DH, SIL, BIL and I went to a birthday party last night. Its BILs work friends birthday. DH and I have met BILs work friend a couple of times and got on well with him so he invited us to the party too. SIL only knows a couple of people through BIL. DH and I know nobody except the birthday boy.
BIL instantly did a disappearing act on arriving at the party and left DH, SIL and I on our own while he mixed with his mates. DH, SIL and I mingled a bit and chatted to various people to be polite as we felt like a set of lemons. We ended up chatting to one particular woman who said she also knew nobody at the party except her own OH. She seems nice and we make small talk.
The party is slow to get going though, it's around 9pm and still nobody is up dancing, so SIL, myself and this woman decide to go and have a little dance to try and kick things off. DH doesn't want to dance so I tell him once the dance floor starts to fill up I'll be back. But about 3 songs in and still nobody else at the party joins in. To be fair the music is crap though. I usually enjoy a dance but I'm not enjoying this. I notice my DH is still all alone and also looks uncomfortable, so I tell SIL and woman I'm going back to join DH. Woman grabs my arm and tries to stop me leaving the dance floor, saying I can't leave. As BIL is still more interested in his mates SIL says she'll stay on the dance floor with this woman. I go back to my DH.
A short while later this woman comes over and tells me she's disappointed in me. Im a bit taken aback given I barely know her but I politely tell her I might get back up for another dance later, but right now I'm having a drink with my DH.
This happens several times over the course of an hour with her grabbing my arm and trying to drag me away, and each time I'm getting more annoyed... I don't know her from Adam, I've chatted to her for maybe 20 mins, I don't even know her name and now she's hounding me. But I try to stay polite and continue to say "maybe in a while".
But she comes back once again and this time becomes quite rude towards me and proceeds to give me an actual telling-off in front of a group of other strangers DH and I have got chatting to...
"Well, I'm am actually really very disappointed in you. You've really let me down. I'm rather upset with you, you know. How could you let the side down like this?!" she says, while throwing lots of disapproving looks and shaking her head at me.
I'm pissed off now and can't bite my tongue any longer. I tell her to bugger off, I'm a grown woman who can choose not to dance if I wish and I don't appreciate being hounded and then being told off like a child by a complete stranger.
She flounces off and I don't see her again for the rest of the evening.
I discover later she actually left the party, then got her OH to complain the next day to the birthday boy that I was rude to her. Birthday boy then rings BIL and tells him I owe his friends missus an apology as I should respect my elders.
But I don't think I do.
I agree in respecting my elders, but the woman was like a dog with a bone who wouldn't take "maybe later" for an answer.
I've never met her before and its highly unlikely I'll ever see this random woman ever again. I'm not quite sure how she managed to become so over invested in whether I danced or not.
WIBU to not apologise?