“Your mother-in-law called to thank me for coming. And then she made a point of saying, ‘Just so you know, we always pay our own way at family dinners. Always have.’”
“The nerve of them!”
“Some people only learn when there’s a consequence, honey.
I think your in-laws just got an expensive lesson.”
She was right.
In the months that followed, something miraculous happened. Whenever we went out to eat with Dan’s family, my mother-in-law would loudly announce at the beginning of the meal, “Everyone, we’re paying separately tonight.”
The waiter would nod, confused by her emphatic tone, while Dan and I exchanged knowing looks.
