My Wife Humiliated Me in Front of My Boss, I Can't Forgive Her

Dinner with the boss turned into a disaster—and it started with one word: “Yup.” He thought his wife had it covered. She thought...something else. Was it an innocent mistake or sabotage? Find out what really happened behind that door.

I (30M) have been working tirelessly on a high-stakes project for months. Recently, my boss suggested a personal dinner with him, his wife, our key business client, and his wife. As the head of the project, I decided hosting this intimate dinner at my home would give it a personal touch. It wasn’t exactly a business meeting per se, but it was supposed to be professional.

Last week, we finalized plans, and I emphasized the importance to my wife (28F). I offered hiring a professional cook to ensure a stress-free and impressive dinner, especially given the high stakes. We can easily afford it. However, she insisted on cooking herself, despite my reservations. I agreed, as she's an exceptional cook.

Yesterday was the day of the dinner, and I was anxious to ensure everything went smoothly. At 5 pm, I texted my wife asking if everything was all right. She reassured me, saying, "Yup." I assumed all was well and focused on finalizing the evening's logistics.

But when I arrived home at 6:30 pm, I was shocked and horrified to find no food prepared. My wife had forgotten. Our guests were arriving at 7 pm. She said, "I forgot it's today," looking genuinely remorseful.

Given the time constraint, we had no choice but to order fast food—pizza. While pizza is amazing, this was supposed to be a professional dinner, and it wasn't what anyone expected. To make matters worse, our guests even commented on the "spontaneous" dinner, which felt like a slap in the face.

Later, I expressed my frustration to my wife. She apologized profusely, acknowledged her forgetfulness, and took full responsibility. She repeatedly said how sorry she was. However, she also mentioned that I should have reminded her.

I pointed out that we thoroughly discussed and confirmed plans a week ago, my 5 pm text asked if everything was alright, we reconfirmed her willingness to cook two days prior, and the dinner was clearly marked on our fridge calendar. Her response was that my text was too vague, and she didn't connect it to the dinner.

She thinks I'm making the situation out to be a bigger deal than it actually is and that I'm overreacting. I haven't yelled or fought with her. My only expressions of frustration have been stating my disappointment and annoyance. The tension is palpable. I'm still fuming, and she's visibly upset. I'm struggling to let go of my frustration.

A lot of commenters questioned whether this post is from the 1950s. In the era of delivery and takeaways thriving, pizza seems like a weird option.

• Pizza? Really? Even fancy restaurants have takeout these days, you could easily order something nice from a restaurant instead of pizza. © Wakez11 / Reddit

• I can't imagine your only option for fast food was... pizza. Pizzerias also offer other foods, actual dishes, like chicken parm, spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti, antipasto salad. You had options.
  Is she brain-dead for forgetting??? Sure. But you had other last-minute options. Pizza? You could have gone to a KFC for chicken and sides, too. © IamJoyMarie / Reddit

• It's weird to just order pizza, as you can cook a lot of nice dishes really quickly—my go-to quick fancy dish is salmon with pasta and a white wine/spinach/cream sauce and bacon, strawberry, and avocado side salad; you can do it in about 30 mins, plus 30 mins for grocery shopping. If she left at 6:30, got back at 7, and cooked for half an hour, they would only be waiting for 30 mins.
  You can also buy other things from the store (wine, fancy chocolates/dessert/etc., charcuterie for them to have while waiting). You could also just ask her to drive to a nice restaurant while you call in a take-out order; most people live within 30 mins of one, so even if it was served at 7:30, most guests don't expect to be eating the minute they enter the door. You show them around, make small talk, etc. © ailtn / Reddit

Some people noted that while the wife has her share of the blame, it'd be better if the man took a more active participation in this whole thing.

• She’s genuinely sorry, all that can be done now is move on. Definitely discuss how to avoid it in the future. Talking about actual plans for what’s being cooked, if supplies need to be bought a day or two prior, and last-minute reminders go a long way, though.
  It seems like you definitely made an effort to remind her, but getting details focused in the days leading up to something like that makes it a lot harder to forget. © DespisedTurnip / Reddit

• This is maybe 95% on her. She screwed up badly. Very, very badly. But were I in your place, I’d have checked in the day before; “Hey, tomorrow night is that business dinner; do you need me to do anything? What are you serving?” Double and triple-checking—beyond just “Is everything OK?”—is a proactive step you could have taken.
  You’re not being nasty about it, which is to your credit. But it sounds like she isn’t acknowledging how very bad this was, or how much she could have hurt you professionally by making this mistake. At the very least, she embarrassed you in front of the last people in the world you’d want to have seen that.
  Until she accepts that and is genuinely contrite for it, you have every right to fume. At that point, however, you’ll need to start letting your anger go and getting on with your life... You don’t want to carry this baggage indefinitely. That’s not good for either of you. © EMcFadden65 / Reddit

• Since it is so important, how did you have zero involvement after plans a week ago? Even if you do not cook, what happened to going to buy fresh ingredients and prepping the menu? Did you confirm food allergies and what they want to eat? Were you cleaning up and setting up your place before the big day? Did you talk with your wife about your boss as a guest?
  While it is her fault that she forgot, you also seem to have skipped about 10 steps and are not doing what is expected for something of high importance. © wrath_aita / Reddit

Others stated that the wife simply didn't care.

• She clearly offered and agreed. Who forgets something like that? © NoImagination7892 / Reddit

• I know you clearly think well of your wife, but it smells like sabotage. I'm sorry. © vanillaxbean1 / Reddit

• I would never forget if my husband asked me to organize a dinner. People are forgetful, but this isn’t it. She simply didn’t care. © Unknown author / Reddit

• I mean, I doubt this was on purpose, but it does highlight how unimportant your work commitments are to your wife. If something is important to you, or you care enough about someone else to make their thing YOUR thing, you just don't forget. Simple as that.
  The fact that she forgot after it was mentioned again and again and the seriousness of it is made clear to her—it just smells of "this was not important to her." So the question really is—why? You all gotta have a very serious conversation. © VirusZealousideal72 / Reddit

Well, the office isn’t just for emails and meetings—it’s a full-blown stage for drama that rivals the best of prime-time TV. Who needs TV when your workplace serves up betrayal spicier than hot wings, love triangles sharper than HR policies, and vanishing acts that would make Houdini jealous? After reading these stories, you might just look at your own office chaos and think, “Well… at least it’s not that bad.”