12 Times People Realized Too Late That Not All Favors Are Worth It

Performing acts of kindness is always worthwhile. For example, helping someone carry heavy bags when they are struggling is a thoughtful gesture. However, some individuals may see kindness as a sign of weakness and try to take advantage of it. In such situations, it’s important to set boundaries and not allow others to exploit your goodwill.

• When I first moved to Italy, I met a compatriot. This poor woman came to her fiancé with her daughter, and the fiancé left her! She's broke. I talked to my husband and invited them to live with us temporarily.
  She tried to hit on my husband, but I thought my eyes deceived me, I thought it was just me. The woman asked if she could leave her daughter with us so she could find a job. I stupidly agreed. The next day, I get a call from my boss. He says that if I send people to look for work in our firm, I have to warn him. Anyway, while I was looking after her child, she tried to get a job at my company pretending to be my childhood friend. Thanks for the lesson, I've been more careful after that. © Olga Belkina / Facebook
• A friend tearfully asked me to lend her some cash for a couple of days. She was so worried that I agreed to withdraw money from my credit card. And there's a fee and daily commission. We go to the ATM, I withdraw the money, give it to her.
  She puts it in her wallet, and suddenly I see the same credit card as mine there. In complete bewilderment, I ask her why she didn't withdraw money from her own credit card. And she replied, "Why would I do that? There's a withdrawal fee and commission." © Maria Kat / Facebook
• My mom who was allergic to dogs actually offered to watch her friends dog while they were on vacation for a week. So guess who ended up watching a dog after she was sick during the first day and spent the rest of the week cleaning everything. © Decyde / Reddit
  

• I can’t say “No that’s not my name”
  My neighbor thinks my name is Steven... my sensei thinks my name is Ethan and everyone who answers the phone at any Chinese restaurant thinks my name is Jin.
  I now have half a dozen different names depending on who you ask. © Timett_son_of_Timett / Reddit

• My father had many brothers and sisters, so there is a lot of distant kin. We live in Canada, and the extended family is in Europe. And every time someone flies to Canada on holiday, they head to my parents’ house!
  My parents pick them up from the airport 2 hours away, let them stay in their place for a month, feed them and give them tours. And then the guest goes back home. It’s so infuriating! But the parents can’t say no. © 10S_NE1 / Reddit
• I was moving to another state and needed to sell my car, my mom kept telling me she could do it and to not worry. I was worried but figured she wouldn’t do anything crazy knowing I was getting married and needed to buy a car when I got there. About three weeks later and I am telling her I need to get my car sold she tells me she sold it and used the money as a down on a new car for herself. © Simplyatomic / Reddit

• My aunt is getting divorced from her awful husband of 15 years. She still does his laundry because she can't say no. The divorce has been in progress for about 8 months. No idea how she manages to actually be the one to initiate a divorce, but can't tell him to back off about his stained tighty whiteys. © white-dog-***s / Reddit
• I dressed as Santa for an elementary school Christmas program...they did 3 shows back to back. I sweated in that thing for 4 hours. © askforawizzler / Reddit

• I was once traveling on a jam-packed bus. An elderly woman got on at a stop. One girl, seeing this, gave up her seat and stood next to her. I looked at this and smiled quietly to myself.
  It’s packed, we all shake when the bus makes a turn. Suddenly I hear a profanity from that elderly woman who was given a seat. She was shouting at that girl because that one touched her with her body a few times. The insults were stopped with the words, “Swap back if you feel so bad.” © Pravidnik / Pikabu

• When I was a freshman in college I was approached by a friend of a friend to help her rent a car to see her boyfriend. She claimed they needed a credit card to be on the account in case of damage. I should have known not to by I agreed. Turned out that she was actually still under 18 and couldn't rent the car herself at all, so after she cried at me for about an hour I rented it and she drove off in it. I felt completely stuck, I should have said no right away, but instead I got stuck with a huge liability that I really didn't want to deal with. © Unknown Author / Reddit
• I paid my ex-boyfriend's cell phone bill for 3 year after we broke up. It wasn't even bundled into mine. © Unknown Author / Reddit

• There were complaints about a colleague, and my superiors sent me to check on him. I turn up at his department and he’s bought an expensive cake. I say, “No, thanks, I can’t have that much sugar.” “But you can have one slice, right?” “No,” I reply, “I’m diabetic.”
  “Oh, but your doctor won’t know...” Another colleague explains, “Cake will make him sick.” The guy wouldn’t stop, “How about a pie? Chocolate croissants?”
  Turns out, this dude knew I was overweight and decided to bribe me with cake. We ended up firing him. © punkwa*** / Reddit

And here are stories about family members who turn life into a never-ending drama.