Only those of us who have lived with or worked with someone who incessantly steals food from other people understand how frustrating it is.
But it becomes infuriating if the person stealing the food tries to play the victim if they steal food that they don’t like or find to be too spicy, side-eyed the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITAH) subReddit
Redditor Paxx-chan had to meal plan on a budget and was fed up with their grocery budget being blown each week because one of their roommates kept stealing their food.
When they ended up making a meal that their roommate found to be too spicy, the Original Poster (OP) was shocked when their roommate’s boyfriend said he’d get his father, a police officer, involved to bring them up on charges for trying to poison their roommate.
They asked the sub:
“AITAH for putting chilis in my food when my roommate would not stop eating it?”
The OP lived on a strict budget, including their weekly meal preps.
“I live in a house with five other flatmates. I am at war with one of my flatmates, Amy, as she constantly eats my meal-prepped food.”
“I live on a budget, I cannot afford to be frivolous with my expenses, so meal prepping and portioning my food when prices on meat and vegetables are constantly going higher is one way I save money.”
Their roommate, Amy, made a habit of stealing their food.
“Amy doesn’t have this problem. She goes out clubbing every weekend and orders takeout every week.”
“Amy has constantly been eating my food. I know this because she is messy and leaves my containers in her room and on the table.”
“I have told her multiple times to stop, and she won’t.”
The OP decided to change their meal prep, hoping Amy wouldn’t be interested in spicy food.
“This is where the chillis come in. I love spice; it’s what puts color into my life and tastebuds.”
“So last week, I put in the group chat my regular ‘Dont eat my food, please’ message. I also included in that message that my food would have a lot of spice in it.”
“Amy doesn’t look when I message anything in the chat because I’m always on her case.”
“My other roommates watched as I gleefully chopped and shredded jalapenos and red chillis into my carbonara. I may have cackled like a witch stirring a pot of poison.”
“Not poisonous to me as my friends watched me eat a bowl in front of them greedily and they had tears in their eyes just from the fumes.”
“So I packed everything up, put it on my shelf, and waited. The next day I reminded everyone to not eat my food and left for school.”
Amy did exactly what the OP expected she would do, but there were consequences.
“That night, I heard vomiting. See, Amy can’t handle spice. She can bearly have black pepper before she’s running to the fridge to drink milk.”
“Apparently, the deep red color and smell didn’t deter her and she ate quite a bit before the spice kicked in.”
“She was sick for a few days. Thankfully, we have two bathrooms. I happily continued to eat my meals as she lay in bed.”
Amy and her boyfriend tried to accuse the OP of “poisoning” her.
“However, she called her boyfriend, who decided to get into my face about ‘poisoning’ her. He said I must have made the food rotten on purpose.”
“I called bulls**t. So I sat there and ate it in front of him.”
“He took one look and smelled it before he realized what had happened. He still claimed I did it on purpose, knowing she would eat it.”
“I showed him the messages I wrote to say not to eat it, as well as the paper taped on the meal lids saying not to eat because of the spice.”
“He yelled profanities and stayed to care for Amy. He said he’d sue me for poisoning her.”
The OP couldn’t help but be worried about how this had escalated.
“The problem here is that the boyfriend’s dad is a cop. I’m kind of s**tting myself now.”
“However, I still have classes to go to and a job to work so I’m just carrying on. No police this far have come for me and no law people giving me papers to say I’m being sued.”
“However, she has been sick for days, and I feel bad for her missing classes when tests are around the corner. I just wanted her to learn her lesson and stop eating my food, but was I wrong for pulling this prank when it’s so close to tests?”
“AITAH?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some reassured the OP that they would not get in trouble for preparing spicy food to eat.
“You put ingredients into your food. That’s not poison. She is sick because she has a weak stomach. It’s not like you added arsenic or something she is allergic to. Don’t worry about the police. You haven’t committed a crime.”
“NTA. Tell her you hate she got so sick, but you really like spicy food and have decided that all your food would be spicy from now, so she should probably look elsewhere for meal options.” – Recent_Data_305
“It’s not like they were poisoned; she just couldn’t handle the spice. Maybe this will finally make her think twice about raiding someone else’s meal prep!” – HoneyxHaze
“NTA. You didn’t poison your food; you just made it the way you enjoyed it, and you even gave ample warnings both in the group chat and on the containers themselves. You went above and beyond to notify everyone, including a clear warning about the spice.”
“Amy chose to ignore all of this, so her reaction is on her.” – sexyladysakura
“It’s illegal, at least in the US, if your intent was to cause harm. It falls under booby traps, which are generally illegal (You also can’t set up home booby traps that could possibly injure trespassers/intruders either, which makes the premise of ‘Home Alone’ illegal).”
“That said, OP did everything right as far as legal grounds. She actually explicitly wrote in text a warning that food would have spice in it. She just needs to keep her mouth shut about adding spice intentionally because Amy can’t handle it.”
“As long as it’s simply OP cooking a meal for herself that’s super spicy, there’s no legal grounds for suing.”
“Though, if this is real, Amy got what she deserved.” – undercurrents
“So long as OP shuts her mouth and doesn’t admit that she added the peppers specifically to harm Amy, she would be in the clear. “
“Since OP intended to eat the food, she should be clear so long as she doesn’t admit that she did it specifically to harm someone. It would be different if she had added Ex-Lax or Syrup of Ipecac or feces or something else that rendered the food inedible. In that case, OP could be charged.”
“But adding something that you enjoy but others find distasteful is not against the law.”
“The exception would be if it can be proven that OP did it specifically to harm another individual. For instance, adding peanuts to a dish when you know that a suspect is deathly allergic is proof of intent to cause harm.” – KnoWanUKnow2
Others agreed and said the OP could counter-sue Amy for stealing their food.
“NTA and if they even file a lawsuit, you can file a countersuit for food theft and court fees.” – Educational_Poem2652
“Call the boyfriend’s dad and let him know his son is using his position to intimidate you in your own apartment and you might have to have him trespassed if he keeps threatening you or if Amy keeps stealing from you.”
“Then send the boyfriend and Amy a bill for all the groceries she has stolen. If the boyfriend doesn’t apologize and stay in his lane in your home, you will file a small claim against her and get a restraining order to keep him away from the apartment.”
“It’s a bluff, but let them feel the fear they tried to manipulate you with.” – New_Day684
“The OP said, ‘I happily continued to eat my meal.’ That’s not poisoning; it’s your meal she stole. If you do get served, counter-sue for the admission of theft.” – Antisocialbumblef**k
“NTA. First and foremost, you did not under any circumstances poison her. You made it spicy, which is something you willingly eat.”
“Second of all, you placed every amount of warning possible. She chose to ignore them, probably because they made her feel the uncomfies about being confronted or reminded she was stealing, and that’s on her.”
“If she wants to get mad at you for ‘making her sick,’ she has to get mad at herself first for stealing food that she didn’t pay for or prepare herself.” – DivineTarot
“NTA. Tell him to call his dad, right there in front of you, and report his girlfriend’s repeated thefts of your property, and that he threatened you in your own home, and let him know he’s no longer welcome if that behavior continues, so go ahead and report himself for trespassing so his dad can handle everything at once.” – SPoopa83
“NTA. You did not poison Amy as you did not give her the food or prepare it for her. You also made it clear that your food would have spices in it.”
“When Amy or her boyfriend complains again, just her ask, ‘Why did she eat it without permission?'”
“The big question is what do you do next? Do you want to continue to share a house with Amy? She doesn’t respect personal property and you prepared your food in a way that would make her ill. You did what you had to do, but there will be fallout for someone.”
“Even if she doesn’t have her boyfriend’s father cause trouble, I can’t imagine living there being that comfortable. Where do the other flatmates stand on this? If they don’t support you, they accept her stealing your food as allowable behavior.” – anotherlab
The subReddit couldn’t stop shaking their heads over this situation that Amy so uncomfortably found herself in. If only she had read the messages and the labels in the fridge, and if only she could stop herself from stealing her roommate’s food, maybe she wouldn’t find herself in such an ill situation.