Across just one lifetime, the advancement of tech these days is absolutely mind-blowing.

It’s crazy that even just twenty or thirty years ago people were using dial-up internet, while nowadays we’ve all got rapid internet in our pockets.

And one thing that is noticeable as you age is how fast this progression in technology leaves you behind, which inevitably ends up with kids becoming tech support for their baffled parents.

For the adult child in this story though, their tech support role was becoming too much – not only because of the frequency of the calls and the fact that they didn’t even live nearby, but because of the unnecessarily complicated tech involved.

Read on to find out how this unwanted role came to an abrupt halt – albeit one with a cost.

AITA for refusing to set up my dad’s TV?

My parents call me every other month or so to troubleshoot their TV – simple things like Netflix not opening, etc.

It often takes like 1-2 hours on FaceTime, sometimes in the middle of my work day, because they don’t know much about their TV or their universal remote and neither do I; they got overcomplicated items from Best Buy that have been a pain in the ***.

I literally have to look at the remote on FaceTime to figure out where things are, because my dad isn’t interested in learning about the things he uses daily and just makes my mom and I figure it out.

I’ve been doing this for years, and very patiently.

But then, things started to change.

I’m currently visiting their city for the first time in about six years, but not staying with them.

My mom called me the other day to tell me that she wanted my advice on picking out a new TV. I told her I’d be happy to talk to them about what they’re looking for, send over suggestions, etc.

My dad realized we were talking, then got on the phone and said no, he’d rather just go to Best Buy and get whatever the sales guy suggests again.

For additional context, I helped my mom pick one out for her bedroom, and she’s needed no troubleshooting for that TV in two years.

Yikes! Let’s see how this adult child reacted.

I explained why this may not be a good idea (once again ending up with an overcomplicated product that doesn’t suit their needs/match their existing accessories because he doesn’t always know what to ask), but he insisted.

I said alright, that’s fine, but I need you to understand that if you don’t want any input from me on a new TV, I’m not going to help you with it at all moving forward.

I’m not going to help set it up, I’m not going to troubleshoot later; it’s really difficult to do at a distance when it’s a TV I’m unfamiliar with. He said that he understood.

They bought a TV and hired someone from Best Buy to come install it later that week.

Uh-oh. Let’s see how the situation progressed from there.

A couple of days later, we were all at my aunt’s house and within minutes, my dad was asking if I’d help him sign out of all the apps on his old TV so he could give it away.

I said absolutely, no problem. Then he asked, “So when are you coming to set up my new TV?”

I laughed and was like, “Dad, I’m not doing that.” He was like, “What are you talking about?”

And I replied, “I already told you if you go through Best Buy, I’m not going to help with anything.”

No one was prepared for what happened next.

He immediately flipped out, furious, and said he was leaving.

I tried to explain that I wasn’t trying to be a jerk, but that he should have got the Best Buy tech show him how it worked so he was equipped to do basic things (e.g. signing into Netflix) on his own.

But he cut me off, yelling at me to shut up, and stormed out of the house, slamming doors and leaving my mom behind.

Read on to find out how things panned out from there.

That was almost two weeks ago and I haven’t seen him since. He bailed on a dinner my aunt had planned.

My mom had to come by to pick something up while he was in the car, and asked me to just leave it outside before she got there.

My aunt thinks I should cut him more slack, and my mom thinks he didn’t know what he was agreeing to even though I was very clear.

AITA?

The message from the child was loud and clear, and the father determinedly consented to it – all because he wanted his TV from Best Buy.

But really, it seems like dad just wants all the power here. He didn’t want anyone else to choose his TV, and he doesn’t want to try to figure it out for himself – it really seems like he just wants his adult child at his beck and call.

Throw in the massive, one-sided tantrum and grudge and you really start to wonder who the parent is here.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit thought about this.

This person agreed that they were doing the right thing, after making their boundaries clear.

While others suggested more simple solutions.

And some Redditors expressed concern about the father’s behavior.

Regardless of the situation, this adult child is doing exactly the right thing by standing by the boundaries they’d made.

Two hours, potentially even during a work day, is a ludicrous amount of time to be providing distance tech support, even for the closest of family members.

Sure, this could be the sign of cognitive decline in the father, especially if the behavior is out of character; but if being controlling and not reacting well to boundaries is a long-term issue, it’s absolutely possible that this is a father who takes his child for granted.

And the grudge he’s holding is really unacceptable.

His expectations are too high.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.