If you buy someone a birthday present, you expect them to open it.

If you buy them an expensive present they have told you that they want, you expect them to be excited to open it.

The woman in today’s story doesn’t really like gifts.

In fact, they make her feel uncomfortable.

Her boyfriend is wondering if he messed up by trying to relieve that stress by opening a gift for her.

Let’s read all the details.

AITA for opening my (M28) girlfriend’s (F27) gift that she did not want to open?

My girlfriend recently had a birthday.

We had a small get together at our apartment but my girlfriend feels uncomfortable opening gifts in front of people because of the pressure and all of our friends know that.

She opened them privately that evening.

There was one more gift.

Two days later my parents’ gift arrived.

My parents are on the wealthy side and bought her a designer handbag she had been openly admiring the last time we visited.

They had purchased the bag that weekend and had been saving it for her birthday.

She responded a thank you before she opened it and “would let them know” when she did.

She wasn’t in a rush to open the gift.

The box sat on our dresser for about two days before my parents sent a text wondering if she had opened it yet.

I asked her when she would open the gift and she just shrugged and said “soon”.

I was also really excited to see her open this gift, I knew that it was something she really wanted.

She claims she feels uncomfortable opening the gift.

A few more days passed, my parents checked in again about whether she had opened the gift.

At this point, my girlfriend came to me and asked if I could tell my parents to back off, as she was feeling too much pressure around opening the gift and it was making her not want to open it.

I admit that I have never really understood this, and I told her that I didn’t get why she wouldn’t open it.

My parents weren’t there and all it would require is a thank you text at the very least to acknowledge it.

To me, it was the exact same as our friends leaving the party before opening her gifts.

She got really frustrated with me and said “you just don’t get how uncomfortable it makes me”.

He doesn’t understand why she’s not opening the gift.

About a week after the gift arrived, my parents texted me outside of our group chat and asked if she liked the bag.

I told them she still had not opened the gift.

They asked me if they had made her uncomfortable, if they had overstepped in any way or something.

They’ve gotten her gifts before that have never gone over like this.

I truly did not understand why she was not opening it, and at this point I thought it was border line rude to not open it and acknowledge the gift.

He opened the gift so she wouldn’t have to.

She went out with her friends yesterday evening and I opened the box for her, displayed the bag on the dresser so that the pressure of opening it was removed and we could just move on.

I really thought I was doing her a favor and ending this awkward situation.

When she got home and saw it she was mad.

She said she had guessed it was the bag she had wanted and felt awkward knowing it was an expensive gift and that she did not feel comfortable opening it yet.

She claims he’s being rude.

I tried to explain that she was being a bit rude putting it off.

But she said it was more rude of me to open it for her.

We went to bed shortly after and she was very short with me this morning.

The bag is still sitting on the dresser where I left it.

So, AITA?

I don’t understand why she has such a problem opening gifts.

Maybe she needs therapy to move past this.

Gifts are meant to be nice.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is a weird hang up.

She was rude.

He still shouldn’t have opened the gift.

She needs therapy.

He didn’t open it for her; he opened it for his parents.

It’s so weird that she doesn’t want to open gifts!

I’m not sure there was a right answer with this one.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.