I boarded a flight without my wife because she can't manage her time

"Your wife was acting like an entitled child. No, we're not holding the plane up so she can get coffee," wrote one. Do you agree with this dad's reasons?

It's an all too familiar scene - you have a bit of time at the airport between connecting flights and you're lulled into a false sense of security.

You promise yourself you'll just window shop for 'ten minutes' then 20 minutes later you've lost track of time and hear your final boarding call. Eeeek!

You race to the departure gate (tripping on the travelator, of course), board the plane and get to your seat with a mix of adrenaline and relief. 

One mum wasn't so lucky. 

She lost track of time, missed her flight AND her husband boarded the plane without her.

It's a whirlwind of events, that takes many turns and also throws in a surprising sinister twist for good measure. 

Let's get into the viral story that's left the internet torn over who's in the wrong.

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Image: IStock

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"I'm a type A, she's more 'go with the flow'"

The 47-year-old dad, who goes by u/@anguy1284 begins his post by explaining that he has a university-aged daughter, Jess* in another state. 

He and his wife, Meg, often visit Jess a few times throughout the semester, typically on 'parent weekend'. 

"Travelling with my wife is not a great experience," he explains, setting the scene for what's to come. 

He's a self-described "type A" person who "likes to have everything organised and make sure they get to where they need to go early."

Meg, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She's more "go with the flow" and "we will get there when we get there", according to the OP. 

He says that he does his best to meet in the middle, but when it comes to travelling, he doesn't compromise. 

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"We had 15 minutes 'till our flight and she wanted to go get a coffee..."

He then shares that he and his wife were planning on visiting Jess during one of these parent weekends and they had to get two flights in order to get there. 

The dad was already scarred by the last time they went to visit Jess, as Meg made them miss their flight as she woke up late. That incident not only resulted in forfeiting their tickets but also missing out on the Friday and Saturday of parent weekend with their daughter, as the next flight wasn't until the next day. 

So, safe to say, he was on edge when it came to flying with her again. 

He explains, "Again, it was a long morning of me pushing my wife, getting her to move along. Due to the last airport mishap, I wanted to make sure I told her we needed to leave extra early so as to not miss the flight again."

They managed to get the first flight, but the layover in the next city was an hour - and things went pear-shaped from there.

"We got off the plane at 9:15 and our next plane started boarding at 9:40. It took ages to walk from where we landed to our terminal. By the time we got to our terminal, we had about 15 minutes until our plane was set to board.

"My wife tells me that she wants to get coffee."

You see where this is going, right?

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"I waited and waited but she didn't show up"

Despite there being a coffee shop right next to their terminal, Meg insisted she wanted to get Starbucks which was a bit of a walk away. 

"She said there was enough time, I told her there wasn't. I tried to discourage her but she was determined," he explained.

"15 minutes went by and she was nowhere to be seen. I called my wife hoping she was nearby but she didn’t answer. They called a few groups, then called ours. In a panic I called my wife again, three times, finally on the last call she answered and said she was on her way, it was a long line and she had to wait a bit. I told her they were almost done with boarding and she needed to hurry up.

"I waited by the gate but the attendant said they would need to shut the gate in two minutes. I waited and waited, but she didn’t show up. The attendant asked if I wanted to board, otherwise, she was closing the gate. I tried to plead with her to wait a couple of minutes but she insisted that she couldn’t. So, I boarded the plane."

A few minutes later, he gets a call from his wife saying they won't let her on. "She told me I needed to tell them to let me off the plane to be with her and I said no. It is not fair to do this again to Jess, I said I told you we didn’t have time but you decided to go anyway. I told her to go purchase a new ticket for the next flight and I would see her when she arrives."

The next day when she arrived, she didn't seem bothered by it all. But since they've been back home from the trip, which was over a week ago, Meg hasn't spoken to him. 

Now, he wants to know - is he the a**hole?

"Maybe she's missing all these flights because she wants to"

One woman sympathised, saying, "I stopped being the caretaker for my partner after the first time we missed a flight. Told him nope never again. Next two flights he missed and man he b*tched. I explained again he’s an adult and has choices to make. The third time he missed a 10-day cruise. He’s never been late again. He’s pissed about it but listens to me and gets up and ready and out the door on time."

"Not the a**hole. Sit down and tell your wife that you love her and you cherish her but the way she disrespects your desire to be punctual is just too much. Tell her that from now on you’re going to make separate arrangements when travelling," someone else suggested.

"You're NTA. Your wife is acting like an entitled child. No, we're not holding the plane up so she can get coffee," assessed a third. 

Then this commenter offered a more sinister take on the situation, warning the OP to "be careful."

"It seems that your wife only 'tolerated' your daughter and wants to keep you away from her now that she’s an adult," they said.

"Maybe she's missing all these flights because she wants to, just a thought," suggested a different reader. 

"My daughter thinks Meg doesn't want to come see her"

The dad then addressed these comments and updated his post. He wrote, "Jess is not Meg’s daughter. I was married once before and my wife unfortunately passed away. I remarried Meg when my daughter was six. My daughter has made a comment that Meg doesn’t want to come to see her and that is why she is always running late. 

"Call me oblivious but I really never thought there was any issue between Meg and Jess. After talking to my wife she wouldn’t admit to any issues and stated that she would never intentionally delay a flight so that we couldn’t see 'our daughter' and acted offended that I would ask such a thing.

"If that was her actual purpose, I don’t think I would be able to prove it. But, it will be at the forefront of my mind in the future."

This article was originally published in September 2023 but was updated in September 2024. 

Originally published as I boarded a flight without my wife because she can't manage her time