They say it is better to give than to receive.

Well that’s DEFINITELY true when the thing you’re receiving is something you didn’t want in the first place.

What would you do if you were invited somewhere you didn’t want to go and the tickets to go were expensive? Would you go anyway, or would you decline?

That’s the situation the man in today’s story is dealing with, and it’s even more complicated because he was invited by his father.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA Declining an Invitation After Finding Out the Cost?

Backstory: My relationship with my father is complicated.

Specifically, he gets really excited about something that he wants to do, and then guilts those around him into doing the same thing.

My wife has set firm boundaries with him, which he hates.

Like, he apparently just doesn’t listen.

Example: A couple Christmases ago he bought her a commissioned artwork after repeated warnings not to get her anything that would make clutter.

My wife told him she wanted a gift card or a vacuum cleaner (which we needed for a while).

Nope.

He goes off and gets her a random piece of art and didn’t understand why she didn’t want it.

His dad invited him to a game.

Current Situation: My birthday is on Monday.

My dad texts me today saying he has tickets to a family reunion at a ball game and that my wife and I are invited because a couple other people cancelled.

I say yes.

He thought it was a gift.

A few exchanged texts later, he tells me that the tickets are $40 a piece, and to Venmo him.

I explained that we don’t expect him to pay for everything, but that’s a lot of money for our current forms of employment.

I also said that Baseball has never been my thing, and I don’t want to spend a day off driving two hours to (and from) the stadium.

I hate feeling like a petulant child, but he should definitely know it’s not my (or my wife’s) thing.

And now, the baseball situation:

My father invited my wife and I to a baseball game.

Only afterwards did he request payment for the tickets.

AITA for telling him we’d rather just stay home and not pay $80?

That might’ve been a nice birthday outing, but who wants to pay for an activity they don’t actually enjoy?

So, what does Reddit think?

Also, did we skate by an important fact here?

Clarity is important.

Hello? Earth to dad?

It seems like maybe dad is just bad at communicating in general.

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.