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Imagine being a young adult who is all grown up and living on your own but not too far from your parents’ house. If they asked you to do favors for them, like picking up a family member from the airport, would you do it without question, or would you wonder why they can’t do it themselves?

In this story, one woman is in this situation, and she asks a simple question in response. She just wants to know why her dad can’t go to the airport. Instead of answering, her dad seems upset.

Now, she’s wondering if she was wrong to even ask this question.

Let’s read the whole story to decide.

AITA for asking “Why can’t your dad do it?”

Recently, every time I (24F) answer my mom’s call it’s to ask a favor from me that involved driving her around.

I don’t answer her calls very often anymore because when I did, she was just mean to me.

I’ve been working since I was 16 and have been completely on my own since I was 21 after I was kicked out of parents’ place.

I have never, ever asked them for anything. Financially or otherwise.

It’s not like her mom can’t drive.

My mom is very capable of driving but hasn’t driven in a long time because my dad is the only one that drives the family car.

That’s fine, that’s their dynamic. Not my relationship, not my business but for the sake of context.

As I mentioned, I haven’t been answering my mom’s calls. The last time I answered, she was mean, belittling and overall, I don’t like how I feel when I get off the phone with her.

Her mother found a workaround.

So, she’s taken to getting my younger brother (15M) to call me for her because she knows I will always answer his calls.

We have as good of a relationship two siblings with a large age gap can have, especially as he’s gotten older. Obviously, I’m not going to ice him out because my relationship with my parents isn’t good.

Anyways, he called because he wanted to know if I can pick up my oldest brother (32M) from the airport.

It’s not like they’re close.

I haven’t seen my oldest brother in 9 years, and we aren’t very close because we were raised in two different countries.

He currently lives in our home country and finally got permission to come to the US after many years of lengthy paperwork and waiting.

I don’t mind doing this at all, but my dad has a car and is capable of picking up his son.

I asked, “Why can’t your dad pick him up?” (We are full biological siblings, it’s just a cultural thing to say it like that, esp. in Spanish).

I feel bad for her brother having to be the middle man.

My little brother kinda just avoided the question and laughed and changed the subject briefly before confirming that I could pick up our brother.

I said, “I mean I can but why can’t your dad pick up his son?” After all, he was the one that lobbied to get his son to the US. Why wouldn’t he want to be the first one to greet him?

I know airports are annoying and tedious, but they aren’t new to us, and we used to frequent them often.

Her dad seemed upset.

Well, either I was on speaker, or you could just hear me because I heard my dad sucked his teeth and said “Fine, I’ll go get him.”

I just wanted to know, maybe he has a lot of luggage (my dad drives an accord, I drive a SUV), maybe my dad’s car just isn’t running like it used to, who knows. I just wanted a valid reason as to why he couldn’t.

Honestly, anything would have worked.

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AITA for just questioning why my dad can’t pick him up?

When someone asks a question, it isn’t always an attack. Sometimes it’s a question that’s waiting for an answer, like in this case. Maybe she shouldn’t ask the other questions out loud, like, wouldn’t her dad want to pick her brother up from the airport?

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

“No” is a complete sentence.

This person has a suggestion of what to say to her brother.

Another person has a theory about the dad.

Here’s a suggestion about how to handle similar situations in the future.

I really feel bad for her younger brother. Her parents are using him as a go-between, hoping he can convince her to say “yes” to requests because he’s asking instead of them. If they feel they need to do that, they shouldn’t ask at all.

Her brother is in an awkward position where he might feel like he has no choice but to call and ask, like in this situation where the dad was apparently standing right next to him while he was on the phone.

It’s up to her to shut this down in the future. Don’t ask questions. Don’t engage. Just say “no.” No explanation needed.

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Author

Jayne Elliott

Jayne Elliott | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Jayne Elliott is a contributing writer and editor for TwistedSifter specializing in human interest stories, internet culture, and family dynamics. With over 12 years of editorial experience in digital publishing, Jayne excels at analyzing complex online communities and transforming viral social debates into thoughtful, highly engaging narratives.

Rather than simply aggregating internet drama, Jayne brings a sharp, empathetic editorial eye to everyday dilemmas. She has a unique talent for unpacking the nuances of pop culture and online conflicts, providing readers with relatable, well-researched commentary.

Based in California, Jayne spends her free time outside the newsroom exploring theme parks with her family or beach-combing along the coast.

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