Sometimes it can be fun to get together with a bunch of friends, family members or coworkers and all go in together on one really cool gift idea to surprise someone for their birthday.

That’s kind of what happens in today’s story, but one of the friends participating in the surprise feels blindsided about how the party is actually going to play out.

This isn’t what he thought he agreed to at all!

Should he still go along with it?

Let’s read all the details about this gift and the party plans.

AITA Best Friend’s Girlfriend Won’t Let Me Watch Him Open My Gift

So my (m23) best friend’s (m20) girlfriend (f20) added me on Snapchat about 2 weeks ago asking if I’d like to participate in this gift idea she had for his 21st birthday.

The idea was to have a bunch of his friends and her family get him 21 different album vinyls for his record player to celebrate him turning 21, and have him open it at her grandmother’s house.

She asked if I’d like to be a part of the idea and get him one of them, and of course I said yes.

So I order the vinyl I had in mind for him and wait for it to be delivered to my house.

The vinyl arrived.

Which brings us to today…

The vinyl finally came in the mail, and his birthday is just under 2 weeks away.

I messaged his girlfriend, and this is the conversation that followed.

Me: “hey, his vinyl finally came in the mail”.

This is not the reaction he expected.

Her: “great, I’ll have my friend come pick it up later on this week.”

Me: “wdym? aren’t we all meeting at your grandmother’s house to celebrate and watch him open the gifts?”

Her: “imma record him open all of them”

Me: “wdym you’re gonna record it?” “I can’t come watch him open the gift I’m getting him?”

Her: “No”

Me: “I genuinely cannot tell if you’re joking…”

She wasn’t joking.

Her: “I’m not joking”

Me: “so you’re celebrating his 21st birthday with you, him, and your nana, and you asked me to get a gift and not come??? Am I hearing this right?”

Her: “no, he’s just opening his gifts here”

Me: “I understand that, but you said you’re gonna record it and that I can’t be there to watch”

Her: “yea, and?” “Nobody else is gonna be here either” “My friend said she can pick your stuff up this week”

He feels misled.

Mind you, when she first messaged me 2 weeks ago, she said “we’re all gonna watch him open them on his birthday,” so I was under the impression we’d do the sensible thing and… bring him the gifts.

Am I losing my mind or is this incredibly rude?

I feel pretty upset considering him and I have been friends for 13 years, and it appears that I’m no longer invited to the celebration where she plans to have him open all these vinyl gifts she’s having everyone get for him.

What do I even do about this?

He feels like he has a few options but isn’t sure which one is best.

It puts me in a tough spot because now I have to decide between conceding my self-respect by letting her give him my gift or risking the purpose and punctuality of the surprise gift idea for him (because if I refuse to give her the vinyl, he’ll only have 20 to open at one time instead of 21 to match his age).

I know that me showing up to the celebration uninvited would be pretty awkward, so that’s off the table. But what should I do here?

Do I give in and let her take the vinyl to give to him from me or should I just say “nah, I’ll just give it to him myself”?

And what do I say beyond that?

Let me know what you guys think. Am I being a jerk for wanting to remove myself from this plan?

His friend’s girlfriend really should’ve specified that participating in buying a vinyl wasn’t an invitation to the birthday party.

He’s probably not the only person who is upset.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

He should wait and give his friend the gift when he sees him.

It does sound like a boring party.

This person calls the situation “unfair.”

He better watch out or he might lose his friend.

These birthday plans sound ridiculous.

I don’t think most people would be ok with them.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.