Man sparks debate after refusing to share food with pregnant friend

People are usually divided on whether or not they like to share food with their friends.

In a recent Reddit post shared on the popular “Am I a Moron?” subreddit, a man explained that he had recently discovered he had a gluten allergy and had specifically chosen a place to eat with his friends that offered options that accommodated his dietary restrictions.

In their group of friends there was a couple named Emma and Via who had recently become pregnant. Via was the pregnant one and because of her morning sickness she didn't want to eat anything. However, the group offered her a few bites from their dishes so she could eat something.

“I didn’t agree with this, because if they were going to share amongst themselves, I couldn’t participate. I explained that I didn’t feel right sharing, as I would just be giving food away without getting anything back, and all of my friends seemed to completely understand and also agreed that it was very fair,” she explained in her Reddit post.

When the group’s food arrived, Via asked him if she could try a bite of his food, which he declined because he wasn’t getting anything in return. “Via told me she had pregnancy cravings and all she asked for was a couple bites so I should have given her that. I told her again that I had already explained that I didn’t want to share because my food was all I had,” the post continues.

Emma then stepped in and told him to give her half of his meal anyway, but he refused once again due to the higher prices of gluten-free menu items. Via responded that “being on a diet” didn’t mean she couldn’t share her meal when everyone else could.

“This is where I get to be the jerk because I told Via that she chose to get pregnant and she chose to go through all the trouble that comes with it. I didn’t choose to have a glucose allergy and I didn’t want to starve myself because she wanted to eat from everyone else for free,” he wrote on Reddit.

Via started crying before leaving with Emma without paying her share of the bill. Emma later texted her to let her know that she could have simply said “no” to Via when she asked for a bite of her food.

The post ends by explaining that she feels guilty about her comments, which caused the couple to leave. “I just wanted him to stop trying to use her pregnancy against me as a way to get the only food I could eat,” she wrote.

Following the post, many people took to the comments to express that Via was likely just trying to get a free meal and to clarify that the author of the Reddit post told her “no” more than once.

“Call Emma and remind her that you said no repeatedly and that she could have just told her partner to shut up or taken her out to eat instead of sitting there quietly,” one comment read.

Another commenter agreed, writing: “You said no immediately after arriving! In fact, you said it multiple times! Via kept asking and asking, after you said no and the other people were quick to explain your refusal! Did Via prove that she was there to steal food and not pay for any of the food she stole from people’s plates?”

“She and her partner should not be participating in outings like this that they obviously can’t afford! Those were crocodile tears to distract them from changing locations and running out of the restaurant without paying for their food and drinks or contributing to the food Via stole from other people’s plates! Her not very reasonable – that was a complete sentence in itself – was not respected and her response was appropriate.”