A teenage babysitter was so worried about the parents of the children she was babysitting not answering the phone that she called the police.
Explaining on Reddit’s Am I The A**hole (AITA) that she often babysat the kids in her neighborhood, she told of her latest job in which the child’s parents said they would be back at 9 pm. As the house she was sitting at was only a block away, her parents said she was to stay out until 10 pm.
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The Parents Were Still Not Home By 9.45 pm.
The 14-year-old told readers that she began to worry when the parents had not arrived home by 9.45 pm, so she tried texting them. She then had to call her mom to come over as it was snowing, and she was worried about what was happening. The parents were still not answering their phones at 11.30 pm, so she and her mom called the police.
The Police Investigated
The police took the details of the parts, including their license plates, and managed to reach them within 30 minutes.
The parents were at a friend’s house and mad that their babysitter had called the police. Upon seeing the parents, the babysitter explained how worried she was and that she would not have called the police if they had answered her calls and texts.
They replied that she was not mature enough to be babysitting and they would not be using her again or recommending her to others.
Overwhelming Support From Readers
The babysitter told Reddit readers that she felt bad that the parents had to deal with the embarrassment of the police turning up at their friend’s house but insisted that they should have answered her calls, mentioning that there could have been something wrong with their kids.
She should not have worried about the response, as many people jumped on the comments to say she was not wrong. One person said, “ the parents were taking advantage of you. You did everything you should have, including trying to reach them, contacting your mother, and then contacting the police.’ Another Reddit fan commented, “ If they were responsible parents, they would have answered your calls or gotten home on time as promised. Don’t let them get to you.”
Many comments about the parents questioning their accusation of the babysitter not being mature, saying, “OP did the most responsible thing. The parents are completely wrong: OP is beyond mature enough to be a babysitter; however, they aren’t responsible enough to be parents”.
The Babysitter Showed How Responsible She Was
Others commended the babysitter for showing that she cared about people’s safety, with one person saying, “For real! People get in accidents all the time; how was she supposed to know they weren’t hurt?! They weren’t even responding to any of her calls or texts. That’s what happens when people get hurt!”
The conclusion was that the original poster (OP) was not the a**hole and that, at the very least, the parents should have kept in touch with her to let them know they may be late. One person said, “Absolutely… you did the right thing. That’s just awful behavior to stay out later than the agreed time when you are 14 years old with no communication”.
We have to agree with all of the above and cannot believe that parents would not answer their phone when they have left their children in the hands of someone else. Like the OP said, what if their kids had fallen ill?
Source: Reddit
