Everyone needs a hobby they’re passionate about, but what happens it starts to conflict with your relationships?

As one man’s gaming begins to clash with his partner’s need for attention, the two begin to spar over where his priorities should lie.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for finishing games before addressing my partner?

I [M23] work at a full-time call center job, averaging over 40 hours a week.

My partner [22nb] works mostly part-time jobs and picks up hours when they can.

They’re home most of the time, unless they go to a friend’s house.

He has his hobbies that he enjoys to de-stress from work.

Gaming is my hobby to unwind, but I also do other things occasionally, like Magic, Gundam, and Legos.

However, I mostly enjoy playing games at home.

But this hobby has caused tension with his partner.

My partner expressed concern about my gaming when I was in a ranked game of League.

They needed to talk to me while they were going through a depressive episode, but I told them I would listen when I was done with my game.

I offered to be a listening ear, but I would have been distracted by the game.

He heard them out and decided to cut back.

I took some time to reflect and realized that I should cut out games that take a large chunk of time.

Now, I mainly play Magic Arena or Hearthstone, where game times last 10 to 20 minutes.

I occasionally play Genshin or Minecraft, but I never feel the urge to play for longer than an hour.

But there’s still lingering tension.

The issue comes when my partner enters my room with little to no warning, seeking attention for a situation they’re dealing with or some pain they’re experiencing.

I’ve expressed to them several times that I need 5 to 10 minutes to finish up what I’m doing before I can give them my full attention.

His partner isn’t a fan of this and thinks he should drop everything to attend to them.

They argue that I’m letting video games control my life and that I can’t prioritize what should be my number one priority.

On the other hand, he feels like asking for a few minutes is a fair compromise.

My conflict is that often, the issue they want to talk about isn’t an emergency and can wait 5 to 10 minutes for me to finish my game before giving them attention.

Am I being too focused on games to the point of ignoring my partner, or should they respect my request to finish what I’m doing before I focus on them?

AITA?

More than anything, this couple needs to find some common ground.

What did Reddit have to say?

Maybe he should be a bit more willing to drop everything for his partner.

But his partner could probably tailor their approach better, too.

For this commenter, it’s on a case-by-case basis.

This commenter finds the partner’s attitude a bit manipulative.

As with anything else in life, balance is key here.

It may be time to level up their communication.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.