Is it fair to ask my partner to listen when I keep bringing him the same problem?
Relationships"You've told me this three Thursdays in a row," my partner said. I'd come home annoyed because a friend had taken over another conversation at our regular dinner. He started suggesting what I could say to her. I said I didn't want solutions; I just wanted him to listen.
He replied that he had listened the previous two times, and it was frustrating to hear the same complaint while I refused to do anything about it. I said he was making a bad evening worse. We both went quiet.
I haven't spoken to the friend because I don't want to make our dinners tense. My partner knows that. I don't expect him to fix her behaviour, and telling him about it helps me feel less alone. But I can see how he might feel he's become the place I put a frustration I'm unwilling to address.
How much listening is a reasonable ask here? I don't want to have to act on every piece of advice to earn sympathy, but I also don't want him dreading my return on Thursdays.
