Isn’t it insane when adults try to control their children’s life!

This kid shares how her mom kept controlling her job and work life.

Check out the full story!

AITA for being ungrateful to my mum because she got me a job (that exploited me)

For context, my first “job” was teaching primary school kids at a tutoring center for $22/hr (2023-2024) & the other was at a cafe for $11 (2024-2025).

For consistency’s sake when I say my “job” I will be referring to the cafe one (because it was the most exploitative and I didn’t receive any training).

This is where it gets tricky…

The Fair Work Ombudsman of Australia states for my job description I should’ve been paid $16.60/hr, $19.92/hr on weekends and $33.20/hr on public holidays.

Also please keep in mind we were screaming at each other the whole time during this argument.

When I was working at the cafe my mum found me, my responsibilities were to clean, cook meals (like actually cook.. not reheat), deliver food, operate the cash register, serve customers, wash dishes, restock & take out the trash.

I basically had to do everything with no training.

UH OH…

Whenever I wasn’t sure where something was supposed to go, or when I didn’t know where an item was on the register (the products were VERY messily organized & hard to find), I was reprimanded and my already-below-minimum-wage was deducted based on my performance that day.

I worked on weekends & holidays with no weekend rates nor holiday rates.

My mum was aware of all of this (and currently isn’t letting me get a real job) but complicit because she said I had no previous experience and said that not even McDonalds would hire me.

I told her how it was her responsibility as an adult ensure I wasn’t being exploited and how she was compliant in the frankly – illegal business models this cafe was operating under.

She had her set of rules!

She kept telling me, finding me a job that:

– provides a contract

– pays their employees in a legal way (NOT under the counter cash)

– gives holiday or weekend rates (that are legally required)

– & doesn’t pay minimum wage

Are outside her abilities and its not her fault I am “dissatisfied” with the job she got me.

She was being so unreasonable!

I was 15 with no knowledge whatsoever about what a company’s legal responsibilities. Yet she said that in the real world plenty of people are underpaid and one day if she died and I ended up homeless I would have to take the “illegal” job anyway.

She then questioned why I didn’t speak up when I was being paid more as a tutor and I stated that I yelled at her saying she was stupid.

I was literally FOURTEEN at the time and didn’t know anything about wages nor legislation surrounding workplace law.

Eventually she said, “Fine if I’m so wrong when you go out into the real world looking for a job don’t come crawling back to me begging for help.”

That’s INSANE!

Then she kept saying how its normal as she is being currently underpaid – but she was literally offered a job position for 250k/yr and she refused because she wanted flexibility.

Ok? Did I find you that job that’s underpaying you? Am I your employer? She just kept redirecting.

She said she tried her best but in my opinion its not good enough. She has a responsibility as a parent & failed to apologize nor own up to her mistakes.

AITA and being ungrateful here?

GEEZ! That sounds annoying!

Why would the mother not consider the needs of her child?

Let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about this one.

This user knows this kid was doing well enough as a tutor!

This user thinks this whole situation is unusual!

This user thinks everybody is being unreasonable about this situation.

This user thinks this is all the mom’s fault.

This user knows a kid shouldn’t have to deal with so much!

Somebody here sounds angry!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.