Woman Refuses to Switch Meals With Pregnant Cousin and Gets Criticized by Family, Sparks Debate

We've all experienced it at least one time in our lives: meal order remorse. We sit down at a restaurant and after glossing over the menu finally commit to the meal we're going to have for the evening. Maybe we're confident in our selection, maybe we're not, but we tell the server what we'll have and at that point, we're locked in and try to make sure we don't fill up too much on bread before the main attraction ambles its way on to our table.

However, right before our own food arrives, something terrible happens. You see a hovering tray, covered with various entrees and appetizers making its way to another group. One that isn't your own. And there's one plate on there that's filled with what is quite possibly the most beautiful food you've ever seen in your entire life. You curse your decision and no matter what is put down in front of you, there's no way you can enjoy it to the fullest.

You've seen what else the restaurant has to offer, you want that other meal. But you suck it up, you eat what you got and vow to try the other order next time.

And if that order happens to end up on your own table, but someone else ordered it. So maybe make a comment on how good it looks. Maybe the person you're dining with offers to give you some so you can try it, but you don't outright ask to swap the meal. Because that would be gauche, right?

Well, that's what this one Redditor thought when her pregnant cousin, Alison, was unhappy with the fact she ordered pasta at a restaurant and all of a sudden began craving the juicy burger OP had ordered instead.

The woman wanted to know if she was in the wrong for not agreeing to swap meals with her cousin, as her family chewed her out for not being more accommodating.

In a post titled, "AITA for not swapping my meal with my pregnant cousin?" OP wrote: "Yesterday, my (24F) extended family went out for a dinner catch up. My cousin "Alison" (29F) came, she's pregnant. I ordered a burger with fries, Alison had some type of herb pasta. When our food came, she asked if I want to swap with her because she didn't like the smell of the pasta. I said sorry, but I want my burger and maybe she can swap with someone else. She said she was suddenly craving a burger and no one else had ordered one."

Alison's sudden aversion to the smell of the pasta is probably hyperosmia which occurs quite frequently during pregnancy. WebMD writes of the disorder: "During your pregnancy, you'll have changes in your senses of smell and taste. Hyperosmia is most commonly found in pregnant women. This change will typically happen in your first few months of pregnancy. Certain foods and smells may become unbearable to you and even make you extremely nauseated."

Alison expected OP to just swap out the meals, but OP wasn't feeling pasta herself, which is probably why she ordered a burger in the first place, so she just told her preggo cuzo to order a burger and presumably take the pasta to go.

Alison didn't feel like dropping more money on another meal, especially because she wanted to save up for her incoming baby. This is where things start to get a little more dramatic: "I told her she can order again. Alison said they're saving for the baby and won't waste money buying another dish, that I didn't have to pay the difference if I swapped (the pasta was more expensive). I kept saying no, she got really upset and said I didn't understand the struggles of pregnant women. My mom saw and said I should just swap and was acting like a kid, I said Alison was acting like a kid."

The conversation then devolved into OP being criticized for not sympathizing with the plight of the pregnant woman and that she should've definitely given up her meal so Alison could've had the burger that she desired and OP would be stuck chomping down on some pasta that was revolting to her pregnant cousin all of a sudden.

OP was over the entire situation at this point and wanted to put an end to the entire burger debate, so she decided to start chomping down on her food to rule out the question of whether or not there would be a swap. "Alison said she was hurt and I don't understand pregnancy, my aunt (Alison's mom) noticed the commotion and told Alison to 'learn how to deal with these things because not everyone will care about her'. I'd had enough so I just started eating before anyone else could tell me to swap."

OP's family wasn't really happy with the way she handled things, either: "My mom later said I created a scene for no reason and Alison's pregnant so I should've been more understanding. She said she's 'lost face' in front of my aunt. Now I'm thinking if I should've just sucked it up and swapped?"

She also clarified at the end of the post that her "aunt's comment to Alison was snarky/sarcastic, like 'oh your own cousin doesn't care that you're pregnant and suffering and you have to learn how to deal with it'. That's why my mom said she was 'losing face'. because Alison's mom wasn't impressed I didn't swap."

Tons of Redditors said that Alison was being "entitled," many of them pregnant women who said that even though they experienced hyperosmia themselves they would've never expected someone else to swap meals with them.

What do you think? Was Alison in the wrong? Or should OP have just given up her burger and then never went out to eat with pregnant cousin again?