Family A bit of quick background: my older brother, his wife, my parents, and my younger sister live in the same city. I live in another city far away due to work, but I'll be going back home for the holidays (yay!).
Another quick addition: my parents aren’t exactly the most wealthy, but they get by. I send money to my parents every month as well.
My brother doesn’t make as much money as I do, but he makes good enough money to not be considered “poor”.
However, he often makes bad choices with money, spending a ton on his hobbies but barely spending money on some necessities. He frequently borrows money from my parents and me for other things.
So anyway, I suggested to my parents that we all should go to this really good restaurant in our city on NYE.
It is a fancy buffet with all the good food, and yes, it is slightly pricey but not EXTREMELY expensive. I told my parents that I would be paying for them and also my younger sister (she’s still in university).
I then told my brother about this idea, and he immediately rejected it, saying it’s too expensive and how it’s a waste of money. He doesn’t want to pay a penny for it.
I know he can afford this because he has spent tons more on his hobbies. I told him that it would be nice if he joined because my dad really wants to have the family together for dinner.
My brother refused and said it’s not fair for him because it’s too expensive, and he won’t pay for it unless I help pay for it as well.
I absolutely refused because why would I be paying for my brother and his wife as well? We all have jobs here!
My dad found out about this, and he was upset because he really wants to have a full family dinner since I only get to come home during the holidays.
He then offered to pay for my brother and his wife, and my mom got angry because she was like, why would you do that? He can pay for himself.
My brother then got angry at me and told me that I should have just stuck to the original plan, which is that we do some kind of potluck at home.
I told him this isn’t something we do often, and growing up not so wealthy, I’d love to treat our parents once in a while.
My brother and his wife were like, well, I don’t care, we’re not going, so you better make your choices.
I said, okay, I guess you are eating somewhere else then and proceeded to make a reservation for just the four of us.
My brother then called me a huge asshole for splitting the family during NYE when we were supposed to spend time together, and now he has to find somewhere else to be for NYE with his wife.
UPDATE: My brother and his wife are going to the dinner as well. My dad paid half of it.
