'ITA for not apologizing to my girlfriend's parents after melting plastic in their oven?' UPDATED

"AITA for not apologizing to my girlfriend's parents after melting plastic in their oven?"

I (17m) am moving in with my girlfriend (17f) and her parents. I do not get along well with them very well but have been trying to make it work. They just bought a new kitchen appliance set. Yesterday I was alone in the house and decided to make dinner for the family. After preheating the oven it began to smoke. I called my girlfriend’s mom not knowing what to do, but was brought to voicemail.

To my surprise, I unknowingly melting a plastic dish cover causing the oven to smoke, as well as leaving an odd plastic coating throughout the oven. Keep in mind I have never lived in a household that stores things in the oven. My girlfriend's mom calls me back after I had already removed everything inside the oven.

I tell her what happened and she starts yelling at me through the phone that I am stupid for not opening it to check before turning it on, and to stop cooking because she doesn’t want her kitchen destroyed. Later that night when everyone arrived home, I did not say much due to the confrontation that we had on the phone. (I do not do well with conflict and tend to get very anxious).

My girlfriend told me that I should have apologized to them for almost ruining their brand-new oven, and melting the plastic. Me being upset and stubborn I do not feel the need to apologize for the accident, seeing as this is not the first time her mom has blown up on me for a simple mistake. Am I the @$$hole?

People did not hold back.

NotCreativeAtAll16 wrote:

YTA. Apologize to the people letting you live in their house. You almost ruined their new stove and you could have caused a fire. Acknowledge, move on, but you are 100% in the wrong here.

jrm1102 wrote:

YTA - just because it wasn’t intentional doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apologize.

aeroeagleAC wrote:

YTA, apologize. Also word of advice, if you are dependent on them for the roof over your head then show more respect.

Intrepid_Potential60 wrote:

You made a mistake. When one makes a mistake that causes hardship on someone else, one apologizes for that mistake and tries to make amends. Both of these things are simple. Not just your simple mistake. Both of them. YTA.

sfzen wrote:

YTA. You screwed up. Just apologize and move on. Stop being a stubborn jerk. Her mom shouldn't have yelled at you and called you stupid, but if you're going to claim you're in the right because you were upset, so does she.

After receiving a good deal of advice, OP jumped on with an update.

Update: Thank you all for your input and advice, I spoke to my girlfriend's mom and apologized. We are okay now. I know I have a lot of learning and growth to go through, and appreciate the feedback.