He thought he was playing it smart, successfully managing to juggle multiple high-paying remote jobs without raising suspicion until he made the mistake of telling his dad.
The Reddit post, which quickly gained traction in the r/overemployed subreddit, warned others: “Never tell your parents. Ever.” He explained that he had confided in his father, who proudly told his friends at a social event. That, according to the original poster, was the beginning of the end.
A Joke That Blew Up His Cover
“Obviously he was saying it with pride like ‘my son makes XX a year doing OE,’” the OP wrote. But it didn’t stop there. One of the dad’s friends told their own kid, who happens to be the Redditor’s peer, and that person let the cat out of the bag during a casual game night.
“We were playing a game and I said something about me being broke,” the poster recalled. “And the guy says something like, ‘how are you broke if you work five different jobs?’”
The damage was immediate. “Basically outed me in front of everyone,” he said. “Now I’m anxious as those people might tell even more people. It’s a domino effect and I hate it.”
Though he hasn’t been caught by any employer, he’s feeling the pressure. “I feel like the grenade trigger has been pulled and it’s only a matter of time now.”
Commenters didn’t hold back. Some criticized the decision to complain about being broke while making serious money. “You’ve posted in this sub making $20k/month from three jobs,” one person said. “Am I crazy for thinking you deserve the anxiety if you’re going around telling people you’re broke making $240k/year?”
Others shared similar horror stories. “Learned the SAME exact lesson as you,” one person commented. They confided in a family member, only to be blindsided months later when an acquaintance of that relative casually asked how their overemployment was going.
A few users took a more empathetic approach, suggesting damage control. “Just claim it’s not something you do anymore,” one advised. “It’s old info and hopefully it fades away.”
Another popular fix? Say it was all a misunderstanding. “Explain it away as clients,” one user suggested. “What? Ohh I understand the confusion. No no, I work at Company A, which is basically a parent company. I have five clients under that one company.”
Despite the financial benefits, many in the OE community have adopted a strict code of silence. “Don’t tell anyone ever,” one commenter said plainly. “Don’t tell your best friends. Don’t tell your spouse. Things change and you never know what someone will try to do to your life when they feel spited.”
As for the original poster, he’s now regretting the moment he broke that code. “My own father… ugh! I even specifically TOLD them both to keep shut, but they’re old,” he wrote. “It’s my own damn fault for breaking rule #1.”
Source – https://uk.style.yahoo.com/tried-keep-multiple-lucrative-jobs-164609571.html/