When Tires Meet Tin: Navigating Wheels, Weddings, and Wallet Wars
Gather round, dear readers, because today’s tale is plucked straight from the teeming embers of that ever-entertaining platform, Reddit. The original post is all about a-lady-in-love who’s found herself battling in the Grand Colosseum of Couples’ Quarrels. The catalyst? Rubber. Yup, you heard right. Tires. I, your ever-charming Roger, am here to dissect this drama with all the sass, and a sprinkling of wisdom.
Tin Box Troubles: A Prelude to Poutgate
Our protagonist, a spirited 23-year-old woman (let’s call her Abby for some pizzaz), has a small tin box—a veritable treasure chest—where she stashes her hard-earned Washingtons. These dollars are destined for that all-elusive Nirvana: a family trip, the kind that promises memories galore and probably a couple of squabbles over who gets the last donut. You know, good times.
Enter fiancé, a man of similar age whom we’ll dub Nick. Nick has a tendency to play the modern-day knight in shining armor, particularly when it comes to his bestie—a woman who’ll henceforth be known as Bestie. Bestie, for context, is that poor soul who found herself driving over some dastardly rogue road debris that mangled her tire. Infection ensued, and she phoned her trusty auto Prince: Nick. Now, ladies and gents, the plot thickens.
Highway Hustle and the Missing Moolah
Fast forward to a seemingly ordinary day. Abby, thinking she’d add some spare change to her savings, discovered her precious tin box looking like it just went through the Great Heist of 2023. Confusion morphed into a panic-fueled scavenger hunt. No luck. She finally morphs into Hercule Poirot: interrogating Nick.
Turns out, the dastardly thief was none other than our knightly Nick. When Bestie rang him in automotive distress, he gallantly offered a financial olive branch, relieving Abby of her 300-dollar stash. Let’s unpack this a bit. Nick, feeling the sting of desperation from Bestie, bypassed all logical protocols like, you know, asking his fiancé first.
Petty or Pissed? The Great Debate
Nick’s defense is thicker than Aunt Gertrude’s Thanksgiving gravy: “It was an emergency! How could I let her be car-less in this day and age?” His conviction was palpable. He probably saw himself as a modern-day Robin Hood—taking from one savings to give to a tireless (pun intended) wanderer. He even, in a moment of miscalculated genius, suggested Abby was being selfish for not considering the grander scheme (a.k.a. Bestie’s commute). Abby, to be fair, was no Mother Teresa when it came to hefty financial decisions either. She only wanted a heads up, a modicum of mutual respect.
A Wedding Fund Wrecked … and Yet
Here’s where it gets juicer. Wedding bells are set to chime at the year’s end. All contributors are leading tight-budget lives. For those keeping score: a wedding cake, table setups, maybe a D.J. who doubles as a relative. Nick drops the devil’s argument: paying back Abby would mean compromising their special day. This, dearies, is manipulative in the most attractive ties, masquerading as logic 101. “We can’t afford a cake if I pay you back!”
Abby, our perhaps-slightly-wronged-yet-overreacting heroine, gets caught in a soul-searching reflective mess. Is she truly being petty over $300? After all, it wasn’t as if Nick spent it on an 82-inch 4K television. Tires are crucial, right? She’s on the edge about whether she should relinquish her bitterness and apologize or stick it out in stubborn solitude.
Roger’s Rationale: My 2 Cents on the 300 Bucks
So here it is, my dazzling darlings, Roger’s ruling. Abby, my heartstring-tugging sister, you’re justified. Why? Consent. Mutual decisions. These are cornerstones of harmonious companionship. Nick, by bypassing Abby, did a disservice. It’s one thing to promise emotional support, quite another to empty a literal savings box without so much as a whisper. Would’ve hurt to ask, bro?
Yet, Abby might be tightening the wrong bolts by letting bitterness rust the relationship. Should Bestie result in a feud between fiancés? Absolutely not. But, by Jove, Nick should eat a slice of humble pie. Pay Abby back in installments. Have clear, grown-up conversations about emergency protocols in the future. If there’s a next Bestie-saga, he needs a rethink.
So what’s the takeaway? Relationships, like tires, need maintenance—conferring, collaboration, and a good ol’ pinch of sass when necessary. Until the next episode of ‘Roger tells it like it is,’ remember: don’t let a tire tear your tin—or your trust. Now, somebody pass me a mimosa. 🥂
Original story
I’m not used to posting anything on Reddit, so apologies ahead of time for any mistakes. I (F23) am currently fighting with my fiance (m 23) over him buying a tire for his best friends car.
About a week ago, his friend drove over some glass or a nail or something. I don’t know, just some kinda pointy road debris.
A day later, she calls my fiance to ask him to help with some of the car stuff. I thought nothing of it as he’s handy with everything automotive and she’s called him for help with stuff like this in the past.
I stay home as I’m clueless with cars (I don’t even drive so I wouldn’t be any help) and he leaves. I didn’t think anything of it until recently.
Fast forward to two days ago. I keep a small tin box in our bedroom that I put some of my savings in.
For a while now, I’ve put any 1 dollar bills into this box to save up for a family trip. When I was little, my mom and dad would take me and my older sister on lots of road trips.
As we got older, we took less and less. Post Covid, I think we’ve only taken 2 trips together as a family.
I wanted to save up enough so we could at least do a small weekend vacation together, just like old times. I had some change and went to store it in my box.
Well, to my surprise the box was empty. I was confused to say the least.
I first made sure the money didn’t spill anywhere, that I was looking at the right box, and basically trying to check all options of where the money could have gone. Then I rushed over to my fiance to ask if he knew anything about it.
He did. Basically, when his friend called him, she was telling him that she couldn’t afford a new tire and to see if we had any kind of spare.
We don’t have anything to fit her car, so he offered to buy her one. He took the money in the tin (it was about 300 dollars) and left to buy it for her.
I was stunned and asked him why he would do this. We don’t have any expendable income really, so if he offered he must’ve known he couldn’t afford it with his own money.
He told me that she really needed it and if she couldn’t get her car going it’s be catastrophic for her. That he couldn’t leave his best friend hanging like that and thought I wouldn’t mind as it was an emergency.
I explained how the money he took was mine, he should’ve asked me, and that he knew it was special. He kept insisting it was for a good cause and that I would’ve done the same thing.
We argued back and forth.things got heated.
Eventually, he said that if I was willing to let his friend go without a car for who knows how long when I had the ability to help her I was being a selfish asshole. I told him to at least pay me back the money, since it’s not like we can get it back now.
He told me no, as he’s setting aside any extra funds for our wedding at the end of the year. And that the 300 dollars he’d give me would mean we probably couldn’t afford something like a wedding cake, or would have to skimp out on catering.
That me being so bent out of shape over such a small amount was petty. We’re having a small wedding and are already trying to save money wherever we can.
The venue is gonna be a relatives farm, with a small guest list, and minimal extras. I don’t want to take anything out of our already tight budget.
And I understand why he didn’t want to leave his friend out cold like that, I just wish he would’ve told me. Now I’m out of my family vacation savings and feeling overall bad for the whole situation.
I haven’t apologized yet as I still feel really bitter but I don’t want to push it if I am just being petty. There are worse things for 300 dollars to be spent on.
So, am I the asshole?