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A surprise favor is one thing.
A 300-pound piano is another.
This guy showed up for a party, not an injury risk.
So OBVIOUSLY he said no.
Read below to see why that choice caused some awkwardness.
AITA for declining to help move a piano without warning?
My partner and I were invited by two good friend’s of ours “going away party” that was technically just the two roommates moving out of an apartment together to their own separate apartments within the same building.
For reference, it’s a large, hotel style apartment with 8 floors.
Also for reference, my partner is long time friends of one of the hosts and I have known her less time, but still good friends.
Oh, but before you go, don’t forget your party favor.
About 3/4 of the way through the party, they mention that there is a piano in their old apartment they need our help moving.
It is standard, kind of older beat up upright piano that was 24” wide and 60 inches long.
And from some research easily weighed over 300lbs.
Again, almost end of the party and they drop this on all of us.
It was looking kind of iffy.
All they had was a flat dolly that was a foot wide and 50ish inches long, and we would have had to balance the piano on it to roll it to the elevator and then into the next apartment.
I had not prepared for this nor was I dressed (shoes) for this situation.
Being one of two men there, with 5 other women, I felt this was going to put too much stress on us two men, the other was a boyfriend of one of the hosts, bigger guy that lifts, but I know he has a bit of a chronic low back issue due to a disc bulge he has been dealing with.
I am an average size guy.
The other guy was also visibly not comfortable with the situation.
My partner was definitely a tad intoxicated as well.
Drunk and injured – what better time to do some heavy lifting!
Ultimately, due to not feeling safe, I chose to decline participating in assisting moving the piano. I also felt we were all somewhat manipulated into this potentially unsafe lift/move due to not being told beforehand.
This caused the piano to not be moved and other plans had to made for it to be moved.
There was some frustration but obviously people are trying to be nice and not cause issues. But I could tell my choice caused some issues.
My safety and ultimately bodily health is my responsibility to manage. And I did not feel safe doing this.
AITA for declining to participate in moving the piano?
Health and safety is more important than moving a friend’s piano.
Let’s see what the comments make of this on Reddit:
What a bad move.
The key is preparedness.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a girl who thinks her family is doing too much in criticizing the tidiness in her small space.
Worst party ever.
He was never told about the piano, lacked proper gear, and felt the improvised move was unsafe.
That meant the piano stayed put, but avoiding a preventable back injury mattered more than saving the evening’s plan.
Some favors come with pizza; this one came with potential spinal damage.
