Family Pressures Youngest Relative, Food Professional, Into Making Pizzas At Last Minute, Calls Him Lazy When He Refuses

"My parents think I’m just being petty and just not making them because I am just being lazy."

May

• Published in Interesting
• May 17, 2024

Certain foods take time to make. Even if you're a professional chef, you cannot hasten some of the processes involved, especially if you're doing everything from scratch.

Bread dough needs time to rise, ferment, and develop flavor. Slow cooking techniques like braising or stewing also require patience for the flavors to meld together and for tough cuts of meat to become tender.

Professional chefs can certainly optimize processes and use techniques to speed things up, but some culinary processes simply can't be rushed without sacrificing quality.

So it's clear why a Redditor had to refuse to make pizza for people at his sister's graduation party. He tells his story to the "Am I The A**hole?" (AITA) community.

The original poster (OP) is a culinary school graduate who's been in professional kitchens for the past couple of years. He tells the community that he is among the youngest in his extended family.

At a recent family event, he was informed last minute that he was supposed to make pizza for a large group, which frustrated him because it's a time-consuming process that requires advance notice. Despite expressing his frustration and setting boundaries, his family misunderstood his intentions, thinking he was being lazy rather than wanting to be treated with respect regarding his responsibilities.

He asked the community if he was an a-hole for refusing to make the pizza for everyone.

It's the OP's sister's graduation party, and he was forced to make pizza for the attendees.

When the OP an his mom were headed home for the party, his mom suddenly asked him to make pizza for the attendees.

It pissed the OP off because he was told to do it on the spot.

If it was scheduled, he would've been able to prepare better.

The OP had a hard time being taken seriously by his family. Now, he has had it with their attitude toward him.

Although the OP refused, he still felt bad for his sister.

He will still make pizza for her, though. But it would be for another time.

It's unreasonable for the family to expect that the OP would perform chef duties for them simply because he's a culinary school graduate.

If the family really wanted the pizza, they should help the OP. That should make them realize how meticulous the process is.

Pizza isn't the type of food the OP can cook at the last minute.

The OP should stand firm on making his family treat him like an actually adult.

Making pizza for that many people on the spot is just not possible.

The OP was right to refuse the task. If the same situation comes up, he shouldn't bend to their will.

Otherwise, his family and relatives will keep treating him like a personal chef rather than respecting his professional boundaries and expertise. They will also continue to not take him seriously.

The most important thing here is that he established a middle-ground with the celebrant, his sister, by promising to make her pizza another time.

May