In recent years, there’s been something of a cultural shift around re-evaluating what makes an adult a true grown up.
And while there are many ways to approach this conversation, it’s not hard to understand why it’s happening. After all, the traditional idea of a “real man” or a “real woman” tended to be pretty rigidly defined and has proved harmful for the mental health of many.
So rather than define maturity by the level of emotion people show or the interests they happen to have, it may be more productive to say that someone is grown up when they’re willing to accept their responsibilities .
And one strange story of marital strife makes a pretty compelling case for evaluating each other that way.
When one husband was about to go on a business trip, it seemed he’d rather do anything than pack his suitcase.
As his wife explained in a Reddit post , he asked her to pack his bag for him while she was in the middle of doing laundry.
In her words, “I asked why he didn’t do it the night before and he said he was up all night playing Fortnite.”
As for while he couldn’t do it then, he said he wanted to meet with some friends before he had to leave the country.
Apparently, this isn’t unusual behavior for him as the woman said he’s known to be irresponsible with time and relies on others to pick up his slack.
And it was particularly inopportune in this case because after the laundry, she had to cook for her children, help them with homework, clean all the rooms they messed up, and wash the rugs that day.
After she rhymed all these duties off and made it clear that she wouldn’t be packing his bag for him, she thought he went into their bedroom to do it himself before meeting his friends.
By 6pm that night, however, it was clear that this wasn’t the case as he came home in a panic and wondered why his bag wasn’t packed.
After scrambling with his papers and other items for a time, he finally packed and rushed out the door only to eventually miss his flight.
And while he would normally be able to re-book the next flight and go on his trip a little later, he refused to do this because his company was only paying for the first flight.
Since he didn’t think he was at fault for this situation, he didn’t want to pay for another one and just decided not to go.
But while his business trip apparently wasn’t important enough to him to book another flight, he nonetheless accused his wife of jeopardizing his work.
He said this trip was an opportunity to earn him money and by not packing his bag, she made him look unreliable and unprofessional.
And when she said he should have done it himself instead of spending hours with his friends if that was the case, he accused her of intentionally sabotaging his trip out of spite.
As the woman put it, “He told me ‘No trip meaning I’ll be home for the next couple of weeks, isn’t that what you wanted? Great we’ll both now stay home and wallow in misery, God bless!”
The apparent issues at work this incident caused left her wondering if she should have just packed his bag, but the Reddit community she spoke to didn’t think she was in the wrong.
As one user said , “Your husband needs to get his priorities straight. You’re not his mommy, you shouldn’t have to add packing a bag for him to all the other housework you’re doing.”
And considering how easily he could have still made his trip, others figured he was playing a high-risk game with his job as a means of control.
In the words of another person, “He is using his sole source of income as a hostage situation to scare his wife into submission. This way she won’t question next time he demands something of her.”
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Let’s just say they weren’t confident about this marriage working.
h/t: Reddit | LydiaBlue____
