AITA for not canceling my plans when my friend assumed I would?

I (25F) have a close friend, “Lena” (26F). She’s more spontaneous and emotional, while I’m very much a planner. So a few weeks ago, I told her I had tickets to a small event I’d been looking forward to for months and had already taken time off work for. A few days later, she called me stressed because her cousin scheduled a last minute birthday dinner on the same night and said she really needed support. She then said, I figured you’d come with me instead. I was surprised and told her I was sorry she was stressed, but I already had plans and didn’t think I could cancel. She said that if she’d known I wouldn’t come with her, she wouldn’t have agreed to the dinner, and that friends should prioritize what’s important in the moment. She also said my event wasn’t that serious. I told her I didn’t think it was fair to expect me to cancel something I’d planned and paid for without asking me first. I did offer to help her beforehand and suggested we hang out another day. She said I was being rigid and that she sometimes feels like she can’t rely on me emotionally. We haven’t talked much since, and a mutual friend says she feels abandoned, though they also understand why I didn’t want to cancel. I feel bad, but I also feel like agreeing to last-minute expectations isn’t reasonable.

2 thoughts on “AITA for not canceling my plans when my friend assumed I would?”
  1. are you registered as your friends Emotional Support Animal? That’s what she’s treating you as.

    Lena needs to learn that you wont drop your plans to cater to her needs, so do not feel bad, NTA. You would have had to do this at some point in the future, so it’s better happening now.

    I think you need to re-assess this “friendship” and what you get out of it. It’s very clear what she gets out of it, but what has she done for you lately?

    The next time you make plans for something you are looking forward to don’t share that information with her, that way she wont be able to concoct something else on the same date to pressure you into giving up what you planned. Just don’t tell this person stuff and give them less opportunities to manipulate you.

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