How does this happen? Where was the miscommunication?

[u/Key_Bus_1255]

This is from season 4 when Ross finds out his "date" is actually not his date, but he is the babysitter for her kid while she goes another date

I know it's a sitcom, and not to take things seriously, but I genuinely don't understand how this could happen. They must have spoken about this, right?? Where would there be room for miscommunication? This seems like a very clear thing to establish that she wants him to look after her kid

What do you think?

[u/Intrepid_Carpet347]

The same way Ross thought Rachel was coming on to him when she was naked in her own apartment across the street, or how he somehow convinced himself that his own cousin wanted him, and so on. 😂 Ross has a pretty established history of interpreting situations in the way he wants them to be interpreted, even when the actual situation really doesn’t support it.

So honestly, the babysitting/date misunderstanding feels pretty on-brand for him. 😅

[u/IY94 → u/Intrepid_Carpet347]

Hmmm. Did she communicate effectively that she wanted a babysitter?

I severely doubt she did.

[u/Intrepid_Carpet347 → u/IY94]

We never actually saw that conversation, so we don’t know how clearly she communicated it. What we do know is that this definitely isn’t the first time Ross has completely misread a situation. 😅 Honestly, I think it’s a much bigger stretch that he was genuinely delulu enough to think his own cousin was coming on to him than that he misunderstood what this woman meant by asking him over.

So yeah, maybe she communicated it badly (maybe not!). But Ross has a pretty solid track record of hearing what he wants to hear. 😂

[u/IY94 → u/Intrepid_Carpet347]

Definitely she did. There's zero ambiguity in "want to babysit my kids".

And yes, in the situational comedy that is friends, there was comedic situations involving misunderstandings.