Exposing Their Negligence, Among Other Things

I’m a tutor. It’s 2021, and most of my work has remained virtual even as the global health crisis is lifting, for the sake of clients’ convenience. However, some parents have preferred to return to in-person lessons.

Once I was fully vaccinated — I’m quite a bit older, so I was toward the front of the line — I was perfectly happy to return to in-person sessions with those who preferred them.

I work with one family who can be a bit… prickly… regarding public health measures. They wouldn’t have their son do virtual sessions with me, were certain he wasn’t learning anything, and pressured me quite hard (but unsuccessfully) to return to in-person before a vaccine was available. They’re otherwise fine. Although, their son wouldn’t need tutoring at all had his parents not rammed him into a gifted program he really isn’t suited for.

The first few sessions back were all fine and good. But then, one day, I went to the family’s house and noticed that the father of the family had a pretty severe cough.

Me: “Is everything okay?”

Father: *Insistently* “It’s fine. Come in.”

He even tried to shake my hand with his cough despite all we now know.

Well, whatever. I was in a separate room with the son, so I figured it was fine enough. I wouldn’t be there all too long. I opened a window.

The kid and I were working away, but I kept hearing this guy really going at it coughing, and I was pretty uncomfortable. I offer virtual sessions for precisely this reason, and I even specifically have clients sign a form saying they will reschedule if they or their child are exhibiting signs of illness. (I required that before the health crisis!)

When my student mentioned that his dad had returned from a trip to see a big game about two weeks before, I was done. I excused myself early and made up some bogus excuse about a burst pipe at home. (I didn’t want to have the confrontation about the real reason in front of the student.)

I headed home and planned to schedule a call with the parents since a matter as sensitive as “Do this again and our professional relationship is over” didn’t seem appropriate for email.

The call went about how you’d expect. They were all, “You want to live your life in fear, go ahead, but we’re not paying for the session you walked out on,” and so forth.

About a week and a half after that initial encounter, a health department worker contacted me to inform me that I had been exposed to [contagious illness]. They couldn’t tell me by whom, but I’m absolutely sure it was this guy.

The worst part is that to trigger a contact trace in our state, you have to have tested positive. That means this guy knew he had it, exposed me, and chose not to call, leaving who knows how many days for me to infect my loved ones and other clients while he just sat on his a**.

Thankfully, because I’m fully vaccinated, I seem to have been spared.

I terminated our business relationship in writing, and their response was:

Parents: “You’re discriminating against us for our beliefs! What, our son doesn’t deserve an education as much as the ‘scientists’? We’ll find a better teacher than you for less money.”