A woman is going viral online after turning to Reddit as a mediator in an argument with her boyfriend over whether or not he should pay for half of a laptop he destroyed during a night of drinking.
It’s always a dubious proposition to turn to r/AITAH with a relationship story, but—whether for clout or out of pure ignorance—people continue to do it. Ten days ago, a woman took to the subreddit to discuss the aftermath of her boyfriend destroying her laptop.
What happened to her laptop?
Basically, the incident happened during a night of drinking.
The woman’s live-in boyfriend asked to use her MacBook Pro to track part of the game he was playing. However, the evening took a turn when the boyfriend accidentally tipped his shot of vodka into the laptop.
The laptop was obviously destroyed. After consulting Best Buy and Apple, the woman eventually learned the repair would cost a whopping $2,600.
Her boyfriend initially agreed to pay for half of the cost, but after getting the bill, he decided that it wasn’t the most cost-effective way forward.
Why is her boyfriend shirking the cost?
The boyfriend is upset because he wanted to try and lower the cost of a new laptop by salvaging parts from her old one, but Apple store workers already told her there weren’t any components worth salvaging.
Now, the woman is asking the boyfriend to split the cost of a new laptop, which would be around $1,500. She isn’t asking him to pay the entire amount because her old laptop wasn’t worth that much. However, the boyfriend doesn’t think that arrangement would be fair. The result is an impasse between the two parties.
AITA for asking my boyfriend to pay for half of a new laptop after he broke my other one?
byu/chillininclouds inAITAH
Readers weigh in
In the Reddit comments, several people think she’s actually being too easy on her boyfriend. Many argued that he should be responsible for finding a used MacBook Pro i7 on the secondary market.
“He should pay half, it was an accident sure but if your actions lead to something getting broken you are liable,” one user wrote.
“NTA,” another said. “You are being more than fair by asking for only half the price to replace it. He SHOULD be offering to pay the full price since he broke it. The fact he is giving you a hard time, speaks volumes about his character.”
Some commenters said the poster should reconsider her relationship with her boyfriend over the disagreement.
“Nah. After this long if you aren’t considering shared consequential damage as a shared expense, you should probably reconsider why you’re living with someone who’s ok breaking your stuff and shirking responsibility for his role,” one user wrote.
