The topic of finances is very personal and can be challenging to discuss even with close people. Sometimes, this leads to situations where an audacious relative intrudes into another family’s life and takes advantage of their generosity. That’s precisely what happened to our protagonist today. However, she found an original way to teach her sister-in-law a lesson.
My sister-in-law “Amy” always comes to visit from out of town. She stays with us instead of in a hotel and always wants to go to expensive restaurants. She always conveniently forgets her wallet or comes up with some excuses as to why she can’t pay her share. She has implied that since I make much more money than her, I should be the one to pay (no, my husband is not the one who should pay, but me specifically).
I do make a fair amount of money but not that much that I can treat someone every time they come into town. Nonetheless, in the past, I have just paid the bill and asked her to pay me back. She never has. She made a reservation at an extremely expensive restaurant last night, and before we left, I made it clear that I wouldn’t be paying her bill.
This is where people might say I was wrong, and I’ll admit I got this move straight from an episode of Two and a Half Men. As we were leaving, she and my husband went to the car. I pretended I had forgotten something and went back inside. I found her wallet sitting right on top of her suitcase. I put it in my purse and we went to the restaurant.
When we were done eating, I asked for separate bills. She said no, we need one bill because she “forgot” her wallet again. I reached into my purse and said, “This wallet?” You should have seen her face. She was extremely furious. She said that I should not have touched or grabbed her wallet. So, was I wrong?
The woman’s story sparked a strong reaction, and thousands of users leaving their comments. Most people supported the post’s author and were even surprised at how she tolerated her sister-in-law’s rude behavior for so long:
But some people advised the author to focus not on the sister-in-law but on the husband. They believed that the husband should have stood up for his wife:
Thousands of people read the story, including that very Amy. The author of the post shared her reaction, “Amy just called me, she saw this post and she yelled at me for ‘badmouthing’ her on the internet. Honestly I don’t care. Amy, hopefully reading all these comments is a wake up call for you.”
Discussing financial matters with relatives can be a complex matter. In this story, the author managed to resolve the situation, but another woman faced an even more challenging situation: her mother-in-law wants to be paid for babysitting her grandchild.
Why not offer to pay the grandmother? And happily do so if she accepts. If she is sitting not because you trust her with the child, but because you want a free sitter, I think she is right to ask to be paid. Who says it is a grandmother's duty to babysit grandchildren?
