“Am I Wrong For Not Paying The Kids That Shoveled My Driveway?”
Interview With Author
Being a good neighbor means slightly different things to different people. For some of us, it means baking an apple pie for someone who just moved in. Or helping out a neighbor who clearly needs the help. All without any selfish intentions. However, some people think that it’s fair to be compensated for the help.
One redditor shared how they got into an argument with their neighbors over snow. Four of the local kids shoveled their driveway without asking and then demanded 15 dollars each (or 60 dollars total) for their services. The redditor refused, only to be visited by their mom later. Scroll down for the full story, as shared on the AITA subreddit. Were the kids being entrepreneurial or a bit greedy? What do you think, dear Pandas? Would you have paid them or refused just like the redditor? Read the story and share your thoughts in the comments.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the post, u/beaversm26, and had a chat with them about what happened. They told us that they’re feeling much better about choosing not to pay them now that some more time has passed.
“There has been a lot of speculation on them intentionally running this as a scam or shakedown, and also speculation on if the mom is sort of the mastermind. I think the internet can get really carried away on imagining these elaborate scenarios, and I don’t know what the truth is. Either way, even if the whole scenario was an innocent mistake, I think it was probably a good lesson in boundaries and consent which needs to be talked about more with kids,” they said. Scroll down for the full interview about what exactly happened.
Bored Panda also reached out to financial expert Sam Dogen, the author of ‘Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom’ and the founder of the Financial Samurai blog. He said that it is “very important” that people ask their neighbors if they want help before charging them for the services rendered. “First, there is the issue of trespassing. An owner may not be comfortable with someone on their property. Second, there’s liability risk! If the shoveler slips and falls and breaks his leg, then what? The owner could be sued,” he said.
A bunch of local kids shoveled the snow from their neighbor’s driveway. However, things got a bit heated
Image credits: julie corsi (not an actual photo)
Here’s the full story, dear Pandas
Image credits: Kara Babcock (not an actual photo)
Image credits: Igal Ness (not an actual photo)
Image credits: Elizabeth Warren (not an actual photo)
The author of the post, u/beaversm26, said that they didn’t expect their story to get so much attention online. However, it was very relatable to a lot of people. “Apparently this is a more common scenario than I realized because several people have brought up similar experiences of their own,” they said.
The redditor shared a bit more about what happened with the kids that were shoveling the driveway.
“The kids knocked on the door and were very much like, ‘We did X, and now you have to pay us X amount.’ It very much seemed like they didn’t think there was any other choice; like they didn’t think ‘no’ was an option. I think that confidence has worked in their favor in the past,” the redditor explained.
“They immediately got upset and defensive and it was kind of just the 4 of them yelling at once about how they needed to be paid because they did the work. I guess they were rude, but mostly they just seemed so entitled to being paid that they were just so bewildered that someone said ‘no,'” the author of the thread explained to Bored Panda.
One thing that the redditor wishes they did differently is to at least have said ‘thank you.’ “They did ultimately help me for no pay, but their attitudes and then the mom’s reaction stops me from feeling too much regret. I ultimately wish I just hadn’t opened the door,” they pointed out.
They were very candid that, at the moment, they “don’t have a strong relationship” with their neighbors. “Everyone kind of keeps to themselves, and my husband and I are by far the youngest people in the neighborhood. But we’re quiet. I didn’t respond or engage in the next door nonsense and so I imagine some people will hold a grudge, but that’s okay. I think the neighbors that do know me will know there’s more to the story.”
The redditor told us that they doubt the local kids will ever knock on their door ever again. “Which is totally fine. I like doing my own yard work,” they said.
“I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond and share their own experiences,” they thanked all the redditors who contributed in the comments.
Financial expert Sam told Bored Panda that, generally speaking, having an entrepreneurial spirit early on in life is awesome. “It helps you appreciate the value of money. Further, it instills a work ethic that will take you far in life. I firmly believe that grit and perseverance is the secret to success!” he said.
“The oldest and easiest way to be a kid entrepreneur is to buy and resell candy for a profit. Another way is to send fliers to all neighbors to do yard work. The final best way to make money is to brand yourself online with a website or over video,” he shared some of the ways that kids can start learning about business, money, and financial security.
Sam also shared what parents can do to encourage their kids to think about their future. “Parents need to explain as much as possible why things are the way they are, instead of just telling their children to do things. The more parents can explain why it’s important to save and invest and why it’s important to learn as much as possible, the better,” he noted.
“I see too many adult kids still living at home with their parents because they were never explained the importance of good financial habits early on. Yes, it’s possible to convince your parents to buy you everything as an adult child. However, where’s the satisfaction in that?”
Here’s what some internet users thought about what happened
The crux of the problem, according to the author of the post, was that the local kids didn’t even ask them if they wanted their driveway shoveled. They were planning on doing the work themselves later that day.
In short, the redditor felt like they were the victim of racketeering. They also explained that they couldn’t hear the kids shoveling the snow because they were working at home while listening to music.
Most AITA users thought that the OP definitely didn’t do anything wrong. They stressed that shakedowns are illegal, while some even joked about ‘slippery slopes’ if someone gives in to the demands even once.
Whether someone helps someone out for free or asks for a reward is up to them. However, our bodies are hardwired to reward us for altruism either way.
Vanessa King, the Head of Psychology at ‘Action for Happiness,’ explained to Bored Panda that humankind is a social species. Helping others is what we do, naturally. By lending a helping hand, we help keep the community together.
“When we do things for others, it activates the reward center in the brain, so when we give a gift, it feels the same as receiving a gift,” Vanessa said.
“Small daily actions one at a time can help us to make altruism a lifetime habit. You could start out small by deciding you are going to smile at everyone you meet or pay three people a compliment today.”
Yep, that's a shakedown. Probably learned it from the parents.
Yep, the mother clearly sent the kids out & planned on taking most of the money they got. I lived next door to someone who did that kind of crap.
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Where I live, there are people who hand heather to passers-by (insist they take it, "for you, for you"), then demand money. It's illegal, it's a scam, it's what the mother taught these boys to do.
Something similar was happening in my local hospital on the chemo ward (out patients). A traveller was going around the patients handing out these pressed tin st Christopher pendant things then asking them for money after they took it. I was there with my late wife whilst she was undergoing a chemo session and after refusing to take one of these pendants the traveller got shirty and abusive at which point I informed the staff on what they were doing and got them thrown off the ward. People like this make me sick, especially the ones who are targeting the sick and vulnerable.
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I would have said, “what? You shoveled the snow out of my driveway? I was going to film myself doing that for a Tik Tok video and make a thousand dollars from it. You owe me a thousand dollars.”
This is the same trick that conmen use to scam people out of their money. Luckily I'm Dutch so if you do something for me without telling me upfront that you expect payment, you will be getting my sincere thanks and great appreciation. And that's it. And that's also why I'm not seeing anything wrong with how op handled the situation.
Especially for something that you can easily do yourself for free.
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If I were the OP, I would take my vacuum cleaner, barge into the neighbor's house, vacuum one of their rooms, and declare that you're even.
Even better... Barge in, vacuum a room, and demand $60 as compensation. And then get your mum to come over and cause a scene if payment is not immediate!
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Yeah demanding payment after you do something totally negates the "doing a nice thing". One more reason to never answer the door.
She was never asked if she would like to receive your services. She doesn't need to pay. If anything, those little snots should pay for being on her property without asking. And who does their mom think she is? Those poor kids will grow up thinking this is ok, and they'll have a hard time adjusting when they actually have to work themselves
I had a neighbor who mowed my lawn. We had an agreement. I bought lawn equipment for him (mower, weed whacker and blower) for him to use on his lawn and mine. He was doing some plumbing work for a buddy, and asked him to mow my lawn in exchange. (They essentially swapped jobs to pay each other.) Neighbor's buddy decided that HE would start mowing my lawn and charging me for it (this guy mowed lawns on the side for extra cash and decided to just add me to his regular customer list) Told him I never agreed to it, so I wasn't paying. He called me night and day and once banged on my bedroom window demanding his $50. I told my neighbor to tell him to get lost or I'd call the cops on him. But then I had an idea. I'm a writer by trade and sometimes do resumes for people for cash. I spent 15 minutes writing up a resume for the guy. Mailed it to him with an invoice for $150 for the work I did for him that he never asked for. Never heard from again.
NTA and they should have asked prior to doing the work. also, $15 each is a bit much. where i live, prior to snow, the local high school kids organized to clean yards of leaves and debris for the city to pick up. the difference was they asked prior and refused payment of any kind. i offered to buy them lunch and they refused. they just wanted to do something nice for the older citizens of the community
How could anyone think that's OK? It'd be like me wandering into a restaurant and starting to clear and wipe down tables then asking for my paycheck, could of been ignorance from the kids, but the mother should really know better
Where I live it snows maybe once every 5 years I have 3 sleds a steep driveway that leads to a steep long hill! If someone touches my driveway we will be fighting !! “Don’t ruin this for me “ 😂😂😂no but it’s like a minute and 20 seconds ride to the bottom !
There was a joke when I was a child, re. unwanted help, about some kids who were "helping" an old lady to cross the street although she did not want to cross the street. My teacher would always tell us to make sure how and when we offer our help, if we genuinely want to be nice to people. Doesn't seem to be the case here, this was more likely a scam atempt.
NTA at all, I'd scream back at the mum, tell her you had big plans for that snow and her children are basically trespassing little thieves 😂
Reminds me of the super aggressive window washers in NYC in the 80s and 90s. We would shake our heads, tell them to stop, and they would continue to make our windshields dirtier with their dirty window washing liquid and then get scary when we wouldn't pay them. The one good thing Giuliani did was get rid of them.
They were trespassing. Had any of them gotten hurt, I've no doubt that mom would have filed a claim against your homeowner's insurance. You didn't ask them to shovel, and they didn't ask if you wanted them to. NTA.
When it snows I clear my elderly neighbours drives for free but I ask them first, some of them are proud buggers and I don't want to piss them off.
Gee, its a shame the mom can't support or care for her boys to the point where she has to send them out to shake down the neighborhood. Maybe someone should call DCS? Maybe the real victim in this could ask her neighbors what they think of that. Jussayin...
NTA...There was a guy going out and mowing lawns a few years go and coming back to be paid.. Even after mowing my garden..smh that's poor parenting, if she thinks they should be paid then mom can pay them. And good deeds are rewarded with gratitude not necessarily with money... People who have to use money to always show gratitude have bad people skills... As well as the people who think the only way to be shown is by being given money.
WoW...How the hell they know she has $60 to give them!?! And shame on the mother for supporting it, I wouldn't be surprised if she came up with the idea.
Right! I’ll go shovel driveways at $60 a pop and I’m oldish and a lady(ish)
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$60 is ludicrous. When it snows here, I shovel my driveway, and two of my neighbor's driveways who are older, for free. Takes about an hour total to do all 3 and all our sidewalks. For 4 people, this is 5 minutes work. So $60 is $720/hour for the work, or $180 per kid per hour. Do these kids have graduate degrees in snow shoveling? Did they polish it with gold leaf after shoveling it? I'd pay them $5 to shovel mine, but more than that, I'd just do it myself. If my elderly neighbors tried to paid me for shoveling their driveway, and gave me $60, I'd say, this is for the next couple winters, right? Not assume that was for ONE shoveling.
Agree with her reaction but what on earth does the fact she doesn't like kids and doesn't want any of her own have to do with this story? Absolutely nothing.
If they are interested in running a business, have them ask the neighbors if they'd like their driveway shoveled for free to show off their work. Then share some means of contacting them if they'd like to pay to continue it as a service. Teach the kids to look out for 'no soliciting' signs and by NO means do you go around demanding your neighbors pay your children. If you want to pay them for the 'free' work they did to get their business off the ground, then do so, but don't yell at strangers or malign them on the internet.
NTA. Extortion of you and her children, exploitation of children, you could throw child slave labor in there, trespassing on your property, removal of your property (technically the snow fell on your driveway, it belongs to you), and harassment. Report her to the police and the whole situation to Social Services, she'll think twice about using her kids to extort people out of money. You may actually be helping/saving these kids by doing so, as you don't know what kind of abuse their mother laid on them when they got home without the amount of money she wanted. Do we all remember Slumdog Millionaire? Kids were given babies to go beg for money with, and another kid was purposefully blinded, all to illicit sympathy and receive more begging money. That doesn't only happen outside of the West, you never know what your could be saving a kid from, or what goes on behind closed doors. REPORT HER.
Maybe... But I think there's not any really substantial evidence that the mom is abusive, and one reassuring thing is that all the Midwestern neighbors are talking about it on Nextdoor. If all the neighbors know these boys and the mom, hopefully they're looking out for each other.
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Isn't this the same as those guys who clean your windscreen while you're stuck in traffic? The kids are the villains.
parent probably told them to use this approach and they would assume to be paid, you are correct, don't pay, you did nothing wrong, document with police report In case things esculate. parent was probably a car window washer stop lites in NYC too..
The mother said she is proud because they want to spend their day helping others BUT they are not helping others... They are helping themselves because they only do it for the money, they could have ask for a voluntary donation, but charging money for a services nobody ask for seems like taking advantage. If they were really wanting to help, they would have done for free without expecting anything on exchange.
They should not have expected payment for what they did because they didn't get your approval ahead of time. I've shoveled the neighbor's sidewalk when doing mine without asking, but I don't charge them for it.
Reminds me of long ago when we lived in Tucson. Summer thunderstorms can dump a lot of rain very quickly. We were on a corner where rain would puddle deep enough, any cars attempting to drive through the intersection would quickly flood and stop running. Just short of floating. A push out of the puddle, a can of wire dryer, some paper towels, and people would be on their way. Here's the difference - people don't often carry their own wire dryer. We didn't ask for money. The first voluntary offer from the driver got a standard response of "That's not necessary." If the driver insisted, "Thanks, watch for puddles!"
If the mom hadn't got all dramatic I would have just thought these kids had to learn the hard way about requesting work and discussing pay rate ($60 is mind boggling, they might have gotten $10 outta me if they had asked first.) But the nagging on next door and face to face confrontation makes me think mom is the one looking for $$.
I probably would have explained that they should ask and gave each of them 2 dollars. 😏
I had neighbood kids come over and help when a major ice storm hit. I paid them. There are major differences though... 1. I was out there the whole time. 2. They asked if I could use help. 3. They asked if they helped if I would pay them, and how much. I agreed to $20 each (it was a bad ice storm and we had to crack the ice in addition to just shoveling). To me, it was a godsend. But had any one of the 3 not happened, I agree with the OP. No...
I will play the pedant today. "Pretense" is "an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true" or "a claim, especially a false or ambitious one." I think you meant "I want to preface this with I don't like kids."
Probably posted via cell phone & autocorrect changed it.
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This seems like something that would happen on an episode of Shameless. I have no doubt in my mind that the mom is behind this
What does them being kids have to do with it? This is a legal issue
Moral of the story just ask next time, Im sure someone would take them up on it.
Nope, thats not hows its done, when I was younger we went door to door asking if we could shovel the drive way for $20 dollars, then do the work, when done the neighbor would look at the work and then pay.
It's a good lesson for them to learn to ask first...in any situation like this. Not just for this homeowner.
You don't show up do work then expect to get paid - it doesn't work that way. You ask if he would like to have his driveway shoveled for $60 then get his ok to do it.
Of course, it is quite easy to se, if you just imagine 4 adult men doing the same. I think I would call the police
Back in college days my ex and some friends made some nice cash on snow days shoveling people's yards and driveways. But the rule was - you always ask first. If someone says "no, thank you" you just go to the next house. This is a honest job but the kids need to learn the rules and respect their potential employers.
The only question I would have is: Did she know they were shoveling the snow before they tried to charge her. Why? Because that would determine if she took the service for granted. Also if she knew it was happening she could have spoken up before they finished.
I "can afford it" but I'm very frugal. So much so that I shoveled my own driveway 3 times during the storm even though I've got a bum arm. I'd be pissed.
I was about to call OP the AH until the details. Yeah you need to pay people for their services, BUT if they dont ask you, and then come demanding payment, thats a no. The kids most likely learned this behavior from their parents.
I swear I've read pretty much the exact same story months ago. The only difference here is that the post I originally saw said that the kids had asked them first and they had said ok when the kids asked to shovel the driveway. Then the poster refused to pay. This is so fake.
Kids used to try to run this scam fairly often in my younger days. They'd shovel your driveway or your sidewalk in the winter, and some of the braver ones would even try to mow your lawn without permission in the summer and then guilt trip you into paying them. It's annoying as hell. The OP is definitely NTA. No one is entitled to payment, or even a thank you, for rendering "services" that were never asked for.
At a neighbor friend's recommendation I joined NextDoor. I was on there for two days and because of petty public shaming like this (and other crap) I left.
This seems like a good teaching moment for the kids. Unfortunately the mother seems like she's the one grifting the money. Poor kids. Definitely NTA though.
That mom jumped from 0-100 with that "NeXt TiMe ThEy'Ll TuRn To DrUgS!!" Statement. So, Bc they're not shoveling snow, they'll start doing drugs? Way to guilt trip, mom! And not all kids are like this; we had a few that came to sing us Christmas carols and they were so cute and sweet and I had a few candy gift bags left over that I wanted to give them, but they wouldn't accept anything- as the littlest boy said "we just wanted a few minutes of your time, that's all". He also meowed- he was my favorite lol
We have neighbors who did this with lawn mowing. They trespassed on lawns to mow without any permission and then demanded to be paid. It is a scam. They were not and are not nice and always tried get money. They have severe boundary problems and have trouble staying off of others people's property in general. We do not want people mowing our lawn or shoveling our driveway without permission. They gossip, lie and try to cause problems for others who put them in their place. Many neighbors see them for what they are, but some are conned. They used their kids as a vehicle to make a buck. It is sad.
No, u shouldn't pay them cuz u never said u would have😐. I would've just kept to myself and close the door
Yeah if you dont mind if they put the snow back where they found it, NTA
I would have come unglued on the little f*****s. Why would you assume anyone has a spare $60 to piss away?
I remember being a preteen and going around at my friends apartments and we would ask her neighbors a if we could walk their dogs or wash their cars for $5 then we would go buy potato chips 😂
Why would you use a photo of Elizabeth Warren knocking at the door? It makes it seem like you’re trying to imply something…
"I don't hate them, I just don't have any experience with kids and haven't felt the need to produce any of my own" If that ain't a mood-
NTA. People will do that in my country (not with snow. But like, do a service, especially involving cars, an then ask for money later). Unfortunatelly here, you are better of just paying, or they will damage your property and you dont want to mess if this people.
I think there's NAH. The woman is obviously nta, but it was nice of the kids to shovel the driveway, even if they asked to be paid
Trespassing and demanding pay after work is not a nice thing to do
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It's only here so you can comment on it, and then you can cry cuz you have no life?
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Ahh yes, threatening to shoot people. How utterly classy of you.
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12 year old kids are entirely capable of trying to scam people. As someone for whom 60 bucks would actually be quite a big deal, I'd definitely refuse to pay them.
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Yep, that's a shakedown. Probably learned it from the parents.
Yep, the mother clearly sent the kids out & planned on taking most of the money they got. I lived next door to someone who did that kind of crap.
Load More Replies... Where I live, there are people who hand heather to passers-by (insist they take it, "for you, for you"), then demand money. It's illegal, it's a scam, it's what the mother taught these boys to do.
Something similar was happening in my local hospital on the chemo ward (out patients). A traveller was going around the patients handing out these pressed tin st Christopher pendant things then asking them for money after they took it. I was there with my late wife whilst she was undergoing a chemo session and after refusing to take one of these pendants the traveller got shirty and abusive at which point I informed the staff on what they were doing and got them thrown off the ward. People like this make me sick, especially the ones who are targeting the sick and vulnerable.
Load More Replies... I would have said, “what? You shoveled the snow out of my driveway? I was going to film myself doing that for a Tik Tok video and make a thousand dollars from it. You owe me a thousand dollars.”
This is the same trick that conmen use to scam people out of their money. Luckily I'm Dutch so if you do something for me without telling me upfront that you expect payment, you will be getting my sincere thanks and great appreciation. And that's it. And that's also why I'm not seeing anything wrong with how op handled the situation.
Especially for something that you can easily do yourself for free.
Load More Replies... If I were the OP, I would take my vacuum cleaner, barge into the neighbor's house, vacuum one of their rooms, and declare that you're even.
Even better... Barge in, vacuum a room, and demand $60 as compensation. And then get your mum to come over and cause a scene if payment is not immediate!
Load More Replies... Yeah demanding payment after you do something totally negates the "doing a nice thing". One more reason to never answer the door.
She was never asked if she would like to receive your services. She doesn't need to pay. If anything, those little snots should pay for being on her property without asking. And who does their mom think she is? Those poor kids will grow up thinking this is ok, and they'll have a hard time adjusting when they actually have to work themselves
I had a neighbor who mowed my lawn. We had an agreement. I bought lawn equipment for him (mower, weed whacker and blower) for him to use on his lawn and mine. He was doing some plumbing work for a buddy, and asked him to mow my lawn in exchange. (They essentially swapped jobs to pay each other.) Neighbor's buddy decided that HE would start mowing my lawn and charging me for it (this guy mowed lawns on the side for extra cash and decided to just add me to his regular customer list) Told him I never agreed to it, so I wasn't paying. He called me night and day and once banged on my bedroom window demanding his $50. I told my neighbor to tell him to get lost or I'd call the cops on him. But then I had an idea. I'm a writer by trade and sometimes do resumes for people for cash. I spent 15 minutes writing up a resume for the guy. Mailed it to him with an invoice for $150 for the work I did for him that he never asked for. Never heard from again.
NTA and they should have asked prior to doing the work. also, $15 each is a bit much. where i live, prior to snow, the local high school kids organized to clean yards of leaves and debris for the city to pick up. the difference was they asked prior and refused payment of any kind. i offered to buy them lunch and they refused. they just wanted to do something nice for the older citizens of the community
How could anyone think that's OK? It'd be like me wandering into a restaurant and starting to clear and wipe down tables then asking for my paycheck, could of been ignorance from the kids, but the mother should really know better
Where I live it snows maybe once every 5 years I have 3 sleds a steep driveway that leads to a steep long hill! If someone touches my driveway we will be fighting !! “Don’t ruin this for me “ 😂😂😂no but it’s like a minute and 20 seconds ride to the bottom !
There was a joke when I was a child, re. unwanted help, about some kids who were "helping" an old lady to cross the street although she did not want to cross the street. My teacher would always tell us to make sure how and when we offer our help, if we genuinely want to be nice to people. Doesn't seem to be the case here, this was more likely a scam atempt.
NTA at all, I'd scream back at the mum, tell her you had big plans for that snow and her children are basically trespassing little thieves 😂
Reminds me of the super aggressive window washers in NYC in the 80s and 90s. We would shake our heads, tell them to stop, and they would continue to make our windshields dirtier with their dirty window washing liquid and then get scary when we wouldn't pay them. The one good thing Giuliani did was get rid of them.
They were trespassing. Had any of them gotten hurt, I've no doubt that mom would have filed a claim against your homeowner's insurance. You didn't ask them to shovel, and they didn't ask if you wanted them to. NTA.
When it snows I clear my elderly neighbours drives for free but I ask them first, some of them are proud buggers and I don't want to piss them off.
Gee, its a shame the mom can't support or care for her boys to the point where she has to send them out to shake down the neighborhood. Maybe someone should call DCS? Maybe the real victim in this could ask her neighbors what they think of that. Jussayin...
NTA...There was a guy going out and mowing lawns a few years go and coming back to be paid.. Even after mowing my garden..smh that's poor parenting, if she thinks they should be paid then mom can pay them. And good deeds are rewarded with gratitude not necessarily with money... People who have to use money to always show gratitude have bad people skills... As well as the people who think the only way to be shown is by being given money.
WoW...How the hell they know she has $60 to give them!?! And shame on the mother for supporting it, I wouldn't be surprised if she came up with the idea.
Right! I’ll go shovel driveways at $60 a pop and I’m oldish and a lady(ish)
Load More Replies... $60 is ludicrous. When it snows here, I shovel my driveway, and two of my neighbor's driveways who are older, for free. Takes about an hour total to do all 3 and all our sidewalks. For 4 people, this is 5 minutes work. So $60 is $720/hour for the work, or $180 per kid per hour. Do these kids have graduate degrees in snow shoveling? Did they polish it with gold leaf after shoveling it? I'd pay them $5 to shovel mine, but more than that, I'd just do it myself. If my elderly neighbors tried to paid me for shoveling their driveway, and gave me $60, I'd say, this is for the next couple winters, right? Not assume that was for ONE shoveling.
Agree with her reaction but what on earth does the fact she doesn't like kids and doesn't want any of her own have to do with this story? Absolutely nothing.
If they are interested in running a business, have them ask the neighbors if they'd like their driveway shoveled for free to show off their work. Then share some means of contacting them if they'd like to pay to continue it as a service. Teach the kids to look out for 'no soliciting' signs and by NO means do you go around demanding your neighbors pay your children. If you want to pay them for the 'free' work they did to get their business off the ground, then do so, but don't yell at strangers or malign them on the internet.
NTA. Extortion of you and her children, exploitation of children, you could throw child slave labor in there, trespassing on your property, removal of your property (technically the snow fell on your driveway, it belongs to you), and harassment. Report her to the police and the whole situation to Social Services, she'll think twice about using her kids to extort people out of money. You may actually be helping/saving these kids by doing so, as you don't know what kind of abuse their mother laid on them when they got home without the amount of money she wanted. Do we all remember Slumdog Millionaire? Kids were given babies to go beg for money with, and another kid was purposefully blinded, all to illicit sympathy and receive more begging money. That doesn't only happen outside of the West, you never know what your could be saving a kid from, or what goes on behind closed doors. REPORT HER.
Maybe... But I think there's not any really substantial evidence that the mom is abusive, and one reassuring thing is that all the Midwestern neighbors are talking about it on Nextdoor. If all the neighbors know these boys and the mom, hopefully they're looking out for each other.
Load More Replies... Isn't this the same as those guys who clean your windscreen while you're stuck in traffic? The kids are the villains.
parent probably told them to use this approach and they would assume to be paid, you are correct, don't pay, you did nothing wrong, document with police report In case things esculate. parent was probably a car window washer stop lites in NYC too..
The mother said she is proud because they want to spend their day helping others BUT they are not helping others... They are helping themselves because they only do it for the money, they could have ask for a voluntary donation, but charging money for a services nobody ask for seems like taking advantage. If they were really wanting to help, they would have done for free without expecting anything on exchange.
They should not have expected payment for what they did because they didn't get your approval ahead of time. I've shoveled the neighbor's sidewalk when doing mine without asking, but I don't charge them for it.
Reminds me of long ago when we lived in Tucson. Summer thunderstorms can dump a lot of rain very quickly. We were on a corner where rain would puddle deep enough, any cars attempting to drive through the intersection would quickly flood and stop running. Just short of floating. A push out of the puddle, a can of wire dryer, some paper towels, and people would be on their way. Here's the difference - people don't often carry their own wire dryer. We didn't ask for money. The first voluntary offer from the driver got a standard response of "That's not necessary." If the driver insisted, "Thanks, watch for puddles!"
If the mom hadn't got all dramatic I would have just thought these kids had to learn the hard way about requesting work and discussing pay rate ($60 is mind boggling, they might have gotten $10 outta me if they had asked first.) But the nagging on next door and face to face confrontation makes me think mom is the one looking for $$.
I probably would have explained that they should ask and gave each of them 2 dollars. 😏
I had neighbood kids come over and help when a major ice storm hit. I paid them. There are major differences though... 1. I was out there the whole time. 2. They asked if I could use help. 3. They asked if they helped if I would pay them, and how much. I agreed to $20 each (it was a bad ice storm and we had to crack the ice in addition to just shoveling). To me, it was a godsend. But had any one of the 3 not happened, I agree with the OP. No...
I will play the pedant today. "Pretense" is "an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true" or "a claim, especially a false or ambitious one." I think you meant "I want to preface this with I don't like kids."
Probably posted via cell phone & autocorrect changed it.
Load More Replies... This seems like something that would happen on an episode of Shameless. I have no doubt in my mind that the mom is behind this
What does them being kids have to do with it? This is a legal issue
Moral of the story just ask next time, Im sure someone would take them up on it.
Nope, thats not hows its done, when I was younger we went door to door asking if we could shovel the drive way for $20 dollars, then do the work, when done the neighbor would look at the work and then pay.
It's a good lesson for them to learn to ask first...in any situation like this. Not just for this homeowner.
You don't show up do work then expect to get paid - it doesn't work that way. You ask if he would like to have his driveway shoveled for $60 then get his ok to do it.
Of course, it is quite easy to se, if you just imagine 4 adult men doing the same. I think I would call the police
Back in college days my ex and some friends made some nice cash on snow days shoveling people's yards and driveways. But the rule was - you always ask first. If someone says "no, thank you" you just go to the next house. This is a honest job but the kids need to learn the rules and respect their potential employers.
The only question I would have is: Did she know they were shoveling the snow before they tried to charge her. Why? Because that would determine if she took the service for granted. Also if she knew it was happening she could have spoken up before they finished.
I "can afford it" but I'm very frugal. So much so that I shoveled my own driveway 3 times during the storm even though I've got a bum arm. I'd be pissed.
I was about to call OP the AH until the details. Yeah you need to pay people for their services, BUT if they dont ask you, and then come demanding payment, thats a no. The kids most likely learned this behavior from their parents.
I swear I've read pretty much the exact same story months ago. The only difference here is that the post I originally saw said that the kids had asked them first and they had said ok when the kids asked to shovel the driveway. Then the poster refused to pay. This is so fake.
Kids used to try to run this scam fairly often in my younger days. They'd shovel your driveway or your sidewalk in the winter, and some of the braver ones would even try to mow your lawn without permission in the summer and then guilt trip you into paying them. It's annoying as hell. The OP is definitely NTA. No one is entitled to payment, or even a thank you, for rendering "services" that were never asked for.
At a neighbor friend's recommendation I joined NextDoor. I was on there for two days and because of petty public shaming like this (and other crap) I left.
This seems like a good teaching moment for the kids. Unfortunately the mother seems like she's the one grifting the money. Poor kids. Definitely NTA though.
That mom jumped from 0-100 with that "NeXt TiMe ThEy'Ll TuRn To DrUgS!!" Statement. So, Bc they're not shoveling snow, they'll start doing drugs? Way to guilt trip, mom! And not all kids are like this; we had a few that came to sing us Christmas carols and they were so cute and sweet and I had a few candy gift bags left over that I wanted to give them, but they wouldn't accept anything- as the littlest boy said "we just wanted a few minutes of your time, that's all". He also meowed- he was my favorite lol
We have neighbors who did this with lawn mowing. They trespassed on lawns to mow without any permission and then demanded to be paid. It is a scam. They were not and are not nice and always tried get money. They have severe boundary problems and have trouble staying off of others people's property in general. We do not want people mowing our lawn or shoveling our driveway without permission. They gossip, lie and try to cause problems for others who put them in their place. Many neighbors see them for what they are, but some are conned. They used their kids as a vehicle to make a buck. It is sad.
No, u shouldn't pay them cuz u never said u would have😐. I would've just kept to myself and close the door
Yeah if you dont mind if they put the snow back where they found it, NTA
I would have come unglued on the little f*****s. Why would you assume anyone has a spare $60 to piss away?
I remember being a preteen and going around at my friends apartments and we would ask her neighbors a if we could walk their dogs or wash their cars for $5 then we would go buy potato chips 😂
Why would you use a photo of Elizabeth Warren knocking at the door? It makes it seem like you’re trying to imply something…
"I don't hate them, I just don't have any experience with kids and haven't felt the need to produce any of my own" If that ain't a mood-
NTA. People will do that in my country (not with snow. But like, do a service, especially involving cars, an then ask for money later). Unfortunatelly here, you are better of just paying, or they will damage your property and you dont want to mess if this people.
I think there's NAH. The woman is obviously nta, but it was nice of the kids to shovel the driveway, even if they asked to be paid
Trespassing and demanding pay after work is not a nice thing to do
Load More Replies... It's only here so you can comment on it, and then you can cry cuz you have no life?
Load More Replies... Ahh yes, threatening to shoot people. How utterly classy of you.
Load More Replies... 12 year old kids are entirely capable of trying to scam people. As someone for whom 60 bucks would actually be quite a big deal, I'd definitely refuse to pay them.
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