‘Very Frustrated’ Husband Reluctantly Agrees to Attend Holiday Party, Then Hits Back When Wife Is 2 Hours Late

Social commitments can expose the small cracks in a relationship — especially when one person feels pressured to compromise without feeling respected in return.

That’s the situation one frustrated husband described in a Reddit post after a recent end-of-year get-together with “a group of people we seldom hang out with.” He said he “really did not want to go,” not because he disliked anyone, but because they weren’t the kind of company he enjoys.

Even after he made his feelings clear to his wife, he said she insisted they had to attend because it was “the last one of the year etc.”

Reluctantly, he agreed. But the conflict grew on the day of the gathering.

His wife, still at work and running two hours behind schedule, called and asked him to coordinate timing with the hosts and “buy drinks to bring.” Already feeling like he’d been pushed into an event he didn’t want, he suggested they cancel instead.

According to him, that wasn’t an option. He said he was told “it was expected that I must go on my own she will meet me and the kids there.”

He questioned whether it was fair to expect him to arrive alone and handle preparations for an outing he had openly opposed — and he decided he wouldn’t leave until his wife was home and ready so they could go together.

In his post, he asked if that decision made him unreasonable: “Am I the A Hole for saying how frustrated I am and did not want to go. And refusing to go until she is home and ready for us to go?”

Reactions in the comments were mixed. Some readers agreed with his stance, saying it didn’t make sense for him to be “forced” into attending — especially without the person insisting on it.

“I would never go to an event I was being forced to without the person that was forcing me to go, especially to see people I only tolerate,” one user wrote.

Others argued he may have made the situation worse by digging in, pointing to the give-and-take required in a long-term partnership.

Another commenter noted that if his wife is often the one doing the work of maintaining relationships for their household, stepping in occasionally may be part of supporting each other — even when it’s inconvenient.

“If you have a marriage where you two don’t pitch in for each other, then your problems run a lot deeper than this one event,” they added.