Jen and her husband, in their 70s, have five grandchildren—three girls and two boys. They’re always there for their grandkids.
Recently, their youngest granddaughter, Eloise, got married. As per family tradition, after the wedding, the grandparents buy the cheapest item on the wedding registry and give $40,000. They wanted this to be a secret, and until now, everyone had kept it.
But Eloise accused them of being cheap. “Seriously, Grandma? An air fryer? That’s the cheapest thing on my registry!” she said when Jen called. Jen thought the air fryer was useful, but Eloise retorted, “Useful? You can do better. Everyone knows you have money. I can’t believe you’re this cheap. It’s embarrassing.”
Fed up, Jen replied, “Yes, you’re right. We’re cheap, old, and useless. What you didn’t know is we were going to give you a $40,000 check the day before the wedding.”
The argument escalated. Eloise said, “You just don’t love me. You know how stressed I am with the wedding, and then this? You don’t care,” and hung up.
The grandparents decided not to give Eloise the money. A week later, after learning they’d given $40,000 to every other grandchild, Eloise called again. “Why didn’t I get any money?” she asked.
The grandparents said, “After your reaction to the wedding gift, we didn’t think it was right to give you the money.”
“So, you’re punishing me? Because I was upset about an air fryer?” Eloise pleaded.
Jen responded, “It wasn’t about the air fryer, Eloise. It was your disrespectful words. That’s not what we expected.”
“But it’s unfair! I was stressed planning the wedding and just snapped. I didn’t mean it,” Eloise cried.