Woman Makes Boyfriend Sign 'Performance Improvement Plan' After He Forgot That It Was Her Birthday
Miljan Zivkovic | ShutterstockForgetting your partner's birthday can definitely stir up some tension in a relationship. Feeling appreciated and prioritized by the person you love matters more than people sometimes realize.
When someone drops the ball in that way on a day when you're expecting them to go above and beyond, it can cut a little deeper. When that happened to one woman in particular, she decided to create an "improvement plan" for her boyfriend, who shared the details of it in a Reddit post. Despite the fact that he felt a little miffed by his girlfriend's actions, people were essentially on her side.
Woman makes boyfriend sign 'performance improvement plan' after he forgot it was her birthday.
The forgetful boyfriend shared the performance improvement plan his girlfriend created; the concept closely resembled an improvement plan an employee might receive from their manager at work. In fact, his girlfriend, Katherine, included all of the terminology that you'd find in a corporate job. At the top, she printed her boyfriend's name, Michael, underneath employee, and her name under manager.
Reddit
For his "position," she wrote "boyfriend," and his department was "love and affection." As for his target area, Katherine wrote on the plan that he failed to "deploy date-keeping, foresight, and thoughtfulness," leading him to "forgetting to plan, provide gifts for, and, ultimately, celebrate my birthday."
Underneath his improvement actions, Katherine insisted that her boyfriend start keeping numerous planning tools so that he would remember her birthday and other important events in their relationship.
She demanded that her boyfriend have 'check-ins' so this wouldn't happen again.
When it came to "training and support," Katherine made sure to acknowledge that she'd given her boyfriend a calendar and some sticky notes. She was advising that her boyfriend, or "employee," check in for her half-birthday with a minor celebration, three months before her birthday, to confirm planning, one month prior, and two weeks prior.
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"Obviously, I signed it but I feel weird about it. She hasn't done something like this before and was kind of laughing but when I asked if she was serious. She said she expected me to take it seriously. Note that we did have a make-up [birthday' night already. I said sorry a lot, I took her out for a movie, and really nice dinner. She told me to post it [because] she 'knows people will back her up,'" he wrote in his post.
The girlfriend chose humor to deliver the important message that he should remember her birthday moving forward.
People in the comments section were fully on Katherine's side, insisting that forgetting a partner's birthday is a pretty big deal. While many found the performance improvement plan hilarious, others appreciated just how detailed and organized Katherine had made it. Some commenters even admitted that they would probably do something similar if their partner forgot an important day.
While the improvement plan received mixed reactions, one thing it highlighted was just how important it is for people to remember details about their significant other. From how they like their coffee in the morning to more important things like birthdays and anniversaries.
"When one partner constantly forgets, they essentially cast their partner as the memory holder, who may become bitter. A forgetful/remembering dynamic leads to a dichotomous, rigid dance, which breeds contempt, tension, and anxiety," explained couples therapist Assael Romanelli. "Fight to remember by writing things down, and dare to challenge your partner to a 'two-narrative relationship.'"
Sure, this girlfriend turned her hurt into a humorous lesson, but regardless of how she delivered the message, she delivered it. All that is to say, she told him that his forgetting hurt her, and she asked him not to do it again. Here's hoping he doesn't.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
