Top News

A viral Reddit post has commenters divided on the attitudes and actions of a sparring couple who have been traveling for both business and pleasure — and were unable to agree on protocol for airport travel.

A man asked others in his post if he was wrong “for asking my wife to meet me at the hotel instead of picking her up from the airport?”

He said the pair were traveling “but I arrived in the city a week earlier for work. I’ve been staying at an airbnb and once she gets here, we’re moving into a hotel together for the rest of the trip.”

He didn’t rent a car, he said, so he’d been “using Uber to get around. When she told me her arrival time, I suggested she just take an Uber from the airport to the hotel instead of me coming to pick her up.”

This way, he said, he wouldn’t “have to Uber to the airport, then Uber again to the hotel with her. It felt like an unnecessary loop.”

He said she “also knows the city well – we actually lived here for a year a couple of years ago, so she’s totally familiar with the airport and how to get around.”

The husband said his suggestion “made more logistical sense, but she was really upset when I suggested this.”

So he wondered if he was in the wrong “for not picking her up from the airport.”

More than 1,000 people reacted to the post to date, with a variety of opinions shared about the dilemma.

Wrote the top commenter, “You’re thinking of practical logistics. She’s thinking she wants to see her partner asap and that [he’d] be excited to see her asap” as well.

Another commenter said no one was in the wrong in this scenario, but “making your spouse happy sometimes requires you to be much better than an a–hole.”

The person added, “Personally, that’s how my family operates, too. Unless there are significant obstacles, we have never not picked up whoever is arriving or at least met them halfway. It’s the sentiment that matters.”

Said another person in the comments section, “It’s a nice gesture to meet your partner or loved one at the airport, and it shows you’re excited to see them. It sounds like you’re more of a practical person, and your wife sounds more romantic and sensitive.”

The same person added, “Also, she might need help with her luggage … Your wife’s feelings are worth the extra Uber ride even if it seems unnecessary to you.”

Another writer was far more blunt: “I think the wife needs to grow up,” this person said.

A different person offered this perspective: “I’d say if it matters this much to her … and it is simply logical to you (but really doesn’t MATTER all that much) … then your wife should be the priority here.”

The person went on, “I can absolutely see both sides. Your suggestion was not made to make her feel like you weren’t eager to see her or like you didn’t think she [could] handle it on her own. You know she can handle it. SHE knows she can handle it on her own. That’s not the point. Clearly.”

The commenter added, “So I guess it comes down to how much your wife’s feelings matter to you? This topic clearly means a lot to her for whatever reason.”

The original poster — after many comments had already come in — added later to his post, “I’ve been on a bunch of business trips and she’s never come to meet me at the airport when I got back (which I’ve been totally fine with), so I thought it wasn’t a big deal for her, and had already scheduled a business meeting around her arrival time.”