Offended by friend’s comments about party food

[LinsMum22]

We hosted my friend, her husband and three kids yesterday afternoon. Our sons are in the same football team and we said we’d put some food on at ours after and watch the Liverpool match who they both support. My friend agreed to party style food being the best option as everyone could pick at it as and when.

Amongst other things, there was - Indian selection, tempura prawns, sausage rolls, mini pizza’s, mini sausages, chips, breaded chicken. So a good mix all from Iceland where we’ve had positive comments on the food before.

I could tell my friends’ youngest looked unimpressed when they tried one of the items, and pulled a face to my friend. She made no
attempt to get them to try another item and basically said ‘I know’. I noticed five minutes later she had barely ate anything herself either.

15/20 minutes later, the youngest moaned again and this time my friend said ‘don’t worry, we will stop at McDonald’s on the way back as I’m hungry too.’

I text her after they left to say sorry if they didn’t enjoy the food. She replied to say they didn’t realise it would be that sort of food and that they’d have got something else before coming round if they realised!!

AIBU to find this really snobby and ungrateful? The fact she then took the kids to get a McDonald’s makes no sense!!

Did the friend's husband and other two children find the food okay? Her OP only mentions the friend and the youngest child.

Her manners are absolutely shocking and I would be mortified if my spouse and kid had done this. I must have mortified my mother on an occasion at someone else's house, they offered us strawberries which we were all delighted at. Only, when a bowl was passed to me, I saw that the strawberries had had loads of sugar sprinkled on them. To me, that rendered them inedible and I didn't know how to respond, so I burst into tears. It sounds dramatic but we weren't a household that put sugar on everything like fruit or cereal, it just wasn't done in our house and I didn't have the social skills to be able to navigate my problem (and neither did my mum, who is also autistic and not always up to social issues).

In OP's friend's position I would have had what I could and thanked her for it, friend's comments are just baffling because it's so rude to not pretend it's fine. I wouldn't be inviting her back, that's for sure.

its a 100% YANBU , OP!
She is insufferably rude and really quite pathetic tbh.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g so what if you’re watching a football match?! It doesn’t mean you want to eat a load of crap and get bellyache! What’s wrong with a few sarnies?

There were sausage rolls

The behaviour of the mother was rude but I have tried Iceland party food and couldn't eat it.....and I love a Macs, so would probabaly have gone there but not mentioned it.

@Dita73
why would you get stomach ache from eating food cooked from frozen?

How in holy hell is a McDonalds the healthier option?? Your friend is nuts as well as Rude as Fuck!

Your food options were perfectly fine for a picnic tea whilst watching the footy. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nothing's wrong with sandwiches, but somebody has to make them, or else they have to be bought ready-made. The OP either didn't have time or didn't want to make the buffet herself, so bought ready-made food she could get ready for absolute minimum effort in a very short time after bringing the kids back from football. Perfectly sensible approach. The rest of the weekend is probably accounted for by all the things working parents have to cram in then, like washing, cleaning, tidying up, supermarket shop, paying bills, supervising homework, etc etc, plus (shock horror) having a bit of a break herself if she can fit it in.

@Cherrytree86 nothing to do with it being frozen. It’s the fact it’s made from crap

@Dita73

so? It one meal? They want McDonald’s which is also full of ‘crap’

Yeah, I mean what's the difference? She was super rude. Whether she liked it or not is not the point.

Genuine question, would you feel the same if it were from M&S?

@Cherrytree86 but why would you want to eat that? What if you don’t eat meat? I do agree that McDonald’s is also crap

Shine as a hostess....it was a football match!😂😂

@AnAlpacaForChristmasPleaseSanta yes. Crap is crap regardless of the bloody shop it’s from

All these people so anxious to use this thread as an opportunity to boast about how they wouldn't eat Iceland party food. What do you want, a medal? I bet if you didn't see the packaging, the vast majority of you wouldn't even bloody know where it came from.

What a rude mare!
Even her this morning telling you that you should have gone to M&S!
I wouldn’t invite her again but if you do, just chuck a carrot at her and her equally rude daughter!

If the dad and one child filled their boots, then I would say that your hosting was a success.
The mum and the complaining child were ill-mannered and yes I agree it’s offensive to let you know so clearly that they felt it wasn’t good enough for them to eat. It was the mum’s job to encourage the child to eat something by eating it herself, and to be thankful for the spread you provided.

Maybe it’s really difficult for that mum with a child who turns his nose up at food other than McDonald’s.
When you see her later today you could maybe broach the subject from that angle and see if she opens up. ‘I’m sorry your child felt hungry yesterday, it must be so difficult to accommodate everybody’s food tastes when they all like different things….did you manage to get him a McDonald’s on the way home?’ Hopefully she will give you a bit of insight to the problem and you can empathise.

Ok, just asking!

I do think with some people it's psychological though, M&S = superior quality. Iceland= cheap rubbish. Even though it's the same produce.

The Op wasn't asking for a critique of the food, she was asking if the woman was rude.
Which she was.

Some of you seem to think its ok to be rude in XYZ circumstances.

Exactly, I feel the same. If someone else is shopping, cooking and washing up it feels like a treat whatever it is and I’d be very happy (though I actually also think OP’s offering was fine for the occasion, and sounds nice, I wouldn’t care about the veg count for one meal). I have only been in hospital for the odd day or two since my DC were born but it was absolute bliss as a single mum, lying there while someone brings you school-dinner-style food, tea and toast then takes the plates away, amazing!

Nope. My friends, my responsibility to host them. Luckily all they want is cans of beer.

I agree - M&S party food is not worth the money and I generally like most M&S things.
I suspect most m&S foods have been pre frozen so she may be being pretty naive thinking it is more fresh than Iceland.

This woman is clearly an arsehole and a hypocrite if she’s taking her kids to get McDonald’s afterwards. The next time she buys M&S party food she should probably look at the ingredients in it and where it’s come from