There are some boundaries that just shouldn’t be crossed, even in a hurry.

One gas station shopper was stunned when a frantic mother left her children with him without waiting for consent.

His refusal to accept a last-minute babysitting role sparked an unexpected debate with his girlfriend about his civic duty.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for not babysitting children who aren’t mine

I went to a nearby gas station to get gas for my lawn mower. I went inside to use the bathroom and get a coffee.

The coffee machine is right next to the bathrooms.

This man was going about his business, when a frantic stranger got his attention.

As I was putting the lid on my coffee, this random woman comes running up with a stack of scratch-off tickets in her hand and two little kids in tow, probably 6–8 years old.

She looks panicky, obviously in a mad rush to get to the bathroom.

She half asks, half demands he look after her children.

She locks eyes with me and says, “Hey, will you watch my kids for a minute while I use the bathroom,” and without slowing down or waiting for an answer, flies into the bathroom.

But this is the last thing this man wanted to do.

Had she waited for an answer, it would’ve been “No.”

I don’t like kids.

I don’t watch my own siblings’ kids, never mind some random stranger.

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

So he decided to go about his day, leaving the children unattended.

So I went to the register, paid for my coffee, and left.

When I got home (a couple blocks away), I told my pseudo-girlfriend about it, and she went berserk.

His girlfriend soon exploded at him about this.

She started yelling about “what if someone would’ve taken them” and “they could’ve walked out in the parking lot and got hit by a car,” and the eternally stupid old canard, “It takes a village.”

Her argument is that everyone is responsible for all children.

But he sees things very differently.

Mine is that I chose not to have children so I wouldn’t have to be responsible for children.

And that the woman is the jerk for trying to foist her kids off on an unwilling stranger.

So, AITA here?

Whatever happened to “stranger danger”?

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Emergency or not, this mother should have been a little more discerning.

This commenter agrees this mother was being totally unreasonable.

This user points out what might happen if his presence as a male was somehow misconstrued.

Sometimes parents have a little too much trust in complete strangers.

When all was said and done, this mother should have known better.

You can’t outsource parenting to the nearest stranger.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.