There’s a lot to get excited about when it comes to living with a partner. They’ll be around all the time, and you’ll be able to share everything together – the highs and lows that make life interesting. You’ll get to know one another on a much deeper level, since you’ll see them when they’re exhausted, when they’re excited, when they’ve just woken up and when they can’t wait to go to sleep. And you’ll be living your lives intertwined, sharing mealtimes, winding down with the TV or a good book together – there’s a lovely romantic air to it.

But that’s not to say that there aren’t complications when it comes to living together too – it’s unlikely to ever be plain sailing. Because everyone has different ambitions and different ways of relating to life and the world. Within your partnership it’s likely that one of you will be working more and earning more – you might have to work late nights or travel to work. But as long as you create boundaries and divide things fairly, maintaining strong communication throughout, everything will be just fine.

For the woman in this story, however, things are far from fair. She’s not only living with her girlfriend, she’s also living with her girlfriend’s sister. And in a household of three, this woman is the only one who is actually working to pay the household bills.

Read on to find out how this caused friction between them.

AITA for wanting my roommate to work?

I am a 21-year-old woman, and I live with my girlfriend (23) and her sister (22). The sister has a history of getting a job and then calling out/skipping/quitting whenever she doesn’t feel like going in anymore.

Both my girlfriend and her sister have been out of jobs since July. I paid rent from my whole paycheck and we’ve been struggling to afford necessities besides bills since, I’m the sole provider right now.

Recently their brother died. He was 15+ years older than both of them, and the few memories they had of him were not happy ones (although I know this doesn’t mean they can’t/won’t mourn him).

I understood them halting job searching until after the funeral, but now I’m dealing with some frustration here.

Let’s see why she’s finding the situation frustrating.

My girlfriend’s sister got a job and started working two weeks ago. She worked one full week, but then the next Monday she didn’t go to work. She said she had cramps.

I started getting nervous when she stayed home four days in a row because she has decided to just quit going to her job at three different places now.

I hoped she had been calling out each day, but it turns out she didn’t contact her job at all until via text on the 5th day out, saying her brother died (her brother died late July). She has stayed shut up in her room, not helping cook or clean (as usual) and she yelled at my girlfriend when she asked her if she still had her job.

Hearing she no-call no-showed for that many days made me extremely worried; GF has an interview for the same job and will start working hopefully soon, but I can’t keep affording supporting 3 people, and I HATE working 10 hr shifts to come home to RM not helping cook or clean.

So this woman tried to talk to her girlfriend about her issues.

I voiced my concerns to my girlfriend today after her sister didn’t try going to work today. She blew up at me, saying I don’t have empathy for her and that I “need to ******* stop”, that I need to care, etc.

It’s not that I don’t care! I just can’t keep financially supporting them, and it’s extremely draining to have to work, pay bills, cook AND clean EVERY DAY. I don’t mind pitching in and doing my part, but my girlfriend’s sister won’t do the same.

I’m not even that mad she isn’t working – it’s more the fact that she didn’t tell us she was quitting this new job and that she isn’t willing to help around the house or search for a new one.

Am I wrong for expecting my girlfriend’s sister to work after her brother died?

AITA?

Look, people take their own time to grieve – even if a relationship was complicated.

But that doesn’t give these two sisters – because yes, the girlfriend is a problem here too – the right to completely take advantage of this woman.

And if she is going to be the sole earner, they need to be taking care of the chores at the very least.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a bus driver who is sick and tired of covering everyone else’s weekend shifts.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person agreed that she needed to put her foot down.

While others thought she was letting them get away with too much.

Meanwhile, this Redditor called out their abuse for what it was.

The fact that the girlfriend’s sister used her brother’s death as an excuse for not showing up to work as if it had just happened inadvertently shows her up for who she is: a lying and manipulative person with very little respect for anyone else. She’s allowing her sister’s girlfriend to pay her way in life, and has no shame for not doing any of the chores. She’s not taking responsibility for anything, and she refuses to hold down a job. Her immaturity is really showing here, and it’s no wonder that it’s causing cracks in their living situation.

But even though the hard-working woman can’t necessarily see it, her girlfriend is taking advantage of her too. She hasn’t got another job yet, and when her girlfriend tried to open up to her about her sister, she shut the door in her face (metaphorically, at least) showing that she doesn’t have much investment in her girlfriend’s feelings. It’s all very well when she’s subsidising her living expenses, but when she is concerned about the sister’s unemployment, suddenly she’s wrong.

It’s really sad that this woman is being put into such a tricky situation – but if the two women she lives with refuse to get jobs much longer, and keep taking advantage of her giving nature, she’s going to have to walk away.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who decided to stop returning his neighbor’s misplaced laundry after two years.