
'I Ghosted My Friend After She Asked To Split Her Birthday Bill. Was I Unfair?'
A 2024 Thortful report found that 71% of cash-strapped Brits have skipped a friend's birthday party because they simply can't afford it.
And with the cozzie livs showing absolutely no signs of relenting in 2025, it doesn't seem like the trend will reverse any time soon.
Which makes Redditor u/Quick_Aioli6466 ′s recent post to r/AITAH (Am I The Asshole Here) seem even more unfair.
The 30-year-old poster said she felt blindsided by her friend's seemingly self-serving (and misleading) birthday party payment plan.
So, we spoke to Dr Pamela Walters, a consultant psychiatrist, about what's fair to ask of your guests financially.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Left-wing haters need a lesson in Thatcherism
Deputising for Charles Moore in these pages from time to time is more than enough to make my imposter syndrome run wild, but emulating him by writing a biography of Margaret Thatcher when he has already written a magnificent three volume one, is perhaps inevitably a step too far. Mine will be published on Thursday but is barely a pamphlet by comparison, and perhaps has a different objective. Its aim is twofold – to introduce her to a new generation, which wasn't alive when she was in power. It's astonishing to realise that, to have ever voted for Margaret Thatcher, you would have to be at least 54 years old. In the 35 years since her fall from power, so many myths have grown up about her that many younger Brits probably think she was responsible for the slaughter of the first born. There have been only three significant prime ministers since the war whose policies still impact the way we live today – Attlee, Thatcher and Blair. As Tony Benn would have put it, they were each signposts rather than weathervanes. But today's younger generations have been indoctrinated into believing that Margaret Thatcher was privileged and her policies were only ever aimed to benefit the rich. That's presumably why she oversaw the biggest transfer to the working classes in the history of our country – by which I mean the sale of council houses and encouraging ordinary people to buy shares in privatised companies. People believe she supported the racist Apartheid regime in South Africa because she didn't impose sanctions. In fact, she did more to bring Apartheid to an end than virtually anyone else, as our then Ambassador to South Africa, Robin Renwick, has detailed in his various books. Nelson Mandela personally thanked her for her role in getting him released and bringing the evils of that regime to an end. According to Left-wing haters, Thatcher did nothing for the environment. Yet it was she who was the first head of government in the world to warn of the dangers of climate change in 1989 – before most people had ever heard of the term. If I was wanting to court controversy, I could also have said she closed down most of the coal industry, something our current Government is urging China and others to do. That she was a dictator who brooked no dissent is another myth about Lady Thatcher. Yes, she would lead from the front and challenge others to defeat her argument, but there are countless occasions when people did just that and contrary to their fears, their careers prospered. It's how John Major got into the cabinet. A theme of the book is also that although she revelled in being seen as a conviction politician, in reality she was very pragmatic and realised that a bull in a china shop approach rarely achieved the desired results. Trade union reform is a case in point. Contrary to popular myth, Thatcher was not 'anti-European' and most people who knew her doubt she would have supported Brexit. Her famous Bruges speech, where she said she said 'We haven't successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state only to see them reimposed at a European level' was actually very pro-European if people took the time to read the whole thing. Did you know that men can have periods and menstruate? Nope, me neither. But that's the latest quackery promoted by the more extreme parts of the trans lobby. Their logic, presumably, is that trans men are men (just as 'transwomen are women'), and as such they continue to menstruate. Bunzl, one of the biggest toiletry suppliers in the UK, has produced an inclusive language guide, God save us. It recommends that common terms such as 'sanitary', 'hygiene' and 'feminine products' should be replaced with the term 'period products' to avoid offence. Who on earth is supposed to be offended? This sort of ridiculous virtue-signalling idiocy needs to be called out by people across the board, and not just those with Nigel and Farage in their names. Biological men cannot menstruate. Fact. And that's the end of it. For a Government that repeatedly tells us that it is unashamedly pro-growth, it has spent much of its first year in power introducing policies which achieve the exact opposite, and the chickens are starting to come home to roost. I've lost count of the number of business people I know who have imposed recruitment freezes, had to shed workers or cancel planned pay rises as a result of the decision to increase Employers' National Insurance to 15 per cent and cut the threshold to £5,000, and in addition increase the minimum wage by 6.7 per cent. There is no form of political or economic sophistry that Rachel Reeves can deploy to persuade us that there measures are anything else but growth killers. Tesco now tell us they're planning for many of their stores to shut an hour earlier as their costs have increased by £235 million, just from the NI hike alone. Proof, were it ever needed, that actions have consequences. 'Margaret Thatcher' by Iain Dale is published on Thursday by Swift Press Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Woman Offers to Drive Coworker to Work. Her Generosity Backfires
A woman on Reddit feels conflicted when an offer to drive a coworker to their shared workplace led to unforeseen consequences The coworker's tardiness led the woman to be written up several times The poster tried to back out of their carpool arrangement, but her coworker put up a fightA woman on Reddit is seeking advice after a kind gesture for a coworker led to unforeseen consequences. On Reddit's Am I the A------ forum, a 25-year-old woman shares that she's been giving her coworker a ride to work every morning for the last three months. They work at the same company but in different departments, and only live a few blocks from each other. "At the beginning, everything was fine. But over the past month, she's started running late — like really late," she writes. "I text her when I leave my house, and sometimes I end up sitting outside for 10-15 minutes waiting. A few times she's even asked me to swing by a coffee shop or drop her off at a different entrance, which adds time." Though the poster has tried to be understanding, she says that the continued tardiness has led to both of them being written up on two separate occasions, putting her job in jeopardy. As a result, the woman has felt like she needs to put her foot down. "I finally told her this week that I can't keep driving her if she's not ready on time. I said I like her and I don't want to fall out over something small, but I need to look out for myself and my job," she shares. Unfortunately, her coworker did not take the ultimatum well and went around to other employees saying she feels "ditched." "She got really quiet and said she 'didn't think it was that big a deal' and that I was being 'kind of cold' over something that 'was supposed to be a favor,'" the poster writes. This frustrated the Reddit user, who "didn't mean to hurt" the other woman, but feels taken advantage of. "I feel like I was doing her a favor and she started treating it like a service. I'm not her Uber driver," she continues. Though the poster feels conflicted about her decision to put her foot down, others in the comments are firmly on her side. They noted that she was more than kind to repeatedly offer the other woman a ride to work, despite her continued tardiness. "She's a funny one to be upset with you for not wanting to be fired," a commenter writes. "Sounds like she doesn't need her job, so she really should have no issues with you protecting yours by leaving her in time to get there on time." Others suggested she set a firm departure time, giving the other woman a chance to maintain the morning rides, but preventing them from being late again. "I would tell her that you'll continue to drive her but you're not going to wait for her," another commenter suggests. "You'll be outside her house or apartment at such and such a time, and you'll honk your horn or text her that you're there, and then you will wait exactly 1 minute and if she's not out you will take off even if she begs you to wait just another minute or two. And then stick to that." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Edinburgh Airport to get more Virgin Atlantic flights to popular US holiday spot
A top airline has announced that they will be increasing their number of flights between Edinburgh and a popular holiday destination in the United States. Virgin Atlantic will be extending their summer seasonal route in 2026 and add 12 new rotations between the capital and Orlando, Florida to their current line-up. It will mean that their summer route will run from April to the end of October, adding the equivalent of 5,000 seats to their service. READ MORE: Edinburgh police 'in riot gear' swoop on quiet street in ongoing incident READ MORE: Edinburgh filming for '90s classic movie remake takes over Portobello beach Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport said: 'We know Orlando is a bit of a bucket-list destination, so this is fantastic news for families in Scotland who have long wanted to experience everything Florida has to offer. 'The additional frequencies offer more options to our passengers and makes it even easier to leave Edinburgh in the morning and be arguing with your family in a Florida rental car by dinner time! 'We're excited to see Virgin Atlantic grows its presence at Edinburgh Airport and is another show of confidence in the market and its home in Scotland.' This expansion will see three flights a week from Edinburgh, further securing Edinburgh Airport as Virgin Atlantic's home in Scotland. Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, added: 'Orlando has long been one of Virgin Atlantic's top destinations, with thousands of Brits flocking to Florida every year for the warming climates and thrilling attractions, including the recent opening of Epic Universe. " I'm delighted that our Scottish guests can soak up even more of the action with the extension of our Orlando flying programme this summer.' Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages