Friend Expects 3AM Airport Ride After Giving $600 Gift
The Original Post
A long time friend of mine woke me up at 3am with a phone call asking me to get up and drive them to an airport that is an hour and forty five minutes from my house so they could make a 6am flight. I said no, went back to sleep and woke up later that morning to a text from another friend saying my friend was very angry at me for refusing.
Some context to this scenario is that my friend had bought me a generous gift about a week before for my birthday when I visited them in their home state worth roughly 600 dollars, which I appreciated greatly, and they felt slighted that I still refused their request. My issue with this is that my friend is a wealthy person who could easily afford an Uber to the airport but expected me to wake up in the middle of my sleep, get dressed and make the 3.5 hour round trip instead. Granted, I had nothing to do the next day, however I don’t think it is reasonable to expect me to wake up in the middle of the night to make such a long drive on absolutely zero notice and then hold a grudge against me for not doing so.
The only reason I answered the phone call was because I thought there might be an emergency (in which case I definitely would have gotten up and helped) but I would not consider this an emergency at all. They had plenty of time to order an Uber and make it to the airport and they also had no good reason besides wanting to go home sooner to buy such an early flight. If they had asked me the day before to stay up and bring them, I would have done it but given the circumstances I don’t think it fair to expect me to wake up and make such a long trip.
Some people I know agree with me, some don’t. What do you all think?
What Reddit Said
Reddit overwhelmingly sided with OP on this one. Most users were shocked by the friend’s entitlement and poor planning. However, many pointed out that the $600 gift seemed to come with strings attached.
The top comments emphasized that last-minute favors require advance notice. Moreover, commenters noted that wealthy people expecting free rides when they can afford alternatives is particularly tone-deaf. In fact, many users questioned whether this friendship was as genuine as OP believed.
The Verdict
The consensus was crystal clear: Not the Asshole (NTA). When a friend expects a 3am airport ride without notice, that crosses reasonable boundaries. This represents classic friendship drama where entitlement masquerades as expectation. Therefore, OP was completely justified in prioritizing their sleep over their friend’s poor planning.
Original post from r/AmItheAsshole (1,526 upvotes, 213 comments)