*This is a work of non-fiction sourced from social media discussion boards and verified experts/specialists.*
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A Reddit user shared a party experience from a year before that left her feeling embarrassed and conflicted.
The author, a 26-year-old woman, was invited to a get-together last year at the house of a friend's acquaintance, a 30-year-old man who worked as a server at a local restaurant, as she explains:
“Over Thanksgiving last year, I was invited by a friend to a party at one of her friend's houses. I had never met him and didn’t know much about him other than he was a server at a local restaurant. I was raised to bring something with me when going to someone's house for a gathering, so I brought a nice-ish ($25) bottle of wine with me.”
However, upon arriving at the party, she was surprised to learn that the host's parents actually owned a vineyard, as she continues:
“When I got there, multiple people approached me and asked me why I would bring such cheap wine when the parents of the host owned a vineyard. I had no clue they owned a vineyard, my friend hadn’t mentioned it. Even the host told me it was silly of me to bring it. My friend told me the wine would probably sit on a shelf for ten years and then be thrown out, if it wasn’t thrown out the next day. That no one in that house would ever consider drinking it.”
According to Forbes, proper etiquette suggests that when bringing a gift for a host, it’s best to consider their preferences and dietary restrictions. The Emily Post Institute, a renowned etiquette expert, suggests that bringing a thoughtful and personalized gift in line with the host's taste shows consideration and regard for their choices
Feeling embarrassed, the author decided to take the wine home at the end of the evening:
“I put the bottle on the table with the drinks, and no one opened it all night. At the end of the evening when we were leaving, I grabbed the bottle and took it with me. I know this would be considered rude at a normal party and I would have never dreamed of taking with me. But because multiple people had given me flack, including the host, about how I should have known better and made me feel incredibly embarrassed for even bringing wine, I decided to not let it go to waste as for me a $25 bottle is quite expensive.”
Following the incident, the author's friend cautioned her not to repeat the same behavior in the future, as she concludes with:
“My friend recently told me that she was going to a party and if she invited me I had to promise not to embarrass her by “bringing cheap wine and then taking it home at the end”. She said it was a bad move and even if I knew no one should drink it, I should have left it.”
What do you think?
Was the author completely justified to take her bottle of wine home at the end of the party, especially since she was ridiculed for it and informed that the wine would be thrown out, as no one would drink it?
Or was it indeed tacky of the author to take the bottle back, and even if the wine was going to get wasted, it was bad form to take the bottle back?
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