GF Takes Shots At BF’s Shortcomings In Front Of Her Friends, He Tells Her She’s Welcome To Leave
Sometimes couples don’t see eye to eye, but such matters are best dealt with in private. Berating each other in public, especially in front of friends, makes it awkward for everyone. Relationship issues won’t necessarily be resolved any sooner if there are witnesses involved.
For one Redditor, he was shocked when his girlfriend pointed out several of his shortcomings at a gathering with her friends. Unimpressed, the guy told her afterwards that she could leave if she wasn’t satisfied. Now he’s asking the internet if that was a jerk move.
More info: Reddit
Guy went to cookout with his girlfriend and her stuck-up friends
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Girlfriend proceeded to highlight a number of his flaws over the course of the evening
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
He said he always pays her the biggest compliments when his friends are around
Image credits: Racool_studio (not the actual photo)
Afterwards, the guy asked his girlfriend why she had insulted him so much, but she said she was just kidding around
Image credits: u/DebtContent1218
He told his girlfriend she could leave if she wasn’t satisfied with the relationship, but now wonders if that was a jerk move
OP begins his story by telling the community that he and his girlfriend went to a cookout with her friends. He admits that she is out of his league and that he considers himself only average and that, while he doesn’t really know her friends, they seem a bit stuck up.
During the course of the evening, he noticed that his girlfriend didn’t compliment him once. Instead, she took the opportunity to knock him verbally, insulting everything from his receding hairline and tattoo to the car he drives and his lack of endurance for staying up late at parties.
OP says that, while there’s some truth to her snide remarks, all he ever does when they hang out with his friends is constantly compliment her.
When the couple got home, OP asked his girlfriend what was up with all the nasty comments, but she said she was just kidding around and that he was being a child about it. OP proceeded to tell her that she was welcome to leave him if he was so inadequate. Now he’s turned to Reddit to ask if that was a jerk move.
Knowing when to go and when to stay in a romantic relationship can be a tough decision for anyone.
The simple truth is that feelings of uncertainty and conflict can also be part of any so-called ‘normal’ relationship. You can, at times, feel like you’re stuck in a sort of love limbo, unsure whether you should pull the trigger on it or put renewed effort into making things work out.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
In her article for Time, author Carly Breit writes that the feelings caused by romantic love can be so strong, they can convince people to stay in relationships that are unhealthy, unfulfilling and ultimately unhappy — whether they realize it or not.
In fact, a 2015 study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that, when people looked at photos of their romantic partners, dopamine — a chemical associated with reward that makes people feel good — was released in their brains.
Julie Wadley, founder and CEO of matchmaking and coaching service Eli Simone, says, “The way these chemicals make people feel can make them overlook logical decisions like leaving an unsatisfying relationship.”
So, how do you know when it’s time to break it off with someone you love?
According to Wadley, everyone has different needs that have to be met in a relationship, whether they be emotional or practical. If one partner feels the other isn’t making an effort to meet these requirements after they’ve spoken about it clearly several times, it’s possibly time to move on.
Another sign it might be time to call it quits is if you find yourself seeking these needs from others. “If you’re like, ‘I have a choice between talking to my boyfriend and talking to my guy friend, the guy who is constantly giving you that emotional affirmation that I need — I’m going with the friend,’” Wadley says, “Something’s not right.”
If you’re feeling afraid to ask your partner for more from the relationship, it’s probably time to end things.
Wadley says open lines of communication are crucial to healthy, lasting partnerships. “People may think, ‘That’s going to make me sound needy and emotional,’” says Wadley, but hiding your real feelings about how your partner is behaving towards you will only draw out the inevitable.
Another red flag to look out for is if your friends and family don’t support your relationship. If the people who know you best and have your best interests at heart see that the person you’re in love with is bringing you down, listening to their opinions is a good idea.
What do you think of the situation OP finds himself in? Do you think his girlfriend was showing her true colors? Was he being a jerk by offering to show her the door? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
Redditors in the comments suggested that what the girlfriend had done was a big waving red flag and that he deserves someone who can appreciate him
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And she even tossed in a nice little bit of gaslighting to blame him for being insulted and called him a child? Insults, gaslighting, projection, ungrateful and rude behavior, immaturity, terrible friends who would encourage that? Exactly why would you stay with that? Sounds like a human tire fire.
Right. He's the child in this scenario. Unbelievable.
Load More Replies...My experience in life--and my advice to my (now adult) kids is this: Smart and funny wears better than cute. Words to live by.
When your self-worth is entirely dependent on your appearance and material possessions that's the sort of attitude you get. Generalizations are ugly, but I've yet to meet a "hot" chick who wont immediately go for your looks or how much money you have as their preferred insults. Run OP, find someone with character and substance, not some vapid materialistic narcissist.
I'd like to say that being interested in beauty and decent self-presentation isn't always indicative of a toxic personality. People have different interests. However yes, certain traits will exhibit themselves more often in a certain subset of people, which shouldn't happen. There should be more to your existence than how you look, and depending on your age this behavior can be extremely embarrassing.
Load More Replies...Hon, she has absolutely nothing nice to say about you or to you. She only came up with the " you make me feel safe * comments to save her a** . She treats you like an emotional/ verbal punching bag and ridicules you. She's shallow. She's superficial and phony. You want someone who will treat you right and who is a genuine caring person. Get out of the relationship. Look,if you think she hurt you now, believe me, she's going to do a lot more. You deserve better. Let her and her stuck up " mean girls" walk off into the sunset. They all will one day face the consequences of their bad behavior. Say good bye and Good Riddance.
Sounds like she's stuck in high school, looks only go so far, and fade away, and her inner ugliness will age her prematurely. OP is NTA, but he would be TA if he stays, to himself. No one deserves the c**p she put him through.
High school? I think OP's gf peaked in MIDDLE school, haha XD I remember girls just like her in 6th and 7th grade. They would say mean things like that about the other girls who were allegedly their "friends". I got an even WORSE dose of it from them because all of my friends were boys and that pissed them off, for some reason. (I wasn't "interested" in boys at that point and they weren't interested in me - we were just friends, we liked the same video games and other nerdy things, so I got along with boys far better than other girls!)
Load More Replies...Tell a joke, butt of the joke is genuinely laughing = joke. Tell a joke, butt of the joke is not laughing or tells you they are hurt by your words, and you sincerely apologize = joke that fell flat. Tell a joke, butt of the joke is not laughing or tells you they are hurt by your words, and you call them a child or too sensitive or the like = bullying. (Edited to correct grammar)
I was counting the number of jabs. I've encountered the odd teasing comment in happy couples, but five is someone showing off how many times they can hit a punching bag.
Load More Replies...Fella, if she has nothing good to say about you other than you make her feel "safe", it's time to pack the relationship up, tell her to pack her stuff and ship her and all of it out for good. Getting your first ex ain't a good feeling, but know you'll come out of it stronger and find someone better. As for her, she and her miserable friends can enjoy their miserable existence together and perhaps fail to find a great guy like yourself together, while you find the best girl and live your best life. Sheesh!!!
"safe" = "I can verbally punch this guy without breaking my fist."
Load More Replies...She was embarrassed to have you around her friends. That's a giant red flag, get the hell away from her.
I hope OP dumps her. I have a buddy, who (also "ordinary") always seems to date the hot girl - especially when we were in the military together. They would be the classic 10, until they opened their mouths. Either they were kind of dim, think "do buffalos have wings?" kind of dim. Or just a nasty attitude about everything and everyone around them. Years later, he married a wonderful woman who was a (self-described) "plain Jane", but her attitude, kindness, and wit make her a 20!
She verbally abused you (yes, constant insults are abuse) and then gaslighted you instead of acknowledging her treatment of you. As someone who was trapped in a cycle of abuse for 10 years before escaping, THIS IS HER TRUE FACE and it will not get better. You deserve someone who will treat you with respect. Dump her, learn to be happy with yourself, and the right person will be there when you least expect it.
First off, I cannot stand the whole "outta my league" mentality! Measuring yourself up to your partner is so self harming! Secondly, this b¡tch is already showing signs of verbal abuse and she's gonna keep on until OP tells her to eff off. The poor guy is worth a much higher quality of woman instead of this repulsive child who's only qualification is looks and even then, that's in the eye of the beholder; I'm sure if I saw her picture, I would be instantly nauseated. But OP, darlin, you're going to get low quality like this until you start realizing that YOU are worth something
They don't get receding hairlines, but good luck finding a doberman that can drive a truck.
Load More Replies...Don't date someone who treats you differently based on the company they are re keeping. Don't date someone if you don't like their friends, who they choose to love and who chooses to love them is the best indicator of a person's character. It doesn't sound like they're compatible. It also doesn't sound like he's punching bove his weight.
AITA for sticking up for myself and having a modicum of self-respect? No, no you're NTA.
She doesn't actually like the guy. He's a bookmark. She's had some bad relationships and doesn't want that drama right now. But he's 'OKAY' for now. Seen it many times. When someone likes you, they like something about you, and they know why and what it is. They'll talk about that, even if they make jokes about other shortcomings.
It sounds like she's dating out of her league. There's a reason she has so many exes (going by context). She's with him because she can only date 'down.' After all, anyone with legs should be walking out of her toxic miasma.
She sounds like a girl I know. At one point, she could of probably had any guy she wanted but she chooses guys she doesn't get emotionally attached to because she wants the control.
Load More Replies...I remember a line from The Office where Michael was asked to list pluses and minuses about his girlfriend. One of the minuses was "I'm unhappy when I'm with her". It's weird when a sitcom teaches an invaluable life lesson...
Sounds like her inner mean girl comes out around her friends. Now ask yourself, do you want to be with a mean girl? Maybe have some adult conversations about your feelings, and boundries, how her friends treat people, why she treated you like that around her friends, and where she sees this relationship going? It sounds like she's embarassed about your status/hotness not being up to her friends standards. If she's not like that when they're not around, it may be highschool mean-girl habits that she's growing out of. If she can do some introspection, apologise, and distance herself from toxic friends, she may be a nicer person. If not, there's no point in being with someone who makes you miserable, hot or not.
Actually you should have told her she was free to leave at the bbq in front of her friends. That would have had the most impact (for better or worse) then waiting until they were alone as it seems she was trying to somehow impress her loser friends.
Tell her that it didn’t feel good and she was being hurtful and you’d like the type of relationship were you build each other up in private and in company. I think you came out of a place of offence and although not excusing her behaviour maybe it was somewhat childish, she was living up to her friends expectations and in turn was hurting you. I don’t believe it was intentional to insult you. Both can grow from this and be better for it.
Dude I'm sorry she did that. Partners should lift eachother up not slam them ifo friends. What she did was not even close to joking. I suspect that's how she feels and you likely make her feel financially safe. He reaction when you called her on it tells me she has no respect for you. Make her your first ex. Buddy I don't know you but you sound like a reasonable lad and lots of us date outside our league but the other person usually loves you for genuine reasons. Go out and find a woman who will not disrespect you like a bunch of teenage girls in a gossip circle. You arw worthy of love and it sounds like you are capable of giving love. Don't regret staying with her cause she is cute.
Did you laugh when she insulted you? No? Because it wasn't funny . You said she could leave...little tip. You leave her because she isn't worth the ground you walk on. There will be a woman out there who will think your receding hairline is cute, might like the story of the ugly tatoo and better yet, will lift you up to her level if you think she's out of your league, not stand on you for the benefit of snotty friends. YOU deserve better, she deserves someone just like her!
Who's familiar with the song 'She Ain't Pretty. She Just Looks That Way'?
She sounds like a stuck up cvnt. Looks fade. Ugly behavior is forever. Choose wisely.
This expression "out of my league" never sat right with me. You are either a good person or not. Looks matter, but are always trumped by personality, character, kindness, and integrity. If anyone is going to be "out of their league" it's the one who lacks these things.
"Anyways, afterwards I asked her why she took so many shots at me and she said she was just joking and I was being a child." Ah yes, if you take it the wrong way it's a "jjjoooookkkkeeee." Whenever they say they're joking, they're not. All that s**t she rubbed in your face as a "joke" does bother her, but she has to address it like she's the good person for looking beyond all of it.
I wouldn't tolerate that. Unless you have a certain type of friendship, for example a long term friend pointed out some age - and he had some as well - these repeated negative comments in the company of mostly her friends on what I assume is your dime is entirely inappropriate.
When men choose solely based on looks, this is what you get. Either put up with it or walk, your choice
At the next party just tell everybody that she is not very good in bed Just kidding, dear
And she even tossed in a nice little bit of gaslighting to blame him for being insulted and called him a child? Insults, gaslighting, projection, ungrateful and rude behavior, immaturity, terrible friends who would encourage that? Exactly why would you stay with that? Sounds like a human tire fire.
Right. He's the child in this scenario. Unbelievable.
Load More Replies...My experience in life--and my advice to my (now adult) kids is this: Smart and funny wears better than cute. Words to live by.
When your self-worth is entirely dependent on your appearance and material possessions that's the sort of attitude you get. Generalizations are ugly, but I've yet to meet a "hot" chick who wont immediately go for your looks or how much money you have as their preferred insults. Run OP, find someone with character and substance, not some vapid materialistic narcissist.
I'd like to say that being interested in beauty and decent self-presentation isn't always indicative of a toxic personality. People have different interests. However yes, certain traits will exhibit themselves more often in a certain subset of people, which shouldn't happen. There should be more to your existence than how you look, and depending on your age this behavior can be extremely embarrassing.
Load More Replies...Hon, she has absolutely nothing nice to say about you or to you. She only came up with the " you make me feel safe * comments to save her a** . She treats you like an emotional/ verbal punching bag and ridicules you. She's shallow. She's superficial and phony. You want someone who will treat you right and who is a genuine caring person. Get out of the relationship. Look,if you think she hurt you now, believe me, she's going to do a lot more. You deserve better. Let her and her stuck up " mean girls" walk off into the sunset. They all will one day face the consequences of their bad behavior. Say good bye and Good Riddance.
Sounds like she's stuck in high school, looks only go so far, and fade away, and her inner ugliness will age her prematurely. OP is NTA, but he would be TA if he stays, to himself. No one deserves the c**p she put him through.
High school? I think OP's gf peaked in MIDDLE school, haha XD I remember girls just like her in 6th and 7th grade. They would say mean things like that about the other girls who were allegedly their "friends". I got an even WORSE dose of it from them because all of my friends were boys and that pissed them off, for some reason. (I wasn't "interested" in boys at that point and they weren't interested in me - we were just friends, we liked the same video games and other nerdy things, so I got along with boys far better than other girls!)
Load More Replies...Tell a joke, butt of the joke is genuinely laughing = joke. Tell a joke, butt of the joke is not laughing or tells you they are hurt by your words, and you sincerely apologize = joke that fell flat. Tell a joke, butt of the joke is not laughing or tells you they are hurt by your words, and you call them a child or too sensitive or the like = bullying. (Edited to correct grammar)
I was counting the number of jabs. I've encountered the odd teasing comment in happy couples, but five is someone showing off how many times they can hit a punching bag.
Load More Replies...Fella, if she has nothing good to say about you other than you make her feel "safe", it's time to pack the relationship up, tell her to pack her stuff and ship her and all of it out for good. Getting your first ex ain't a good feeling, but know you'll come out of it stronger and find someone better. As for her, she and her miserable friends can enjoy their miserable existence together and perhaps fail to find a great guy like yourself together, while you find the best girl and live your best life. Sheesh!!!
"safe" = "I can verbally punch this guy without breaking my fist."
Load More Replies...She was embarrassed to have you around her friends. That's a giant red flag, get the hell away from her.
I hope OP dumps her. I have a buddy, who (also "ordinary") always seems to date the hot girl - especially when we were in the military together. They would be the classic 10, until they opened their mouths. Either they were kind of dim, think "do buffalos have wings?" kind of dim. Or just a nasty attitude about everything and everyone around them. Years later, he married a wonderful woman who was a (self-described) "plain Jane", but her attitude, kindness, and wit make her a 20!
She verbally abused you (yes, constant insults are abuse) and then gaslighted you instead of acknowledging her treatment of you. As someone who was trapped in a cycle of abuse for 10 years before escaping, THIS IS HER TRUE FACE and it will not get better. You deserve someone who will treat you with respect. Dump her, learn to be happy with yourself, and the right person will be there when you least expect it.
First off, I cannot stand the whole "outta my league" mentality! Measuring yourself up to your partner is so self harming! Secondly, this b¡tch is already showing signs of verbal abuse and she's gonna keep on until OP tells her to eff off. The poor guy is worth a much higher quality of woman instead of this repulsive child who's only qualification is looks and even then, that's in the eye of the beholder; I'm sure if I saw her picture, I would be instantly nauseated. But OP, darlin, you're going to get low quality like this until you start realizing that YOU are worth something
They don't get receding hairlines, but good luck finding a doberman that can drive a truck.
Load More Replies...Don't date someone who treats you differently based on the company they are re keeping. Don't date someone if you don't like their friends, who they choose to love and who chooses to love them is the best indicator of a person's character. It doesn't sound like they're compatible. It also doesn't sound like he's punching bove his weight.
AITA for sticking up for myself and having a modicum of self-respect? No, no you're NTA.
She doesn't actually like the guy. He's a bookmark. She's had some bad relationships and doesn't want that drama right now. But he's 'OKAY' for now. Seen it many times. When someone likes you, they like something about you, and they know why and what it is. They'll talk about that, even if they make jokes about other shortcomings.
It sounds like she's dating out of her league. There's a reason she has so many exes (going by context). She's with him because she can only date 'down.' After all, anyone with legs should be walking out of her toxic miasma.
She sounds like a girl I know. At one point, she could of probably had any guy she wanted but she chooses guys she doesn't get emotionally attached to because she wants the control.
Load More Replies...I remember a line from The Office where Michael was asked to list pluses and minuses about his girlfriend. One of the minuses was "I'm unhappy when I'm with her". It's weird when a sitcom teaches an invaluable life lesson...
Sounds like her inner mean girl comes out around her friends. Now ask yourself, do you want to be with a mean girl? Maybe have some adult conversations about your feelings, and boundries, how her friends treat people, why she treated you like that around her friends, and where she sees this relationship going? It sounds like she's embarassed about your status/hotness not being up to her friends standards. If she's not like that when they're not around, it may be highschool mean-girl habits that she's growing out of. If she can do some introspection, apologise, and distance herself from toxic friends, she may be a nicer person. If not, there's no point in being with someone who makes you miserable, hot or not.
Actually you should have told her she was free to leave at the bbq in front of her friends. That would have had the most impact (for better or worse) then waiting until they were alone as it seems she was trying to somehow impress her loser friends.
Tell her that it didn’t feel good and she was being hurtful and you’d like the type of relationship were you build each other up in private and in company. I think you came out of a place of offence and although not excusing her behaviour maybe it was somewhat childish, she was living up to her friends expectations and in turn was hurting you. I don’t believe it was intentional to insult you. Both can grow from this and be better for it.
Dude I'm sorry she did that. Partners should lift eachother up not slam them ifo friends. What she did was not even close to joking. I suspect that's how she feels and you likely make her feel financially safe. He reaction when you called her on it tells me she has no respect for you. Make her your first ex. Buddy I don't know you but you sound like a reasonable lad and lots of us date outside our league but the other person usually loves you for genuine reasons. Go out and find a woman who will not disrespect you like a bunch of teenage girls in a gossip circle. You arw worthy of love and it sounds like you are capable of giving love. Don't regret staying with her cause she is cute.
Did you laugh when she insulted you? No? Because it wasn't funny . You said she could leave...little tip. You leave her because she isn't worth the ground you walk on. There will be a woman out there who will think your receding hairline is cute, might like the story of the ugly tatoo and better yet, will lift you up to her level if you think she's out of your league, not stand on you for the benefit of snotty friends. YOU deserve better, she deserves someone just like her!
Who's familiar with the song 'She Ain't Pretty. She Just Looks That Way'?
She sounds like a stuck up cvnt. Looks fade. Ugly behavior is forever. Choose wisely.
This expression "out of my league" never sat right with me. You are either a good person or not. Looks matter, but are always trumped by personality, character, kindness, and integrity. If anyone is going to be "out of their league" it's the one who lacks these things.
"Anyways, afterwards I asked her why she took so many shots at me and she said she was just joking and I was being a child." Ah yes, if you take it the wrong way it's a "jjjoooookkkkeeee." Whenever they say they're joking, they're not. All that s**t she rubbed in your face as a "joke" does bother her, but she has to address it like she's the good person for looking beyond all of it.
I wouldn't tolerate that. Unless you have a certain type of friendship, for example a long term friend pointed out some age - and he had some as well - these repeated negative comments in the company of mostly her friends on what I assume is your dime is entirely inappropriate.
When men choose solely based on looks, this is what you get. Either put up with it or walk, your choice
At the next party just tell everybody that she is not very good in bed Just kidding, dear

























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