In a Reddit post shared on r/AmITheAsshole, a woman recently asked, “AITA for not sharing a free meal with my anti-Instagram boyfriend?”
The author explained that when she goes out to eat, she enjoys taking pictures of her food ― she spends about “30 minutes a week on it, tops.”
However, her boyfriend doesn’t seem to approve of the harmless hobby. “My boyfriend is a very sweet guy in many ways, but one thing that I’m not so much a fan of is that he often hops on the bandwagon of hating on innocent things,” she shared in the post.
She seems to suggest that the things he dislikes in particular are gendered towards women ― “I can’t help but notice a theme: pumpkin spice lattes, pouty selfies, Taylor Swift, etc. As you can guess, he is not a fan of of the food pics and thinks it’s very annoying and cringe,” she explains.
Her hobby began getting her offers
The woman explained that even though her Instagram food account is only small, she’s still gotten the odd promo or invitation for review from restaurants in her city.
“Nothing crazy — no steak dinners so far — but I’ve gotten a few sandwiches and several baked goods,” she shared.
But recently, she got into what she called “the big leagues” ― a restaurant asked her and a guest during their opening, with a free meal and appetiser.
Having stated earlier that her boyfriend doesn’t even follow her Instagram food account (despite being active on the site himself), the poster shared that she “immediately invited one of [her] Instagram friends who [she has] gone out to eat with on several occasions and who also enjoys taking food photos.”
The boyfriend isn’t happy to miss out on a free meal
“I told my boyfriend and he’s pissed that I’m not taking him and says I’m doing it out of spite — I really think I’m not,” the author of the post says.
After all, “If the restaurant is giving me free food in exchange for a post, I’m gonna put more effort into the post and spend a few extra minutes making sure that I actually get very good shots, and I’d rather do it with someone who isn’t going to sigh and roll their eyes through the whole thing,” she explains.
She adds: “Also, I think it’s pretty audacious of him to be actively unsupportive of an activity that hurts no one, but then also expects to benefit when it’s actually successful.”
Commenters tended to side with the woman
“Your gut feeling about this is absolutely correct. You’re there to do a job essentially and his bad attitude would be a hindrance to you getting it done right,” one commenter said, adding, “for a relationship to work and be healthy and happy, your partner needs to be supportive of the things you’re excited about. They don’t have to be interested themselves, but they do need to encourage and lift you up.”
“The things he actively hates are all associated with women,” another Reddit user said. “No, he doesn’t have to like it at all, but actively hating is a part of misogyny. I don’t think this is a good guy.”
“To add ― this is a business proposition. You are being comped for providing a service, and you are expected to provide that service. Kudos to you for thinking strategically and also including someone who will also promo the food and establishment,” another commenter said.
What do you think?