'I Stopped Him'—Spouse Telling Sister's Boyfriend How To Eat Dinner Slammed
A Redditor has been slammed online for trying to dictate to their sister's boyfriend how they should eat their dinner.
The Reddit post says: "Every Sunday my family rotates who makes dinner. One day it's my wife and I, the next time is my sister and her boyfriend, the next my mom and dad, and then finally my grandmother.
"We come from an Italian family but are in Canada. I take my food very seriously, especially Italian food.
"I spent all day preparing dinner and when we sat down to eat, my sister's boyfriend is humming and hawing saying my meal is missing something. He said he needs hot sauce and starts walking to my fridge," the post continued.
The Redditor wrote: "So I stopped him saying I'd appreciate if he enjoyed my meal as it is. He insists on Sriracha, and I declined him. He escalated it and said he was going to go to the store and buy his own bottle and return if that's the case".
Since the heated dinner, the two family members have failed to see eye to eye. The Redditor took to the social media platform to gather some external opinion on whether they'd behaved fairly or not.
Since being uploaded to the platform under the Redditor's username @Such-Ad5600 the post has received 8,600 comments and 16,900 upvotes, with most commenters sharing the opinion that everyone involved in the situation had behaved immaturely.
One wrote: "Policing how someone likes their food is a bad look. My husband likes ketchup on his scrambled eggs; I think he must have a demon whispering lies into his ear. But that's his right to let the demon lead him astray."
Another user added: "Yeah, I think too many people are overlooking the boyfriend's actions here. The boyfriend made an insulting comment about the food, got up to start foraging around, and then left the dinner entirely to get hot sauce. Totally atrocious table manners."
How To Know If You Can Still Reconcile?
Linda Whiteside is a lead clinical counselor at NuView Treatment Center in Los Angeles. She told Newsweek: "I think the frustration of [the Redditor] who prepared the meal is warranted since he has put a lot of effort into cooking it only for it to be disrespected by an unsolicited addition of a sauce."
"The person who wanted to add a sauce could have respectfully suggested, not imposed, his choice of sauce on the person who prepared the meal. Being frustrated by unsolicited suggestions or comments is a normal response," she added.
The counselor went on to share with Newsweek that while this may have been a potential starting point of conflict, reconciliation is not impossible.
"From my perspective as a family counselor, I think the two can settle this issue by talking privately alone and discussing what transpired at the dinner table. The reconciliation would still depend on how the other party responds but ideally, it all boils down to communication."
If you have a family dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
