Carefree Son Ignores Hardworking Mom’s Pleas to Find a Job until She Lands in ICU — Story of the Day

Linda struggles to make ends meet after losing her husband in a tragic accident. She pleads with her son to get a job so he can stay in college, but his only response is to blame her for all their hardships.

Linda's phone dropped from her numb fingers, and she fell to her knees. This couldn't be happening. Any minute now, James would burst into the room and tell her it was all a bad joke.

"Ma'am, are you there, ma'am?"

The nurse's voice carried from where Linda's phone now lay on the floor, but Linda ignored it. She didn't want to hear about this car accident, about paramedics airlifting James to the hospital.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, ma'am," the nurse continued. "Please call back when you've had time to process everything so we can make arrangements for the deceased's remains and personal effects."

Remains... was that all James was now? Remains of a life and the love they'd shared since high school. She remembered how his eyes twinkled when she accepted his proposal and the proud smile he gave her when he held their son, Scott, for the first time.

A car accident on an icy road had reduced it all to remains and memories. Linda doubled over and screamed as her grief overwhelmed her.

Over the following weeks, Linda's grief over losing her husband was overshadowed by more mundane and stressful concerns. James's life insurance didn't pay out as much as Linda had expected, and the funeral costs were higher than she'd anticipated.

Scott was only in his second year of college. Linda cried as she crunched the numbers and realized she couldn't afford to pay his tuition much longer.

Linda started applying for jobs, but the harder she looked, the more she saw that she'd made a massive mistake in her life.

"I'll take care of eveything," James had told her after they married.

"You'll never have to work a day in your life."

How wrong he'd been. Linda laughed bitterly as she recalled his reassurances because this was surely a cruel joke at her expense!

With no experience and only a high school diploma to her name, the only place willing to hire Linda was a motel needing a cleaner. It was a shabby place. There were far more roaches than Linda felt comfortable with, but the salary would cover most of her expenses.

That evening, she called Scott to apprise him of her dire financial situation.

"You need to find a job so you can contribute to your tuition," she said. "I won't be able to afford it much longer with my salary."

"I can't do that!" Scott replied. "I need to concentrate on my studies. How do you expect me to get good grades if I spend all my study time at a job? I'm sure it will be fine if you cut back on your manicures and hairdresser visits."

Linda gaped at the phone. "Scott, I've already cut all unnecessary expenses from my budget. I'm barely able to cover groceries and utilities. You have to get a job so you can complete your diploma."

Scott grumbled that his mother was making impossible demands, and Linda ended the call soon afterward. She'd hoped that speaking to Scott would alleviate some of her worries but instead, he'd intensified her stress.

Linda and James had saved a modest amount over the years, and now Linda was forced to watch it shrink as she had to dip into it to survive. She approached a cleaning agency and got a second job cleaning people's homes.

Linda was exhausted at the end of the day, but she felt calmer knowing she could pay her bills without withdrawing any more funds from her savings. Scott's tuition was still a big concern. She asked if he'd gotten a job every time they spoke, but he still refused.

One day, Scott called her in a panic.

"Mom, what the heck is going on? I've been threatened with suspension for non-payment. What have you done with my tuition money?"

"I've been telling you for months that I can't afford it anymore. I've paid what I could every month, but there's no way I can cover the full amount. Why do you think I kept pushing you to get a job?"

"I don't know! I thought you were exagerrating."

"Well, I wasn't," Linda snapped. "With all the time you've spent studying, you should try applying for a scholarship."

A few weeks later, Linda was getting ready for work when she heard her front door bang. Confused, she rushed into the hall and paused in shock.

"I've been a terrible son. I was lazy and selfish and caused you immense suffering because of it."

Scott was standing in the doorway with an angry glower on his face. When he saw his mother, he pointed at her accusingly.

"This is all your fault!"

"What are you talking about, Scott?" Linda rushed forward.

"I had to leave school because you can't pay the tuition fees," he shouted. "What sort of a useless parent are you that you can't be bothered to pay for your child's education?"

Linda froze in the hallway. Her body trembled with shock from Scott's hurtful accusations.

"This would never have happened if Dad was still alive."

Scott shook his head and shouldered past Linda. Moments later, she heard him slam the door to his old bedroom.

Linda started crying, but soon, she had to dry her tears to leave for work. Scott was lying on the couch watching TV when she got home that evening. He sullenly refused to speak to her.

Over the following days, Linda slowly got the whole story out of Scott as he continued to blame her for having to leave college. His grades weren't good enough to meet the requirements for a scholarship.

Linda was consumed by anger then.

"How could you be so foolish?" she shouted at him one night. "Every time I told you that you'd need to get a job, your answer was that you needed that time to study. If you were really studying so hard, you would've met the requirements for a scholarship."

"You had many warnings, Scott," Linda continued, "and now I'll give you one more: I can't afford to cover expenses for both of us. Get a job, or we'll both end up on the street."

Scott pulled a face. "Fine! I'll get a job."

Finally, Linda had some hope for her son's future again. She came home the next day with the telephone number of a man who'd told her he was looking for a young man to work in a warehouse.

"Are you kidding?" Scott tossed the paper with the man's number aside. "I'm not going to haul boxes around for peanuts."

"And why not?"

"It's not worth it." Scott shrugged and stretched out on the couch. "I might not have a diploma, but I'm still educated. I'm not about to sell myself short by taking a job that bad."

"Besides," Scott added. "I've seen how tired you are when you get back from work. I don't want to live like that, exhausting myself every day and still not being able to get ahead."

"You make me ashamed to call myself your mother, Scott. There is nothing wrong with hard work. It might make you feel better to look down your nose at people doing unskilled labor, but the truth is that our society would fall down without the little people."

Scott rolled his eyes and gestured to her to move aside. "I want to carry on watching this series now, if you've finished nagging me."

"No, I have not! Now, you'll call that man tomorrow and arrange a time to meet him so you can apply for the job."

"I can't, okay? I plan to spend all of tomorrow filling out the paperwork for a new scholarship application."

Linda wasn't entirely sure she believed Scott, but she decided to trust him. After all, he must've learned something from the hard times they'd endured. Maybe he was finally ready to steer his life back onto the right track.

Scott spent most of the night watching TV, as he'd done every night since he moved back home. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to apply for a scholarship if only so he could escape Mom's constant moaning and nagging.

He couldn't believe how low her standards had fallen since Dad died. She didn't even bother to look after herself anymore! She was hollow-cheeked and stick-thin, with humongous dark bags under her eyes. Scott didn't want to end up the same way.

Scott woke late the next day. He took a few dollars from his mom's jar in the back of the cupboard and ordered a pizza for lunch. He decided to nap afterward, but his phone rang just as he drifted off to sleep.

It was Mom. Scott hesitated to answer as he knew she was probably checking up on whether he'd phoned for that job or whatever it was she'd nagged him about yesterday.

He ignored the call, but Mom called again. This time, he answered the call.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Is this Scott Tanner?"

That wasn't Mom's voice. "It is, who are you, and why are you calling from my mom's phone?"

"I'm a paramedic, sir. Your mother was found lying unconscious in the street. We're transporting her to the hospital."

Scott felt numb. He listened with growing panic as the paramedic told him the name and address of the hospital. As soon as the call ended, Scott rushed to see his mother.

She was still unconscious in ICU when Scott arrived, and the doctor he spoke to suggested she might be out for a while.

"Her condition is quite serious," the doctor said. "She's also malnourished and suffering from exhaustion, which aggravates the situation. However, the treatment we plan to give her has a very high success rate."

The doctor explained the procedure Mom needed, then told Scott how much it would cost. Scott's jaw dropped in disbelief.

When he returned home, Scott searched Mom's phone for her banking information. Looking through the figures, he finally realized the truth of what she'd told him about her finances.

He'd have to get a job fast, or he'd lose his mother just as he'd lost his father. Scott hunted through the sitting room until he found the number his mom had given him. He called and asked about the job, but the man on the other end told him he'd already hired somebody else.

As he hung up, a call came through. It was the motel owner Mom worked for, calling to find out why she was late. Scott explained what had happened to her.

"That's a real shame," the man said. "Linda is one of the best employees I have, but I can't wait for her to get better. I'm sorry to do this, but I'll have to hire somebody else to take her place."

"What about me?" Scott asked.

"I'll work in my mom's place until she's feeling better."

"I guess that'll do. You're Linda's son, so I'm sure you're as hardworking and attentive as she is. How fast can you get here?"

Scott rushed over as fast as possible. He cleaned the motel rooms from top to bottom. The following day, he phoned the cleaning agency his mom worked for and arranged to work in his mom's place for them too.

Over the next few weeks, Scott became more appreciative of his mother and how hard she'd worked to survive after Dad died. There were no more late nights for him as he worked his fingers to the bone from morning to evening.

One day, he got a call from the hospital that Mom was awake. He rushed over to see her as soon as he could.

"I'm so sorry for eveything," Scott said as soon as he entered her room. He sank to his knees at her bedside. "I've been a terrible son. I was lazy and selfish and caused you immense suffering because of it."

Scott took his mother's hand. "I swear to you that I'll get a job as soon as you're released from the hospital. In the meanwhile, I've agreed to work in your place so I can pay for your treatment."

Linda was amazed to see how Scott had changed. She smiled at him and called him closer so she could hug him.

By the time Linda was released from the hospital, Scott had lined up a job with one of the cleaning agency clients. The wealthy businesswoman had asked Scott where Linda was and, when she heard his story, offered him a junior position in her business.

The woman was so impressed by Scott's hardworking attitude that she offered to pay a portion of his tuition if he agreed to stay with her company. Scott immediately agreed. He completed his diploma and ensured Linda was well-taken care of for the rest of her life.

What can we learn from this story?

• Respect your parents and help them when needed. Scott didn't appreciate how much Linda sacrificed for him until it was almost too late. If he'd only listened to her sooner, she might never have fallen ill.
• Don't take your loved ones for granted. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, and you never know when a tragedy might leave you wishing you'd done more for the people in your life.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a son who finally returns home to visit his mom, only to find her house abandoned.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com