The Bachelorette

I'm going to a bachelorette this weekend for a high school friend, and the whole original HS crew is attending (8 total girls). Everything has been very normal until yesterday - we received a text from one of the girls saying she cannot be away from her 7 mo. old baby more than 2 nights, so she'll have to bring him (We are all staying in the same Airbnb). The group chat was DEAD silent for a couple of hours until I chimed in and said "I think it's best you stay home... I don't think a bachelorette is any place for a baby" and directly following I was told I was "bold" and "too harsh" because the bride was OK with it...

I think this whole situation is bizarre... we are going to be taking tequila shots and going bar hopping with a baby? What do we do during the day when he needs to nap or if he cries all night?

so... AITA?

~~

UPDATE: She brought her baby to night #1 and then brought him home for night #2. To be fair, he is an easy and well-natured baby. She reiterated that we shouldn’t feel the need to entertain him, but we have all been friends for 17+ years and are in our 30s, so it was an instinct to pass him around. It did change the experience - for one, we stayed at the Airbnb instead of going out to dinner/exploring the town.

At the end of the day, I only care about the bride having a good time and feeling celebrated. I think she might have regretted her answer from how quiet she was the first night, but it’s not for me to say!

Finally, I’m not regretful in speaking my mind because what’s a long-term friendship without a little honesty? Yes, the baby is breastfeeding, but he also eats some food, and DOES drink from a bottle (I saw that question about being unable to use a bottle a couple of times). Still not sure why we went this route, but I can officially check “attended bachelorette with a baby” off my list! 😂

1. Katie and Blake didn't even last 6 months together

2. no lead was chosen from her season

3. low budget season

4. the only men from her season who had an impact on BIP were Aaron, Thomas and James, and even James and Thomas barely had screen time

5. very forgettable season, no memorable villains, or an iconic moment

I love Charity and going into this season I was rooting for her to be bachelorette.

But watching Ariels hometown... not only has she made multiple comments about being Jewish but seeing her father so obviously being an immigrant with English as a second language I think they missed a huge opportunity to showcase diversity in so many ways.

The bachelor has made it clear their idea of diversity is black and white... literally. I want to see other religions showcased. I want to see every ethnicity. And I really love to see an immigrant family featured and wish they would've picked Ariel to check all the boxes.

That’s all.

Since production gives us next to nothing with her new life, I need Katie to be on The Bachelorette or something similar. I wanna see a bunch of hot dudes vie for her love and put it all on TV so Schwartz has to see it.

I haven’t even watched The Bachelorette since its early years but I’d nominate Katie 100%.

Gabi put on an ALL TIME second-place performance last night. The perfect amount of anger and clap backs while also showing so much heart and wanting to find someone who will choose her first. With all that said, HOW is she not the bachelorette? My only real theory is that they started filming Charity's season about two-weeks ago, and by that point, Gabi was still on the show. I guess to stay on track with filming they needed to pick someone. Otherwise, I feel like if they asked her she would've said yes based on her exit.

My tips & thoughts on how to navigate through some concerns you may have over the recent announcement of Jenn as the new Bachelorette.

• But we don’t know her. You’ll get to know her.

• But she’s not Maria. Or Daisy would make sense. (Barring any direct connection) you don’t know that much more about them either.

• But she’s so boring. So she’ll either continue to be boring and meet your expectations or pleasantly surprise you being less boring. It’s pretty much a win-win.

• But she was a last-minute pick. She was picked. She accepted. Don’t make her choice to take the opportunity your concern.

• But they don’t care about what viewers want. Okay they care about their total viewership figures mainly - but also they trust their own decision-making.

• But we don’t know her. You don’t know the contestants either (at least 2 of whom should appear in as many episodes as Jenn).

• But she lacks personality and pizazz. Hang on… you don’t know her?

• But she wasn’t even their first choice. Candidates pass, contracts fall through, business find their next option and move on. So should you.

• But she’s only 25 - and she doesn’t seem ready for marriage. A pretty reasonable point.

^{EDIT: Correction - Jenn is 26 yo. Apologies! Still the same point.}

• But anyone not in the top 4 won’t be a good lead. They might not but they could. Yes, I know there are past examples who validate your belief but life and BN don’t work on such a simple formula.

• But we don’t know her. Search ‘Jenn for Bachelorette’ in this sub and look over comments marked up to 5m ago - some are simply speculating but clearly, others don’t need much more than a cast pic to decide who they want as lead.

• But I know enough to know I don’t find her engaging at all. Fair enough. I respect your opinion.

• But this is the first time I’ve ever not known who’d be announced as the lead. That’s okay. You’ll get over it.

• But I don’t stan her. Yes, thank goodness. Maria is engaging to watch but I was kinda relieved to skip the inevitable excessive hype over the last couple of days had she been announced as lead.

• But she’s so forgettable. Rewatch episodes featuring her from Joey’s season.

• But we don’t know her. I’m sure she’ll do media interviews and stuff.

• But I‘m so underwhelmed at how they announced her. Okay sure but what matters the most is a decision was made to bring Jenn on as the lead. First Asian Bachelorette - it happened! Don’t let a lack of frills overshadow this significant choice.

As a reminder there are to be no spoilers in these live discussion threads.

Note: We will not provide any links to watch the show illegally. Please do not ask for one.