i am such a horrible person

[roman]

yesterday we had another ice/snow storm!!!!!!!! when will it end? who knows

well anyways:

today some kid asked if he could shovel our sidewalk and walk way so i said ok

about an hour later he finish and he said "that will be 20 bucks" and i said "you asked if you could shovel our house and you did" lol he said "well that will be 20 bucks" so i said back "you should have told me i had to pay you" "whatever"

i gave him 5 dollars for his hard work he did a crappy job anyway and i was slipping all over lol

sorry kid

[Rivsky]

I don't think that makes you a horrible person at all Roman - like you say he didn't ask for money before he did it - just after!

Guess you'll know better next time he comes around "offering" to do something!

[roman]

the title was meant to be sarcastic lol

hey rivsky at the shelter we have a smaller version of river! she is a cocker spaniel dacshund mix and is yellow but looks exactly like river i will post a pic when they are on the website

[Mirg]

Yes, you are a horrible, evil person!!! Haha, j/k

That kid should have told you he wanted money. What some people will do for money these days.. *sigh*

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Even if he forgot to tell you his price, a good businessmen wouldn't charge for their mistake. Tough lesson to learn for a kid, though!

[Rivsky]

Am looking forward to seeing the River look alike Roman!

[Swiftwind]

Ohh I hate it when people are sneaky like that! Anyway, $20.00 is a lot to ask for shovelling snow!

This incident reminds me of those people who wash car windows for money.. We had a guy just come up behind our car one time and start 'washing' our back window. It scared the crap out of me cause all I heard was a loud thump (from the sponge cleaner) hitting the window. He then requested his money for something we didn't even ask him to do (and we had just cleaned our windows previously).

[linnie]

when my mum was 14 she was with a group of girls and boys and went to her future husbands home. His mother asked if she would like some cream and mum said that would be nice ( naturally )
When she was leaving the future mother in law said that will be sixpence thanks lol
as mums family was very poor she didnt have any money ,so we feel people`should be upfront so wtg on giving him only what you felt he earned

[roman]

Originally Posted by Rivsky

Am looking forward to seeing the River look alike Roman!

i swear i thought i was seeing a smaller version of him and this one was blond

[mrsgrubby]

Originally Posted by Swiftwind

Ohh I hate it when people are sneaky like that! Anyway, $20.00 is a lot to ask for shovelling snow!

.

Actually that is a really good price, many homes here pay $45 for a plow.

I would have known that the kid was asking to be hired for a job. Kids travel our neighborhood and ask all the time if they can shovel a roof or driveway, or mow a yard. they never name a price, but are clearly looking to make some money, and I think it is great they are willing to work to earn it.

I guess you will know for next time Roman, that he is asking you to hire him, not volunteering to do it for free.

[roman]

i knew he would ask for money as i am still young (14) and used to do the same thing but i was atleast reasonable and told the person they could pick the price but the lowest was $5

my parents weren't home and i had to clean the birds cage and fish tanks and didn't have time for shoveling so when he came i just said ok but either way i had to still shovel away the mess he made

[calgal]

The right thing to do would be to pay the $20.00, learn from your mistake and ask the next time anyone wants to do odd jobs for you.

[Beryl]

I would have expected to pay him. Street people who offer to wash your windshield expect to be paid. I would have told him this:

"We never agreed on a price but this is what I feel is fair."

I would have given him what I had planned to give him for the job which may have been more than $20.

He would have learned something as a result and would have either been a little disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

[theGOOCH]

Originally Posted by Swiftwind

Ohh I hate it when people are sneaky like that! Anyway, $20.00 is a lot to ask for shovelling snow!

This incident reminds me of those people who wash car windows for money.. We had a guy just come up behind our car one time and start 'washing' our back window. It scared the crap out of me cause all I heard was a loud thump (from the sponge cleaner) hitting the window. He then requested his money for something we didn't even ask him to do (and we had just cleaned our windows previously).

I don't know, shoveling snow is hard work. People have heart attacks every year from doing it. I don't think I'd do it for less than $20.....you both are kinda at fault for not agreeing to a price though

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Originally Posted by mrsgrubby

I would have known that the kid was asking to be hired for a job. Kids travel our neighborhood and ask all the time if they can shovel a roof or driveway, or mow a yard. they never name a price, but are clearly looking to make some money, and I think it is great they are willing to work to earn it.

I think that's a dishonest business practice, personally. If the kid wants to say, "hi, I'm trying to earn some money, would you allow me to shovel your driveway (or be specific of anywhere else) for a minimum donation of $10?" That's upfront and honest, even if you don't want to set a price. You may even get tipped for being honest and upfront about what you want! I remember having a yard sale to raise money for a friend of our's to fly down for a visit during the Summer. As soon as people entered the yard we'd say, "hi, we're trying to raise money for our friend to fly down this Summer!" and we got all kinds of extra cash from nice people because of it. And that's not even honesty vs. dishonesty, that's just being upfront.

I agree with Gooch that the fault lies with both parties, but it was a good lesson both ways.