What are the best ways to quarrel with your friends? Probably the simplest is to lend them money, and then if they don't repay, everything will "work out" on its own. In the top 3 ways, there will probably also be adultery and starting a business together. But if you are looking for a really non-standard way to quarrel with any friend, you have come to the right place!
The story that we want to tell you today, on the one hand, seems to be not completely about friendship between people, but on the other hand, about how easy it is to break this very friendship. And we have literally no doubts that the characters of this tale were friends - otherwise the colleague would definitely not have trusted the author of the post with babysitting her own kid.
So, a few years ago, this instructive story appeared on the AITA Reddit community, and as of today, the initial post boasts almost 7K upvotes and around 1K different comments. The internet is very divided as to which of the characters of this narrative was right, so let's try to figure out our own opinion.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post once did a favor for their colleague by babysitting her 8 Y.O. son
Image credits: Askar Abayev (not the actual image)
Well, the author of the original post tells how they once babysat their coworker's eight-year-old son - as a favor, as the original poster admits. At one fine moment, the boy asked them to cook pasta and red sauce for dinner. The OP immediately had one great sauce recipe in their head that they often make and that everyone has always liked. The boy liked the sauce as well and ate everything with pleasure.
Image credits: u/wine_aita
The author served the boy pasta with red wine sauce and he enjoyed it, but the mom wasn't happy finding out alcohol was among its ingredients
A couple of days later, the colleagues were sitting in the office, and the boy's mother said that her son was so delighted with the sauce that he asked her to make it again. The OP's friend asked for the recipe and, of course, they did not refuse. However, something strange happened when she read it - the woman was indignant at the fact that wine appeared among the ingredients of the sauce!
Image credits: Wilson Rodriguez (not the actual image)
Some real office drama ensued and the indignant mom claimed that parents' consent is a must in such cases
The boy's mom stated that it's absolutely inappropriate to serve a 8 Y.O. kid alcohol. The author of the post fully agreed, but clarified that when the sauce boils, all the alcohol contained in the wine almost completely evaporates, leaving only a slight aftertaste. But the OP's colleague was already unstoppable - she became indignant, declaring that her friend should have asked her permission before starting to cook according to this recipe.
Image credits: u/wine_aita
We must pay tribute to the original poster - they admit that before babysitting, they specifically asked the kid's mother if he had any food allergies or dietary restrictions, and she said that the boy had nothing of the kind. In any case, the OP's friend stated, it's common sense to not feed someone else's kid something with alcohol in it without asking permission.
Image credits: u/wine_aita
The author, however, recalls how they ate lots of meals containing some alcohol in their own childhood, so they were left baffled as to whether they really did something wrong
But the author of the post still admits that they do not quite get what they are to blame for, and believes that the colleague is overreacting a little. The OP recalls that as a child (they're in their early thirties now), they were eating red wine tomato sauce, penne alla vodka, meats with wine sauce, tiramisu, fruitcake, etc., and nobody would have ever thought to ask for parents' permission before serving such dishes to someone else's kid. What's more, as the original poster admits, none of their friends with kids would have a problem with it either - with the exception of this probably already ex-friend.
Image credits: Homescreenify (not the actual image)
Some of the commenters sided with the author, but other people stated that they should have asked for the parents' permission anyway
However, the opinions of people in the comments to this post, as we have already said, were strongly divided. Some commenters sincerely believe that the boy's mother is totally overreacting, because, firstly, alcohol is almost completely boiled off when cooking such a sauce, and secondly, there are lots of sweets and other meals that she herself probably gave to her child that also contain alcohol - and sometimes in much larger doses than this ill-fated sauce.
On the other hand, people in the comments point out that the mother is, of course, totally responsible for the health of her own child, so in any case, parental consent should be sought in such cases. While the use of red wine in cooking is indeed quite common, commenters still advise the original poster, if they do any more babysitting in the nearest future, to always ask for permission from the parents, and by default, do without any dishes containing alcohol.
However, the author of the original post was lucky in one aspect - apparently, they really know how to cook well, unlike the hapless heroes of our selection of the worst cooking fails ever. So please feel free to check it out, and besides, comments on this post are, as usual, highly appreciated.
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