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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

stupid fight about prosecco

162 replies

TotHappy · 23/03/2018 10:17

But not really about prosecco i guess.
I'm going away this weekend with old friends, I'm driving while they're training so I've got all the food and drink and they're saying me back. The money for this weekend has come out of payment for some overtime i did in the last couple of months - so over and above my regular wage. Dh and i pool our wages and after all bills are deducted, split the remainder 3 ways - the usual result is £150 each as spending money plus £100 joint 'fun money' to do things together or as a family.
When i got this extra lump of cash we discussed what to do, i said i wanted to do this weekend and he agreed (enthusiastically). He got a similar amount recently (unexpected inheritance) and spent some of it on paint and other stuff to decorate the kitchen - his,idea, his choice, i actually didn't know about it until he'd started. I assume the rest went into his general spending money.

Last night i picked him up from a,meeting and after dinner he asked if we had any wine, i said no, he said can i have one from your stash (for the weekend), i said no, it's for the weekend. He said, you could replace it tomorrow? And i said 'if i wanted to go shopping tomorrow (on the way there), i wouldn't have gone today! Bit rude, admittedly, i was stressed out about packing etc I'm afraid.

Later on he said he was really angry at,being told 'no' like that. He said a lot of things, over and over, but the general gist is that its how you would speak to a junior at work, and he didn't like coming home from a day at work, followed by another stressful meeting to be just told 'no, you can't have that' about something we do have . This escalated to a huge row all about finances in general and me being controlling. The back story here is - he is shit with money and,has,been since we married, so a few years,ago we moved all the direct debits etc to my bank account, every month he pays his wages over to me minus his spending share. I recognise that i am quite controlling of our money, because i worry so much about him pissing it all up the wall, but i dispute his argument here that the weekend prosecco was bought with 'his' money. It didn't come out of the family budget, i bought it on cc, will be partly reimbursed by friends and pay the rest off when my overtime comes in at end of the month. He says if I'd asked him, he would have agreed in a heartbeat and gone out to replace today. He agreed i have a 'right' to say no but says,he never would to me.
I feel he's implying I should say,yes to whatever he asks, even if inconvenient and i think, why? To me it was just a casual request and a casual denial. Nothing stopping him going out to buy some for himself. As it was he went ahead and opened it anyway so i had to drive out at 10pm and replace it as i really didn't want to stop today.
He agreed in the argument that.i am right 'within the letter of the law' but clearly felt i was,being a tight, selfish bitch. I feel that if you ask for a favour/gift and are then outraged that its refused, then you weren't really asking but demanding, and he's basically implying that whatever he asks for, i have to give him if i love him properly.

All this over fucking prosecco!!!! What,do you think? Am i just being tight and selfish? Our views are so totally opposed that i felt genuinely bewildered during the row and need some perspective.

OP posts:
EastMidsMummy · 23/03/2018 11:13

It’s 10 mins that she didn’t need to do though. My life is built on ridiculously tight schedules, having to plan that in what be a pain in the ass for me so it’d be a no.

So you wouldn’t put yourself out for 10 minutes to help you partner? You sound nice.

AjasLipstick · 23/03/2018 11:13

So he didn't beg and so you refused?

Not very nice imo.

BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 11:13

Technicality, it was easily replaced. Whatever, it's so petty

Easy for no one though!! She has to change her plans and HE doesn’t have to change his at all. He’s an arse.

It’s not a technicality at all. It’s a fact. She planned to do the groups shopping so she didn’t have to rush on day of travel. She did and had it ready to go. It’s not hers to give unless she’s willing to then have to go shopping again.

I need some prosecco now Wink

mummmy2017 · 23/03/2018 11:14

Oh and one other thing bet if you had wanted a drink with your tea that was sitting in front of you, that you would have taken the bottle and replaced it rather than driving to the shop last night.

BelindasRedPlasticHandcuffs · 23/03/2018 11:14

If it's so easy for OP to pop to the shop why didn't he just go out and get one, or ask to stop and buy something on his way home?

He's the one that was being selfish. He didn't think ahead, then expected OP to put herself out because he wanted a drink, tried to guilt her into agreeing, then when she said no just went and did it anyway.

Op wasn't hoarding wine for the fun of it and then saying no. It was earmarked for a specific purpose. If Dp was going away and had bought items specifically for that event for him and a group of people I'd never even consider asking to have something, and neither would he if the roles were reversed.

It's no different to going shopping for a dinner party you're hosting, and the day before your partner scoffs something they know is for the party. Or eating a child's Easter egg the day before Easter (which incidentally partners are blasted for on here). End of the world? No. But still an unnecessary inconvenience caused by nothing but greed. The fact that he did it anyway smacks of disrespect so it doesn't surprise me that he was playing the guilt card to try and manipulate op into capitulating.

goingonabearhunt1 · 23/03/2018 11:15

Why couldn't he just buy one himself? Do you live ages from a shop or something OP? If my DP had a stash for a wknd away with friends, I would just go to the corner shop and buy some more if I knew he had to be up early to leave etc. and he would do the same for me. I think, as you say, this is not about the wine, sounds like he's having a bit of a tantrum due to other tensions that have built up.

BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 11:15

Buster I can see you're really riled about this! Do you fancy a glass of prosecco as a peace offering? Wink

BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 11:16
BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 11:16

So you wouldn’t put yourself out for 10 minutes to help you partner? You sound nice.

Thanks Smile I am 💃

It’s 10 mins for someone who is just being a bit of a dick, it’s not like there was no bread or whatever.

Also it would be 15 mins where I live so defo wouldn’t be happening.

MsHomeSlice · 23/03/2018 11:16

total Power play on his behalf

he wanted to judge his value....you have something for another purpose and will you give it to him
he negotiates to make you feel bad after your refusal
he gets angry to try and exert his authority over you
and then does it anyway as he feels you are in the wrong no matter what
AND expects you to ask him to replace it, when that should be an obvious no brainer
yet you still end up go for the replacement

this is about way way more than the prosecco I am afraid

Trinity66 · 23/03/2018 11:17

Easy for no one though!! She has to change her plans and HE doesn’t have to change his at all. He’s an arse.

Meh if you think so, I'd have no bother taking a 10 minute detour the next day if my DH had a shit day and wanted a bottle wine that i could give him, he'd do the exact same for me and I'd think he was a dickhead if he didn't, but each to their own I guess

BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 11:18

Haha- yes please BitOutOfPractise!!

I feel like I am going on this trip now, come and pick me up op! I’ve got wine I can bring!!

isthistoonosy · 23/03/2018 11:18

If his argument is he would always say yes to do why didn't he respect your wishes and go and get his own alcohol?

TotHappy · 23/03/2018 11:19

kimanda Grin
Ok, @SaucyJack, that's exactly what he said. That when he has disposable cash he spends it on both of us, but i can't even share a bottle of wine with him. That was exactly his beef so i guess that's fair. My back was definitely got up by what felt like an attitude of, 'if i jump, you say how high' but i can see he probably didn't see it that way.
He does drink a lot and imo has a problem. So yes,that,may,have coloured my response too.
To all those saying it's not a big deal to replace etc, i agree that's true, but i do think it cuts both ways. It's just a bottle of wine - did he have to throw such a paddy over not getting it? Couldn't he do a nice thing for me by sacrificing his drink so i could have an easier day today?
He is generous with his money. But i dont ask that of him. I'd rather he spent it on himself if he's going to get pissy about me spending money on myself. We do both treat each other out of our spending money sometimes of course, but if we have to, and it's not a choice bit a demand, then it's not our money at all - i just dont think you can demand a gift of wine, or time, or anything.

OP posts:
BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 11:19

OK, let's meet in the pub at 12:15. That's adeecent time to have a livener isn't it? Then we can catch the train to our weekend away. Sorted!

derxa · 23/03/2018 11:22

Just so petty all round.

BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 11:22

Oh OP you're a naughty drip feeder re the alcohol problem!!

No, you can't demand a gift. But if I were your DH I might think "OK so she's happy to receive orders from her mates, go to the time trouble and expense of doing a big shop for them, yet she can't stop off for 10 minutes tomorrow so I can have a drink."

But look, I can see that this is part of several bigger issues you have going on. And TBH I don't think you are seeing the wood for the trees as to what the real issues are.

mogonfoxnight · 23/03/2018 11:24

OP, you saying no in the way you did may have upset him, not the no itself. I think with this sort of stuff it doesn't really matter who is right, choosing your battles and all that, and the old adage it is not so much what you say, more how you say it.

You say if he had asked for it differently you would have said yes (in your second post) and it is the same the other way round, if you had said that if he had it now you'd have to get some the next day sure but that will mean xyz and that you had planned out your day to avoid doing that because of xyz (you are stressed about the drive and don't want to make it worse by having to stop to buy stuff or whatever he may have said ok I'll go buy some.

PuppyMonkey · 23/03/2018 11:25

Boom - just saw the drinking problem post. Sigh. I had a really good thing to say but I can’t be arsed now. Grin

CaffeineAndCrochet · 23/03/2018 11:25

One of the posters upthread put it well. If you're at the point where holding your ground and being right is more important than doing something nice for each other, your relationship isn't in a good place.

Oblomov18 · 23/03/2018 11:25

I can't believe you said no to the request for a bottle of wine. Which could easily be replaced today. I think that's very mean.

Laiste · 23/03/2018 11:25

Drink problem changes the dynamic really.

All bets are off when an addict sees the thing they crave within arms reach.

Trinity66 · 23/03/2018 11:28

He's an alcoholic now? Surely that would have been the most relevant point in the opening post? Hmm

SurlyValentine · 23/03/2018 11:29

YANBU

He wanted wine, he knew you had wine ready for the weekend, there was no way he wasn't getting some of that wine, and whatever you said was irrelevant.

I think he has tried to "flex his muscles" as he is probably feeling emasculated by you having control of the finances. But he knows why you have that control, so his feeling is all of his own making. He would have been better off saying that he had been thinking about things and felt ready to take on more responsibility for the household finances, so could you both sit down and work out a new plan, maybe over a bottle of that wine in the back room, which he would replace before he went to work in the morning? But he didn't, and has now caused a row and resentment for absolutely no reason other than his own ego.

I drink more than DH, therefore probably 90% of the alcohol and mixers in the house has been bought by me for my, or joint, consumption. We have separate finances for many reasons (I have been crap with money in the past but am now a lot better, DH has maintenance to pay, blah blah). If DH wants a drink of something that is mine, he will always ask first and respect my decision. For example, I drink vodka with a mixer. If he fancied a gin with that same mixer but there was only one can of that mixer left, I would tell him he could have it on the condition that he bought new mixers tomorrow (Friday night is vodka night Grin).

If I had a booze stash for a weekend away, DH wouldn't even ask for any of it. He would respect that it wasn't my stash to share, he would exercise a bit of impulse control and drink something else.

itstimeforanamechange · 23/03/2018 11:29

If I had bought a stash of something for someone else and DH asked for one, and expected me to put myself out to replace it, I would say no too.

And I do find having to make an extra stop somewhere a hassle - finding a parking space and having to pay for the space, maybe having to do a detour, then you get into the shop and there's a massive queue to pay etc.

It all depends. If I was planning to go into a supermarket anyway and knew they had plenty of that bottle of wine, it's no skin of my nose to add a bottle to my basket. But not if it's a extra chunk out of an already busy day.

But anyway, my DH would not ask because he's not unreasonable or selfish.

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