AITAH for refusing to answer calls from my father after he left me stranded in the woods?

A Reddit user shares their frustration after their father failed to pick them up as planned following a five-day, 74-mile hiking trip. The user had arranged for their father to drive them back to their car at the starting point, providing a time range and confirming the pickup the night before. Despite the clear arrangement, the father didn’t show up, leaving the user stranded in the woods without cell service.

Forced to hitchhike back to their car, the user later learned their father had gone to visit a friend in another state, claiming the lack of an exact time justified the absence. Since then, the user has refused contact, still furious about being abandoned. Read the full story below…

‘ AITAH for refusing to answer calls from my father after he left me stranded in the woods?’

My father was supposed to pick me up at the end of a 5 day hiking trip and take me back to my car at the starting point. This was planned weeks in advance and he offered to do this. It’s not possible to estimate the exact time one will complete a long hiking trip (74 miles), but I gave him a range on the last day between noon and 4pm.

I called him the night before he was supposed to pick me up and told him between 2 and 4 PM and he said he’d be there. I pushed much harder than I would have liked to for the entire trip in order to get to the end in time for him. I finish at 3pm, and he’s not there. No cell service so I can’t call. I wait until just before dark and hitchhike back to my car.

When I get ahold of him he tells me I didn’t give him an exact time so he went to a friend’s in another state and can come pick me up in a couple days! Since then I’ve had no contact because I am soooo mad. Am I wrong here?

Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:

kwispybish −  Your dad’s an a**hole, I’d go no contact too.

pixie-ann −  NTA your dad seriously let you down. Is this a pattern with him? Why would he offer and completely fail to deliver? He could have even let you know the night before and you might have been able to find someone else, but he didn’t do that either. Did he think you would just stand around for two days waiting for him to get there?

shammy_dammy −  NTA. He definitely let you down.

Dana07620 −  No contact. He didn’t give a f**k what happened to you. A certain day between two and four is plenty specific. He wasn’t in the area at all…he went to another state and wouldn’t be back for two days.. I would so cut that fucker off.. NTA

Valuable-Job-7956 −  NTA. Calculate the distance from his home to his friends. Home then add in your pickup location and I’m willing to bet it he never had any intention. Of picking you up.

Lay-ZFair −  NTA Guess your cell phone just can’t connect to his anymore.

maroongrad −  NTA Was the friend just an excuse and he was drunk and/or high? Seems somewhat more likely, but yeah, I’d go no contact too for at least some length of time. Might be days, weeks, months, or years depending on what other stunts he’s pulled and if he realized that you were stuck with no phone service in the middle of nowhere.

If you are in contact again, he hasn’t apologized and apologized and apologized? Feel free to be evil. Maybe a bit of turn-about will make him realize what an ass he was. Arrange to meet with him, pick somewhere awkward at an awkward time, such as a place with no parking nearby during that time of day. Bonus points if it requires going uphill or upstairs or is very noisy.

Mega bonus points if you can get him to leave his car at home and convince him to Uber because it’s hard to park.. You aren’t there. “We said sevenish but since there wasn’t an exact time, I went to the movies with a friend instead. We put our phones on silent for the movie.”

grayblue_grrl −  Wow…. NTA…. I’d “be in another state” for the next decade after that.

Active-Pay-8031 −  NTA. Dad is a b**. Hope you learned your lesson re trusting him.

IANANarwhal −  I’m a dad. I would have been there by 1 (after you said 2-4) and parked until my kid showed up, cheerfully.