I Saved Hundreds on Groceries by Hunting Venison. My Wife Sabotaged Dinner by Telling Our Kids It Was ‘Bambi’.

We all know that good manners at the dinner table mean being gracious for the food you are served, especially when a loved one has gone to great lengths to provide it. In tough economic times, being resourceful should be celebrated, not scorned.

However, one man recently shared a story online that shows how one person’s pickiness can create a firestorm of family drama, proving that common courtesy isn’t always so common.

The Incident

A husband, trying to cope with the rising cost of groceries, was thrilled to have successfully hunted a deer. This provided his family of four with months’ worth of ground meat, saving them, in his words, “hundreds of dollars.” He thought his wife would be relieved, but he was sorely mistaken.

While their oldest child had no issue with the venison, his wife began a campaign of passive aggression at the dinner table. The first time he served it in a meatloaf, she immediately commented that it was “Bambi.”

This wasn’t about the flavor; the husband noted, “She doesn’t hate the taste just when she knows it’s deer.” In fact, their youngest daughter happily ate two venison tacos before her mother’s “Bambi” remark made her refuse the rest. The mother herself thinks all wild game is “disgusting.”

The situation finally came to a boil when he made pasta with a meat sauce. His youngest was eating it until her mother walked in and once again made a comment about Bambi, causing the child to stop eating her dinner. At his wits’ end, the husband told his wife, “I expect her to start working overtime for food since she stops people from eating the deer meat.”

The Internet Reacts

The internet was deeply divided, but the majority of people felt the husband’s frustration was more than justified.

The “Absolutely Not” crowd was appalled by the wife’s behavior. They felt she was being childish, ungrateful, and manipulative. One commenter summed it up perfectly: “Your wife is an a..hole for calling it bambi in front of young impressionable kids. They form ideas from the parents and this undermines your efforts to feed the family.” Another asked sarcastically, “Like does she eat pork and call it Babe? Or not eat cow because it’s Elsie?”

Then there was the “Devil’s Advocate” camp, who felt the husband was being a bit harsh. While they agreed the “Bambi” comments were out of line, they argued that no one should be forced to eat something they don’t like. “Not everyone likes ‘wild meat’ taste,” one person wrote.

Another shared their own experience: “I hate the ‘it tastes exactly like beef’ argument. No, it doesn’t, it tastes game-y.” The ultimatum to work overtime struck some as unfair, with one user comparing it to bringing home 50 pounds of fish to a spouse who hates seafood and telling them to “eat this or go work more.”

Finally, the “Petty Revenge” crowd, or perhaps more accurately, the “Tough Love” crowd, had some pointed suggestions for the wife. The most popular idea was a bit of shock therapy. “You should arrange a tour for her of a hog confinement building, a cattle feedlot, and a poultry barn,” one user suggested. The thinking was that if she saw how commercially produced meat gets to her plate, she might develop a new appreciation for a deer that lived a free and natural life.

The Etiquette Verdict

An adult is absolutely entitled to their food preferences. If this woman truly finds venison unpalatable, she doesn’t have to eat it. However, her responsibility ends there. It is incredibly poor manners to criticize the food someone has provided, and it is downright cruel to poison a child’s mind against a perfectly good meal, especially when finances are tight.

The proper, adult thing to do would have been to quietly make herself a sandwich or another simple meal and let her husband and children enjoy theirs in peace. Respect for the provider and gratitude for the provision are the cornerstones of dinnertime etiquette.

Your Thoughts

Was the husband’s ultimatum a fair response to his wife’s sabotage, or was he wrong to expect his family to eat meat they disliked?

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