Thanksgiving is a time to get together with family and count our many blessings. With inflation, this celebration is not an easy or cheap undertaking. One aunt decided to charge her family for the holiday meal to combat this.
Her 22-year-old nephew was not too happy about this. He thinks she is charging too much and would rather do a potluck. He plans to go to his aunt’s to see family but will not be eating. He took to Reddit to see what other people thought of this situation.
It happened in a group text.
The aunt told her family the new plans in a group text. It was long-winded but the nephew shared a portion of it. “If you don't already have plans, and you're interested in participating in the Family Dinner…then we are a asking for everyone to contribute $30 per adult,” she wrote. “Kids 12 and under are no charge. As we all know, prices are high everywhere. So, with everyone's contribution, the burden of the cost of food, drinks, plates, etc…won't fall on just one person. The Dinner will be held at my home.”
The nephew had questions.
So far, only one person in the family has responded to the text. The nephew asked his aunt some follow-up questions. “I asked why don’t we just do a potluck and have everyone bring a dish and she explained that only about 3 people in the family make and bring thanksgiving food and nobody likes to cook. I asked if it was catered and she said no because it was too last minute to get a caterer and it’s even more expensive than $30 per person. (Which is true),” he explained.
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Is the nephew being cheap?
The nephew continued: “She isn’t wrong here when she says that nobody really cooks but I personally cannot justify spending $30 to eat with our family at her home. Not to mention I planned on bringing my girlfriend (22) and would have to pay for her too. I don’t think I would have a problem if it was maybe like $15 but $30 is a bit much to ask from your family for thanksgiving in my opinion. I think I’ll end up dropping in to socialize for a quick second but she won’t be seeing a dime from me.”
He concluded by asking: "Am I the cheap [expletive] here or is my aunt just a bit backwards?"
Inflation is real.
Most people on the forum understand where the aunt is coming from. Times are hard. It’s a huge undertaking to host a Thanksgiving dinner.
“I think it's reasonable to ask people to contribute to a big family meal like that," wrote one user. "Your aunt is right, times are hard, and I do think it should be the norm that family members contribute to the cost of things like this, rather than it all falling on one person.”
Let's be blunt.
Another user was a little more harsh. The Redditor wrote: “YTA if you turn up and expect any food or drink without contributing. Why should your aunt have to pay for everyone because most of your family can’t / don’t want to cook?”
The opposing side responds.
While the majority of the forum was on the aunt’s side, some people had a different perspective.
“NTA,” proclaimed one user. “I don’t get the YTA responses because imo it’s absurd to invite people to YOUR home for thanksgiving and ask for them to pay lol who does that? Is this an American thing???”
Communication is important.
At the end of the day, this young man might not fully appreciate how much work hosting a holiday meal is. If he truly cannot afford the amount his aunt is asking, he should try to directly communicate with her to come up with a compromise. Maybe he can help her cook, clean, and set up the house.
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