AITAH for continuing to eat at chick-fil-a
My (23F) best friend (22F - transgender MTF) says she doesn’t know how I can call her my best friend for eating there, and I’m “actively funding [her] genocide”
For context, one of my closest friends, C, died years ago when I was 16. I barely have anything left of him. No real videos, barely any photos, no voice recordings that sound like him, etc. One of the only sensory things I still associate with him is Chick-fil-A because we used to eat there together a couple times a week.
Because of that, I still eat there sometimes, especially when I’m stressed or grieving. Not constantly, maybe like $15 every couple weeks. It’s genuinely one of the only things that still makes me feel connected to him.
My friend recently confronted me saying Chick-fil-A donates to anti-trans causes and that by eating there I’m actively funding people who want her dead. She said she’s struggling to understand how I can call her my best friend while “donating to an organization actively putting my life at risk” and accused me of “funding her genocide.”
I tried explaining that:
- my reason for eating there has absolutely nothing to do with politics
- it’s tied to grief/memory for me
- Chick-fil-A changed a lot of their donation practices years ago
She got upset and said every time she comes to me with something that hurts her, I either don’t care or get defensive instead of apologizing/changing my behavior. She also brought up unrelated stuff involving my boyfriend and said I never have her back.
At one point I told her I felt like my explanations about C were being met with zero empathy and that I felt like I was constantly apologizing.
I eventually basically said:
“I care about you and I want to still be your friend, but I need you to understand this is tied to grief and not hatred.”
I feel like shit overall and am being told by 3 separate sources that she’s attempting to manipulate me, something 2 of the said sources have worried about in the past.
AITA for continuing to eat Chick-fil-A despite knowing how strongly she feels about it?