We've started charging my brother-in-law a 'late fee' for family dinners.
By @maeok · Family
He's always, and I mean always, at least 45 minutes late to every single family thing. My wife is tired of her food getting cold, so we told him for every 15 minutes he's late, he owes us $5.
The full story
It's simple. We have dinner at 6. Every Sunday. He knows this. He lives 20 minutes away. Yet somehow, he can't get here on time. It's not traffic. It's not his job. He just loses track of time playing video games or whatever. My wife spends hours cooking a nice meal and by the time he strolls in, it's lukewarm and she's annoyed. Last month we told him we were done with it. We came up with the 'late fee.' Five bucks for every 15 minutes he's late, paid before he can eat. He laughed, but we were serious. Now he's mad and his mom says we're being petty and ruining family dinner.
How people voted
- Bad Move — 29% (53 votes)
- Needs Context — 41% (74 votes)
- Reasonable — 30% (54 votes)
Readers say “Needs Context” (41%) — 181 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@wren — A man's time is his own, you don't get to tax him for it.
@paigefr — The fee should double every time. Call it surge pricing.
@tannerk — What a beautiful way to bring the family together.
@xenakinda — Why not just start eating at 6:15 and let his food be cold?
@owenlately — nah this is perfect actually dont stop
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