Teen Praised for Not Feeding Guests Dinner During Family Emergency (2024)

Commenters praised a teenager who refused to feed his stepmother's relatives at midnight following a severe accident involving her sister.

The Original Poster (OP), known as u/No-Distribution-9566, posted about his situation in Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole" forum where it received nearly 14,300 upvotes and 2,500 comments.

Step Relatives by the Numbers

Nearly 50 percent of all Americans report having at least one step relative, with 70 percent reporting feeling "very satisfied" with their family life compared to 78 percent of individuals with no step relatives, according to the Pew Research Center.

Among these respondents, 85 percent said they felt an obligation to help out their parents, while 56 percent felt a similar obligation toward their stepparent. Among parents, about six in 10 adults felt an obligation to help their grown stepchild.

'AITA?'

In the post titled "AITA for refusing to cook dinner for my stepmother and her guests after she's been refusing to let me eat the food she cooks?" the 16-year-old boy said his dad got remarried a year ago to a woman he doesn't get along with.

"She didn't want me to live here and wants me gone," the OP said about his stepmom. "I've insisted that I should stay as I don't want to live with my mom (her husband is a piece of work...) so we're always clashing."

Last month, the OP said his stepmom announced that he wasn't allowed to eat anything she cooks or cook anything she buys.

'Not Her Problem'

The teen said he is expected to arrange his food separately because he's "not her problem to deal with."

"This is annoying but anyway, I can handle it and I didn't want to act entitled so I started buying and cooking my own food. We've been going like this since then," the post read.

A few days ago, the woman's sister had "an accident" and she texted the OP that she is bringing her sister's kids over at midnight.

"I have to say that while for a few hours it didn't look good for her sister and had to go into surgery it ended up being successful and she will thankfully make a full recovery," the post read.

The woman asked the OP to buy snacks and groceries for the children and make them a late dinner, but the OP said he ignored the text.

'Out of Line'

The children arrived at the house hungry and the OP said his stepmom was angry that he did not get groceries or make dinner.

"I told her that it's not my problem to deal with...and she said I'm being a jerk and I said 'takes one to know one.' She ended up ordering pizza," the post read.

The OP's father said he was "out of line" and he should have listened to his stepmom because it was an emergency. He added that doing the favor would have helped to "improve their relationship."

"I told him that our relationship has always been hopeless because she hated me for no reason," the post read. "So there's nothing I can do that can make her hate me any less and at this point I've accepted it and don't care anymore. He said it's not true and I'm now grounded."

Redditor Reactions

Nearly 2,500 users commented on the post, many supporting the boy and criticizing his father for not stopping his wife's behavior.

"NTA. Why is your dad allowing this to happen?" one user commented, receiving more than 22,000 upvotes. "You are 16 and living at home, you shouldn't be paying for your own food. Make your dad fix this problem!"

"You are NOT entitled. Your father is a real piece of work, too," another commented. "I cannot imagine marrying someone who would treat my child so badly. I recommend you get away from all of them as soon as possible."

"Emancipation sounds like a great option here," another user wrote. "If OP already has an income and basic life skills like budgeting and cooking, it's definitely something to be considered."

"It's unfortunate your dad allows her to say you can't eat food she buys when you're still a minor in his home," another commented. "And it's even more a shame that after allowing that behavior from her, he expected you to do for her sister's kids what she won't do for you. It's also not your responsibility as the minor in the household to 'improve' your relationship with your stepmom who clearly resents you."

Newsweek reached out to u/No-Distribution-9566 for comment.

In other viral Reddit posts involving stepparents, a dad was slammed for excluding his stepson from "bonding" trips. One man gifted his stepson a cell phone that only unlocked using the man's face and another man was praised online after he punished his stepson for saying a racial slur to his son.