Darling readers, get ready for a tale that’s juicier than a freshly squeezed mimosa at a bougie brunch. This story comes straight from the hallowed halls of Reddit, where an anonymous lass with social anxiety issues attended a wedding with her partner and things went, well, let’s just say, pear-shaped. Buckle up, because this wedding has everything: awkward social interactions, coloring books, and a freezing damsel (sans distress, just frigid temps).
I Now Pronounce You… Awkward
Let’s set the scene with our lovely protagonist, a 26-year-old lady who went above and beyond to support her partner, despite her social anxiety. Imagine it: you’re at a wedding where you know literally no one, aside from your partner. But you’re there because, heck, it’s a wedding! There’s a cake! Maybe an open bar! What’s not to love?
Our protagonist’s partner, a 25-year-old gentleman (we’re using that term loosely), actually asked if she really wanted to come. Oh, naive one—you should’ve read the room already. But love blinds us all at times, doesn’t it?
So, she decided to join him, hoping to sneak into the elusive inner circle of his work-life that he usually prefers to keep separate. Kind of like how we all wish we could separate those high school yearbook photos from our current social media profiles. Fat chance.
Color Me Neither Surprised Nor Amused
As they arrive, our heroine is swiftly introduced to a gaggle of colleagues. Awkward introductions are like a necessary evil at weddings, right? Very quickly, she finds herself on the fringe of the group, feeling more walled out than the seven kingdoms when winter is coming.
Her partner’s deep in conversation as she, sigh, attempts and fails to join in. Cue the sinking feeling. Oh, and her phone’s dead. Just to add a cherry to her awkward sundae.
In a bout of desperation mixed with nostalgia, she wanders off to the deserted children’s corner. There, she finds a pot of gold—or rather, a small stack of self-made coloring books. Our girl grabs one, along with some pencils, and braves her return to the almost empty table.
There she is, channeling her inner Monet, when her partner pops up, all high and mighty. He’s embarrassed. The group dance (the horror, the absolute horror) is calling, but guess what? She declines. A girl’s gotta draw the line somewhere.
A Delectable Freeze-Out
Our protagonist proceeds to color a bouquet of flowers—a move that would make kindergarten teachers worldwide proud. But lo and behold, her partner and his crew have done a full-blown disappearing act worthy of a David Copperfield routine. Now, where did they vanish off to?
Stepping outside, she quickly realizes it’s colder than a witch’s…you know. Her jacket, phone charger, power bank, keys, and wallet are in the car. The car her partner locked. Did someone say “relationship goals”?
So there she is, stuck inside, channeling her frustration into spinning around the empty dance floor like a human fidget spinner. And when her partner shares his not-so-glorious return, he’s furious with her. Accusing her of being childish and embarrassing him. Sweet summer child, look into the mirror.
A Tale of Emotional Abandonment
With the story coming full circle, let’s break it down. This poor soul joined him out of love and support, despite his warning, all because she wanted to be a part of his world like Ariel wanted legs. Instead, she encountered a Titanic-sized iceberg of neglect and cold-shoulder behavior.
Ignoring her obvious signals of discomfort and social unease, he left her stranded without so much as a heads-up. And then, the audacity to come back and throw a temper tantrum? Someone call the Oscars, because this drama is next level.
Joan’s Verdict: The Sassy Sums Up
So, to the girl who asked the Reddit universe if she’s “AITA,” here’s Joan’s take. Honey, you tried. Maybe there were better ways to handle it than impersonating a human tornado on the dance floor, but let’s face it: when your phone’s dead and your partner’s MIA, there’s only so much one can take.
In the grand drama of wedding faux pas, this is barely a slip. You’re NTA (Not the Asshole). And as for Mr. Disappearing Act? Someone needs a tutorial on basic social etiquette and the importance of not leaving loved ones in the lurch.
To everyone out there, remember: weddings are supposed to be fun. If you can’t bring your significant other along without making them feel like a social pariah, then maybe stay home and Netflix your heart out next time. Cheers!
Original story
NOTE: I edited this post because many comments focus on things that I had phrased in a stupid or misleading way. You can look up the original phrasing below.
The occurance of remains unchanged, I mostly just added details that were asked for.
My (f26) partner (m25) got invited to a colleague’s wedding and I was his +1. He asked me if I’d really want to come since I didn’t know anyone there and I have social anxiety issues.
But I wanted to join him because I like weddings and I was happy he finally involved me in work-related stuff which he usually prefers to keep seperated from his private life.
We went there, I was introduced briefly to some of my partner’s colleagues who were there aswell and after dinner, he engaged in a conversation with them. I attempted but failed to join in and didn’t really know what to do since I felt left out.
My phone had died in the meantime. I wandered off and to the deserted children’s corner where there was a stack of selfmade (someone had printed out random wedding-themed cliparts, folded and stapled them into a book), pocket-size coloring books and pencils.
I took one and some pencils and went back to my place at the almost empty table.
I was coloring a bouquet of flowers when my partner told me that I was embarassing him in front of his colleagues and that I should stop. I should come dance with them instead.
The dance was one of these group dances where you have close physical contact with a lot of people and I hated the music, so I declined and kept drawing.
2 coloring book pages later, they (my partner and his colleagues) had vanished and when they didn’t come back, I went outside to look for my partner but he was nowhere near the venue and it was too cold outside for me too go any further. It was freezing.
My jacket, phone charger, powerbank, keys and wallet were inside the car and he had the key. So I was stuck inside the venue, where I knew nobody.
At 1 A.M.
I had finished coloring the entire book and he was still gone. Everyone else was drunk and behaving strange and the music had gotten better.
I wanted to blend in, pretended to be drunk aswell and entered the empty dancefloor, mindlessly spinning around until I felt dizzy to ease the anger I felt.
When he came back, he was angry with me for behaving so childish and embarrassing him in front of his colleagues and everyone else for the entire evening.
He usually wants to keep work stuff and private stuff separated and apparently, this wedding counted as work stuff for him so he didn’t really want me there, which I was made aware of during the first group conversation at the reception. I came to support him and in the end acted childish and complained about being neglected, but he just left me in a place filled with strangers, knowing about my neurodivergent struggles (which I don’t want to use as an excuse, I think it still helps to explain the situation) and without telling me that he was leaving and where to, so AITA?
