Being kind to others, regardless of their position in society, is a basic principle of decency. However, when a teenager violated this principle, her concerned father decided to take action. He took to Reddit to explain why he made his germaphobe daughter sleep in the backyard as a punishment for disrespecting their housemaid. He questioned whether he was wrong in his approach, and titled his post: “Am I the a$$hole for making my daughter sleep in the backyard after what she did to our housemaid?”
The father explained that his 16-year-old daughter, a high school junior, had been consistently behaving badly. She would make disrespectful comments about people’s looks, belongings, and use derogatory language. He suspected that her behavior changed after she started hanging out with new girls from school, who had a negative influence on her.
The housemaid was the primary target of his daughter’s disrespectful behavior. She would criticize the housemaid’s hair, clothes, and etiquette, even resorting to offensive names like “filthy” and “gross” when the housemaid cleaned certain areas of the house. The father had multiple discussions with his daughter about the negative impact of her behavior on those around her, particularly the housemaid.
After warning his daughter that he would punish her if she continued disrespecting the housemaid, he decided to ground her when she called the housemaid “filthy” on the day of a party. The daughter threw a fit, denied calling the housemaid names, and accused her of lying.
A few days later, the daughter couldn’t find her iPhone. When the father called her number, they were surprised to find it ringing inside the housemaid’s bag. Confronted about it, the housemaid denied any involvement and started crying. However, the father checked the indoor camera footage and saw his daughter placing the iPhone inside the housemaid’s bag. Furious, he apologized to the housemaid, gave her the day off, and showed his daughter the video, leaving her speechless.
Appalled by his daughter’s actions, the father considered them immoral and offensive. He grounded her and made her spend the night in the backyard, despite her being a germaphobe. The daughter pleaded to not sleep outside due to dirt, insects, and the hot temperature. However, the father remained firm in his decision and refused to discuss it, even extending the punishment to two nights. Although his wife suggested going easy on their daughter, he believed that calling people filthy and accusing them of stealing was unacceptable behavior.
On Reddit, most people agreed with the father’s actions and believed that the housemaid did not deserve such mistreatment. One suggestion was for the father to pay the housemaid a week’s salary while making his daughter do all the housework for a week. The teenager reportedly refused to eat after the punishment. One user proposed seeking therapy for the daughter, recognizing that something deeper might be causing her self-destructive behavior.
In summary, the father took a disciplinary approach when his daughter disrespected the housemaid. He believed that her actions were offensive and immoral, leading him to punish her by making her sleep in the backyard. While opinions on Reddit varied, many people supported the father’s decision and emphasized the need for both punishment and understanding.
