It’s nice to help a friend for free when you can, but in today’s story, one friend expects to get paid for his work even if he’s working for a friend.

The friend is shocked at this, and so is the whole town.

Let’s see how the story plays out…

You want that invoice paid?

So for starters, I live in a small village where pretty much everyone knows who’s who.

I like it a lot.

It gives me a sense of security that I feel is underrated in todays society.

Friends and neighbors help each other with moving, remodelling etc.

My mother in law wanted to have her driveway redone.

Being the good son that I am, I ordered supplies and got some friends and family members to come and help out on a saturday, after which there would be some nice cold beers.

This is before corona obviously.

He explains why he invited his friend John to help out.

One of my friends – let’s call him John – is more of an outlier and doesn’t get around too much.

He’s a bit timid, but otherwise a very nice guy.

I thought it would be a nice idea to include John in the working party, so he would get to know some more folks from the village.

With the work done and the driveway finished we thanked everyone that helped for the much appreciated effort.

John expected to be paid for the work.

Not too soon afterwards, I receive a letter.

It was an invoice sent by John for the hours he worked, multiplied by a not too shabby hourly rate.

To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement.

It is well known that this kind of work is for free; you scratch my back, I scratch yours. Or so I thought.

He paid John.

I come by John’s a few days later to ask him what the invoice is all about.

He says it’s no big deal and that he has done it before.

He can’t be expected to give up his saturday to work on somebody else’s driveway.

He says he thinks this is fair and that he wants to be open about it.

I soon understand that John isn’t going to change his mind and I don’t want to get into an argument with him.

I pay John myself because I am rather embarrassed to tell my MIL.

A friend asked his mother-in-law how much it cost to redo the driveway.

A few weeks later we are at a get together where John happens to be too.

A friend who had also helped says he is thinking of redoing his driveway as well and asks what the costs were.

My mother in law sums up the different supplies and their costs, as well as the beers of course.

John is within hearing distance and I see him glance over. Now is my time.

He let everyone know that John didn’t work for free.

I raise my voice a little and I say: “Aren’t you forgetting the labor costs?”

She looks at me surprised and I add: “Yeah, you know. John’s invoice of X amount, that racks up the bill.”

An uncomfortable silence descends upon the party as people frown and look at me and John, whose stature shrivels under the weight of those looks.

Suffice to say John had some explaining to do, but he didn’t look so sure anymore.

He wanted to be open about it right?

Under the circumstances I must say the invoice was money well spent, although I lost a friend that day.

Maybe John didn’t understand the neighborhood code of working for each other for free.

It sounds like it was a mistake to invite him to help out.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted…

This reader shared a story about a similar “friend.”

Another reader points out how important it is to make sure to set expectations before anyone starts working.

John will definitely have to pay if he wants anyone to help him.

Another person thinks John’s expectations explain a lot.

Another person points out that John was the one who didn’t set expectations.

I don’t think he should’ve paid him.

He definitely misread the situation.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.