Woman asked to share a bed with her brother’s boyfriend and demoted to a cot on her own birthday trip — but the internet thinks she’s the problem

There is family drama, and then there is whatever evolutionary dead-end produced the dynamic between this dysfunctional unit.

A 31-year-old woman — we’ll call her the birthday girl, since that’s technically what she was supposed to be — recently took to the infamous AITA (Am I the A**hole) subreddit to describe how a vacation planned in her honor ended with the arrangement that she sleep on a coat or share a bed with her brother’s boyfriend.

The internet, in its infinite wisdom, largely sided against her.

So, here’s the story.  

The girl describes a family trip to celebrate her birthday, with her brother, sister, mom, and stepdad all in attendance, along with a small army of plus-ones who quietly made it into the guest list. 

Her sister showed up with a brand new boyfriend nobody had met. Her brother brought his long-term partner. Our birthday girl arrived as herself, or, as she put it, as the “7th wheel.” 

The hotel arrangements is where it all broke apart. Since her mother and husband were flying separately, the siblings had to crash in a hotel for a day until they arrive. The brother took care of it, but his planning was that the two couples got beds and she received a cot, even though they were to split the bill equally and all pay $30.

When she pointed out that paying the same rate as people sleeping horizontally seemed a bit rich, her brother’s solution was not to reconsider the math. It was to announce — not ask, announce — that she would be sharing his boyfriend’s bed while he took the cot himself. He had, he claimed, already cleared it with the boyfriend.

A family dispute over $30

This wasn’t originally her sister’s boyfriend’s bed. It was hers. She had a spot in the room until her sister decided, late in the game, to bring someone new. At that point the birthday girl got quietly shuffled to the cot without a conversation. The birthday girl also mentions her PTSD/anxiety disorder issues, which would be relevant for rendering a verdict. 

Now, her mother is taking the siblings’ side. And the whole vacation is ruined. So, was she the… uh, you know?

Well, if you were to ask Reddit, the consensus seems to be yes. 

“If what your brother was doing was just a one-off in a vacuum, it would be unreasonable,” wrote one user with 2k upvotes. “But by the way he responded to you, it sounds like you really are the type to find problems everywhere, with everything.” Way to go, Reddit. Diagnosing her as a problem-finder based entirely on 300 words. 

Others suggested that she is an adult and should get her own room, but as explained by the OP, she didn’t have access to the booking info.

“You’re all in your 30s and arguing over $30? Get real,” added another emphatic denizen.

Others are pointing out the elephant in the room, that five adults sharing a room is insane. “How cheap is your family? Five adults in one hotel room is insane. If it’s that big of a deal, get your own hotel room.” Though to be fair, it was ONLY for a night.

So, what do you think? I reckon the birthday girl posting the thread in the first place is a kind of tacit admission that she wants your honest opinion, so here’s the link in case you want to chime in.

The world is on fire, and we are stress-reading a cot dispute at 2am, which is either a coping mechanism or a perfect diagnosis of why we live in these times.