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Family favors stop feeling voluntary when an answer of “no” is punished afterward.

For eight years, this young woman served as designated driver and stayed out later than her schedule allowed.

Now married and eager to control her own evenings, she declined one ride her parents presented as a request.

Check out how the drama went down.

AITA for not driving my family home?

I just got married (24F) last month, and I moved out of my family’s house a few months ago.

Since I was 16, I was used to being the DD for them for friend gatherings when they wanted to drink.

But my least favorite thing about that was getting home really late.

They weren’t doing anything crazy, just talking with family friends.

This soon became a habit she was excited to leave in the past.

Finally being married, I was excited to get to leave functions when I wanted to and not be tied to them.

Before, I sometimes had to work the day after and would get no sleep.

So when her family asked her for a familiar favor, she responded differently this time.

This past weekend, my parents asked (key word) if we could drive them to and from a dinner at a friend’s house.

I said no because we weren’t planning on staying late—probably until about 10—because we wanted to get up early the next day to go to the gym as we always do.

She thought her parents understood, but it soon became clear that they didn’t.

They said alright and actually left around the time we did.

Everything seemed fine until my mom texted me today to let me know they’re angry with me for not driving them.

I said, “We thought y’all were going to stay late?” She said that doesn’t matter and that I’ll understand when I have children.

This became the final straw in a long history of her family pushing her boundaries.

I’ve been their DD since I was 16, and with them supporting me throughout the years, that’s the least I could do.

Now I’m married and have no responsibility to drive them.

I’m wondering why they even asked for me to drive them if it was already an expectation that I would drive them.

Maybe I’m in the wrong and should’ve driven them to be nice.

AITA?

Standing up to her parents oversteps have been a long time coming.

What did Reddit have to say?

She shouldn’t have to be forced to become the solution to someone else’s problem.

The days of her giving her parents rides everywhere should have been long over by now.

Maybe it’s time to start exploring just how deep this goes.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a sister who feels badly about unknowingly encouraging her younger brother to play with bullies.

Being family doesn’t mean being forced into obliging every request.

This newlywed spent years chauffeuring her parents before declining one dinner ride because she and her husband planned an early night.

Her parents drove themselves and left around the same time, yet later claimed their past support entitled them to continued transportation.