After calling off the family Thanksgiving dinner she had been hosting for the previous 20 years, a woman posted it on Reddit. Due to her brother’s wife, she had to make the tough choice.
While some members of her family backed her choice to call off the dinner, others felt she made a mistake. To find out what people thought of her experience, she shared it on Reddit.
The forty-year-old woman invited her mother, siblings, kids, and spouses to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. She canceled the celebration after receiving a message from her brother’s wife in response to the invitation.
Five years ago, the original poster (OP) described how she had met Julie, her brother’s wife. Since then, her sister-in-law has consistently caused trouble over the yearly Thanksgiving meal, as the Reddit user explains:
Every year, Julie gives me a list of foods she can and cannot consume since she is particularly interested in trendy diets like Atkins, Keto, and South Beach.
Last year, OP made Julie a special dinner | Source: Unsplash
Julie gave OP a list for last year’s celebrations, and OP made her sister-in-law’s special meals based on her new diet. The yearly family meal was nevertheless wrecked in spite of her attempts.
OP described what transpired that year, including Julie’s outburst at the dinner table over her husband’s refusal to consume the foods she was following on the ketogenic diet. The Reddit poster described how they wrecked the evening by fighting at the Thanksgiving meal.
Regarding her unique diet, Julie texted OP | Source: Unsplash
Julie told OP that she was on a special fertility diet since she was attempting to conceive through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) when she invited her family to the Thanksgiving feast she was preparing this year. OP texted Julie in frustration, saying she couldn’t fulfill her request because she was only preparing one dish that year. OP gave her an explanation, stating:
In her defense, OP stated that her food allergies were life-threatening and that Julie’s diet was her own choice that changed every year, telling him he couldn’t compare the two. OP’s brother then called their mother, who informed him that everyone in the family found it difficult to meet Julie’s dietary needs, so she should bring her diet food to family dinners. Julie complained to her husband | Source: Unsplash OP’s brother chastised her over the phone for spoiling the Thanksgiving dinner the next day, pointing out that she had catered to her food allergies while throwing a BBQ party earlier that year.
She was phoned by the OP’s brother | Source: Unsplash
After talking to her husband about the problem, OP agreed to his suggestion that she call off the meal. She informed everyone that the Thanksgiving meal would not be held, stating:
The Reactions of Reddit Users to the OP’s Story
In addition to sharing their personal experiences with dietary preferences, many Reddit users condemned Julie’s actions, saying that it was unnecessary to accommodate such requests. One individual talked about switching to a vegan diet and getting backlash from vegan coworkers for preparing non-vegan meals for relatives.
The prevailing opinion was that the OP was right to refuse to change the entire Thanksgiving meal for Julie because her requests were irrational.
