AITA for leaving the restaurant after my bf refused to pay for my meal?

A Redditor shared a story about a dinner gone wrong when their boyfriend, who owed them money, refused to pay for their meal after they were left without funds due to a robbery. Frustrated by his actions, the user walked out of the restaurant, only to be criticized by friends for their reaction. Was it justified? Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for leaving the restaurant after my bf refused to pay for my meal?’

I had lent my bf some money few weeks ago because of something he needed and he promised to pay me back asap. He was supposed to pay me back 5 days ago but something came up and he didn’t. I tried to be patient.

Yesterday we had planned to go out with some friends at night for dinner. Yesterday after I came back from work I was robbed in the bus and I had all my money and cards stolen. I cancelled my cards but the bank customer service told me my new card with my new details (both physical card and the digital details for apple pay) would be available the following morning because the banks were closed that afternoon. So I had no money.

When we went to dinner with my bf and friends I told my bf if he could just pay me back the money or at least pay for my meal since I have no money. He didn’t exactly say yes or no, just a simple “don’t worry”. As we ordered he only ordered for himself and told me that he can’t cover for mine at the moment so I better not order anything and just have some bites from his meal.

I was so mad and frustrated because he had promised to give me back the money, he then claimed something came up and couldn’t give them back but then ordered a nice meal for himself and just told me to get his scraps because he wouldn’t pay me back or at least for my meal.

I’d be the only one sitting there with no meal in front of me. I said this is ridiculous and I got up and left. Our friends now believe it was very low of me to get up and leave and how I should just be polite and stay there. I can’t quite understand that logic but is there any way I am TA?

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

rmjoef −  NTA. You may want to consider your relationship here. Did you tell your friends or BF that you were robbed? If yes and they acted like this then they are not your friends. Edit typo and NTA ruling. Wow, maybe I should go study for my (fake) law degree. 😁 To individuals thinking I’m actually studying for the bar, it was a joke. I only qualify for reddit judgements, even then I could be wrong.😊

Swimming-Item8891 −  Excuse me, your friends said what? Omg I would be fuming. Your boyfriend completely humiliated you and your friends, who were there, don’t see this is a problem? D**p the boyfriend and the friends, NTA.

indistars −  Excuse me, what? Walk out of that restaurant,and his life. You shouldn’t have had to ask him to pay for you in the first place if he was aware you had lost all your belongings. And saying “don’t worry” implies he’ll take care of it. Jeez. Leave him and don’t look back.

Happy-Positive7696 −  NTA. After just being robbed, most behaviour is a bit forgivable honestly, so you could have been far worse and I’d still say NTA. Considering you had just been robbed, even if he didn’t owe you money I think he should have bought you dinner.

Hell, I think your friends should have offered too. It’s an unusual situation to be in and a bit of a traumatic one and it’s clear you weren’t trying to mooch off anyone. Offering you a few bites of his meal was shocking behaviour.

Even if he was skint, which his meal choice suggests he wasn’t, he could have ordered something small and got you something similar, ordered a larger plate and split it in half or offered to not eat in solidarity with you and eaten somewhere cheaper with you. So many options were open apart from the one he chose.. Edit for grammar.

RaysUnderwater −  He owed you money! He should have paid your meal and not had one himself!!!! This man is not worthy of being your boyfriend, and frankly unless the friends didn’t know the truth of the situation, they are awful also.. NTA

CakeEatingRabbit −  NTA. You deserve so much better. Telling you to not worry and then tell you that a bite of his food would be fine is such an ahole move.

[Reddit User] −  NTA. Your BF doesn’t appear to have any intention of paying you back; if he could afford a nice meal for himself, he could have afforded to pay you what he owes you.

Iothil −  NTA. How was that low of YOU? Geez, looks like you need a new circle of friends and a new boyfriend. This is grade A unreliable and your friends are cool with him being an AH but not with you leaving after he literally told you “not to worry”? Unbelievable.

Careful-Bumblebee-10 −  NTA. Your bf is a mooch and your friends are AHs. They thought you should just sit there with no food and take bites of his? How absolutely insulting. If they wanted you to stay they should have all pooled together and pay for your meal. Not hard to figure out on their parts. I would have left too.

UrsaGeorge −  NTA. If I were out with my partner and I could only afford one nice meal but he was broke (through no fault of his own) I would have consulted with my partner and chosen a large dish to split or appetizers or two cheap meals. Anything other than how your bf behaved.

Heck, I’d have offered to get you something small on my own dime if I were just one of the “friends” at the table. Getting robbed sucks. It’s called empathy. He told you not to worry then pulled this crap. He’s the a**hole.

Do you think the Redditor was right to walk out, or should they have handled the situation differently? Was the boyfriend’s behavior understandable, or did he cross a line? Share your opinions and experiences in the comments!