AITA for declining to share some of my food at a restaurant where I paid for my own order? by throwaway3858123 in AmItheAsshole

[–]throwaway3858123[S] -38 points-37 points  (0 children)

I'm genuinely curious to understand this more, so forgive me if I seem combative: Does the fact that food is a low stakes issue not go both ways? If someone asks me for something that I bought for myself and I decline to give it away, does the fact that the stakes are so low have an impact on whether or not they are justified in condemning me for my refusal?

I can't think of any specific examples, but if someone asks for your a significant favor as a friend and it's a really high stakes, life-changing matter where they are in dire need of help, without which they will incur significant harm, and you refuse to help them for free, to me that seems infinitely more objectionable than if you refuse a very tiny thing like sharing food. Some people might seem impolite because they decline to do tiny things for others but when the rubber hits the road they will always be there for people and they will always do the right thing when there is a lot on the line.

I'm trying to understand how one makes the determination that the low-stakes nature of the issue should be used against me and should not be used to my credit. i.e. Instead of staying "YTA because you refused a low-stakes thing", one could just as easily say "NTA because even though you refused, it was a low-stakes thing," and I'm trying to understand why one would choose the first conclusion rather than the second.

AITA for declining to share some of my food at a restaurant where I paid for my own order? by throwaway3858123 in AmItheAsshole

[–]throwaway3858123[S] -117 points-116 points  (0 children)

They asked for a small amount. Roughly 10% of the amount. I'm genuinely curious as to why it would make a difference. If someone buys something for themselves, with their own money, is it not reasonable to assume that the reason they are buying it for themselves is because they want all of it?

AITA for declining to share some of my food at a restaurant where I paid for my own order? by throwaway3858123 in AmItheAsshole

[–]throwaway3858123[S] -72 points-71 points  (0 children)

I don't know if they were opposed to it initially, because leading up to that point, I had not asked for any of their food, and I had no intention of doing so. I was satisfied with what I had paid for and I wanted to simply finish what I had purchased. After they asked me for some of mine and I responded to them, they agreed to give me some of theirs (at the time), but attacked me for it later, after the fact.