A Busy Single Parent’s Mom And Dad Yelled At Them Because They Were Going To Be A Bit Late Picking Them Up From An Airport, So They Told Them To Take A Taxi Instead

Matthew Gilligan

2 months ago

Shutterstock/Reddit

Listen, if someone is nice enough to pick you up from an airport, give them some leeway.

What I mean is, if your ride is gonna be a bit late, just relax, get a cup of coffee, and be thankful that ANYONE is coming to pick you up.

Sounds reasonable, right?

But this person’s parents didn’t get the memo…

Check out their story and see if you think they did anything wrong.

My parents were disrespectful so I made them take a taxi home from the airport. AITA?

“My parents (61M & 67F) went away on holiday and it was agreed that I would drop them off and potentially pick them up although this was to be confirmed due to lack of space in my car.

I have a 5 yr old child and am a single parent. My weekends are usually very busy with rigid schedules – my parents know this.

My son had football this morning from 10:20-11:00 and my mum said that she would let me know when I should start making my way to collect them from Heathrow airport to minimize pick-up charges.

They were cutting it close.

It was a tight schedule this morning as I also had to walk the dogs before football, take the kid to football and restock the house with essential groceries plus some extra for a nice dinner that I had planned for my parents upon their return and unpack my very small car to make space for their luggage.

So my mum calls me at 12:00 to say they’ve just landed and then 25 mins later lets me know they’re ready to be collected. I had just finished the food shop and I just had to unpack it then I was going to collect them.

This would mean my parents would have to wait 35 mins for me to collect them. I let them know as much.

Jeez, talk about being ungrateful…

My parents turned around and yelled saying don’t bother and how they didn’t care about the food shopping, and that I was unkind and unhelpful (I drove them an hour to Gatwick Airport for their departure flight).

They just expected me to be there right away. So I responded by letting them know I was on my way as soon as I had put all the refrigerated items away. They let me know this wasn’t good enough.

So I told them, I drove you to Gatwick, did a few chores for them whilst they were away that were a big expense time and money-wise that they’ve yet to pay me back for and that they can get a taxi home.

I then hung up as I found their attitude to be completely disrespectful.

These people couldn’t take a hint.

They called me back right away doubling-down that I’m an ******* so I repeated “get a taxi”. An hour later my dad calls me chewing me ear off saying “aren’t you collecting us then? When are you getting here”.

I told him what I told my mum, get a taxi. He said that they have ordered one but that it’s taking awhile. I said “it will. If you had been nice you would be home already.” Then I hung up on him.

They got home 2 hours later than they would’ve liked due to me refusing to collect them but I want them to know that they can’t treat me like **** and expect me to go out of my way for them. They have stonewalled me since.

In comparison, they refused to drive 10 minutes to the train station to pick me up when I came back from Italy with an ear infection so I had to get a taxi home. Whilst the distance home is considerably shorter, they refused because they didn’t feel like it not because they couldn’t.

I may have been the ******* by telling them to get a taxi and hanging up but I feel that I need to get an outside perspective as I feel justified in my decision based on principle of respect.”

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