The 47-year-old man from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States had planned to visit his 21-year-old daughter at college on the East Coast in the company of his 43-year-old wife.
He decided to give his family members the code names, 'Jess' and 'Meg' in a Reddit Am I the A**hole (AITA) post.
“Let me start by saying that traveling with my wife is not a great experience,” he said.
“I am very type a, I like to have everything organized and make sure that we get where we need to be early, especially when traveling.
“My wife is the opposite, very ‘go with the flow’ and ‘we will get there when we get there’. I do my best to meet in the middle, but not when traveling by plane.”
However, his wife does not like to get up early, and it took him multiple attempts to rouse her until she finally got up at 7:40 am.
She then wanted to ‘make the coffee, shower, and eat a bowl of cereal,’ so they didn't leave the house until 9, and it took a long time to get through security, causing them to miss their flight.
As a result, Jess felt disappointed when the airline declined to reimburse their ticket, which led to the parents having to purchase new tickets the next day.
Moving forward to their most recent trip, where they were returning to assist Jess with her move, the journey involved taking two flights. Upon landing at their connecting city, they had only 25 minutes before boarding the next plane.
“We had to take multiple rails to get from where we landed to our terminal,” he said.
“We got to our terminal and had about 15 minutes until our plane was set to board.
However, his wife wants to get coffee. Then, he asked if she wanted him to go grab it for her.
“’ No I want Starbucks’ she said. Well, Starbucks we a rail ride away, and a little bit of a walk. I told her we couldn’t do that, we didn’t have enough time.”
However, the wife, assuring that she would return on time, promised she’d be back in time.
As expected, the wife did not return on time, and the man attempted to reach her multiple times. However, he was eventually told by the flight attendant that it was the final call, forcing him to make a decision.
“I tried to plead with her to wait a couple of minutes, but she insisted that she couldn't. So, I boarded the plane.”
He then had to instruct his wife to buy a new ticket and arrange to meet her at their daughter's location.
The Reddit post generated numerous comments, sparking a significant debate about punctuality and respect.
“I thought maybe she realized it was her fault and just wanted to drop it.
“Boy was I wrong. We are now home and she hasn’t talked to me since the trip, over a week ago, and is insisting that I am an a**hole. So, am I the a**hole?”
One person said: I would have acted similarly to the husband. My one difference would have been to explicitly tell my partner I’d leave with the plane if they weren’t there. I know some people struggle with time, but that isn’t what this seems to be. It’s more complete disrespect for anyone else’s time.
A second wrote: I’ve done that to my husband loads of times! He always wanders last minute in the airport and it freaks me out. So every time we go away I board without him. He’s always made it so far! But I’d go without him if he missed it and I always make sure I’ve got the car keys.
A third commented: When going with the flow is making you miss flights and time with the family, it’s time to evaluate your thinking. I would’ve left her too! She’s the AH!
