Woman wonders if she’s a jerk for not pitching in for babysitter

Navigating friendships as an adult often entails balancing responsibilities with social outings… It can prove to be rather difficult!

However, for one Redditor, a recent arrangement among her high school girlfriends raised eyebrows when she, the only one without children, was expected to contribute to the babysitter’s fee.

Keep reading to find out what happened!

A monthly tradition

Sharing her dilemma, she explained, “I’ve had the same group of girlfriends since high school, there are five of us. Each have a kid – well, except me.”

The woman took to Reddit’s ‘Am I the A*****e’ thread to explain that the group had established a monthly dinner tradition, hiring a babysitter for their four children while they dined out. However, when it came time to foot the bill, the expectation took an unexpected turn.

Recounting the incident, she wrote: “This week, it was my turn to pay, the first time since they hired the babysitter. I paid for dinner as normal, and hugged everyone goodbye.”

Upon returning home, she found herself inundated with texts from the group, insisting she owed them $100 for the babysitter. Confused, she questioned why, having already covered the dinner expenses.

Her friends argued that since it was her turn to pay and she enjoyed their company sans children, she should contribute to the babysitter’s fee. But she stood her ground.

Defending her stance, she said: “I said, I don’t have kids. Why would I pay for your babysitter? They said, you get the pleasure of hanging out with us and it’s the only way we can do it kid-free.”

Despite the rift this disagreement eventually started to cause, she stuck to her guns, telling her friends that she shouldn’t have to shoulder a cost that didn’t directly benefit her.

She then asked whether fellow Redditors thought she was being a jerk, and they weren’t took shy about giving their opinions!

What did the internet think?

One person wrote: “I would NEVER expect anyone to cover my babysitting costs. Especially someone without kids and not involved at all?”

“I have a child but even so why the hell would I make that someone else’s problem? Like if I choose to go out,and I choose to hire a babysitter, then that’s my responsibility. What a weird situation,” another added.

Someone else chimed in with: “If someone said that to me, I’d drop them like a bag of sand.”

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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