Mother forces her daughter's friends to put their seat belts on, but they refuse: a quarrel breaks out between the parents
Rules must usually be followed for a very specific reason and normally you tend to observe the rules of others when you are a guest in the house or attending some other social occasion to which you have been invited. There are rules, however, that should apply to everyone. For example, fastening your seat belt in a car is a simple rule, but which is observed by some people more diligently than others. Obviously, wearing a seat belt is a proven way to prevent someone from getting seriously injured in the event of an accident. In short, everyone should buckle up. Yet, a mother had to fight with her daughter's friend, and with her parents, for this very reason. The woman described the incident on Reddit, asking users for their opinions.
via Reddit
The woman said that her 12-year-old daughter has always had problems making friends, but that she had finally made friends with a girl named Danielle and formed a strong bond with her. "To me, Danielle was a bit of a bully and cared a lot about her popularity in general, and she was obsessed with turning my daughter into a social butterly," said the mother in her story, "but I thought she was just trying to help her. And it was nice". When the school reopened, Danielle's mother proposed that they share the task of taking and picking up the girls to and from school: "She would take the girls to school in the morning and I would pick them up with Danielle's older brother (who is 14 years old) ".
Initially, everything seemed to be going well, except for the fact that Danielle and her brother always struggled to fasten their seatbelts in the car and frequently refused to put them on. "This is not a topic for debate for me. Whether you are a child or an adult, you have to wear a seat belt in the car" said the woman, "I lost a friend in high school in an accident and she would still be alive today if only she had been wearing a seat belt". Danielle and her brother, however, complained constantly and took off their seat belts frequently. "I talked to their mom about this, but she essentially just shrugged it off. Eventually, the kids' behavior in my car improved a bit. They didn't argue about this anymore, but they don't buckle up voluntarily."
One day, however, the situation spun out of control.
Flickr / Not the actual photo / State Farm
One afternoon when the woman went to pick up the kids, a much much more serious argument than previously broke out; the woman had to stop for a moment at the post office on the way home: "I had to stop at the post office before taking them home. In a flash, Danielle and her brother took off their seat belts. I told them to put it back on and they refused. I said I wouldn't drive them home until they put their seat belts back on. They kept refusing. I called their mother, but she didn't answer. I called the father, but he also didn't answer. In the end, I stuck to my guns and sat there until they finally put their seat belts back on. It took 45 minutes. All this time, my daughter kept begging me to drive on, but I refused. "
Danielle's mother was furious when the kids got home so late and she shouted at the woman, accusing her of making her son late for a football match. "I told her he wouldn't have be late if her kids had put their seat belts on. She told me I'm not their mother, so I can't order them about. I said if they're in my car, they follow my rules," she wrote in her post.
Naturally, the ride-sharing routine has been stopped and now Danielle's mother is waiting on an apology. The other woman is determined not to apologize, as she thinks she has done nothing wrong - although she is sorry that her daughter now seems to have lost "a friend". What would you have done in this situation?
