My In-Laws Always Excluded Me From Family Dinners, So I Taught Them a Lesson

In the midst of familial obligations and societal pressures, a young woman finds herself on a «family trip» with her in-laws, only to encounter an unforeseen challenge. Battling against ingrained notions of social status and proper conduct, she is faced with a significant decision that carries profound consequences.

I (F26) went on a «family trip» with my in-laws 2 weeks ago. MIL always thought that I am a bit «ignorant» and «backward» and that just because I come from a lower class family (compared to hers) that I have no «etiquette».

Upon arriving at the hotel, they arranged for a dinner outing at a posh restaurant. My husband deliberately kept me in the dark, informing me at the last minute after he had already dressed. When I inquired about his plans, he casually mentioned that he and the family were dining out, but I wasn’t invited.

His reasoning? His mother «assumed» that my unfamiliarity with the cuisine and dining etiquette at such a place warranted my exclusion, deeming it better for me to stay in and dine at the hotel.
Without protest, I allowed him to leave and promptly packed my bags, catching the first flight back home.

Upon learning of my departure, my husband was beside himself, bombarding me with calls. He accused me of acting irrationally and ungratefully, alleging that I had embarrassed him in front of his family, despite his fervent pleas for me to join the trip. Our heated exchange culminated in him resorting to the silent treatment upon his return home. Additionally, his family indirectly criticized me on Facebook for my actions.

The woman shared her story online, asking if she overreacted, but most users agreed she was in the right.

• The irony is that your in-laws’ boorish behavior of excluding you in such a way and for such extremely lame classist reasons is probably the lowest-class thing they could do. Also, you definitely have an SO problem. He should have shut down that garbage the moment it started spewing from their mouths. © CrazyCookie8507 / Reddit
• It sounds like you have a husband problem. Did he go along with you not being included in going to dinner? That is incredibly rude and disrespectful. He didn’t defend you. He could have declined the dinner invitation and gone out with you instead.
  If you want this relationship to last, you both need to go to counselling to learn communication and boundaries. He also has to grow a spine to deal with his mother. © Ok_Nobody4967 / Reddit
• If he really thought it was better for you to stay at the hotel (and genuinely better, not just better for his mother), then he should have asked or suggested it, not sneaked around and hidden. How the heck can he humiliate you and then be upset when you don’t just lie down and take it? Stand your ground. © whiskey_at_dawn / Reddit
• Your husband left you in the hotel while he went for dinner with his stuck-up parents? I’m so proud of you for leaving. I don’t know what to say other than he should have supported you and told his parents to piss off. He doesn’t sound like a very good man, but I’m just an internet stranger. © BeneficialFuture8236 / Reddit

A fellow user penned an extensive comment regarding the entire situation.

• But this isn’t just about your in-laws. Your husband is just as rude & disrespectful as they are. For a group of people who think they are better than you, they fail big time on basic etiquette. First, they tried to just invite your husband without you. Rude. He shouldn’t have to beg them & definitely shouldn’t have told you that he did, as if he deserves a cookie for that, or it excuses his later behavior. They openly disrespect you on the trip & plan a family dinner, purposely leaving you out because you are too low class to appreciate it. One, that’s extremely low-class behavior from them. Two, your husband hid it from you rather than demand his family treat you with basic respect & human dignity. They all got what they wanted, you are gone. But they are still punishing you and berating you. You literally cannot do anything right for your in-laws and your husband unless you stand there like a pathetic loser taking all their mistreat for their entertainment. KindlyCelebration223 / Reddit

Meanwhile, in our other article, we’ve compiled stories of people who have received terrible gifts from their mothers-in-law.