People who are benefitting from a favor are expected to exhibit good behavior.
So when a co-worker without a car asked our Redditor for a lift due to inclement weather, he was expected to be respectful.
But when he was anything but, our driver was forced to react in a dramatic way that led him wracked with guilt and visiting the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit to seek judgment from strangers online.
There, Redditor Aware-Restaurant-281 asked:
“AITA for kicking my co-worker out of the car after he littered?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My co-worker asked for a ride home today because of the snow storm and Ubers were charging a ridiculous amount.”
“I said sure, no problem. While I was driving he opened the window and I asked why, he said ‘I’m just gonna toss my coffee cup,’ ”
“I said absolutely not and enabled the child lock, he got p*ssy and said ‘Relax, everyone does it. It’s no big deal.’ ”
The OP issued an ultimatum, stating:
“I warned him that if he littered from my car, I’m going to kick him out, he didn’t heed my warning and opened the door at a red light and just tossed his coffee cup.”
“So I turned to the nearest parking lot and told him to go back and pick his garbage up, or I’m not dropping him off. We were still 15 miles away from his house and it was 20 degrees out, he only had a light jacket and a hoodie on.”
Things unraveled quickly.
“He refused and told me that I’m being overly dramatic, I told him to get out of my car. He refused, so I straight up told him that I’ll call the cops and report him to management the next day if he doesn’t leave my car.”
“Only when I was with 911 did he leave my car. He told me that he’ll pick up the litter, and I told him that it’s too late and drove off.”
“He kept calling and texting me, so I had to block his number. AITA? He probably paid $80-100 for an Uber.”
Anonymous strangers weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Redditors weighed in with their thoughts.
“I completely understand your point. I’m concerned that he refused to leave your car – that could have escalated. Please tell HR what happened before he thinks to do so – not like a complaint, just mention it in case it comes up in your workplace.” – Hatstand82
“NTA. Even if he really believes everyone litter he could have lived with your “strict” rules for that one car ride as you were doing him a favor.”
“Also, what you asked was really not strict at all. Most people do not litter, it just looks that way because litter tends to stay for a long while, and so the litterers feel justified when they see the garbage.” – GrinerForAlt
“Depending on where OP lives, littering might also come with a hefty fine. That trainee put the environment and OP’s wallet in jeopardy, and neither is acceptable.” – NotACalligrapher-49
“You told him what the consequences would be and the over entitled DB did it anyway: This is entirely on him!”
“Solid NTA!!!” – Ambitious-Border-906
“Myself and a couple friends used to fish together almost weekly. I drove, and they knew we left the area cleaner than we found it. Pick up any trash, whether it was yours or someone else’s. I didn’t care how much trash was in my vehicle on the way home.”
“Had a coworker that wanted to go with us; I knew he was a slob, but I decided to take him along. I told him the rules, he said ok. Spent the day picking up his sh*t that he couldn’t seem to notice.”
“When I dropped him off, he asked me when we were going fishing again. I told him, ‘We are not going fishing again since you won’t clean up after yourself, like I told you. I picked up after you all f’king day.’ “
“His response? ‘You were serious about that?’ Yep, I was totally serious. Never went with us again.”
“OP you are NTA!” – windisfun
“NTA you told him not too, warned him of the consequences, gave him an opportunity to correct his mistake and still he chose to f’k around and find out.” – Urbanyeti0
“Exactly, NTA. You set clear boundaries and warned him multiple times about the consequences of littering. He chose to blatantly disrespect your rules and the environment, so he faced the consequences of his own actions.”
“You even gave him a chance to fix it before kicking him out. His behavior was entitled, and he learned the hard way that actions have repercussions. Good on you for standing your ground!” – Marmuccuself621a
“NTA.”
“Note for those in Celcius land: around -7°C”
“I’ve not used Uber that much – does it really get that expensive for a 15-mile trip?”
“Anyway, this seems to be a pretty proportionate. You established the rule. We were quite clear on the matter. It’s not like you were ambiguous. You were also quite clear what the consequences would be. Your coworker went out of his way to get kicked out of your car! And as a result of doing exactly what you said would get him kicked out of your car, you kicked him out.”
“You were actually pretty generous to take him to a parking lot.” – squigs
“As long as he wasn’t in physical danger, you’re NTA. Unfortunately for him, he has made being an antisocial edgelord part of his personality; he’s invested in littering, and when you stopped him, he found a way around your demand and opened the door. That’ll teach you to order him around! Hah! You can’t stop him!”
“Sadly for him, your reaction wasn’t ‘he’s determined and resourceful, I shall accept his authority from now on’ but ‘you littered. Pick that up’ and when he escalated, you matched his energy.”
“Your manager and HR need to know about this. He’s proven that he’s not a safe person to be around.” – allyearswift
“NTA, the biggest red flag was how he responded to you. He was deliberately antagonist. The argument could have been over anything, but this guy would rather ‘win’ than resolve something in a constructive manner.”
“He’s going to be hideous to work with. It would have been less effort for him to hold into his cup than do what he did at the red light. But he hates being told what to do. The managers are going to have a tough time with him.”
“HR need to know what this guy is like while he is in his probation period.” – luckystar2591
“NTA. Litter coming out of your car in front of a cop can get you pulled over and fined, also it’s gross. TBF, putting it in the trash is just out-of-sight, out-of-mind.” – Jenicillin
“NTA. I’ve been in a similar situation minus the weather. Was working fast food and me and my coworker closed and asked me to give them a ride home. We both had left over food bags and they ate theirs while I was driving. They put the passenger window down and next thing I know A huge bag of wrappers and stuff goes out the window.”
“I didn’t kick them out of the car, I still took them home, but I said, ‘Never do that sh*t again, or I WILL NOT be giving you another ride.’ and explained to them that 1. You have a trash can at home. They were like, ‘You’re right,’ and 2. (In our area at least) I, the driver, would have paid the fine as the driver of the vehicle since it’s my responsibility to make sure my passengers follow the law. They acknowledged they weren’t aware of that, and it was a good learning moment for them. At least but It was def infuriating.” – Shot_Ad820
“Absolutely NOT THE A-HOLE. this is clearly a case of FAAFO. They f*cked around, and they found out. Talk to HR in the morning, maybe even leave them a message now. Strikes me as the kind of person who will try to gaslight someone and blame you.” – Significant_Elk1999
“Definitely nta in my opinion. And no, not everyone litters. Where I used to live, there was a program called Swat a Litterbug, and you could get the state to send them a letter by reporting license plate and where and when someone littered. It probably didn’t stop anyone from littering (no fines, they just got a letter), but just maybe, maybe, it made people think twice about doing it, knowing someone saw it and cared enough to report them. Or maybe they just littered the letter too but hope not.”
“I would have done the same as you, either they needed to go pick up their litter, or they would leave my car.” – MsPennyP
Overall, many Redditors thought the coworker had it coming.
They sided with the OP for taking a stand against the disrespectful litterbug and teaching him a tough lesson by subjecting him to being vulnerable in the elements but without leading to serious physical harm.