Collaborating on a project requires all hands on deck to get to the finish line, whether you like it or not.

How would you handle someone ruining the entirety of your project, and expecting you to help clean up the mess? One guy recently sought advice for exactly this on Reddit.

Here’s what went down.

AITA for telling my lab partner he had to redo our project after he forgot to save the file?

In one of my science classes, we had a project that required several hours of data entry.

We worked on his laptop because he said it was more convenient.

A dangerous precedent to set.

Before we finished, he closed the laptop without saving.

The next day he realized everything was gone.

A classic, but tragic mistake.

He said we should just redo it.

I reminded him that I asked him earlier if he saved the file and he said it was fine.

Yikes, he’s not wrong, but that’s rough.

I told him he should redo the missing parts himself since he caused the problem.

He said that was unfair and that we should share the workload again.

This all seems like a matter of perspective.

I said I already did my share.

He later told classmates that I refused to help him after a mistake.

Wonder what they all thought of that.

I did not want to spend another three hours redoing something we already completed because he ignored basic steps.

AITA for telling him to redo it himself?

Oof. Situations like these are why everyone dreads group projects. Let’s see how Reddit weighed in.

Some commenters jumped right to practical advice.

Others asked the important questions.

One person put things in perspective.

Another suggested de-escalation.

Ultimately, sympathetic tough love was given.

There’s no “I” in “team”, or “group project”!

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.