Source: Reddit
So I work in technical theater as an assistant stage manager. There are a couple of theaters in the area but the tech community is rather small so we all know each other. I work for a smaller theater but I know a few people who work at the largest theater that hosts the traveling Broadway shows. These shows are really popular and hard to get tickets for if you aren’t a season ticket holder and season tickets can run about 1,000 per seat for seven shows. Tickets are normally about $150 for an individual show but can go up significantly if they know the show is going to be popular.
The husband of one of the directors that I work with is on the board of the theater and sometimes can score good seats at a discounted rate.
This season, Aladdin is coming to town, a show my Future Mother-in-Law has been dying to see. She asked me if I could possibly get her and a friend a seat so they could go see it. I called in a favor with my director and she managed to get two prime seats. Since her husband is on the board she gets a discount so the tickets ended up only being $75 for the two seats. I reserved them in my name with the understanding that FMIL will pay for the tickets.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and FMIL invites me and my fiancé over for dinner. Dinner goes well and I end up in a conversation with FMIL and FSIL about housework (idk why). FSIL is a teacher and she is married to an accountant so she said that her and her husband try to split the chores 50/50. FMIL thought that was fine and asked how fiancé and I would do it (we don’t currently live together). I said “probably the same, ya know 50/50.” FSIL agreed but FMIL gave me the stink eye. I asked if there was something wrong and she said “well fiancé works full time and you don’t so I don’t see how that’s fair.” I told her that I do work full time just not at a 9-5 like fiancé. FMIL then laughed at me and said what I did wasn’t real work and that it was just a “silly side gig” and that maybe if I got a real job I would know what it is like to really work. Then she changed the subject.
This pissed me off because I am very proud of the work I do. It may not be a nine to five but I love my job. It is my dream job and I do make enough to cover my expenses. It actually takes a certain amount of skill to properly stage manage a full scale production.
So, enter pettiness. I called up the box office for the large theater and told them to cancel the tickets. They were in my name so they gladly cancelled them. I then texted FMIL and told her if she thinks my job isn’t real then the side perks aren’t real so the tickets were cancelled. I then shut off my phone.
The next day when I turn on my phone I see several missed calls and about a dozen texts from FMIL. She is fuming because her friend is coming into town specifically to see this play. I called back and told her she might still be able to get seats if she called the box office. She ended up getting seats but they cost her $150 each and they weren’t as good.
Hopefully she’s learned not to insult someone and still expect to benefit from them.
