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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Airport collection AIBU?

225 replies

SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 11:17

I've been abroad for two weeks. I live 1.5 - 2 hrs from Heathrow by tube/train. DP twice mentioned over phone he might come and collect me as I was getting in v early so no traffic. He said he would text to let me know. I told him now he had brought it up I would be upset if he didn't turn up (got in today, Saturday and he has nothing else on). He said he wasn't guaranteeing.
Flight landed earlier than schedule. No text from DP. Tore through arrivals to see him. Not there at exit. Eventually called. No answer. Called again. Still in bed and apparently pissed off I woke him up. Am furious. He says he made clear it was a maybe. AIBU?

OP posts:
arethereanyleftatall · 20/11/2021 12:48

To me the entire point of being in a relationship is that you're over and above kind to each other. You make each other's lives nicer and easier. Otherwise, what's the point?

Acinaces · 20/11/2021 12:50

The pair of you should have had better communication prior to your flight. Where was the confirmation ....?

FrankGrillosWrist · 20/11/2021 12:52

I just wished that you’d had a shag whilst on holiday OP, because he don’t seem that interested.

ChargingBuck · 20/11/2021 12:53

@SadlyMissTaken

We have been together 11 years. I have been questioning the relationship as he makes so little effort. Hee wouldn't go out for dinner on my last night in the uk. No other plans, just couldn't be arsed. I was really looking forward to seeing him and too pleased he was even thinking about coming to get me. Should have assumed no text no show instead of other way round.
Hardly surprising you have been questioning the relationship, from your first post OP. You clearly had a strong feeling he wasn't going to bother - I told him now he had brought it up I would be upset if he didn't turn up

& for him to go from "not guaranteeing" to reneging on his promise to text -whether he was turning up or not - & then having the brass neck to be pissed off you rang him ... it paints a picture of a guy who is used to calling the shots & is comfortable he doesn't have to try too hard.

So you have to take 3 trains home, lugging his duty-free - those heavy bottles he knew you wouldn't just decide you couldn't be arsed to get for him - & arrive to a revolting bathroom you have to clean before you can use it?

If this is a one-off, it's a pisser but you could get passed it. But this is the man who also can't be arsed to go out to dinner with you before you go away. It's a pattern, isn't it - where he puts in zero effort, & you are constantly disappointed?

I hope not, but if it is, it's not going to change after 11 years.
What do you want to happen next OP?

AnyOldPrion · 20/11/2021 12:55

”I told him now he had brought it up I would be upset if he didn't turn up (got in today, Saturday and he has nothing else on). He said he wasn't guaranteeing.”

This seems like an odd exchange. Your comment sounds passive aggressive. If someone said to me they might pick me up, I’d say something positive, like “oh that would be brilliant, if you could please.”

Was it said truly lightheartedly? Or is there some backstory regarding the relationship between you. I might be reading too much between the lines, but I find myself wondering whether he has form for making offers that he has no intention of keeping and, with that in mind, you were looking for a way to guilt him into it.

For what it’s worth, even if you had guilted him into it, it would leave a bad taste afterwards. Had he done it, it would have been grudging, rather than done with joy and out of love.

It does sound as if there’s bad communication going on and perhaps you’re playing games where you know it’s really dead in the water, but find yourself with moments of high hope, where you believe he has a chance to prove himself, but then he fails again, but rather than leaving, you carry on, hoping for a different answer next time.

Eleven years is a long time. You should be comfortable and able to communicate easily by now. The only other thing I remember you telling us about him is that he’s lazy. Without reading again, I’m not sure, but I don’t recall you making any “he’s a brilliant partner in other ways” defence. I’m strongly getting the impression this relationship is really at an end, and perhaps you’re continuing from inertia, not love.

If you feel like you might want to leave and need advice, you’d be better posting on the Relationships board. The vipers there might help you to assess more generally, and if you decide to leave, will give you loads of practical advice and a hand hold as you go through it.

Best of luck.

SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 12:56

His last text to me before I had to go into flight mode was "always said maybe" which was in response to me saying he had got my hopes up and would be upset if he now didn't come. Should have read that as a no. I was hoping too much that he would turn up and couldn't understand why he would bring the subject up just before my departure if he wasn't actually going to turn up.

OP posts:
FourTeaFallOut · 20/11/2021 12:58

I get it. You left the door open for him to surprise you by welcoming you home at the airport after a long flight. It would have been romantic.

And then he didn't even text you to say he hadn't bothered coming and you came home to a grungey toilet seat.

Ratherly · 20/11/2021 12:59

I can be a lazy arse, but no way I wouldn't have driven to pick my DH after a long flight if the alternative was a trudge on public transport.

He's not kind. You have every right to be upset you're in a relationship with someone like this.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/11/2021 12:59

His last text to me before I had to go into flight mode was "always said maybe"

Yeah that was a definite know. He was telling you you’ve no right to be annoyed he isn’t there because he made it clear it was a “maybe” he’s a fucking prick. You don’t have to stay with someone who treats you like this OP.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/11/2021 12:59

Definite no

FranceTeam · 20/11/2021 13:00

I would be so pissed off if someone did this to me, and probably think about ending the relationship.

SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 13:02

I didn't say he was lazy. You are right my comment about being upset was passive aggressive. I left the country to get over a good friend's sudden death. He couldn't come as no valid passport.
On the day she died my partner went to bed early. I asked him to stay up as I was in a state and he wouldn't. We had nice chats while I was away and I was hoping he had missed me (said he did) and things might improve. I will go to the other board.

OP posts:
Tabbacus · 20/11/2021 13:04

@FourTeaFallOut

I get it. You left the door open for him to surprise you by welcoming you home at the airport after a long flight. It would have been romantic.

And then he didn't even text you to say he hadn't bothered coming and you came home to a grungey toilet seat.

Yes exactly. He should have said no if he knew he couldn't be arsed, rather than say maybe and not bothering to let you know.
SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 13:06

Sorry. Not clear. My friend who died is female. I really struggled with it and went away to get some perspective. DP couldn't come as doesn't have a valid passport and not uk, so renewal may take a year.

OP posts:
BungleandGeorge · 20/11/2021 13:08

@Thethreecs

I can never understand why partner's don't pick up the other person if they are available.

My dh would and has driven 1.5hrs one way to collect me from the airport and vice versa and wait in airport and then do 1.5hours home.

He always has a huge smile on his face and grabs me for hug. We're 25 years together.

When I hear of people left waiting at airports, having to get public transport with luggage it breaks my heart. He could have easily picked you up.

I’d rather spare someone the enormous hassle as I’m an able bodied adult, it’s not that difficult to get a train with luggage. It’s not as if you’re trecking 10 miles in the sun for water. I’ve always been independent. Do you have to do anything and everything for a partner? I think most people have boundaries. I don’t think that’s the issue here though
Waahingwashingwashing · 20/11/2021 13:08

This is clearly the tip of the iceberg.

honeylulu · 20/11/2021 13:11

He said he might/maybe, made it clear when you raised it again that he wouldn't commit to it. Yes it's crap that he said he'd "text either way" and didn't but no text should have been taken as him not having made the journey.

It sounds very much like his "I might pick you up" was a token gesture that he thinks is enough to keep him as a "nice guy". I doubt he ever intended to put himself out further by acting on it, and his repeat "I'm not promising" comments were actually an attempt to manage your expectations whilst not completely reneging on his nice-guy point scoring.

Yes it's a bit crap. If it was me I'd rather he'd not mentioned it at all. I'm not someone who'd be bothered by not being picked up from the airport. I'm used to getting myself around (lots of luggage is a pain though I agree).

But the real issue is deeper than this isn't it? That you feel he doesn't think about and care for you enough? If so you are not BU to be unhappy about that and wondering what to do next.

Hairbrush123 · 20/11/2021 13:11

I can see why you’re annoyed. He offered - you didn’t. He kept saying maybe without giving you a definite answer. Why has he left you to assume that he’s not coming without a definite answer? YANBU. Very inconsiderate of him not to even say he’s not coming

BungleandGeorge · 20/11/2021 13:14

@SadlyMissTaken

I didn't say he was lazy. You are right my comment about being upset was passive aggressive. I left the country to get over a good friend's sudden death. He couldn't come as no valid passport. On the day she died my partner went to bed early. I asked him to stay up as I was in a state and he wouldn't. We had nice chats while I was away and I was hoping he had missed me (said he did) and things might improve. I will go to the other board.
Is he being passive aggressive because you actively chose to go abroad on your own and excluded him from helping you? I’m not saying he should as the grieving person I think you should be able to do whatever helps but he may see it as you not wanting him around. Is the reason you wanted to be alone to do with him?
SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 13:15

I am independent and was perfectly happy to make my way home. The maybe I will.then leaving me dangling in arrivals is what pissed me off. If I got on the tube but he was there after all? He didn't answer the phone at first. It was worse than just letting me get on with it which I would have done without fuss otherwise.

OP posts:
SadlyMissTaken · 20/11/2021 13:16

He encouraged me to go away as he works away during the week anyway.

OP posts:
BungleandGeorge · 20/11/2021 13:21

I don’t know it seems a bit off. I’d be worried about my partner being on their own if they’d just suffered a significant bereavement.

Meruem · 20/11/2021 13:22

I do think that maybe you are underestimating the drive time. I live an hour from Heathrow by tube and it’s also at least an hours drive, sometimes more. Going by tube is much faster than car for a lot of journeys.

That being said, he’s an ass. The “maybe” was mean. He built your hopes up then dashed them. It wasn’t just about the journey, it was showing he cared.

maddiemookins16mum · 20/11/2021 13:26

Doesn’t sound like confirmed or agreed arrangements to me at all.

Aprilx · 20/11/2021 13:28

I landed back at Heathrow three Saturdays ago, early morning. DH didn’t come to pick me up and I didn’t ask him to as it is 1.5 hours each way and not a particularly pleasant thing for him to do on his day off. I don’t need to question the relationship because of it!

I did know in advance that he was not coming though and I don’t understand why you insist on clarifying this. But in the strange circumstances where it depended upon a text I would assume no text means no lift. Tearing through arrivals is a bit drama queen-ish.

I am trying to think where is forty minutes drive away from Heathrow (which means pretty close considering how busy it gets) but is two hours away on transport!

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