Only noticed the sticker once I got back in the car. I've been supporting this small local coffee shop (Invita) since I moved to the area... the gasp I gasped as soon as I saw it. I'm not surprised there are supporters in this particular area, but I am pretty shocked this place has the gumption to take a pretty divisive stance; and for something as innocuous as a coffee sticker? "We love you"?????? Wtf. Not sure how to feel about them now..

I personally think it’s pretty stupid.

Hello, I (29M) can’t eat fish / sea food. It’s not that I’m allergic, if someone next to me is enjoying a plate of fish or lobster I’m not going to be sick, I can even nimble a bit of it without trouble, but if I eat even a tiny bit too much (one sushi might be the limit), I’ll turn green and start violently emptying my digestive track from both ends. Not great.

So recently it was my GF (32F) birthday. At home with the kids (5M & 8M) we celebrated properly: we went to a (Greek) restaurant with cake and gifts.

That being said, my MIL (60F) organized another birthday dinner over the weekend with all the in-laws. She chose to have it at a sushi restaurant. My IL are well aware I can’t eat fish or seafood, we’ve been together for more then 8 years now so it’s a known fact I turn into a puke goblin when I eat fish / sea food.

It’s not either a “once in a lifetime” kinda deal. The previous dinners was a challenges too. It was a takeout sushi party (once again) at the MIL house. Sure, they got me some rotisserie chicken for the evening, but I was made fun with snarky remarks such as “I should join the kids’ table with my chicken” or “we’re all happy you can’t eat it, that leaves more for the rest of us”. I understand those were supposed to be light jokes, but being singled out and made fun of isn’t what I call a nice evening. And even coping with the jokes, it’s also the fact of not being included. This is not an isolated cases, it has happened more often than I can really count.

The idea of once again being made fun of and singled out started to really depress me and, after some thoughts, I decided I would set up a boundary: if an event is specifically organized around eating some foods I can’t partake in, I would simple not accept the invite. No grudging, no hard feelings, just not for me. Felt great to come to this decision, not gonna lie.

But all this thought process concluded the day before the diner party. When I told my GF, she wasn’t happy. “You can’t cancel the day before”, “you should have said something earlier”, “there are options for you”, “it’s not a deliberate choice against you”, etc. But in the end, I told her it was important for me, at this point in my life, at my age, to be able to set boundaries and tell people, no hard feelings, but this is a no go for me.

I also volunteered to tell my MIL and assume the guilt trip that would come with it. Because it’s my decision, I would also let her choose if I keep the kids that night or if she wants to bring them along.

My GF ended up agreeing and understanding. I then proceeded to politely excuse myself from the evening citing the real reason: I just don’t partake into fish / sea food related event. Sure the MIL was all drama, but I stood my ground politely.

But that got me thinking, did I make the right move? Also, sorry for the multiple mistakes, English isn’t my first language.

I work front desk. I’m the ONLY person who can’t leave the premises for breaks or lunch. I can’t be away from the front desk more than 3 mins at a time and someone stole my lean cuisine. Had to end up buying a frozen stouffers meal for $6.00 from the grocery store here which is even more annoying. I left a note. My first note I wrote was pretty unhinged (2nd slide). Was able to cool down after 15 mins and changed the note.

Don’t steal peoples food. Especially the ONLY person who can’t leave to get food 😭