Money can sometimes create issues in relationships, especially when one person has much more than the other.
This happened to Darren shortly after he got married. As a young man with less money than his wife’s family, he felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, which caused a strong emotional reaction.
Darren reached out to us for advice: “My wife’s family is very rich, and I’m just an ordinary employee living paycheck to paycheck.
So, for our wedding, her dad paid for everything. When we got on the plane for our honeymoon, my wife was in first class, but my ticket was for economy. She just shrugged and said, ‘This sucks, but Dad says he’s not your money machine.’
I was so angry that I left the plane. A few hours later, I got a call from her dad. I couldn’t believe it when he said, ‘I gave you a dream wedding and honeymoon without asking you to pay anything. Is this how you treat my daughter?’ He also said, ‘My daughter is used to a certain lifestyle, and I’ll keep giving her that, but I won’t support you!’ His words made me even angrier.
I told him I won’t accept being treated this way just because I’m not wealthy, then I hung up. My wife tried to get me to catch a later flight for the honeymoon, but I refused, so she came back home to talk.
Am I wrong for reacting like this?
Yours, Darren
