A free clothes donation giveaway took an unexpected turn when the intended recipient made a last minute request.
The scenario unfolded after an Aussie woman arranged to give away a bag of clothes she no longer wore or needed.
After connecting with another woman who was happy to accept the donation, the pair exchanged text messages to organise collection.
But things soon went awry. The donor was asked by the recipient: ‘Would you please be able to drop them off?’
This question appeared to irk the woman offering the free clothes, who promptly replied: ‘Girl be for real. It’s a free bag of clothes.’
‘I’m not dropping it off,’ she obstinately added.
The recipient sent a follow-up message explaining that she could really use the donated items.
‘I don’t have many clothes so I would really appreciate them,’ she wrote.
A donation offer of a free bag of clothes took an unexpected turn when the recipient requested if the clothes could be delivered – only for the request to be flatly denied
The text message exchange between the clothes donor and the intended recipient was shared to an online forum – and quickly divided opinions
But after reading the abrupt delivery refusal reply, she simply responded: ‘Oh ok.’
The interaction was later recounted in an online forum and sparked divided opinions amongst commenters.
Some saw the recipient’s request for delivery as a clear-cut example of ‘entitlement’.
‘The entitlement of someone to be like drop your free s*** off at my place is wild,’ read one reply. ‘Like damn, she wanted to be nice and gift someone free clothes.’
‘Marketplace is FULL of choosy beggars, some of the most entitled people go for the free s***,’ another observed.
‘This has happened a couple of times [when] I’ve listed something for free,’ chimed in another person. ‘I always get at least one person who says “When can you deliver?”‘
One noted: ‘People who expect or need others to provide things for them have a mentality that persists in all aspects of life. So they often don’t differentiate between free clothes and free service. They’re just used to things happening for free.’
However, the vast majority of replies to the message exchange, which was shared in a Reddit post, saw things differently.
‘This doesn’t read as entitled to me. It reads like someone in a tough situation just asking if it would be possible,’ one response read.
Although it was almost universally agreed that the woman donating the clothes was under no obligation to deliver the free items, many people took issue with her unnecessarily rude refusal
‘I would guess that some people looking for free bags of clothes also don’t have transportation,’ suggested another.
‘Look, I don’t think you’re in the wrong here, but I don’t think she is either. You don’t need to drop it off when you’re already giving it for free, but she did ask politely so the least you could do is respond with the same etiquette and respect.
‘It sounds like she’s respectful and maybe doesn’t have any means of transportation. You can either do a good deed and bring the clothes to her, or just end the conversation.’
Others believed that, while the donor had every right to refuse to deliver the donated clothes, the tone of her reply was unnecessarily harsh.
‘Was it really so hard to just say no without the attitude? Nothing wrong with saying no, it’s free clothes, but if this is you being “direct”, you’re probably an awful person to be around,’ read one reply.
‘She was polite and said please. She sounds poor and you were rude. It costs nothing to be kind about how you say no. “Sorry girlie, I don’t drive” would have spared her the shame,’ another responded.
Some felt that, while the donor might have posted the message exchange online to elicit sympathy or outrage over the recipient’s supposed entitlement, it ultimately backfired and revealed more about the donor herself.
‘I’ve seen people act entitled but this ain’t it. You seem desperate to be offended about something. Gross.’
Another agreed, replying: ‘The dejected “oh ok” has me convinced you’re the villain here, I’m sorry.’
