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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that i would not choose them as friends?

264 replies

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 13:54

I feel really conflicted about this - my nature is to accept people for who they are, what they are and not to judge, however peri meno seems to be making me increasingly less tolerant!!!
We have some friends - albeit more DH's friends than mine - who live in the village where we used to live. When we lived there we may have seen / socialised with them 1 / 2 times per month so not massively, although they were part of our lockdown bubble and i suppose it got a bit more frequent after that.
We moved house about 2.5 hours away 3 years ago, and honestly you would have thought the world had ended! Some very hurtful stuff was messaged to me by the wife, but I was told to let it all go because "that's just the way she is" - so I did, but it still niggles tbh.
Anyway, since the move, we've had to go back to the area a few times a week for my work and usually stay over at theirs 1 night per week - I can't deny that this is helpful for us financially as even a travelodge in the south is ££££, however on the occasions we don't stay there we get bloody chapter and verse on why would you camp / stay in a hotel / stay with other friends when you've got us??? To clarify though, I provide all the food and drink for when we stay - including alcohol, I cook, I take my own pillows and towels (they don't have a spare room so I sleep on the sofa and DH sleeps on a chair) - they literally are not put out by us.
I just find them sooooooooooooooooooo draining - the husband has recently been late diagnosed ADHD, and whilst he's always been a bit annoying, this seems to have massively increased since the diagnosis. The daughter has also been diagnosed ADHD which appears to have given her free reign to be a narcissistic spoiled entitled brat, but its ok "because ADHD" (a example from yesterday - she launched her almost brand new Iphone 14 in a temper, lost it in a field but that's fine because it's insured). The wife is depressed but wont seek help, gets medication from dodgy sources and goes round in a permanent state of negativity and hate.I've tried suggesting coping strategies / therapy / putting a positive spin on things, but it all falls on deaf ears because they are so stuck in their cycle they won't accept anything ..... DP is a super accepting understanding person adn really just sees it as an interesting scenario - he does get how I feel, but says I should change the way I feel as they can't change the way they are.
I honestly do completely get that all of these things must be so challenging to deal with and will totally mean that life will be nothing like it is for a neuro typical person, but I just find any time with them so draining - they are not even people I would choose for friends in the first place, so I really don't think it's their issues that cause me not to want to spend time with them - they are just not my people!
So....
AIBU - I should just fight my feelings and suck it all up because of their issues
AINBU - It's OK not to like people regardless of their issues

OP posts:
Gorgonemilezola · 21/11/2024 16:25

There's a few holes in this though - the boss who wants you in the office started a year ago, so why have you been doing this for 3 years? If you need to be away from home 2 nights a week and only spend one night with these 'friends', why can't you camp for 2 nights instead of one? Even if you can't do this during the colder months, you could do it for at least 6 months a year.

The kicking off is not a good reason to stay. You manifestly don't like them and are using them to save money. Not kind.

Pluvia · 21/11/2024 16:27

OP, you paint out them to be unreasonable and chaotic, but IMO you're worse. Who in their right minds would move 3 hours from where their work is and then rely on friends to put them up during the working week — particularly friends who don't have a spare room? And why on earth should they feed and cater for you when they're the ones saving you £1k a month in hotel fees? Of course you take your own food and drink.

This was unsustainable and irrational and ridiculous from week one. Why on earth haven't you both found jobs in your home area? Three years. Three years. And you have the nerve to complain about them...

IAm16StoneHalloween2024 · 21/11/2024 16:27

“There's a few holes in this though - the boss who wants you in the office started a year ago, so why have you been doing this for 3 years?”

Oh @Gorgonemilezola stop asking pesky questions 🤪

butterpuffed · 21/11/2024 16:28

StasisMom · 21/11/2024 15:08

It's fine not to like people. This situation sounds completely untenable and stressful.

Yes but it's not fine to dislike them while you pretend that you like them .

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 16:29

Pluvia · 21/11/2024 16:27

OP, you paint out them to be unreasonable and chaotic, but IMO you're worse. Who in their right minds would move 3 hours from where their work is and then rely on friends to put them up during the working week — particularly friends who don't have a spare room? And why on earth should they feed and cater for you when they're the ones saving you £1k a month in hotel fees? Of course you take your own food and drink.

This was unsustainable and irrational and ridiculous from week one. Why on earth haven't you both found jobs in your home area? Three years. Three years. And you have the nerve to complain about them...

clearly I'm not in my right mind then

OP posts:
stayathomer · 21/11/2024 16:31

Op you seem to find a lot of people annoying at the moment😅 Just don’t stay at their again and when they text say you’ve stuff to do/ needed a bit of a holiday to yourself etc etc and they’ll catch on.

SunnyHappyPeople · 21/11/2024 16:34

TBH you ALL sound draining

Moveoverdarlin · 21/11/2024 16:37

If someone slept on my sofa and a chair for one night a week they would very much be putting me out.

I don’t know what to suggest? You don’t like them, so don’t stay there. But you can’t afford to stay anywhere else…so suck it up. I personally wouldn’t suck it up, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to rely on people I didn’t like. Don’t even tell them you’re coming back, just stay in a hotel.

Alwayswonderedwhy · 21/11/2024 16:38

Why isn't your employer paying for a hotel? And why is your husband going with you and sleeping on a chair?
You obviously don't like them so just make your excuses not to stay with them.

Horses7 · 21/11/2024 16:39

I don’t think I’d want to be your friend. You use your friend to save money yet hold them in contempt. You should be using your energy to sort employment that is nearer to your home (so does your husband by the sound of it).

diddl · 21/11/2024 16:39

Presumably if you didn't stay contact would fizzle out & it wouldn't matter that you stayed elsewhere for work?

Does your husband also need to do three days there?

Gorgonemilezola · 21/11/2024 16:41

I'm guessing the employer isn't paying because the OP chose to move away. It's not really travel FOR work, it's travel TO her usual place of employment.

BerylSnow · 21/11/2024 16:48

Tell 'em exactly how you feel. And be sure to report back!

ThatTealViewer · 21/11/2024 16:49

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 14:43

No - we stay with them 1 night per week. The other nights we either camp or stay in a travelodge, but the fall out from them over this is draining - it feels like they can't comprehend why we don't actually live with them!!

So, just camp or Travelodge for an extra day and stop staying with them at all? If they’re cross, they’re cross - you don’t want to be their friend, anyway.

I’m genuinely confused by this thread. You want to know if it’s okay not to like people? So, prior to being given our permission, you went through life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood) under the impression that everyone had to like everyone else? That we all had to be friends with everyone who wants to be friends with us? Why did you think this, exactly?

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 16:49

BerylSnow · 21/11/2024 16:48

Tell 'em exactly how you feel. And be sure to report back!

I'd love to do this -in my head there are lots of narratives. Sadly, i'm far too restrained / polite / weak to actually voice them

OP posts:
LBFseBrom · 21/11/2024 16:50

Gorgonemilezola · 21/11/2024 16:41

I'm guessing the employer isn't paying because the OP chose to move away. It's not really travel FOR work, it's travel TO her usual place of employment.

That is quite possible.

I do wish the op luck in finding employment nearer to her home (and believe she will). I couldn't cope with all that travelling and dossing down in other people's homes. It's a shame she and her husband had to leave their previous home. Life is tough sometimes.

godmum56 · 21/11/2024 16:53

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 16:20

This is exactly the situation!!! And why I feel so conflicted....

alternatively, your enabling may be what is stopping them from moving out of their bad situation..........

Antsy123 · 21/11/2024 16:55

You don’t have to like them or be friends with them. However it isn’t very nice to pretend to like them and be friends with them purely to save money on a hotel once a week. That’s an awful way to behave.

MyKindCrab · 21/11/2024 17:03

I think they key is they are not your friends, they are really DHs. Peri menopause can make it harder to put up with things, so it will be partly hormone related.
They are DHs friends, so you do not want to spoil his friendship and make it awkward. So i would say I have a bad back and need a bed to sleep in. So from now on we will stay in a cheap hotel. But still arrange to meet up with them for a drink or a meal.

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 17:04

well - actually yes pretty much, and i do realise this is not normal.I'm a people pleaser and I do generally make sure other people are happy above my own feelings

OP posts:
MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 21/11/2024 17:05

Please stop pretending you're doing something nice by using them to prop up your unsustainable job while bitching about them. You're not a people pleaser but a user.

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 17:08

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 21/11/2024 17:05

Please stop pretending you're doing something nice by using them to prop up your unsustainable job while bitching about them. You're not a people pleaser but a user.

I'm not pretending anything and i'm not a user

OP posts:
BerylSnow · 21/11/2024 17:10

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 16:49

I'd love to do this -in my head there are lots of narratives. Sadly, i'm far too restrained / polite / weak to actually voice them

So, what's your plan, then?

LeonoraCazalet · 21/11/2024 17:12

Why would you put yourselves through this?

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 21/11/2024 17:12

DonnyDoris · 21/11/2024 17:08

I'm not pretending anything and i'm not a user

Yes you are. You keep banging on about how you're too nice to disappoint them when the truth is you couldn't manage your life without them. User.