When I was a student, I lived in the dorms, and my parents covered all my expenses. My days were mostly carefree, but one thing always bothered me: I was dating a guy who frequently came over to my place. While we spent time together, he had a habit of emptying my fridge, eating my food without so much as a thank you. I started to feel increasingly frustrated, realizing that I was always the one supporting our hangouts, and I wanted to see if I could teach him a lesson.
One day, I decided to try a trick. Instead of letting him continue to take my food without any thought, I invited him to go grocery shopping with me. We went to the store together, and I filled my cart with some essentials. To my surprise, he also picked out items for himself, adding snacks and drinks to his basket, as if we were shopping for a shared experience.
As we approached the checkout, things took an unexpected turn. My boyfriend stepped aside, acting as though he wasn’t involved in the transaction. I was confused at first, but then I realized he was trying to avoid any assumption that he would pay for his groceries. I felt irritated but decided to call him out on it. I asked him directly to pay for the food he had picked out.
He begrudgingly agreed to pay, but when we left the store, he threw me a curveball. He asked me when I was going to pay him back for the groceries, as if it was a loan. That comment completely caught me off guard. I couldn’t help but express my frustration, and I told him exactly what I thought about his behavior. I was done pretending like it didn’t bother me.
To my surprise, he responded with, “I had no idea you were this greedy.” His words stung, but in that moment, I realized that our relationship had fundamentally changed. I had expected him to understand the problem, but instead, he made it about me. It was a wake-up call that perhaps this wasn’t the kind of relationship I should be in.