A father posted to Reddit : “Am I the a$hole for making my daughter sleep in the backyard after what she did to our housemaid?” , worrying whether it is too much for a grounding for his garmaphobic daughter, as a consequence of her disrespect towards their household help,
He explained his story: “Presently, my 16-year-old daughter is a junior in high school. Recently, I’ve noticed an unsettling transformation in her behavior, marked by a consistent stream of disparaging remarks concerning other people’s appearances, possessions, and her use of inappropriate language. This newfound insensitivity, quite at odds with her previous politeness, has raised concern. My wife and I suspect that this shift began after she started spending time with a new group of girls from school.”
As he shared the story, it became evident that his daughter had become friends with a group of people known for their no pleasant behavior, and she had started adopting their attitudes. He had multiple conversations with his daughter, where he sincerely explained how her actions were negatively impacting those around her, but unfortunately, their housemaid bore the brunt of her negative behavior and became the primary target for criticism, whether it was about her appearance, clothing, or manners. The father also mentioned that the housemaid had even complained about his daughter using derogatory names like ‘filthy’ and ‘gross’ when the housemaid was doing specific tasks around the house.
He continued his story: “Taking a firm stand, I explicitly warned my daughter that any recurrence of such language directed at our housemaid would bear consequences. Last week, on the day of a party she wished to attend, my daughter called our housemaid “filthy.” Consequently, I grounded her and denied her attendance at the party. This led to her becoming upset, vehemently denying the use of that language, and even accusing our housemaid of lying. That was the climax of the incident.
A few days later, my 16-year-old complained that she couldn’t locate her iPhone. She requested me to call her number, and to our astonishment, both my wife and I heard the phone ringing from inside our housemaid’s bag.
Immediately after the incident, I confronted my daughter, and she tearfully denied any involvement, insisting she had neither touched the phone nor had any knowledge of how it ended up in the housemaid’s bag. The teenager went so far as to repeatedly label the house help a thief, until I intervened and sternly told her to cease, sending her to her room. Before continuing the discussion, I decided to review the footage from our indoor cameras, and to my utter dismay, I witnessed my daughter deliberately placing her iPhone inside our housemaid’s bag. Confronted with the undeniable truth, I promptly apologized to the housemaid and granted her the rest of the day off. Later, I showed the incriminating video to my daughter, rendering her utterly speechless.”
The father found it inconceivable how his daughter could inflict such pain upon the house help. He firmly expressed his belief that her actions were not only immoral but also highly offensive, as she jeopardized the housemaid’s livelihood over a trivial matter like being unable to attend a party. Consequently, he grounded her and decided she would spend the night in the backyard, despite(or let’s say, especially) her being a germaphobe .Tearfully pleading with him not to make her sleep outside amidst dirt, insects, and discomfort, she was met with a resolute refusal to discuss the matter further, with the warning that any attempt to do so would lead to an extended two nights of punishment. Even though his wife proposed a more lenient approach, the father remained steadfast, firmly convinced that name-calling and false accusations of theft were entirely unacceptable. He stood by his initial decision and saw the punishment through.
The majority of readers who encountered the tale supported the father’s actions, concurring that the house help did not deserve such mistreatment. One individual proposed that the father should compensate the housemaid with a week’s salary and make the daughter shoulder all household chores for a week as additional consequences. Nevertheless, concerns arose regarding the teenager’s extreme reaction, as it was reported that she refused to eat after the punishment. One Redditor recommended seeking therapy for the daughter instead, believing that encouraging self-destructive behavior in a child was categorically unacceptable.
