An 8-year-old Reddit post about a man whose girlfriend purportedly became “appalled” at him for eating balut has gone viral again.
The post, which was originally posted by Redditor iateababyduck on the subreddit Relationships in 2015, detailed how the alleged incident sparked a heated dispute between the couple.
I am Vietnamese, she is not. I usually eat balut every so often – it’s not a weird food for other Southeast Asian countries either. For those that don’t know, it’s a developing duck egg (or fertilized duck egg). Basically, you are eating an unborn baby duck and whatever else is in the egg. Sounds weird, but I like it.
My GF is not vegetarian, hasn’t expressed her desire to be so either. Everytime I’ve had balut, it’s been as a snack at my family’s house. She just hasn’t been there every time we eat it as a family. Yesterday was the first time, when we visited my parent’s house. My mom brings out the eggs, GF thinks it’s just boiled egg, I peel it for her and freaks out when we tell her what it is.
She’s absolutely PISSED at me, as if I committed the worst sin in the world. She compared it to eating a dog… She didn’t eat any but is appalled as me eating it… She says things like she can’t believe I’d do such a thing, that I’m horrible for “supporting the dead-baby market,” and I’ve stayed calm as best as I can, trying to calm her down as well, but a day later, she is still upset at me.
The OP, who had been in a relationship with his girlfriend for five years at the time, asked for advice on the discussion platform on how to deal with the situation as he felt the argument would further escalate.
In an update on the same post, he clarified that while he had no issue with her disliking the dish, he was concerned about how she felt about him.
In another update, the OP shared that they finally got to sit down and talk about the issue.
After apologizing for her reaction to him consuming balut, the girlfriend purportedly confided about her friend’s decision to have an abortion, which had caused her considerable anguish. The girlfriend explained that her emotional state was compounded by her own concerns about a potential risk of infertility, according to the OP.
She was touchy because she was upset her friend’s situation allowed for a child and she decided not to go through with it. In the end, this just made her sadder at her infertility and continues to cry over how unfair life is.
As they engaged in a heartfelt discussion, the OP discovered that the sight of the undeveloped duckling within the egg triggered a powerful emotional response in his girlfriend. The sight of balut reportedly reminded her of the fragility of life and stirred up complex feelings related to her friend’s situation and her own reproductive health.
She says 1) she probably won’t ever eat it but has no problem with me eating it. She does think it’s weird – but so do lots of people. 2) She definitely did not mean to offend my culture – it was very irrelevant at the point. She stressed she doesn’t mean anything against my culture for disliking balut either, which is fine. She talked about how she simply doesn’t like how it involves a dead baby, which is too unsettling for her to deal with to eat. She doesn’t have strong feelings otherwise, though.
Following their emotional conversation, the couple reconciled, with the girlfriend expressing remorse for her outburst and acknowledging that her reaction was irrational and uncalled for. They resolved to support each other through their respective challenges, with the man vowing to be more sensitive to his girlfriend’s emotions in the future.
We addressed the issue and agreed she was completely out of line. I had a serious issue and it’s been resolved and given that she has never acted in this manner before, and given the situation, I don’t feel too hesitant to let it slide this one time. I’m still acknowledging it wasn’t okay.
Like the original post, the reposted topic on r/BestofRedditorUpdates sparked discussions about cultural differences, personal beliefs and the delicate nature of discussing topics such as abortion and infertility between couples.
“I’m glad they were able to talk it out and address the real issues and that she apologized first,” one commenter wrote. “I think it’s so important to do that without prompting when you make a mistake. We all make them, but it’s how we handle them that says who we are.”
“I like that OOP knew his gf enough that he was like ‘You are behaving very out of character is there more to the story here?'” another pointed out. “He seems nice.”
“I’m glad there was communication,” a commenter noted. “Sometimes, upset causes people to lash out, because no one’s perfect. Win for communication all around!”
