitting center right. Turning phone off now.'”
redditor191389 commented:
“NTA initially I was sympathetic to your wife, as someone who is also chronically late. However when you describe that her response to you informing her the previews are starting was to go try on more jeans I lost all sympathy. That’s not chronic lateness, that’s chronic disrespect for other people’s time.”
deadhyfer wrote:
“NTA”
“Couldn’t she have went to see the movie still after she was done instead of sitting on a bench? Y’all were at same place, it’s not like you ditched her without a ride or something”
This post has over 2000 comments at the time of writing this article; you can read all of them on Reddit here.
Our Take
While it’s okay to take your time, it’s also very important to respect your partner’s time. NTA.
What’s Your Take?
What’s your take on this husband’s story? Share your take in the comments below.
Source: Reddit
I had a SIL who we started telling her to meet 30 minutes ahead of when everyone else was meeting, cause she was never on time, and we got tired of waiting on her. No matter what the case, she was 20 to 30 minutes late (except for work), and to the rest of us, that was just rude. I don’t her anymore, so it’s no longer a problem.
As the saying goes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind, in this instance you were just giving her a taste of her own medicine to see how she liked it n obviously she didn’t, if it hasn’t changed her mindset in anyway, then I would leave quick smart or tell her to go