Redditor ceilingfanfloortiles decided to fire the babysitter she thought was a “very sweet and quiet girl” and “good with the kids” over an incident involving alcohol.
As it turns out, the babysitter made an honest mistake, but the decision was already made.
Seeking backup for her impulsive decision, the woman visited the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit and asked:
“AITA for firing my babysitter for getting drunk on the job.”
The Original Poster (OP) began her post by explaining this was her throwaway account.
“My (37 F[emale]) babysitter (16 F[emale]) has been babysitting for me for about 2 months. She’s a very sweet and quiet girl and is good with the kids (4 F[emale] and 8 M[ale]), we’ve only had small problems here and there but nothing major at all.”
“When she first started babysitting for me I had asked her if there were any drinks or snacks that she’d like me to keep at the house as she’s here from 9-7 every day Monday through Saturday.”
“She mentioned that she really liked seltzer water and I had bought them for the first month, but honestly I forgot after a while and never kept any in the fridge.”
“A few days ago I bought hard seltzer’s for me and my husband, and didn’t think anything of it.”
“A little bit after 2 pm she messaged me that she wasn’t feeling well and thought that she may have to go home, if it was possible if I could get off from work earlier.”
“I asked her to try and hold out until the end of the day. Not too long after she called me crying, saying that something was wrong and she had to go home. She was drunk clearly, she drank the hard seltzer’s.”
“I told her to leave and she walked home.”
“She messaged me the next day and said that she now knew that hard seltzer’s were alcohol, and she hadn’t known, she never drank before as both of her parents were alcoholics and she has diagnosed PTSD regarding alcohol, she never planned on drinking in general.”
“I told her not to come back as she put my children in danger.”
“She called me crying and saying that she didn’t know, and that she cared deeply about my children and would never ever drink with them, or at all, and that she needs the money to pay for her driver’s permit (she comes from a not so well off family).”
“I told her to find a real job and that it wasn’t my fault she got drunk.”
“My husband says I’m being very rude and that she did try to reach out when she wasn’t feeling well.”
“My kids are upset to see her go. So reddit, AITA?”
Anonymous strangers on the internet were asked if and where guilt belongs by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Redditors did not mince words when it came to declaring YTA.
“You’re an ungodly a**hole. Those seltzers are newish in the alcohol world and I wouldn’t expect someone who hates alcohol to know that.”
“How mature of her to let you know. How immature of you to do what you did. YTA.” – Ehhlnoy
“Not only newish to alcohol, but f’king 16. I sure as hell didn’t know what each and every alcoholic beverage looked like at 16. What a massive a**hole.” – wheredidalfgo
“Also refusing to come back home when her babysitter asked her to because she wasn’t physically well, but then blaming her when children are not looked after well?”
“If your babysitter flags it up you drop work and come home to take it over. The poor girl tried to alert her, the least she could have done is listen to her.” – darthvadercake
“And the teenager must have been TERRIFIED not really knowing what was happening to her!”
“Getting drunk for the first time can be weird even when you know what you’re doing.”
“Imagine feeling drunk for the first time and not even knowing what’s happening to your body. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to walk home like that.” – Thorhees
People also commented on the easily mistaken beverage for a non-alcoholic drink.
“I have done this several times myself, because we buy different seltzers all the time. To make it worse, I poured it in a glass, so I didn’t even have a can to look at it.”
“OP should be ashamed of herself. She’s lucky the babysitter’s parents didn’t call the cops on her.” – 1000livesofmagic
“Seriously, I’m 5 years sober and have to be really careful about logos on seltzer now. Someone at the grocery store had taken a hard seltzer from the beer section and put it with the regular ones on another aisle.”
“It took me a minute to realize it was alcohol and not just some new flavored water. How the hell is a 16 year old that didn’t even buy the stuff supposed to know?” – ZugTheMegasaurus
“Also a 16yo with no exposure to alcohol may have no idea what ‘hard’ even indicates when on a beverage label. Poor girl.” – zuzu_marie
“I did this at a party once. I thought I was being so responsible, only drinking these little la Croix knock-offs or whatever, until I was done with the second one in under an hour and started to feel it.”
“If you’re not familiar with the brand, it’s so easy to just drink one down, especially since they’re usually so sweet you can’t taste the alcohol.”
“Also, even if she had gotten intentionally drunk on the job, OP would be TA for making her walk home alone when she was intoxicated. I don’t know how far away she lives, but she could have stumbled into the street, or worse.” – AliceInWeirdoland
“Making a mistakenly and accidentally drunk 16 year old walk home alone is . . . Yikes.”
“Also it’s not super clear if OP or their husband was home when OP sent the girl home? It says the babysitter called OP a second time and ‘I told her to leave’.”
“So did OP send an accidentally drunk 16 year old to walk home and leave their 8 and 4 year old home alone????” – br_612
And someone did the math…
“oh my I just looked at the comments and OP was paying her $100/week for 60 hours/week.”
“Like that’s $1.67/hour for watching 2 kids.” – HyacinthFT
In response to many of the harsh comments, the OP made reparations and wrote in edits:
“Okay guys, I’m the a**hole. I see it now. Thank you. I’ll hire her again.”
“I will pay her $1500 a week from now on. And pay for her permit and test. As well as her license test.”
The huge wage increase raised an eyebrow.
The OP replied:
“I can afford to pay $1,500 a week for a few weeks, not long term.”
People thought this was just one more strike against the OP.
“According to Edit 2, OP is planning to pay her $1,500 a week now. Unless it’s a typo, or they live somewhere other than the US that uses the dollar sign, that’s over $80k a year. Which also blows my mind.”
“I saw where OP says it’s only for a few more weeks and also intended to make up for back pay, but holy sh*t. It means she could’ve been paying a competitive wage this whole time and just…didn’t. Ugh.” – CrouchingDomo
“If you have enough money to pay her $1500 a week now then wtf were you doing before? OP should be in jail.”
“The babysitter is probably a better parent to those kids than OP could ever be.” – keekeexd
There was no word on whether or not the babysitter agreed to those new terms or if she found a “real job” as the OP had previously instructed.