Man has 'discount' with local Chinese place, roommate asks to order, he says no. UPDATED.
You don't have to be best friends with your roommate, but life will be a lot easier if you at least get along.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for refusing to order food for his roommate. He wrote:
"AITA for refusing to add food to my delivery for my roommate to save her money?"
I (28M) live in Canada, my roommate (29F) and I usually get along well. I am originally from China and have family and savings in accounts there. The other day my roommate commented that I must spend a lot on takeout as I order takeout like 4 to 5 times a week.
I then explained to her that I don't really spend much as I only order from a small number of Chinese restaurants who have an agreement with me and don't use standard delivery apps. I pay them in yuan and arrange the delivery over WeChat so there is no tip, and tax and they give me discounted prices.
A week later she didn't have many groceries left and she asked me to add something for her and she will pay me back. I refused because she isn't part of the agreement and I don't want to betray the restaurant owners also she wouldn't be able to pay me back in yuan. She seems upset and isn't being as cordial. AITA?
The internet had a lot of comments and questions.
Heloise_Morris wrote:
YTA If you're not paying tax for food purchased, prepared and ordered in Canada, you're breaking the law. You and the restaurant owners are running a scam to dodge taxes. I hope your roommate reports your "arrangement" and these restaurants to the authorities. The restaurants are tax dodging.
dishonestgandalf wrote:
Yeah, soft YTA. You have access to a discounted food hookup and refused to share it for no real reason. She could easily pay you back in yuan through a number of apps.
EDIT: Also YTA for enabling tax evasion while a guest in the country.
DiggyDag wrote:
NTA. White people are just mad you're dodging $2.03 tax lol.
davedog81 wrote:
NTA, it’s your arrangement. The business still has to pay taxes. So many entitled children here on Reddit. The govt already robs you of taxes to line their pockets anyways. So any way around it is fine with me. If your friend robs a bank are you entitled to some of the money? Roommate needs to mind their own business.
nan_sheri wrote:
So you get a discount, don’t have any problems with your roommate from what I read, and you tell her no when she’s running low on groceries and just wants you to add something for her so she can eat? AND she said she’d pay you back!?
You don’t even pay full price and how tf would they know you’re ordering for her unless you tell them!? Ig it’s because I had a really good roommate, but if she asked me to get her something to eat I’d do it in a heartbeat.
After OP received incredibly mixed responses, he jumped on with an update:
EDIT: Okay the problem has been solved, I contacted two of the restaurants which are the ones I most frequently use and they told me it is fine to order for my roommate and she can order herself if she installs Wechat. She doesn't want to use Wechat so I have told her she can ask me.
For those saying tax evasion etc, these restaurant owners are really kind people and often even give free meals at their restaurants to Chinese international students who are struggling (sometimes others too not just Chinese just that most customers are Asian). This is a lot cheaper than uber eats and doordash but the only thing is you need to order only at lunch or dinner time.
It sounds like it's been resolved, regardless of the strong opinions of the internet.