We have all heard the jokes about nightmare in-laws, but usually, there is a buffer zone of politeness that keeps civilization from collapsing. You smile, you eat the dry turkey, and you complain to your friends later. However, one Reddit user is currently living through a ten-day sentence with a pair of baby boomers who seem to have mistaken his home for a resort where the staff—aka the boyfriend—is treated like garbage.
The OP has been with his girlfriend for two and a half years, and her parents have made it abundantly clear that they are not fans. They live in the Midwest and view California, specifically Los Angeles, as a “cesspool.” But apparently, their moral superiority melts faster than snow because the second a storm hit their home state, they decided that the “cesspool” near the ocean looked pretty good for a vacation. They packed their bags and headed west to stay with the very man they disrespect.
You would think that if you were fleeing bad weather to stay at someone’s house for free, you might show a little gratitude. Not these two. The OP came home from work to find his girlfriend’s parents fast asleep in the master bedroom. They didn’t ask; they just colonized the best room in the house. When the OP kicked them out to the guest room where they belonged, they were genuinely unhappy about the demotion. It takes a special kind of entitlement to nap in your host’s bed and then pout when you are sent to the guest quarters.
Things didn’t improve at dinner. The couple took the parents out for a nice meal on Friday night, only to have them complain about the quality. They remarked that they would have preferred Taco Bell or Chipotle. Imagine sitting in a nice LA restaurant, paying the bill for people who hate you, and listening to them fantasize about a Crunchwrap Supreme. The OP did the only thing he could do to survive: he tuned them out.
The real drama started the next morning when the parents decided they needed a vehicle to explore the city they supposedly hate. They asked to borrow the OP’s car. Now, the OP is a car guy. He drives a modified Ford Focus RS, a beast of a machine with 500 horsepower. It is not the kind of car you hand over to someone who sees driving as a chore. More importantly, it is a stick shift.
The parents haven’t driven a manual transmission in over thirty years. Handing them the keys to a high-performance vehicle would be like handing a toddler a loaded weapon. The OP, being a responsible vehicle owner, told them absolutely not. He offered a very generous compromise: he would rent them a car using his corporate discount. Most people would be thrilled to have a free rental car arranged for them, but not these two.
They didn’t want a rental; they wanted the upgrade. They bypassed the Focus and demanded to drive the OP’s 1967 Pontiac GTO. Yes, they saw a classic, convertible muscle car and decided it was their “dream” to cruise up the Pacific Coast Highway in it. They felt entitled to take a vintage vehicle worth a small fortune out into LA traffic just because they watched a few movies about California dreaming.
The OP shut that down immediately. Aside from the fact that they can’t drive the car properly, the PCH isn’t exactly the open road fantasy they imagine. It is often a parking lot, and parts of the scenery are less “majestic ocean view” and more “burnt hillside” depending on the wildfire season. He gave them a hard no, which is the only correct answer when someone demands your prized possession for a joyride.
In the end, the parents were forced to settle for a Camry that the OP rented for them. They took the keys reluctantly, acting as if driving a reliable, modern sedan was a punishment. It is mind-boggling that they expected to show up, insult the host, steal his bedroom, and then joyride in his classic car.
This poor guy still has the rest of the ten days to get through, and if the first twenty-four hours are any indication, it is going to be a long week. Hopefully, the Camry gets them to the nearest Taco Bell so they can enjoy the culinary excellence they were craving.
So, is the OP unreasonable for hiding his keys? Absolutely not. You don’t get to call someone’s home a cesspool and then demand to drive their GTO. The Camry is more than they deserve.
What would you do if your in-laws demanded your car keys after insulting your city? Would you rent them a car, or tell them to download the Uber app? Let us know in the comments if you think the GTO request was the final straw!
Confusions said “ after three days, guests & fish start to stink”,