While free might be one of the best words in the dictionary, folks gotta understand that very little truly comes for free. If it’s not money, then it’s private data or time or engagement or whatever. Makes the idea of something really being free even that more tempting.
However, folks do have to be careful with it or else they will end up coming off as super entitled like this couple who flat out demanding (and expected) their new next door neighbor to babysit their kids. For free.
Rarely does anything come for free, so you gotta be bold and demand that it does… or, pro tip: don’t
Image credits: Rawpixel (not the actual photo)
Otherwise, you will come off as entitled by demanding your neighbor watch your kids for free just because they don’t have kids
Image credits: YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)
Image source: feeling_confused123
Suddenly, the whole neighborhood now despises the child-free neighbors for refusing to babysit
Image credits: Antoni Shkraba (not the actual photo)
The story goes that a woman and her husband are new to a neighborhood dominated by families with kids. So far, no red flags. Sure, it is a bit hard to find activities to bond over because the couple tends to avoid the chaotic kid factor, but avoiding it is a solution in and of itself.
Well, one day a neighbor pops by OP’s house and asks to babysit their kids. She comes back with a no, and the neighbor retreats. Then her husband returns for round two, flat out demanding they babysit because they are child-free, which somehow makes them magically a free daycare? Oh, and add a layer of sexism on top of that because of the neighbor claiming a woman would want to babysit naturally.
A conflict ensues—one that expands into the neighborhood chat and now the couple is under fire for not wanting to be taken advantage of.
Across the board, commenters were shouting not the jerk, saying that OP doesn’t owe their neighbors anything beyond a “no”. Just because they are in a child-free position, that doesn’t mean they want to or have time. Some were cheeky enough to suggest agreeing to watching the kids, if all the guys come together and reform OP’s house. Because, you know, guys do that?
There’s more than one reason why folks choose not to have kids and you can’t really argue with any of them
Image credits: Helena Lopes (not the actual photo)
Each country has a different statistic, but the reasoning behind it is more or less consistent with the times. At least in the United Kingdom, the most popular reasons why folks don’t have kids are their impact on lifestyle (10%), the increased cost of living and the cost of raising kids (10%), human overpopulation (9%), honest dislike of kids (8%) and lack of parental skills (6%).
In other countries, like Russia (7% nationally and 20% in Moscow), there is a common trend among educated, wealthy, and ambitious people to avoid creating families because they are unwilling to sacrifice their comfort and success for it.
In the U.S., 56% of those choosing not to have kids are simply not interested in it. Others cite medical issues (19%), financial problems (17%) and no partners (15%) as the main reasons.
And, in all fairness, having kids is ultimately a choice. Literally forcing that upon people can be interpreted as a felony, no matter if it’s tradition or culture or peer pressure.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Share your takes and stories in the comment section below! Or do the same in another similar post of ours.
Folks had zero reason to believe the author of the post was in any way a jerk—the neighbors’ entitlement said it all
