A woman has received an outpouring of sympathy online after revealing her husband doesn't have any money to buy her a Christmas present, as he's "reluctant to work."
The woman posted her dilemma on Reddit's popular Am I The A**hole subreddit, under the name Czechvegan, revealing she nearly begged her other half to at least get her a Christmas card.
But she claims he branded her "materialistic," despite spending the last of his money on video games for himself, and having the cheek to ask her for gifts.
The woman, who revealed she works as a librarian, said: "With Christmas coming up, I did want a gift from my husband, mainly for the symbolism like the thought of getting a Christmas gift, I know he doesn't have much money because he's very reluctant to work and skips going to his part time job most of the time, so I told him it could be something small, like a little stuffed animal or a keychain or even a Christmas card, but today he told me he doesn't have money and won't have any until next year because he spent his last money on a video game he had been wanting."
Despite his assertion the holidays should be about family, it seems he has double standards, as he'd already given her his Christmas list.
She continued: "He says I am materialistic for wanting a gift (even though he asked for several things which I already bought) and that Christmas should be about time with family instead of material things so I do feel guilty and like maybe I am wrong but I'm not sure."
And seeing as he wasn't a fan of working, she revealed they live solely off of her paycheck.
She added: "If it matters I pay all the bills and living costs so it's not that I've ever asked for anything (he did get me a card on my birthday when I asked him to) so I don't think I'm that materialistic but I do feel a bit bad so is it unreasonable for me to want a Christmas gift given that it would be really cheap or is it a reasonable desire?"
Her situation has amassed more than 10,000 upvotes since being shared on Monday, and attracted thousands more comments.
In a bid to understand more about her situation, she responded to numerous questions claiming her husband's line of work is construction, and they've been married two years.
Clarifying his position on employment, she said: "...My husband says he's only willing to work part time because he wants to have more time to play video games."
While she added their relationship "definitely changed after marriage, he worked full time before but after marriage said he was burned out and then eventually got a part time job but won't really go to that, but what can I do, asking him calmly and communicating doesn't change anything and it angers him if I bring it up and if I didn't pay all the bills we would be homeless and if I didn't do the chores we'd be living in a pigsty."
Her situation has seen a tidal wave of advice, with numerous people urging her to evaluate what she gets out of the relationship.
Sapper12D commented: "Dump him via a gift under the tree. Make sure it's to yourself op, cause it's the best thing you can get yourself this year."
SerenityFate wrote: "NTA jeez the audacity of this man. OP you deserve better than this."
Honeymochie said: "Never mind the gifts, why is OP with this lazy person at all? Unwilling to work at his part time job while his wife does all the bill paying? He's not even a house husband."
While koolhandluc thought: "NTA. Keep the gifts and return the husband."
"Seriously what a tool. He won't work and can't even get his ass up for his part time job... why suffer like this??" Mrose1491 added.
According to Statista, Americans were expected to spend roughly $886, on average, on Christmas gifts in 2021.
Breaking down spending, website Fortunly found Americans spend an average of $123 on their other half at Christmas.
They claimed men spend $20 more on their other half than women, and added: "When it comes to high-end generosity, 12.5% of Americans spend more than $300 on their spouses during Christmas."
Newsweek has reached out to Czechvegan for comment.
