Mom demands neighbor pay the local 12-year-olds who shoveled 14 inches of snow from her driveway: 'It's only $60'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 20, 2024 3:00 PM EST

When a big snowstorm hit the Midwest, a group of teenage boys were ready to tackle the snowfall with their shovels. It's an easy way to make a few bucks for a teenager willing to put in the effort! As these four kids realized, all they needed were shovels. They probably expected that they'd rake in the cash… but they kind of just did things wrong, as u/beaversm26 explained in her story below. 

She was curious if she was in the wrong for the way she interacted with these teen boys. Maybe they've just never shoveled snow before, because they forgot one of the most important parts of the task: they didn't ask this woman if she even wanted her driveway shoveled. What if they'd done all that work, and then knocked on her door for payment, and she wasn't at home? Then they'd have wasted their time and lost out on shoveling for actual paying customers. However, since this woman was home, the teens confronted her. And when that didn't work, they got one of the neighborhood moms involved, too. It'll just be a lesson for these kids to be more cautious next time. But since they're only 14 years old, they'll have plenty more opportunities to try again. 

Up next, read about the woman who gave her husband of 21 years a stark reality check, writing that "[I'm] telling my husband, 'Good luck finding a supermodel girlfriend."

Advertisement
  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10444314368
    via Annie Smurova on Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITA For Not Paying the Kids that Shoveled my Driveway?
    via u/beaversm26
  • 03
    Hello. I am one of the many in the midwest hit by the snowpocolypse. I think we got like 14 inches where I live?
    via u/beaversm26
  • 04
    I also want to preface this with I don't like kids. 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 (26F).
    via u/beaversm26
  • 05
    I work from home and received a knock at my door today. There was a group of like 4 12 yearold ish boys, and they had shoveled my driveway and side walk and were now requesting payment. They expected $15 each.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 06
    I was really confused because they never knocked to ask if they could shovel my drive way. They just did it without asking and were expecting to be paid.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 07
    I was really just dumb struck and kind of said "I don't have any cash" and one of them pulled up a smart phone saying they had their mom's venmo account.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 08
    Again, me just being extremely confused I started saying that I never agreed to pay them for anything. I was going to shovel my driveway at lunch time. If they had asked, I would have said no.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 09
    The kids got really upset, and were like "You're not going to pay us for our work??" But again, I didn't ask them to shovel my drive way. They started yelling at me and I just kind of shut my door.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 10
    Fast forward a couple of hours, their mom comes and knocks on the door. I open it and she started screaming at me for not paying their kids. Her points were:
    via u/beaversm26
  • 11
    • It's only $60 and clearly not going to break me (not wrong) . They put in the work and should be paid
    via u/beaversm26
  • 12
    -Her boys did a nice thing for me • She was proud of her boys for using their snow day to help people, and I was being really ungrateful and going to make them turn to dr S next time
    via u/beaversm26
  • 13
    This is where I started to get kind of mad. I said that I never asked for their services, and it was nice that they shoveled my drive way, but I never agreed to pay them and they really should have asked first.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 14
    She insisted I pay them this time and they'll ask in the future. But I don't want to re-enforce bad behavior. Just because they're children and people feel the need to let them get away with whatever, this is just not a cycle I want to perpetuate for these kids. You can't manipulate people into paying you for something they never asked for.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 15
    Idk, so far I've refused to pay and I'm now getting torched on NextDoor for being a heartless monster who took advantage of children.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 16
    So I'm turning to you, reddit, AITA here? If I am, I'll just pay them I guess. Idk if I'm not seeing the situation clearly because I just don't have any experience with kids.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 17
    Edit to Add: A few people don't believe that I did not hear them shoveling. That's a fair thing to be suspicious of. So we did get 14 inches, but my husband and I shoveled yesterday. I'm not sure how much we shoveled vs what was left, but these kids did not shovel 14 inches on their own. My home office is in the far back of our house, overlooking the back yard. It's the furthest back you can get and still be inside.
    via u/beaversm26
  • 18
    And 90% of the time I have headphones in for meetings or music. So I really didn't hear them. Other question is my drive way length. It's a 2 car wide driveway, and it's probably 2 cars long. It's pretty standard so I also felt like $60 was outrageous.
    via u/beaversm26

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

Kids-Teens teens neighbors teenager snow neighborhood teenagers neighborhood-drama apartments cars neighborhood-stories terrible neighbors raising teens shovel
Scroll Down For The Next Article