Family comes first, right?
Well, for Redditor ImpossibleAd6003 sometimes that means teaching reckless nephews a lesson.
The Original Poster (OP) recently bought a tricked-out electric scooter for their work commute. Their nephew recently lost it while house-sitting with his mom.
The OP insisted on being repaid, which caused some drama between them and their sister, leading them to subReddit “Am I the A**hole?” “(AITA).
They asked,
“AITA for wanting my sister to pay me back because my nephew lost my electric scooter?”
They went on to explain.
“Last year, I bought an EMOVE Cruiser electric scooter which I’ve since modified to add more speed, a new handlebar, and some other mods.”
“The scooter itself was not cheap, at $1500, plus mods put it over $2000.”
“I have a sister [43-year-old female] and a nephew [13-year-old male] who I always let housesit for me while I’m out of town on business.”
“I have pets and plants that I need taken care of, and they always welcome a change of scenery. So I had to go on a business trip last month for a week and let them house-sit.”
“My nephew has always asked me about my scooter, and I told him that it isn’t for kids because it’s extremely fast, and I’ve expressly forbidden him from riding it multiple times.”
“His mother knows about this as well.”
“Well, I come back from my trip, and my sister tells me that I’m going to be mad, but my nephew took my scooter out, left it unattended, and had it stolen. I was f*cking pissed and asked them to leave.”
“I told them they’d have to replace it, and my sister pleaded with me, they couldn’t afford it, it was a mistake, and that he could just do chores around my house to pay me back.”
“I told her that it doesn’t replace my scooter. She said that any money would have to come from their vacation fund. I said, tough sh*t.”
“Our parents have gotten involved and said that I’m taking it too far.”
“They agree that my nephew should be punished and I should be paid back, but to take away their family vacation is just cruel and petty.”
“They suggested a payment plan. I told them, hell no, that I use my scooter to commute to work often and that I wanted it back immediately.”
“Furthermore, he was warned not to ride it since it’s dangerous.”
“Now that I’ve started to calm down here a little, I wonder if I’m being an Ahole here by being so demanding and potentially punishing everyone else for my nephew’s mistake.”
“AITA?”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided:
“She said that any money would have to come from their vacation fund.”
“If replacing the scooter meant they’d have to use money reserved for basic necessities (rent or mortgage/food/utilities), then I’d say you may want to reconsider the payment plan option.”
“But if they’re upset because they can’t take a vacation this year because of this, then tough sh*t. NTA.” – PrscheWdow
“OP, I implore you to find new house sitters for when you go on trips like that in the future. This is such a blatant overstep, disregard, and utter disrespect of your boundaries.”
“Your sister and your nephew knew the rules – they didn’t care.”
“Demand your scooter replaced, full mods like the one you had, and give them a date to pay it by, or you take them to court. NTA in the slightest.” – user_friendly_socks
“This is where I land. NTA”
“The fact is he was told to leave it alone. He didn’t. It is his fault.”
“If it meant eating or replacing that is one thing. Vacation is an extra. And he actually committed a crime.”
“Technically, if you took to small claims court, they would be forced to replace. You do not touch things that do not belong to you. He knew this and did it anyway.”
“He is a kid, yes, but lessons are only learned the hard way” – No-Fishing5325
“NTA. Your sister should pay you. Your parents can pay money into your sister’s vacation budget. Your sister can make payments back to your parents. Solved.” – liliette
“NTA. Repaying you comes before a vacation. You need it to commute to work.”
“Their neglect caused it to be stolen, so they need to face the consequences, especially since it was expressly forbidden that he ride it.” – Necessary_Feature_54
“I highly doubt it was neglect. I think it was theft.”
“He took it out and left it unattended? Like, how does that make sense?”
“He took it out to his little friends. If he just wanted to ride it as he said, then that’s what he would have done. Instead, he rode it somewhere and left it?”
“Where did he go? The park? An office? A movie?”
“People bring bikes to stores all the time. Protecting or locking up your vehicle is as commonsense as locking your door.”
“Does he have a habit of leaving your door unlocked when he’s house-sitting? It doesn’t make any sense. If it was his, then maybe he forgot because he’s used to it, but no, it’s a special occasion.”
“Bullsh*t. I promise you he knows who has it. This is just like the story about the boy who saw his uncle’s toy collections, googled their prices, and stole them to sell them.”
“This isn’t an innocent mistake.” – joyesthebig
“NTA. This is 100% your sister’s fault. She’s responsible. This is an expensive enough item to expect repayment, not to mention it is your way to commute to work.” – mutualbuttsqueezin
“NTA”
“Family vacation is luxury. They can skip a year to teach their kid a lesson and to learn a lesson of their own: have insurance.”
“(Even though the insurance possibly wouldn‘t pay in this situation because the kid isn‘t that young anymore.)”
“It‘s not like they have to cut their food or everyday life to pay you.” – InkedAlly
“I don’t understand the Y-T-A votes. I knew better than to steal other people’s vehicles at the age of 13.”
“Your sister is an a**hole for enabling your nephew to steal your property, and she has a lot of gall to suggest paying back in chores. Actions have consequences. They are lucky you didn’t call the cops.”
“They are lucky that their son wasn’t injured. And also, payment plans are bullsh*t. They will not pay you back. They can skip vacation for a year.”
“NTA” – limegeuse
“NTA.”
“If they would starve trying to pay you back, sure. If they are denied a vacation? Sucks to be a bad parent.”
“If this was California, it is illegal to ride such a scooter without a driver’s license.” – haemaker
“NTA”
“13 years old is old enough to accept responsibility for his actions, and his mother is just as culpable as his guardian.”
“Your nephew needs to learn to respect other people’s belongings, and although it sucks to lose their vacation, expensive lessons are often the most impactful.” – PJfanRI
“1. First of all, if god forbid, your cousin had been injured, killed himself, or caused an accident on the road, YOU could be sued, and people could have gotten hurt.”
“This is a very serious breach of your trust and should be treated as such.”
“2. Your sister knew her son was desperate to ride the scooter, and SHE did nothing to assure that he would leave it alone.”
“He didn’t ‘take the scooter and left it unattended’. The kid straight up STOLE the scooter and got it stolen.”
“3. If he left it unattended, it is reasonable to assume he used the scooter multiple times.”
“Kids who are sneaking a vehicle of any kind, are usually not wanting to get caught, so they put it back after using it.”
“Getting distracted and leaving a scooter lying somewhere around tells me that it wasn’t a one-off, and possibly that Mommy knew.”
“4. They HAVE the money to replace it. The fact that they want to go on vacation with said funds instead of replacing your commute scooter immediately is not your problem.”
“Your nephew is the one responsible for them not having the money to go have fun.”
“5. Your parents agree that your nephew should be punished. (Was a swift punishment not issued by Mommy immediately? If so, what? Like no TV for 10 minutes?)”
“Good, tell them that his punishment should be HIM, NOT YOUR SISTER, doing chores for his mother so she can pay back the vacation money.”
“Additionally, he can mow lawns, wash cars, etc for neighbors, to help her pay you bacK… As if this kid should be rewarded with a vacation after pulling such a dangerous and costly stunt anyway…”
“6. If he had stolen a neighbor’s scooter used for commuting and got it stolen, would your sister beg them to let her do chores? Actions have consequences.”
“This child f*cked around and should find out what it means to lose privileges like a costly vacation.”
“IMO, your nephew also should take responsibility by writing you a letter of apology outlining how risky and inconsiderate he was with his actions.”
“7. You are not being unreasonably demanding, and it is not you who is ‘punishing everyone else.’”
“In fact, it ridiculous they are trying to guilt you into letting this slide like you are in some way responsible for any of this.”
“DO NOT agree to a payment plan, and this is opening yourself up to a host of future problems…”
“…..Let your parents fund the vacation of their daughter’s family if it’s so important for their precious baby and grandson to have one.”
“NTA. Hold your ground.” – waltersmama
The OP went on to add:
“Hey Reddit, I went to sleep last night and didn’t expect this to get so popular, so thanks.”
“Now, to clear a few things up: People are taking offense to the verbiage “let” in my OP. Okay, let me explain, my sister and nephew view housesitting as a mini-vacation.”
“I’ve offered money every time to them do the job, but they refuse, so I give them free run of the house and money for meals.”
“I had insurance on it, but they won’t do anything without a police report.”
“My sister did not file one. She didn’t think the police would accept the report because it wasn’t a car or some nonsense like that.”
“And no, I won’t be filing a report with the police over my nephew. Listen, I’m furious at him and my sister, but I’m not going to get him into legal trouble over this.”
“He needs to be taught a harsh lesson, but jail time and a record aren’t one of them. At least, not in this instance.”
“That being said, I’m going to take some time and think of an appropriate and harsh punishment for my nephew.”
“I’ll probably end up accepting the payment plan but insist on interest. It’s not about the money. It’s about the principle.”
“That should be all for now, thanks.”
Sounds like the vacation is canceled until this uncle gets a replacement.