Two cultures coming together is a beautiful thing, and can be really fulfilling for everyone involved.

But sometimes, even in the most loving relationships, cultural expectations can clash.

And if this isn’t managed well, it can lead to resentment, as happened to the person in this story.

Read on to find out how an innocent birthday cake became a point of drama between one man and his mother-in-law.

AITA when my mother-in-law took my birthday cake? And should I apologize?

My wife (female, 37) and I (male, 38) are from two different cultures.

I am from Europe and my wife is from the Middle East, and we now live in Canada .

My birthday was two nights ago and my wife got me a small cake, my favorite cake from my favorite bakery.

My mother-in-law was at our home for dinner. We cut the cake, and after dinner my wife went to put our baby to bed.

But the drama was just getting started.

I was supposed to give my mother-in-law a ride to my sister-in-law’s place.

As she was leaving, my mother-in-law grabbed the leftover cake in the box to take with her.

I asked her if she was taking the leftover cake and she said yes, for my sister-in-law and her son.

Read on to find out how he reacted to this.

I said, “But that is my favorite cake and I was hoping to eat the leftovers tomorrow.”

She seemed really insulted and said that I had already had cake, and that I was being petty because I was taking the cake from a five-year-old boy.

I said, “Fine, take the cake.”

But that wasn’t the end of things.

After I came back, I told my wife and she said it is a cultural thing.

You have to share the cake, and I was rude and owe my mother-in-law an apology because I made her feel bad.

Am I wrong for not wanting to apologize, and for thinking that I deserved the leftover cake?

AITA?

When cultural differences come up, it’s always worth trying to be understanding and considerate.

But this goes both ways, and he doesn’t need to automatically defer to his mother-in-law’s cultural norms.

Instead, they need an open conversation where their differences can be discussed, to smooth things over and prevent upset and crossed wires in the future.

Let’s see what folks over on Reddit thought about this.

This person agreed that his own cultural practices are just as important.

While others thought that his wife should have anticipated this and prepared accordingly.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought the mother-in-law should be the one to apologize.

It’s clear that he is generally respectful of his wife’s culture, and the fact that he deferred to his mother-in-law shows his respect.

But it’s important that he’s not being walked all over, and his own beliefs and desires being squashed.

Most importantly, that was his birthday cake!

He should be allowed to eat it!

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.