If you have specific dietary requirements, then you’ll know how irritating, and sometimes risky, it can be to eat food you haven’t prepared yourself.
Of course, if you host a dinner party and people have dietary requirements, you’d expect them to tell you well in advance, right?
Wrong.
One woman was left furious when she received a message from two of her guests on the day of her meal, saying they were following different diets on different days of the weekend.
While they ate meat in the week, they had decided to go vegan at weekends to reduce their carbon impact.
The fuming mum took to Mumsnet to vent about the inconsiderate behaviour of her guests.
She wrote: “I'm cooking for 10 tonight. 5 couples, in the group there is someone who has a nut allergy and someone who has celiacs, one of the pairs have just called to say that they are doing vegan weekends to reduce their carbon impact.... They are just checking that something tonight will be suitable... I've said it won't but that they are more than welcome to bring stuff. ... Am I being an unreasonable a**e?”
Some might expect a sympathetic response for those with the vegan diet - but that sympathy did not come. Other Mumsnet users were equally as baffled by the last minute demand.
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One wrote: “So they are giving you about 6 hours notice of a challenging dietary requirement? I would want to tell them to f**k off and not bother coming. Realistically, I would tell them to bring something for themselves.”
Another pointed out how ridiculous their reasoning was, as they are not full-time vegans. They typed: “Also how are they "reducing their carbon impact" telling you the same day?!
“You've likely already bought the food - so it goes to waste AND you have to make another drive to the supermarket and back. I'd be tempted to point this out to them after a glass of wine later.
“Surely in their shoes you'd just swap to doing Sunday and Monday as your Vegan days this week and enjoy the food offered tonight. Bizarre.”
“It’s completely up to them if they want to eat vegan a couple of days a week. But with a few hours' notice for the host they can make that Monday and Tuesday instead”, one wrote.
Do you think she's right to refuse to cater for them? Have your say in the comment section below.
Others really did not see the funny side of being told a few hours before, writing: “Tell them you’ve got a carrot in the fridge and can pick a tulip out of the garden for a garnish.”
Many were quick to point out how illogical it was to demand the changing of the menu so last minute if they only went meat free at the weekend. One wrote: “If they were actual vegans then fine. Weekend vegans? They can get to f**k.”
The original poster responded to comments to say: “I've already responded and said no. Making sure I'm not going to poison someone or hospitalise them is my main worry.”
