When a person hires someone to do something, the least they expect is the bare minimum.
Welp, this man’s teenage catsitter did exactly nothing and still expected to get paid. When he refused to pay, his mom insisted he deserved something.
Was he in the wrong for refusing to pay him?
Let’s analyze the situation.
So I (39 years old, male) live with my wife across the street from a family. Dan and Gina, and their three kids, the oldest of which is a 14 year old boy named Max.
I recently took a week long vacation, and made a deal with Max (communication with his parents) that if he came over to my house one a day when I was gone to take care of my cat, I would pay him $50.
He had three main tasks: refill her water dish and automatic feeder, brush her, and clean her litter box every other day.
These are very basic tasks.
When I came back, I found my poor Kitty noticeably skinnier, with knots in her fur and a litterbox with a week’s worth of urine and feces in it.
I took the next hour to give my kitty some tlc and make up for Max’s incompetence.
He actually had extra expenses because of Max’s negligence.
The next day, Gina and Max rang my doorbell and Gina made polite conversation before asking about the money.
I told her about how badly Max had taken care of my cat, and Gina apologized. She then said that, due to his actions, she said that it would be fine to pay him only $20.
He was fairly paid for every second he worked…
I told her that no, I would not be paying him anything because it was clear that he never came over at all.
Gina argued that I couldn’t know that (true, I don’t have cameras), and that he’s just a kid and he did sacrifice his freetime with the expectation that he’d get paid.
She told me that I should at least give him $10 as a learning experience.
Being compensated for neglecting a living being would teach him the wrong lesson.
I refused and shut the door on them.
Now, I respect workers and their time, and I understand that when you hire someone you pay for their time and their skill.
In my opinion, Max didn’t give his skill, and I have a strong suspicion that he didn’t give his time either.
However, I realize I could be in the wrong, and I don’t want to make trouble between my wife and Gina as they’re good friends.
AITA?
Max got the “learning experience” he really needed.
Let’s see what Reddit has to say about this.
A reader shares their thoughts.
This commenter shares their opinion.
Yup!
Why didn’t she monitor his work as well?
Another reader chimes in.
I agree.
What did they expect? “Thanks for neglecting my cat, here’s $20”?
Not only would I never hire him again, but I’d also warn others against it.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.
