A woman had been dating her 39-year-old boyfriend for nine months when a recurring issue during their outings finally drove her to act. The man, who had two young children, seemed to have a habit of “forgetting” his wallet every time they went out to eat, leaving her to cover the bill. After months of putting up with this, she reached her breaking point and took to Reddit to ask if she was wrong for the way she handled the situation, particularly because it happened in front of his kids.
The woman explained that she and her boyfriend would often take his children out to eat, and while she initially didn’t mind paying occasionally, his repeated forgetfulness started to wear her down. Over the past month alone, she had paid for dinner multiple times, and it left her financially strained. One evening, after receiving a paycheck from her second part-time job, she decided to remind him to bring his wallet before their dinner date. He laughed off the reminder, but when they arrived at the restaurant, his children eagerly ordered expensive meals, and the same old story unfolded.
When she asked him about his wallet, he feigned surprise, patting his pockets before admitting that he had left it in another pair of jeans. Exhausted and fed up, she decided to grab her belongings and walk out before the food even arrived. Her boyfriend was shocked, demanding to know what she was doing. She told him she wasn’t willing to pay for him and his kids again and left the restaurant.
Afterward, the man called her, furious. He accused her of being selfish for leaving him in that situation, claiming that he had to cancel the order and take his children home hungry because she refused to pay. He further scolded her for not caring about his children and even suggested that he might need to reconsider how she treated them in the future.
When she shared the story on Reddit, commenters overwhelmingly supported her, stating that the boyfriend’s actions were manipulative and that he was clearly using her. Most agreed that his consistent “forgetfulness” was no accident and praised her for standing up for herself.
What do you think? Was she justified in walking out, or should she have paid for the meal and addressed the issue with him later? How would you handle such a situation?
