It’s been said that you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, meaning it’s best to accept any and all gifts graciously. But, in some instances, you might be left wondering just what exactly the gifter was thinking when they got you something odd, arbitrary, or useless.
One woman was livid after her boyfriend told her he’d buy her a pricey perfume for her birthday but ended up lying about it and cheaping out. Now she’s gone online to ask netizens if she should call it quits on the whole relationship.
More info: Reddit
It’s not polite to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this woman was left with no other choice
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As a beauty fan and perfume collector, she’d been saving up to buy something special for her birthday
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When she told her boyfriend about it, he said he’d get the perfume for her and told her to do something nice for herself with the cash she’d saved up
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When her birthday came around, however, her boyfriend handed over some body spray and a bath bomb, leaving her livid at his broken promise
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Now she’s thinking of ending things altogether, but turned to netizens to ask if she was a jerk for calling him a lying scumbag
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In an update to her original post, she thanked the community for their feedback and gave them the rundown as things happened
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When she told her boyfriend she was going to break up with him, he broke down in tears and apologized profusely
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At this point, she confronted him about lying to his mom, who was shocked to find out about his deception
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After she left, her boyfriend sent her a bunch of texts about how sorry he was, but she didn't really know how to take them
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In the end, she ended up sending him a breakup text, glad to know she saw through his manipulation and crocodile tears
OP begins her story by telling the community that she’s something of a perfume collector. She goes on to say that there’s a particular bottle she’s had her eye on that's way out of her budget, but she’d finally saved enough to get it for her birthday. When she told her boyfriend about it, though, he said he’d get it for her.
She told him he didn’t have to do that since it’s such a pricey item, but he insisted and said she could spend the money she’d saved up on something nice instead. A couple days before her birthday she checked with him again, but he told her the gift was already bought and wrapped.
So, OP took her best friend and sister out to dinner and a movie with more than half of the cash she’d put aside, but when her birthday arrived, her boyfriend gave her body spray and a bath bomb. When she asked him what happened to the perfume, he told her it was way too expensive.
Livid, OP demanded to know why he’d lied to her, but he responded by calling her a spoiled brat. In return, she called him a lying jerk and left. Since then, she’s received a bunch of nasty texts from his friends. Worse still, his mom told her she was being childish.
She concluded her story by telling the readers she was going over to his parents’ place to speak with both him and his mom before probably calling it quits on the relationship but promised to keep the community in the loop.
In an update to her original post, OP gives the lowdown about what went down. Apparently, when she threatened to end things, he broke down in tears and apologized profusely to her, saying he'd save up and get her the perfume. OP said at this point, it wasn't even about the perfume - it was the dishonesty that irked her.
When she confronted him about the rude messages from his friends, he cussed them out and went so far as to threaten to cut all contact with them. As for his mom, OP says he was forced to tell her the truth, much to her horror. The mom even offered to get OP the perfume.
In the end, though, it was all too much for OP, so she ended their two-year relationship with a text and a strong feeling that she dodged a bullet at the end of the day.
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From what OP tells us in her post, it seems as though her mind is made up - she’s kicking her boyfriend to the curb. But why do people lie in relationships? We went looking for answers.
According to the Encyclopedia of Deception (yes, it actually exists), deception is a topic that researchers in the behavioral and social sciences have been curious about for quite some time. Several studies have been conducted to try to solve some critical questions related to dishonesty in relationships.
In her article for Psychology Today, Susan Krauss Whitbourne writes that although people in a close and committed relationship believe they can trust each other to be honest, researchers have found time and time again that people lie to their partners, sometimes for no good reason.
A few of the most common reasons partners lie include to avoid being judged or feeling shame, to protect themselves from retaliation, to present themselves in a positive way, and for prosocial reasons.
Considering OP’s boyfriend’s appalling behavior, it seems like there was no good reason for him to lie to her. Perhaps the love affair was always destined to crumble - after all, trust is the foundation of any honest relationship.
What would you have done if you'd found yourself in OP’s shoes? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
In the comments, readers slammed the woman’s boyfriend for leading her on and pointed out a variety of other red flags
