u/Discoveryeous_86

This happened yesterday and I’m still embarrassed enough that I keep randomly remembering it and making a face.

I live in a small apartment building where everyone kind of knows everyone, but not in a cute sitcom way. More like we all recognize each other’s dogs and pretend not to hear arguments through the walls.

My girlfriend’s birthday is coming up, and I ordered her a necklace she had mentioned months ago. Nothing crazy expensive, but nice enough that it came in one of those tiny velvet boxes that looks exactly like a ring box if you only see it for half a second.

The package got delivered while I was at work, and my neighbor grabbed it for me because packages sometimes get stolen from the lobby. Normal stuff. When I got home she handed it to me in the hallway, and I opened the shipping box right there because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t damaged.

That was my first mistake.

The necklace box was inside, and I guess from her angle it looked like a ring box. She immediately gasped and went, “Oh my god, are you doing it tonight?”

Instead of being normal and saying “no, it’s a necklace,” my brain decided this was somehow private information and I panicked. I said something like, “Please don’t say anything.”

Which was technically true. I didn’t want her to say anything because it was a birthday gift.

Unfortunately, that made it sound extremely proposal-related.

By the time I got upstairs, another neighbor had already texted my girlfriend “congrats in advance” with a bunch of heart emojis. My girlfriend showed me the message and asked what that meant.

I tried to explain, but I was holding the tiny box, looking guilty, and saying “it’s not what it looks like,” which is maybe the worst possible sentence in that situation.

She got quiet for a second, then said, “Wait, are you proposing or not?”

So now I had to tell her that no, I was not proposing, I had bought her a necklace, and apparently half the building thought I was about to because I acted like a spy in the hallway.

She laughed eventually, but there was definitely an awkward few minutes where I could tell she was trying to decide if she should be disappointed or amused.

The neighbor apologized later, but also said, “To be fair, you looked very suspicious.”

So now my girlfriend knows one of her birthday gifts early, my neighbor thinks I’m emotionally unprepared for basic communication, and I have learned that if someone mistakes a necklace box for a ring box, you should correct them immediately instead of whispering like you’re in a heist movie.

TL;DR: Opened my girlfriend’s birthday gift in the hallway, neighbor thought it was an engagement ring, I panicked and made it sound secret, and my girlfriend got congratulated for a proposal that was not happening.

I 29F had a miscarriage about four months ago. I’m doing better than I was, but I still don’t really like talking about it unless I bring it up first. My husband knows this and has mostly been supportive.

Last weekend was his birthday dinner at his parents’ house. It was just close family, nothing huge. I was already a little nervous going because his mom has a habit of saying things that are “well meaning” but not really helpful.

During dinner someone asked us if we were still thinking about kids. Before I could answer, my MIL said something like, “Well hopefully next time her body is ready.”

The table got quiet. I honestly didn’t know what to say. My husband looked uncomfortable but didn’t say anything right away. His mom then tried to explain that she didn’t mean it badly and that “sometimes nature knows.”

I got up and went to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to cry. After a few minutes I texted my husband that I was leaving and ordered an Uber. I didn’t make a scene, I just left.

My husband came home later and said he understood why I was upset, but he wished I had stayed because it was his birthday and now everyone is talking about me leaving instead of what his mom said. His mom texted me an apology, but it was mostly “sorry you took it that way.”

Now his sister says I made the whole dinner awkward and should have waited until after to deal with it privately.

I know it was his birthday and I feel bad for leaving, but I also didn’t want to sit there and pretend I was fine after that comment.

AITA?

I don’t know if this is dramatic enough for here, but it annoyed me more than I expected.

I’m 24 and moved out of my parents’ place about a year ago. My room isn’t exactly untouched, but I still have some stuff there because my apartment is tiny. Mostly books, winter clothes, a few boxes of old electronics, and some childhood things I didn’t want to throw out.

One of those things is my old Nintendo DS. It’s not worth a crazy amount or anything, but my dad bought it for me when I was a kid and I kept it in pretty good condition. It still has the case, charger, and a few games in the little pouch. I don’t play it every day obviously, but I still like having it.

Last weekend I stopped by my parents’ house because my mom needed help moving some boxes in the garage. My aunt was there with her son, who is 8. He was bored and kept asking for something to do, which is normal kid stuff, no issue.

At some point I went upstairs to grab a hoodie from my room and found my aunt sitting on my bed with one of my storage boxes open. My DS was already out, and she was telling her son, “Ask nicely and maybe you can take this home.”

I just kind of froze for a second because I wasn’t expecting anyone to be going through my things.

I said, “That’s mine, please don’t take it out.”

She laughed and said, “You’re an adult now. You don’t need toys.”

I told her it wasn’t a toy I was giving away, and even if I didn’t use it, it was still mine. She got annoyed and said I was being childish because her son would actually enjoy it instead of letting it “sit in a box forever.”

The awkward part is my cousin was just standing there looking confused. I don’t even think he cared that much until she made it a whole thing.

I put the DS back in the pouch and moved the box into my parents’ closet for now. My aunt said something like, “Fine, keep your precious little game,” and went downstairs. She wasn’t screaming or anything, just very offended, which honestly made it more uncomfortable.

Later my mom told me my aunt thought I embarrassed her in front of her kid. I said I didn’t know how else I was supposed to react to someone offering my stuff to another person without asking me.

My dad is on my side, but he also said I should probably take anything important to my apartment because “people get weird when kids are involved.” Which, fair.

Nothing huge happened after that, but now I feel like I need to go through my whole old room before someone decides my books or camera or whatever are also abandoned property.

I still don’t understand why some relatives think “you don’t use this every day” means “my child can have it.”