Out of nowhere, a woman receives a text from an old coworker she barely spoke to, and whose only past interaction with her wasn’t even positive.

The message quickly turns into “Can I bother you with a weird request?” and alarm bells start ringing. With a history of being taken advantage of, she decides not to even hear the request and declines on the spot.

Read on for the story.

AITAH for Refusing to Help My Coworker

I used to work in the food and beverage industry and today I got a text from a very old coworker that I barely interacted with years ago.

I was very surprised to hear from her especially that the one interaction we had in the past was negative, but she said hi and I replied enthusiastically and asked her how she is.

She then said that she wasn’t doing great and that she was wondering if it’s okay if she can “bother me a little bit with a weird request.”

That’s never a good sign.

Immediately alarm bells started to go off in my head. I don’t exactly know why but I have a pattern of attracting people who like to take advantage of others.

In the past I have given money and help over and over to strangers. This has brought me alot of heartache in my life and I’ve been working hard to overcoming this behaviour, so when I saw that message I quickly assumed what’s about to happen.

This is the part where I think I might have been an a******.

Bracing myself…

I didn’t ask her what was wrong or what she’s going through, I just said: I’m sorry to hear that, I wish you well but no sorry.

I later text another coworker from the same old work place that I’m still on great terms with and asked her about the text. She then told me that the person who text me was texting plenty of people asking them for money.

I honestly felt proud of myself for recognising that pattern early and I showed my husband the interaction because I felt like I was learning to say no.

Very instinctual.

He then flipped out, he told me that I acted like an a****** because I should have at least heard what the woman had to say instead of assuming and that I was extremely rude.

When I explained to him why I am proud he told me that I sounded extremely arrogant and needed to reevaluate my actions and take a deep look at the person I’m becoming.

I’m very confused now. Should I have heard her out and was I rude? 😕 AITAH?

Now she’s stuck wondering whether she protected her peace…or crossed into unnecessary harshness.

This person says the husband was the only one overreacting.

This person says the response was totally fine.

And this person says this showed good instincts.

Sometimes protecting your boundaries looks rude to people who’ve never had theirs crossed.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.