Stressed Parents Are Upset At Their Generous Neighbor Because She Gifted Their Son $12k At His Graduation Party To Add To His College Fund, Saying That It Overshadowed Their Present
A 36-year-old Redditor is in the midst of understanding the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished." The OP gave an incredibly generous graduation gift to her neighbor's son.
OP and her neighbors became acquainted when she needed help maintaining her rural property. Her property has a large yard and a long driveway.
As OP frequently travels for work, she doesn't have the time and energy to maintain her land. She was talking to her neighbor about needing a service that can mow her lawn when needed and shovel snow off of her driveway during winter.
Her neighbor introduced OP to their 14-year-old son, who was saving up for his college tuition fee. OP soon proved her neighbor's claims that their son was a hard worker.
He mowed OP's front and back lawns every weekend for $40. He shoveled snow off of the driveway during winter for the same fee.
He also took care of OP's foster dogs whenever she had to go out of town unexpectedly. OP paid him for the great he did and any other extra work he had to do.
OP relied on the teenager for four years and never had a complaint about his work ethic. She ended up paying him around $3 to $4,000 annually.
OP kept it a secret from the teenager and his folks that she was matching what she paid him. She saved the same amount of his salary in an envelope as some sort of informal education fund to help him out.
OP got close to her neighbor's family and was invited to every one of their events
u/aitathrowaway71920So, naturally, when the teenager graduated, OP was invited to the party
u/aitathrowaway71920She tucked the check worth $12,000 in the card that she gave to him and thanked him for helping her out all those years
u/aitathrowaway71920The kid was grateful as his mother recently lost her job. His folks were stressing out about his college fees as they didn't want him to go into debt.
u/aitathrowaway71920OP got a call from the audibly upset teenager. His parents were mad that OP's gift overshadowed their and that it was kept a secret. Apparently, telling them would have saved them from stressing about their kid's future.
u/aitathrowaway71920This happened in the middle of the pandemic, so people were in a weird headspace then
thatbookishbitchOP shouldn't allow the parent's reactions color her opinion of the teenager. They should all focus on how much help the money will bring to their child.
DogsWatchr
OP's gift was incredibly generous and she had valid reasons why she didn't tell the parents
GingerLaker_76
Besides, OP had no obligation to actually tell them what her gift was.
Aristotle_El
Were they that surprised that their joy turned immediately into anger?
OGrouchNZ
I hope they don't pressure the kid to share some of his gift with them
wookiesandcream1
However, it is also understandable why they are having a hard time processing OP's monetary gift
kayfeif
But their reasons for being upset didn't have anything to do with their discomfort over receiving "charity" from a neighbor
Aviouse96
It's been years since this graduation gift fiasco took place. We wonder how OP is doing and if she still lives in the same neighborhood.
We can only imagine how much their dynamic changed after they got mad at her for doing something wonderful. OP hasn't posted in a while, so we'll have to satisfy our curiosities with speculations.
