Now, ‘free ice cream and a day of fun’ is always pleasant, but this isn’t the sort of payment which covers the bills.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of unscrupulous individuals out there who lose no sleep over taking advantage of young people looking to support themselves through their studies.
One babysitter learned this the hard way after taking care of two children to earn money for textbooks. Their mother had promised her $16 per hour, however her stingy nature soon shone through.
The babysitter had taken care of the children for eight hours, and believed she’d earned enough to cover the cost of her textbooks. However, when she messaged their mother to arrange payment for her full day’s work, she was met with flat out denial…
The babysitter’s sister posted the shocking exchange on Reddit, where the audacity of the mother is absolutely astounding.
With perfect politeness, the babysitter spoke about how she’d enjoyed looking after the children, and asked if she could come round to collect her money.
The mother then replied with the sort of brazen nerve found only among those who couldn’t give two hoots about treating a hardworking person fairly:
I wasn’t aware payment was involved. You got free ice cream and a day of fun… I’m sorry for the misinterpretation.
With more restraint than I would be able to muster in such a situation, the babysitter reminded the mother how they’d already discussed payment via text.
r/ChoosingBeggars/RedditThe mother responded by asking to see the text exchange, and the babysitter obliged by sending over a screenshot of their prior – much warmer – conversation, where it was made clear the babysitter was to expect a payment of $16 per hour.
Interestingly, the mother doesn’t attempt to deny this conversation, and simply tries to bat away any responsibility by cooly explaining ‘I delete my messages often’.
At this point this babysitter took a firm stance, explaining, as much as she likes spending time with the children, her motivation for babysitting was for financial gain. It’s at this point the mother starts to get nasty:
r/ChoosingBeggars/RedditDespite not being the one who’s unjustly been denied payment, the mother proceeds to huff and puff with rage, accusing the babysitter of being ‘kind of stuck up’ and asking her to compromise for the meagre sum of $20.
Replying at this ‘compromise’, the babysitter said:
No. I watched your kids for eight hours and we agreed on $16/hr. $128 is the total.
The mother proceeded to refuse this amount, on the shaky basis her children were ‘easy kids’. The babysitter explained it ‘wasn’t a discussion of that’ and offered to settle for $100.
r/ChoosingBeggars/RedditAt this point, the mother erupts with rage, hurling foul and unnecessary abuse at the individual who’d taken care of her own flesh and blood.
All sense of shame thrown out of the window, the mother raged:
Absolutely not. I wish I didn’t have such a stuck up c*nt watching my kids. I am going to block you now – please do not contact me again.
r/ChoosingBeggars/RedditBlimey.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.