Man stands his ground after holiday dinner hosts make unjust and outrageous demands

Socializing is an awkward but essential activity that people often participate in to enhance their connections. However, not everyone is born to socialize and eventually have a lack of connections during their lives. Moreover, this lack of connections becomes more apparent in holidays when people have no work to focus on and require friends and families. Therefore, when u/Kfcdeliveryguy12234 got invited to a Christmas dinner by his friend, he decided to put himself out there. Despite having reservations, he could not ignore the call for good food and company. Unfortunately, he was left with a bad taste in his mouth because of a demand made after the dinner. The man felt he had been duped and took to Reddit to share his story.

The man began the post by explaining that his friend invited him to a dinner hosted by his acquaintances. Since he did not know the hosts, initially, he refused to go, but after insistence from his friend, he agreed. In order to convince him, the friend also showed him messages where the hosts had mentioned that they did not have any issues with him coming to the dinner. As a courtesy, the man took with him some chocolates. He wrote, "I gave them chocolate as a gesture of goodwill since they were hosting (cost £12). I believe that was the right thing, either that or wine."

The man was quite excited about the dinner. The hosts informed him the food had already been paid for and to enjoy the meal. He was happy with the dishes and had a good time. The man was grateful that the hosts invited him and made his holiday better. The rug got pulled from under him when the hosts later asked him to pay for the food. He wrote, "I was not made aware of this." If he was initially told of the condition, he would have approached the situation with that in mind. However, bringing this up suddenly felt a little awkward to the man. Suddenly, the dinner turned from a sweet gesture to something he felt was a tool to exploit him.

The man does not want to pay as he feels that he has been duped. But, at the same time, he feels a lot of gratitude towards his friend who got him this invite. Therefore, he asked the other netizens, "Any advice on what to do here? It's a bit of a sour situation." In further edits, he gave a clearer picture of the situation. He shared, "I had offered prior to the dinner if there was anything they wanted me to bring. And I wasn't told anything." There were other guests as well, but he didn't know if they were asked to pay. He also confronted the friend by messaging him about his doubts but has not received any answers.

The comment section asked him to hold his ground and not give up. u/CrystalQueen3000 found the host to be rude and commented, "That's so rude. If there's an expectation that people are going to chip in financially, then that needs to be clear ahead of time." u/EvilTaffyapple suggested the man a plan and commented, "Transfer £1.70, and explain to them the chocolates cost £12 and you were paying the difference. If they're being petty, so can you."