Man critiques girlfriend's cooking with a presentation. She responds with one of her own to dump him

A healthy relationship involves giving each other constructive criticism in a manner that doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. If not done with tact and empathy, this process can quickly blow up in one's face and potentially sabotage the entire relationship. This was the case with one couple who parted ways after the 30-year-old boyfriend thought it would be funny to present a PowerPoint presentation criticizing his girlfriend’s cooking. Unsurprisingly, the 28-year-old woman—who goes by u/eska089 on Reddit—decided to call it quits, but not before giving her boyfriend (now ex) a taste of his own medicine.

The woman began her post by admitting she was still 'processing' her boyfriend's decision to create a presentation listing "critiques" of her cooking. The two had been together for almost two years and lived together. “I’ve always done most of the cooking because I genuinely enjoy it, and he claims he can’t even ‘boil water’ without setting off the smoke alarm,” she revealed. Then one day, things took an unexpected turn. "The other night, I made one of our favorite meals, and while we were eating, he got a weird smirk on his face. He then says, 'You know, I’ve been taking notes,'" the woman wrote. "I laughed, thinking he was joking, but then he said, 'No, really. I made a presentation.' I still thought it was a joke until he got up, connected his laptop to the TV, and opened a PowerPoint titled 'Improving Our Home Dining Experience.'"

The girlfriend was in disbelief as her boyfriend went through slide after slide, critiquing her dishes. Slide one was titled "Too Much Garlic" while the next one was about "Pasta Consistency." The third slide stated, "More Salt, Less Sass." The kicker came at slide eight—a photo of Gordon Ramsay facepalming, captioned, 'What he’d think.' The display left her stunned, and she suggested he start cooking for himself.

This led the boyfriend to backtrack, softening his stance by insisting it was "all in good fun." "I’m just trying to help," he claimed. However, the girlfriend stopped cooking, leaving him to live off cereal and takeout. "He’s sulking, saying I’m overreacting and 'ruining the joke,'" she noted, prompting a wave of support in her favor.

“If he had the time to make a PowerPoint, he has time to learn to cook,” u/wigglepie commented. u/lastlatelake shared, “My boyfriend complained about how I did the laundry (it was clean, just not how his mom did it), so now I don’t do it unless it’s just my own.” “I had a guy inform me I needed to show him how to clean a bathtub, and I told him to watch a YouTube video,” u/DumbleForeSkin recalled. Some suggested the woman set clear boundaries with her boyfriend—using his own style, perhaps with a PowerPoint presentation. In an update, the woman revealed that she'd ended the relationship. However, before she could make the formal announcement via PowerPoint, her "PowerPoint-addicted" boyfriend created yet another presentation—this one titled "How to Take a Joke: A Comprehensive Guide." 

After listening to his complaints about her being "too sensitive" to take a joke, she explained, "I stayed up all night crafting a presentation titled 'Why It’s Time to Move On: A Farewell Guide.'" It had everything from "flowcharts mapping his incompetence in the kitchen, pie charts illustrating my happiness before and after 'The Great Presentation Debacle.'" Her favorite was slide nine with a GIF of Gordon Ramsay yelling: “GET OUT!” However, somewhere around slide four, "Top Ten Reasons You’re Moving Out Today," and "Resources for Finding Your Own Apartment," the man was packing a bag. “Now, before anyone worries, yes, he did actually leave. And no, I didn’t even have to threaten him with Slide 12, which was just a photo of me blocking the Wi-Fi router,” she concluded.

In another update, the woman revealed that people in her ex-boyfriend’s workplace had learned about the presentation debacle through mutual friends. “My ex works at a big consulting firm, and they’ve found out about the PowerPoint breakup. Between all the shares and the news articles, the story somehow made its way into his office... and let’s just say, it’s been causing some serious disruption over there,” she shared. She concluded her post by noting that her ex-boyfriend has now become a workplace meme—thanks to his presentation skills.