The original post: /r/amitheasshole by /u/Live_Active7449 on 2024-05-20 02:12:00.
My husband and I, along with 2 couples we're friends with (all early-mid 40s) decided to go on a backpack/hammock camping trip. All of us, except my husband are experienced campers. I was very surprised he wanted to go, but also happy he wanted to participate in an activity I enjoy.
Before the camping trip, we all met up multiple times, and discussed what to bring and agreed we needed to pack as lightly as possible. We would be carrying everything in backpacks and sleeping in hammocks. My husband also agreed with this.
The day of the trip my husband packed, 8 outfits, 5 pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of swim trunks, and 5 pairs of pajamas, along with an inflatable queen size mattress, matching sheet and comforter set, battery operated air pump, portable white noise machine, laptop, tablet, portable hotspot and charger. There was some other stuff but I don't recall what those were. Naturally, he packed more than anyone else.
When we arrived with our friends to our destination, it was a several mile hike to where we planned to set up at. My husband started trying to delegate to the others who should carry what of his stuff. I told him we all agreed that we'd each carry our own gear and that meant he's responsible for his. He argued back saying he had more than he could handle and needed help. I reminded him that he knew how much to pack, there would be lots of hiking, and he didn't bother to use a backpack but instead 2 full size roller suitcases. He told me I'm being petty and he's new to this so give him a break. He then tried getting our friends on his side by pointing out how it's his first time camping and he didn't know what to do. I interjected and said he'd been part of all our meetings to prepare and he'd heard everything that was said and chose to disregard it. I then encouraged our friends to stick to our agreement of everyone carries their own stuff and said it's not fair to me or anyone else in our group to put extra burden on ourselves by carrying my husband's stuff because he made the poor decision to grossly over pack. After a short debate everyone else ended up agreeing with me and my husband had to carry his own gear/stuff.
My husband ended up being far more worn out than the rest of us because of how much he had to carry. Now he's tired, cranky and sore, and still saying I was unreasonable to expect him to carry all of that on his own.
AITA for making my husband carry what he packed?
Eta: when my husband was packing, I reminded him what he needed to bring and told him he's way over packing to be practical. He insisted he needed everything he packed as well as insisted on using the roller suitcases as carrying a backpack is too embarrassing for him.