Real people. Real opinions.
Browse WAURE
← Advice & Questions
AITA · Advice & Questions ·

AITA for leaving a friend off my birthday guest list because she never invites me over?

AITA category photographAITA

Caro asked why everyone from our usual group was going to my birthday except her. I told her, "I wanted to invite people who make an effort back."

There was room for eight guests at my flat. I invited seven people from our group and a newer friend from work. Caro heard about it while we were arranging another outing.

I'd been thinking about how often I host and how rarely she invites me anywhere. She lives with her parents, so hosting at home isn't easy. I knew that, but I still felt as though I was always making the plans.

She said she'd asked me for coffee three times that spring and paid twice, and that I had canceled the last one. That's all true. Those meetings hadn't counted in the mental list I was making because they weren't group occasions.

I told her the guest list wasn't meant as a punishment. She asked what else my explanation could mean.

I do like the coworker I invited, and I'm allowed to want different people at a birthday. But I didn't simply say I wanted to include a new friend. I gave Caro a judgment about her effort using a very selective account of what she'd done. She says she doesn't want a replacement invitation. AITA for leaving her out?

Discussion

3 community replies

Your explanation judged her friendship on a kind of hosting she can't easily provide, then excluded the coffee invitations she did make. The guest list is your choice, but that description of her effort wasn't fair to the facts you give.

Inviting a new coworker isn't the issue by itself. You can have room for someone new without claiming the person left out failed a test. Caro is responding to being told she hasn't made an effort, not only to missing cake.

Canceling her last coffee invitation matters. It suggests she had tried a form of contact that you didn't recognize as reciprocity. Before deciding you're always the planner, look at the plans you declined too.

Join the discussion

More in AITA