Online commenters have backed a woman who complained about having to pay for takeout after her sister-in-law, who invited the poster and her husband over for dinner, "[couldn't be asked]" to cook and ordered out for food instead.
In a Mumsnet post shared this past Sunday, the woman, whose username is hittle, said that her sister-in-law and brother-in-law didn't have a cooked meal for their guests, as they had expected. Instead, the hostess ordered takeout from Domino's Pizza, and the original poster's husband ended up paying half.
Eating out or ordering takeout instead of cooking is quite common in the U.S. A 2019 survey of 1,000 people found that 56 percent of them dine at a restaurant, get takeout or have a meal delivered about two to three times a week. The survey was done by hospitality operations platform Fourth.
These numbers were even bigger during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Statista. The number of smartphone food-delivery app users increased from 36.4 million users in 2019 to 45.6 million in 2020. This growth is expected to continue, with an estimated 53.9 million users by 2023.
In further comments, the woman on Mumsnet said that her husband offered to pay but she didn't think her sister-in-law was going to let him.
"When the delivery driver is collecting cash (£50) and [BrotherInLaw] says 'I've got £25 here' and the room goes silent and he looks at us, what would people here have said? I haven't complained about [it] to them. I've asked an anonymous website if my feelings are warranted or not. Kinda the point of AIBU," hittle wrote.
She added that she's had her sister-in-law over for dinner at least 10 times. Every single time, she's cooked for her and her husband, who "at most, [have] bought a couple of beers," so she thought this would be reciprocated.
Among the 142 comments in the thread, most sided with the woman. Flatandhappy said: "I'd be pissed off too, if you [Can'tBeAsked] to cook then you pay for the takeaway."
User Craver said: "Next time you invite them over, suggest a Chinese or Indian takeaway and ask them for half the cost."
On the other hand, Rainbowcat99 said: "[Your husband] shouldn't have offered to pay. You played the polite game and you lost!! Yes inviting people to dinner then getting [takeout] is a bit rubbish but perhaps it shows that they're comfortable with you."
SweepItUnderTheCarpet wrote: "Bit daft offering money then complaining afterward. I think ordering [takeout] is ok personally. Although I wouldn't do it myself."
Poppyblush said: "I didn't think any pizza delivery companies, especially chains, took cash nowadays. Your [BrotherInLaw] paid by bank and did a deliberate guilt check." And MrsLargeEmbodied said: "They sound [really] rude."
Another user, GoldenGorilla, wrote: "Yeah we are lazy and quite often invite people over then get takeaway but we would absolutely always pay, we're the hosts and it's our choice to get takeaway rather than cook. Very cheeky of your in-laws. I'd be a bit less willing to host them after that!"
Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.
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