OT The right thing to do

Hi, You wear shoes in the house? Then what is the difference between your floor and sidewalk? We wear slippers in the house and spares are available for visitors. No one walks into my house wearing shoes!

So _you_ want to ration Usenet bandwidth. LOL!

"Stormin Mormon" wrote

I generally find cheaper ones too, but when I was still in the Navy and needed to jog regular, there is a difference in a good set of running shoes and cheap stuff. Also, we walk *alot* (up to 6 miles a day back in Japan) and the 'cheap ones' are actually more expensive as they wear out too fast under conditions like that. ROI factor low under heavy use.

Don now uses special orthopedic ones due to a combination of a long ago broken ankle that never healed quite right, and arthritis. I got him a new set 7 months ago for 200$. He walks about 4 miles a day now (plus regular walking about the house etc) and I expect these will last about 2 years. A

You derived the opposite of what I attempted to say. I think the OP and her daughter did just fine.....the daughter seems very mature and reasonable. A couple of replies suggested the daughter go back, and that is where I would draw the line in this situation. The "BTDT" was my experience of seeing other parents unable to let go, unable to allow children to make a plan or to proceed in their own choices (with APPROPRIATE guidance, of course)...just let kids do the thinking, always be aware and give guidance when needed. As for my own children, all three are capable, mature, kind, assertive, responsible and creative....couldn't ask for better. They are also terrific parents.

Forgive me for expanding on the original topic...

wrote

Wrong. The same thing cannot be accomplished because by taking them to small claims court, there is the distinct possibility that she could win and collect her $75. Also win or lose, it will cost the doctors the time to appear in court and if the court finds in the girl's favor, the doctors may learn from it. The girl will also learn from the experience. Is it worth doing? That is up to the girl to decide. It's also very possible that once served with the suit, they may just pay up, not wanting to go to court and appear to be taking advantage of a baby sitter.

COMMENT: Small court judgements make great toilet paper. You want to give this girl the idea that she has a chance of getting money out of a doctor? She may have a chance of winning, but getting the money is entirely another matter.

TRADER: Who suggested anyone run around screaming and making threats? Also, according the post, the daughter is of college age, not a child.

COMMENT: Sorry, but I snipped it from above in kindness to the readers. Apparently you missed it. My children are 40, 32 and 26. But, they will always be my "children".

Steve

wrote

Thread drift takes us into the darkest corners ......................

There is no need to pretend like that. And it's not good for those who hired her. They should learn that there are a) consequences to their failure to inform her about the dog chewing, b) consequences to their chinciness in not paying.

Good baby sitters are hard to get, and they may well call her again. I would say, "Since you knew the dog wa a chewer, unlike the vast majority of adult dogs, you should have warned me, and when you didn't, you should have taken responsibilty for the damages. If you'll pay for the shoes, (or pay half**), I'll help you out.

When they agree, they should also agree to pay for the shoes before she starts sitting the next time. If it's not hard, drop by in advance. Otherwise, tell them in advance, "I have a contract now for my clients to sign". This doesn't mean she insists all the clients sign the contract, but if that seems excessively evasive, make it "for you to sign". They can still pay for the sneakers when she gets there, and she can cross out an initial where she crosses out that debt. Include in the rest of the contract a typical baby sitting contract. I'll bet you can find one on the net, or an adult can got to a commercial baby sitting service and get a copy of the contract they use. Say your husband wants to look it over first, but dont' imply he's a lawyer. You don't want to give the baby sitting company agita.

It should mention salary, what happens if they don't come home on time, and that she's not liable for what the dog does

Then sit for them that time or two more times. After that she's free to quit.

I sort of like splitting the cost of the shoes. They should have warned her and nothing would have happened, but a lot of people do things they shouldn't and

Being a doctor means nothing regarding being responsible or honest or anything. They don't check for niceness when you apply to med school, they don't grade on niceness, and patients are making a mistake if they choose their doctors on niceness*** although admittedly, it's hard to judge them on competence. Even my brother, who is a doctor, said he didn't know who in the same hospital was good, only who had been sued.

Plus it's not polite to gossip about these people. If they keep losing babysitters, their friends may figure it out.

Are they really still thinking it might be food?

I like it when they put SPAM in the subject line of spam. Then I don't read it.

The only place this is taking space from is groups.google. So I'd better cut this short.

What is she incorrect about? That this is not a sensible group? Even if that's true, she posts at her own risk that she will get unsensible answers.

I think he was only kidding about this. Of course someone who brought chocolate and antifreeze would be in big trouble, civil and criminal, if the dog ate it, and the poster must know that.

Have fun Bill if you ever visit Japan!

Sensible to me but most folks in this group have never been to Asia. Thats one thing I miss. I had this really nice built in shoe closet in my Cho in Sasebo Japan. Inside I had our regular slippers, and 3 sets tied in pretty ribbon for guests. I dont have space for that here but we still have a small unit by the door, with guest slippers. Small sign above 'feel free to be comfy'. Those used to this idea, find it charming to see in the USA. For me, if i see a shoe holder by the door, I doff my shoes automatically and if there is a stack of rubber bottomed socks or slippers that look new and just for guests, don them while visiting. No words required ;-)

Absolutely. "Bigger problems than this may come up and I no longer trust you to do the right thing."

Although I'm not an electician, I was hired by a woman years ago to put in electrical wiring in an apartment she was remodeling to be a rental. At the first conversation, I told her I wasn't licensed and couldn't touch the fusebox. She said she had someone else to run the cable to the basement and to the fusebox.

As I was finishing the job, she started talking to me about my doing the other half of the project. I had gotten half in advance. I don't know what would have happened if I had been straightforward, but I asked for half of the second part in advance to buy materials etc. (which was the same amount she owed me for the first part), and I took the money and considered myself paid for the first half and told her that. I'm sure she was disappointed but she didnt' get angry or complain. I drive by the building whenever I'm in NYC to make sure it hasn't burned down. 30 years, so far so good.

(I did do one thing wrong, I think. At one point I used a wire nut in a junction box to connect pieces of BX, instead of getting a long wire and threading it through the two pieces of shield.)

This situation isn't the same but it's similar. I would consider working for this family a couple more times if I could get the 75 dollars too. OTOH, they could lie about how much she had worked for them. Pay the 75 up front and then not pay for the last day. OT3H, they would probably know that was dishonest, but they might still do it, working her like I worked the woman who hired me. "She extorted the 75 dollars when we really8 needed a babysitter, and now we're just getting it back" they would tell themselves. To small claims court, they would have to say, No, she didn't work that day. How would she prove otherwise?

Are you sure. Does she ever thank anyone for anything?

Yeah, and replying to it really helps with the "wasting space" issue. Moron. PLONK!

Nonsense. You think when these doctors go to buy another property, refinance the existing one or have their credit report run they want to find out there is an unpaid judgement recorded against them? Aside from that, as HeyBub pointed out, there are court procedures available to her by which the money can be extracted from their bank accounts or a lien put on their home. It can be impossible to collect a judgement from a deadbeat with no job and no assets. In this case, it would very likely be simply paid on the spot.

Yes, they will. And they will continue to be dependent on you like a child if you keep treating them like one and keep them from useful life experiences, like suing someone in small claims.

Oh, but it was more then that. The OP was considerate enough to acknowledge that their behavior was not right but felt that this group consisted of knowledgeable people (yourself included) and they could not think of a more appropriate group to post for help. Surely you can see how this differs from spam or off-topic posting. Please have some consideration and cut them some slack.

Nonsense. You think when these doctors go to buy another property, refinance the existing one or have their credit report run they want to find out there is an unpaid judgement recorded against them? Aside from that, as HeyBub pointed out, there are court procedures available to her by which the money can be extracted from their bank accounts or a lien put on their home. It can be impossible to collect a judgement from a deadbeat with no job and no assets. In this case, it would very likely be simply paid on the spot.

Yes, they will. And they will continue to be dependent on you like a child if you keep treating them like one and keep them from useful life experiences, like suing someone in small claims.

Comment: It clearly appears like our opinions differ.

Steve

I quit listening to Dr. Laura the day that a concerned mom called in asking if her ex husband was enticing their 8 year old to spend more time with him because he had bought the youth an ATV. She told the mom to quit being such a bitch and be glad that the father and son spent so much time together.

Dr. Laura is so smart she failed to research it, and learn that manufacturers are required to put a sticker on their ATV's that say NO ONE UNDER 16 SHOULD OPERATE THIS VEHICLE. Required by federal law. So, how does the manufacturer skirt the issue? By making ATVs of lower engine displacement. But still no mention of the very high % of ATV underage ATV accidents involving serious injury and fatalities.

Dr. Laura is always right. Don't believe me? Just ask her.

Steve

You aren't 'on' Google, you are on Usenet. Google Groups is just a (crappy) web-based portal to get to Usenet. Learn the difference.