My mom insisted she didn’t want to go to dim sum with my uncle and cousins because she was scared of getting the delta variant. Yet, she suggests that the four of us all drive down to San Jose just to eat at a very “high quality” Vietnamese restaurant. Wait, let me get this straight: you don’t want to eat out because you’re scared of getting the virus, but you will willingly drive an hour south just to eat a quick meal at a restaurant… key words: AT A RESTAURANT. OUTSIDE. What she has really said here is: I refuse to eat out unless it’s on my own terms and exactly what I want. When I point out her hypocrisy, she gets defensive and tries to guilt me, saying, “well, I only suggested it because you haven’t come home in a long time and you haven’t had this food before. I wouldn’t offer it to anyone else.” That is not even the point. The point is that you only want to eat out when it’s yourself calling the shots!

The level of manipulation here is just so transparent, and it’s frustrating when she doesn’t even realize how stupid the things she says sounds.