A woman's account of a family dispute that erupted after she failed to call her mother-in-law to say thank you for a delivery of banchan, or Korean side dishes, has sparked fierce debate online.
The story was posted on the online community Nate Pann under the title "Apparently I was supposed to call after my mother-in-law sent banchan."
The author, identified only as A, said her mother-in-law had sent the banchan through her husband. "She then made a comment that I should have called after receiving it, but didn't," A wrote.
In response, A told her mother-in-law: "My mom sends banchan too, but my husband never calls her."
Her husband, however, turned on her. "Why do you talk like that?" he snapped.
A said the argument pushed her over the edge. "I got so angry that I told him I wouldn't accept any more banchan from his family," she wrote. "Is it wrong to treat his family the same way he treats mine? I'm just frustrated that this keeps causing conflict."
Readers were divided. Some said they could not understand why she would pick a fight over something as simple as a thank-you call. Others argued that holding a daughter-in-law to a standard the husband himself does not meet was unfair, and that the mother-in-law's insistence on a call was off-putting. Several pointed out that the husband was the real problem, while a few questioned whether A's "if he doesn't, I won't either" attitude was the right approach.
choigo@heraldcorp.com
