Being a business owner is no small feat. It takes a lot of time, effort, and planning to make such an undertaking possible, which is why any and all support from one’s family and friends matters. Unfortunately, some folks only see this as an opportunity to get freebies from their business owner friends, and they don’t respect the person’s work.
This is what a hairstylist realized about her fiancé’s mom after the older woman tried to get her to do her services free of charge. The mother-in-law was clearly quite entitled.
More info: Reddit
People think it’s easy for entrepreneurs to give them freebies, but they don’t realize how this can eventually hurt their business
Image credits: senivpetro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster and her boyfriend had been dating for two years, and only made their relationship public to their family once they decided to get married
Image credits: shurkin_son / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Her fiancé’s mom asked her what she did for a livelihood, and when she mentioned she owned a salon and was a hairstylist, the woman was very happy
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The mother-in-law told her to travel an hour for a home hairstyling appointment, and do her work for free since she was going to be a part of the family
Image credits: Seraphina_xo55
The poster was shocked by the older woman’s entitlement, and she firmly refused to do her work for free
The woman and her partner had probably been enjoying their relationship blissfully before getting their families involved. After two years of being together, when they decided to get married, they also introduced each other to their near and dear ones. This must have been a big change, because it meant they’d have to interact with their in-laws.
Many people don’t reveal their romantic relationships to their parents until they feel truly comfortable or are sure that they want to be with the person long term. Parents might also have their opinions, and introducing one’s partner to them too soon might cause conflict early on. So, it makes sense why the OP and her boyfriend took two years to make things public.
In this particular situation, it seems like once the man’s mother got to know about the poster’s salon and hairstyling work, she only wanted free services. Her excitement was palpable, and she must have been planning how she was going to get freebies right from the start, which is very manipulative.
According to business owners, it takes a lot of time and effort to build something from scratch, and every bit of support is important. Of course, they want to help out their friends and family members from time to time with their products or services, but this can’t be done all the time, or else it would hurt the business.
Image credits: Creativedesign297 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman didn’t say anything to her future mother-in-law when the older woman joked about not having to pay for getting her hair done. She even said that she could judge the OP’s work and see if it was good enough before she became her daughter-in-law. All of this shows the older woman’s intentions right from the start.
When people keep demanding free service like this, it shows that they don’t value the effort, time, or money that goes into it. Expecting something from nothing shows a certain level of entitlement and shouldn’t be encouraged, especially if the person isn’t willing to recognize the error of their ways.
The mother-in-law tried to get her way by demanding the OP travel for an hour and do the hairstyling work for free. Luckily, the woman wasn’t afraid to set boundaries and told the other woman straight that she wasn’t going to do a home visit free of charge.
It’s very important to set boundaries with one’s in-laws as early on as possible. This helps people to be respectful of one another and avoid doing anything that would cause the other person discomfort. It’s also essential that one’s partner stick up for them in situations like this and enforce the boundaries with their parents.
Hopefully, the mother-in-law learned her lesson and either shelled out money for the hairstyling service or didn’t bother her future daughter-in-law anymore. What would you have done in a situation like this? Let us know your honest thoughts in the comments.
People sided with the poster and felt that her fiancé needed to set boundaries with his mother
