AITA for getting quite drunk with my friend at a MLM “party”?

In a dimly lit college town apartment, a Saturday night promised fun for a 22-year-old woman and her friend Jess. Invited by an old dorm mate, Sarah, to a “spa-themed” party, they assumed a casual bash and pregamed with whiskey. Arriving late, they found a room of quiet guests sipping champagne, hinting at an unexpected twist.

The night unraveled as Sarah launched into a sales pitch for an MLM scheme, clashing with the duo’s party mood. Their giggling, whiskey sips, and new friends turned the event chaotic, ending with their ejection. Now, labeled disrespectful, they question if their festive spirit crossed a line.

‘AITA for getting quite drunk with my friend at a MLM “party”?’

My friend Jess got a party invite on a Saturday night from Sarah, who she knew in her old dorm. Jess said it was some sort of spa theme, but we were both like 'lol but cut the crap, it's an open invite house party in (trashy area in college town) we all know it's just gonna be an excuse to get drunk.. So I bought a bottle of whiskey to share.

She and I pregamed the party at my place too. We rolled in a little late, and it was a weird vibe. The girl hosting, Sarah, seemed irritated we were late, which was weird. We went in and everyone was just chilling in the living room with champagne.

Sarah was giving out lotion samples like a sales pitch. I mainly just talked to Jess through this about some drama going on in our friend group because I didn't know anyone else there. I'd also opened our whiskey and had poured Jess and I glasses after we drank the champagne.

Then Sarah sat down and tried getting the group's attention and got annoyed at us for not paying attention. She was making this pitch to sell things, handing out order forms. But also to recruit other people to sell too. I was kinda giggling to Jess, what the f**k did you bring us to?

And what kinda business is that; it makes like no business sense to get more competitors! Jess was like 's**t I don't know, do you wanna see if we can find another party? So we both went on our phones and started hitting people up, unsuccessfully.

We were also still sipping whiskey and were getting steadily more drunk especially compared to everyone else. We started talking to a couple other girls there, a lesbian couple, and I was like 'what the hell is this party?' And they basically said that they didn't expect this coming in but it seemed like some kinda pyramid scheme.

And wow could they use a better drink than cheap champagne. At that point Jess pulled out our big bottle of whiskey and the four of us started sharing it. They took some shots at first then were just sipping. It was genuinely fun, they were really cool people and were telling us a crazy hilarious story that had us laughing like mad.

Then, Sarah came up to our group and were like 'can you all leave? You've been rude through every part of this' and Jess went 'look, you invited us for a party! If you want this to be a business thing be upfront about it or else people are gonna show up and party.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sarah told Jess to grow up. She wanted us to go. I asked if we could wait till Uber surge pricing went down and she said no, to get out if we were gonna be disrespectful. The couple we were hanging out with actually left with us to hang out.

Jess and the girls we'd made friends with got these angry texts that night saying that we were super disrespectful and unsupportive, and trashy if we couldn't even go one hour to support a friend's business without getting sloppy drunk.. AITA for going to a MLM 'party' and treating it like a real party?

ADVERTISEMENT

Social missteps can stem from mismatched expectations, as seen here. The woman and Jess assumed a party vibe, not an MLM pitch, and their drunken response reflects that disconnect. Social psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini notes, “Misaligned invitations can lead to unintentional rudeness if intent isn’t clear” . Sarah’s lack of clarity fueled the chaos.

MLM events often blur social and sales lines, a tactic criticized in a 2020 Journal of Consumer Research study for misleading participants . The duo’s disruption, while disruptive, was a reaction to feeling misled, though their heavy drinking escalated it. Dr. Cialdini suggests leaving quietly once intentions are clear, a step they missed.

ADVERTISEMENT

The host’s irritation and ejection were justified given her home setting, but her vague invite shares blame. The woman’s question of AITA hinges on intent—her fun-seeking wasn’t malicious, but respect waned. A calmer exit could have avoided fallout.

For the woman, clearer communication with future invites and respect for hosts’ intent can prevent repeats. For others, transparency in event purposes avoids such clashes. The night’s humor masks a lesson in boundaries.

ADVERTISEMENT

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

Reddit’s community splits on this, with some calling NTA, arguing Sarah’s vague invite justified the party vibe. Others lean ESH or YTA, citing the duo’s drunken disruption as rude once the MLM nature was clear. The consensus urges better judgment leave if it’s not the expected party. Redditors find it hilarious but advise avoiding such invites or exiting politely to dodge drama.

Muladach − NTA Your behaviour was perfect. I'd take you to every MLM party I'm invited to if I didn't just trash the invitations and lose the 'friends' who invite me.

DrFluffpants − NTA: It is impossible to be a bigger a**hole than someone throwing a MLM party.

ADVERTISEMENT

poeadam − ESH The host is an a**hole because MLMs are bs and she may not have properly advertised the party as such, although this isn’t clear from your post. You are an a**hole because once you realized what was going on you couldn’t just leave quietly or be somewhat respectful while in another person’s home and instead decided to be disruptive and rude.

lending_ear − In solidarity for the A | P | I changes happening and killing of t | h | i | r | d party a | p | p | s like A | P | O | L | L | O: Cupcake ipsum dolor sit amet jelly lollipop pudding gummies.

Gummies chupa chups tart I love gingerbread apple pie jelly beans carrot cake dessert. Candy canes donut croissant cake lemon drops marzipan chocolate cake I love. Cake cake jelly brownie icing candy marzipan.. BYE!!. ** Feel free to copy and paste to use for yours! **

ADVERTISEMENT

The-Bouse − ESH but this is f**king hilarious

belikeatreeandleaf − ESH. It was a very clear trap on the hosts part for their MLM scheme. You're an a**hole because you should have stopped once you realized what it was, or left quietly. Also for making the assumption as to what kind of party it was because it was in a certain part of town

hxcn00b666 − YTA. People here will say N.T.A because everyone on Reddit hates MLM. She invited you over and you automatically assumed it was going to be a college blow out despite her not saying such.

ADVERTISEMENT

Then when you saw that clearly wasn't the case you were rude to not excuse yourselves to go elsewhere so you didn't disrupt the group. (even if it was just elsewhere in the house, not completely leave). edit: wow my first award on reddit since I joined 9 and half years ago! Thank you :)

ashhole502 − Going with ESH though this is hilarious.. Sarah is an a**hole for misrepresenting the nature of the party and trying to force people into the scheme. You, Jess and the couple are because you started heavy drinking when no one else was.

You may not have understood what was happening, but you knew enough to know it wasn't a normal party. The appropriate thing to do would be to leave or wait until the 'real party' you thought was going to happen actually did.

ADVERTISEMENT

Winnimae − ESH. Pyramid schemes suck, although tbh, it sounds less like Sarah was misrepresenting what the party was and more like you misunderstood the invitation. You and Jess were awful guests. What part of 'spa theme' made you think you should pregame and bring a handle of whiskey?

When you came in and everyone is sitting quietly sipping champagne why did you think it was alright to keep drinking heavily? In what world is it ok to sit there talking and giggling and looking for another party on your phones while the host is trying to talk?

Once you realised what the party was, why would you start doing shots and telling loud stories during Sarah's presentation? Those 'parties' are awful, and I wouldn't blame you a bit for leaving, but if you stay, you're a guest in someone's home and you need to be respectful.

ADVERTISEMENT

ChrisPBacon420Blaze − YTA - This absolutely was not a 'party' like you thought... but then again, a Kids Birthday Party is not a party like you'd think even though it has 'party' at the end.

A pool party is just people at the pool. A pizza party is just pizza for multiple people. So an MLM party is not a house party OP, obviously. You were acting extremely inappropriate, even though it was just MLM garbage.

As the whiskey bottle empties, this tale highlights the perils of misread invites. It’s a quirky lesson in setting expectations. How do you handle surprise party twists? Share your stories below let’s spark a conversation!

ADVERTISEMENT
Share this post
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *