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Guy Banned From Cousin’s Wedding After Divulging His Plans For His Cat In Hypothetical Zombie Apocalypse

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It was presumably meant to be a fun night when Redditor ignatiobeans—a cat-owner—was invited to watch horfor movies with his cousin, her girlfriend and their friends.

However, drama ensued when everyone discussed how they would deal with a zombie apocalypse.

The Original Poster (OP) visited the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit after finding himself in hot water and asked:

“AITA for my zombie apocalypse ‘plans’?”

The OP explained:

“A couple of months ago, my cousin ‘Jane’ invited me to spend a day watching foreign horror films with her and some friends. This was the first time I met her girlfriend, ‘Edith’.”

“One of our movies was Train to Busan. Afterwards, we talked about what we would do in the event of a zombie apocalypse.”

“When asked what my plans would be I laughed and said that I would give up. Realistically, I couldn’t handle the zombie apocalypse—I have too much anxiety and health issues to even try.”

“Jane asked me what I would do with my cat. I said that he wouldn’t be able to survive the zombie apocalypse at all, so I wouldn’t do anything with him.”

“We would just stay in my house after barricading ourselves in.”

“Edith said, ‘What if someone else could take better care of him?’ and I said, ‘They couldn’t, he’d be better just chilling with me, and he’d slow them down anyway’.”

“My cat would not have a hope in a zombie apocalypse, or any sort of apocalypse. He is, for lack of a better term, special needs.”

“He only has half his teeth so he has to eat special food, and he has separation anxiety to the point where if I’m in the bathroom and he isn’t, he starts to have what is basically a panic attack. He has absolutely no reflexes and is horrible at chasing or catching things.”

“These all count against his survival as a wild cat, or kept by others. I’d also like to have his company if I was locked inside my house forever.”

“The next day, my cousin texted me and said Edith was upset. My plans read more as ‘I don’t care enough about my cat to try’ to her, and this is proof I wouldn’t let other people more qualified than me give him a chance.”

“I explained myself to my cousin and said I was sorry for upsetting Edith, but the zombie apocalypse wasn’t going to happen anyway. That was it.”

“However, last week, I had a Zoom call with family. Jane announced that her and Edith were engaged, which we are all very excited for.”

“Near the end of the call, I picked up my cat so my mom could see her ‘grandkitty’.”

“Edith asked if I could still take care of him since the apocalypse happened and I lost my job, and I told her that I was making enough money on commissions to make sure he was healthy. She said something along the lines of ‘Good, I wouldn’t want him to be hurt because his dad is too stubborn to help him out’.”

“As of this morning, I learned that Edith doesn’t want me at her wedding.”

“She is convinced that I wouldn’t give my cat a better life if I was unable to help him, and has apparently been telling her friends and family about it, and they agree that she is in the right for not wanting to be around me since I don’t want the best for my cat.”

“She’s acting like I’m actively abusive to him. At first I was annoyed about all of this, and felt like she is really reading into things, but if she’s this upset I’m really starting to think I am in the wrong for my ‘plans’.”

“It was just an offhanded comment, and I can’t change anything about it now, but AITA?”

Before Redditors responded, the OP added a picture of their cat.

ignatiobeans/Reddit

Strangers on the internet were asked to declare one of the following:

  • NTA – Not The A**hole
  • YTA – You’re The A**hole
  • ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
  • NAH – No A**holes Here

Many Redditors said the OP was NTA.

“NTA. This woman is bizarre. You were talking about a fake situation, and she somehow translated that into real life?”

“This woman is literally lying to people about you, and somehow your sister doesn’t see an issue and wants to marry her? I don’t get it.” – sora_tofu

“if a zombie apocalypse happened then realistically your cat might actually be safest with you, eventually food will run out in areas and well, there will be those who do anything to survive.”

“then comparing this situation to a zombie apocalypse is a stretch, you can still care for the cat, and given your cat requires specific food, well whose producing that in a zombie apocalypse anyways, NTA.” – ScionTheAncientOrder

“Ok, NTA”

“Edith is, for lack of a better term, incorrect and presumptuous. You were asked what you would do in a fictional situation, yet she treats it like it is real.”

“It would be like asking someone what you would do in a zombie apocalypse if they got bitten and became a zombie, then got salty and said you were a murderer if/when you replied that you would kill them after they became a zombie.”

“WIth someone that unreasonable, I would go low contact (don’t take this as advice).” – peepeepoopoolover09

“The greatest irony is that OP actually gave a pragmatic and realistic answer to that hypothetical situation. Edith clearly has never been in a disaster setting before, because she has no idea how priorities change when it’s a genuinely life threatening situation.”

“I love my cat. Adore her. I’ve spent thousands on vet bills for her.”

“But if there was a fire roaring through my house and I couldn’t find her, I would leave the house without her.”

“And I’d cry, and I’d beg the firefighters to look for her. But I wouldn’t set foot back in the house myself until the fire was out.”

“Edith would think me a monster, I’m sure.”

“This is a pragmatic and realistic answer, not the only answer. Of course different people respond differently to situations like a fire.”

“But I think that we can agree that running out of a burning building without your cat because you couldn’t find her should not get you banned from the family or labeled a cat abuser.” – diagnosedwolf

“Does Edith often have difficulty separating fantasy from reality? Don’t go on a murder mystery weekend with her. NTA.” – Pikekip

In response to the next comment, the OP called the Redditor a “genius” and said Edith “couldn’t possibly find fault with this.”

“First off, NTA. Edith sounds like a very silly person.”

“Second, it seems you have failed to consider strapping your handsome dude into a baby carrier across your chest while you run. Since the zombie apocalypse is DEFINITELY going to happen (if Edith’s reaction is anything to go by), you should remember this as plan B in the event your survival instincts kick in stronger than you expect.” – renha27

The OP updated his post, revealing Edith’s banning him from the wedding may have more to do with Edith’s transphobia than his cat.

“Wow, this got a lot more attention than I thought it would. Thank you all for your comments!”

“Sadly, no, this is not fake, though I really wish it was. This was reposted on Twitter, and apparently, Edith and Jane ended up being sent it by an unrelated party who just thought the whole situation was stupid.”

“I’m not sure what the fallout of that will be, but if there’s anything worth updating, I’ll do so! Our Thanksgiving Zoom call will be very fun, I am sure.”

“I didn’t include it in the post because I didn’t find it pertinent, but friends have since mentioned to me that Edith may be making excuses to cut me out if she is transphobic (I am a [disabled] trans man, who started transitioning just before our movie night).”

“After talking about this with other people who know me and reading comments on this post/the reposted post on twitter, I think that maybe she’s either ableist (since I am also disabled) or transphobic (since I came out right before I met her). Regardless, I’m definitely not going to go out of my way to keep in contact with her.”

“To those who don’t believe the story is real because you don’t think LGBT people can be conservative, I really wish I lived in your world.”

“Regardless, I will not be going to the wedding—people suggested spending the day pampering my boy, which will be exactly what I will do. :)”

“The good news is that now my cat has an army of people who have decided to protect him during the apocalypse, so he will be alright. Thank you all!”

“For those asking—Edith is from a farming family, so her zombie plans were to go to her family farm and live off the land before eventually restarting society. I can’t even keep my cactus alive so I have no hope.”

Overall, the general consensus among Redditors was the OP was NTA.

Either Edith overreacted to a hypothetical situation when she didn’t understand the circumstances surrounding the OP’s response or maybe Edith is just transphobic.

Only Edith can answer that question.

Written by Koh Mochizuki

Koh Mochizuki is a Los Angeles based actor whose work has been spotted anywhere from Broadway stages to Saturday Night Live.
He received his B.A. in English literature and is fluent in Japanese.
In addition to being a neophyte photographer, he is a huge Disney aficionado and is determined to conquer all Disney parks in the world to publish a photographic chronicle one day. Mickey goals.
Instagram: kohster Twitter: @kohster1 Flickr: nyckmo