AITA for blocking my childhood best friend after she tried to make me pay for the catering at her son’s first birthday?
A Redditor (28F) shares how her childhood best friend, Anna (28F), secretly charged $500 for catering onto her credit card during Anna’s son’s first birthday party, claiming she’d pay her back later. When confronted, Anna accused her of being selfish and ruining the day. The Redditor blocked Anna after a heated argument. Read the original story below…
‘ AITA for blocking my childhood best friend after she tried to make me pay for the catering at her son’s first birthday?’
Me (28F) and Anna (28F) have been best friends since forever. Like, we grew up together, went through school, first breakups, everything. Naturally, when she had her baby, I was thrilled for her. I even helped plan the baby shower and got super involved in her life as a new mom. But recently, things have gotten weird.
Anna’s son turned one last weekend, and she wanted to throw a huge party. I’m talking over-the-top: rented venue, professional catering, decorations, the whole shebang. Now, I thought we were just going to have a nice little family-and-friends thing, but nope, Anna had a vision. Fine, no biggie. I figured she could do whatever made her happy for her son’s big day.
Fast forward to a week before the party. Anna starts hinting that she’s “a little stressed” about costs and how “tight things are right now.” I get it, having a baby is expensive, but she kept bringing it up in every conversation. I offered to help with decorations or pick up some snacks, but she waved it off, saying she had everything under control.
The day of the party comes, and it’s chaos, balloons everywhere, a bouncy house, tons of people I didn’t even know. I show up early to help set up, and Anna’s running around like a headless chicken. Then, as we’re putting out the decorations, she casually says, “Oh, by the way, I put the catering on your card.”
I hadn’t even seen a catering bill, let alone agreed to pay for one. “Uh, what do you mean you put it on my card?” I asked, trying to stay calm. She looked at me like I was being dramatic and goes, “Yeah, you know I’ve been struggling. I figured you wouldn’t mind covering it, and I’ll pay you back later.” Excuse me?!
First of all, I never once said she could use my card, and second, I had no clue how much this catering even cost. When I asked, she shrugged and said, “Only about $500. It’s not a big deal.” $500! For food I didn’t even order or agree to pay for. I told her no way.
I wasn’t paying for something she never asked permission for, and frankly, I didn’t have that kind of money just lying around. She acted all shocked and hurt, saying I was being selfish and how it was her son’s first birthday. As if I’m supposed to go into debt for a party I didn’t even throw!
We had a massive argument in front of some of her other friends, and I ended up leaving early. Later that night, she blew up my phone with texts saying I ruined her son’s day, that I was being a terrible friend, and how I didn’t understand how hard things are for her right now. I just couldn’t believe the audacity.
After everything, I blocked her. I couldn’t deal with the guilt-tripping, especially over something so ridiculous. Now, some mutual friends have reached out, saying I was too harsh and that I should’ve just helped her out because “she’s struggling.” But I feel like she crossed a line. You don’t just throw someone’s money into your plans without asking them, right? So, AITA for blocking her? Or did I overreact?.
Here’s the comments of Reddit users:
PetrogradSwe − NTA. That’s fraud… Also if one is “struggling” one doesn’t spend $500 on a one year old’s birthday party.. Your former friend is ridiculous.
ThrowAway-420-2021 − NTA. The audacity of some people… quick question: Why would your friend have your card to begin with? That struck me as odd…
Ok-Try-857 − NTA. She stole from you. Stole. From. You. There’s no good reason for this behavior. Dispute the charges with your credit card company. Tell them your friend used your card by mistake. She is NOT struggling. Struggling is working and still not being able to save or cover living expenses.
The party was for her, not a 1 yr old baby. Im glad you cut her off. If anyone asks you about it, tell them the truth, “She stole $500 from me to pay for the catering at her one year olds birthday party.” If she gets blow back it’s not your problem.
She shouldn’t have done the thing that would cause her embarrassment if she didn’t want to be humiliated. Don’t further enable her by making up a more palatable version. I’m sorry your friend betrayed you like this. Nothing about her behavior is normal.
Unable_Maintenance73 − 1st question WTF is she doing with YOUR CARD? If you gave her the card that makes you a first class AH, If she took/stole it without your knowledge or permission, report her for the theft. Otherwise NTA.
But your supposed friend is not your friend and she is a thief to boot, Anyone that is telling you that you were too harsh can go straight to the netherworld and pay you for her thievery.. edit to correct autocorrect.
MasterGas9570 − NTA – your mutual friends should all chip in to pay the $500. How did she even get your credit card to begin with? My family doesn’t have my cards.
Used_Mark_7911 − NTA. She didn’t just “put it on your card”. She stole your card from your wallet.
Material_Cellist4133 − Info: Did you get the money? If not, file theft charges, so you can get the money back.
Jac918 − One years olds are trying to eat dog food. They don’t need 500.00 in catering.
Regular_Boot_3540 − NTA. I hope you called the credit card company and told them it was a fraudulent charge. And your friends… what’s wrong with them? She used your credit card without your permission! Would they be okay with that? Oh, and you should probably cancel that credit card and get a new one, since she apparently has the number.
prettyassty − Definitely NTA. Using your card without even asking is way out of line, especially for something as expensive as catering. You’re not responsible for her party costs just because she’s ‘struggling.’ You had every right to block her after that
Do you think the Redditor was justified in blocking her friend, or should she have handled the situation differently? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
For those who want to read the sequel: Part 2: https://aita.pics/vHxQR
Part 3: https://aita.pics/ZfRRn