When I was 19, I had friends from high school who were still younger, and one of them was my friend Julie who had helicopter parents (she would have been 17-18). I was doing security at an event where the radio headsets we had were super-shitty, and the guy running security was a dumpster fire on his own. Julie's parents forbid her from going to the event, and grounded her to her room. Then her dad called the hotel where the event was being held, was told Julie had "run away" to this event, and that I was somehow responsible. Given she was a minor, the event runners were understandably concerned, although they were frustrated that Julie's dad was unable to describe her in a way that was useful: "Asian, wearing black, or a tee-shirt, or something. Ask Punkie where she is." So they contacted the head of security to find me on my rounds to see if I knew what this crazy man was talking about. The head of security said "okay" and did nothing.

At some point, the head of security was fired for a variety of reasons, and this increased the level of miscommunication. Meanwhile, Julie's dad was calling every few hours, demanding to know where his daughter was. And soon there was a concerted effort to find me, which was complicated because of the communication issues. By the time someone found me and the connection was made, my response of, "I have no idea, Julie said her dad forbid her coming here," was not what they wanted to hear, and met with skepticism "You're not hiding her, are you? Like she ran away with you in some tryst? She's 17 and you're 19, that could have legal ramifications!" No. We're platonic friends, I don't know where she is. if I tried to bonk the poor woman, she'd clobber me.

Meanwhile, Julie's dad finds Julie in her bedroom, right where he left her. Julie later told me that she was ignoring her dad calling for her, and didn't "come downstairs" like he demanded because she assumed it was a trap to get her punished for leaving her bedroom while she was grounded. So naturally, her dad assumed she wasn't in the house. Because he called for her and she didn't answer.

Poor Julie. Her parents were crazy-nuts.

[–] bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml 53 points 9 months ago

This is the type of story you can't make up because it's not realistic enough.

[–] cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world 46 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Are you still in touch with Julie? I hope she moved out and went on to become a well-rounded, functioning adult with a good job and healthy social life.

[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 18 points 9 months ago

When that’s the type of parents you grow up with, having a well-rounded and functioning adult life with a healthy social aspect becomes a bit of a long shot. Not impossible, but jeez, I can’t imagine how fucked up that girl’s trust and social skills must have been when she was leaving the house. That’s the kind of parenting that leads kids to go absolutely off the wall and down a pretty dark path.

[–] punkwalrus@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I was for about 15 years post high school, but her life was rough and I was always the one initiating contact, so we drifted apart. I hope she okay. Smart woman, gifted arist, terrible parents.

[–] cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world 9 points 9 months ago

That was so nice of you to make an effort for 15 years.

[–] awwwyissss@lemm.ee 23 points 9 months ago

This is one of the better stories I've seen on Lemmy. Have a pineapple emoji 🍍

[–] MidRomney@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Then her dad called the hotel where the event was being held, was told Julie had “run away” to this event, and that I was somehow responsible.

Why would the hotel tell her dad that Julie had run away?

[–] Venat0r@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think he meant that the dad told the hotel.

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

English keeps confusing me (I'm a foreigner)

[–] Octavio@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

If it makes you feel better, I don't think the misunderstanding was on your end. Although I agree probably the dad told the hotel that, it was actually phrased like the hotel told the dad that.

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

It does, thank you.

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"Was told" clearly suggests the father was given this information, not vice versa.

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Occam's razor. Which is more likely: Punkie made a mistake in wording when describing the situation, or the security team, who is very likely completely unaware of Punkie and Julie's relationship plus as noted later has no idea who Julie is made up out of thin air that Punkie convinced a stranger on the phone that one of their junior staff convinced said strangers daughter to run away?

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 0 points 9 months ago

Of course it is more likely. That’s not in question though.

Just that the wording suggests the opposite