As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

What would you do if a friend visiting your country violated a serious local taboo that you told them about?

That is what the person in this story dealt with, and she wants some insights into how she handled it.

Take a look.

AITA for not helping my friend in a foreign country when I was the host and responsible for their wellbeing?

I invited my college friends to come to my country to visit and tour my home city, and we had a blast.

It’s an odd custom, but easy to follow I guess.

A unwritten rule in my country (potentially exposing myself here to those who know), is that if you saw an old person (anyone really, but especially old people) on the street that fell, you should NEVER EVER attempt to help.

This is cemented by an historical case where a poor guy helped a random old lady up on the street who then turned around accused the guy and demanded compensation.

The courts ruled in the old lady’s favor because “why would you help her if you did not push her?”

We were on the streets when, and you guessed it, we saw an old man on the ground.

I quickly tried herding my friends away, but some of them wanted to go help, especially because they saw passerbys walking like the old man is invisible.

I explained to them the story and how as their host I’m responsible for their wellbeing, and most got it.

Honestly, it would be hard to just ignore someone in that situation.

But one of my friends was still grumbling about how heartless I was.

I thought I managed to get the group going, but she ran back when I was not watching and decided to help the old man.

And what everyone expected to happen, happened.

Ahh, it was a scam.

It was a hassle, the old man claimed all sorts of made-up injuries and asked for about 1400 USD.

We had to call the police, who suggested we just pay the old man because he is old, or we might need to open a case and that old man will need to go to the hospital to do checkup, which might get us larger fees since he seemed the type that “knows” the doctor.

They seem keen on not opening a case even though it very much reached the monetary limit for one, making it very clear to my friend how much trouble it would cause her if they did.

In the end, my friend caved to pressure and agreed to pay up.

Here’s where I may be a jerk.

She asked if we can all help with the money, especially me since she is not rich at all, doesn’t want to be penniless in a foreign country, is not familiar with the payment systems while I’m the host and is responsible for her.

I refused, for myself and low-key for everyone else when I said I’m responsible for your wellbeing, but not your stupidity.

In the end the old man took us to an ATM and she paid by herself, and there was barely any money left in her account.

I figure it should be fine because we were staying at my house so she gets free breakfast and dinner, and she bought her return ticket before.

I can see why she’s upset, but it isn’t your fault.

Many of the activities we planned (like visiting malls and parks) are free, but she stay holed up in my room the entire rest of the trip and refused to talk to any of us, only cryptically posting on her Insta.

They are all back home now.

The rest of my friends think it’s not my fault, but her parents recently texted me to tell me how bad a host I was.

Should I have helped her pay?

AITA?

Wow, now that’s a weird story. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Let’s turn to the comments to get some insight.

It would be hard to resist.

I have to admit, I’m curious.

This comment sums it up nicely.

It was stupid, even if it was compassionate.

This person suggests a simple solution.

This country’s culture is really weird.

But to each their own!

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.