It has been nothing short of an eventful year for Ben Shelton. The big-serving American has grabbed the headlines on and off the court, and at one point, even broke into the top 15 of the ATP rankings. He finds himself in the spotlight once more, but not for the right reasons.
The 22-year-old had recently taken his car to a service shop but was left stumped by the $300/hour charge. Shelton shared details of the same in an Instagram story and joked about wanting to apply for a job at the shop.
“This service shop just told me their hourly labor rate is 300/hour when I asked them to do some work on my car. So I said do you have an application I wanna apply for a job. Crazy world out here,” he wrote.
Considering Shelton’s massive following on social media, the story became popular in no time. Posts with screenshots of that story started to do the rounds on different social platforms.
But not all the reactions were positive. While some agreed with his remarks, claiming that it was a lot of money for car service, others felt that Shelton could certainly afford it.
Is $300 an hour not too much though? Or what is this argument here? I don’t understand?
— Roseline (@roshati91) November 14, 2024
Well, fair. But since he’s picking an issue with it, I will assume it’s because it’s not a typical charge for him as someone who isn’t even a new driver. The fact that he earns millions is not reason enough to be overcharged. Is that too difficult to some?
— Roseline (@roshati91) November 14, 2024
definition of insufferable and out of touch with reality: https://t.co/pkQkBPJkfd
— (@tennisribbons) November 14, 2024
But there was one comment that stood out from the rest. A user who identified herself as Miranda (@tennisera) brought her mathematical skills into play in trying to prove that Shelton has actually nothing to complain about, seeing the plight of others in such a scenario.
One user’s jibe at Shelton goes viral
Hitting back at Shelton’s “crazy world out here” remark, she believes his average hourly rate is a whopping $17,000 given the money he has earned in 2024.
“Excuse my quick napkin math, but in 2024, Ben Shelton spent 130 hours, 26 minutes on court and made $2.2 million. That’s an average hourly rate of $17,000. So sure, yes, crazy world out here,” she wrote.
That post went viral too. She also received mixed responses, with some agreeing with her, while others focused more on her “130 hours, 26 minutes on court” comment. They believe she has conveniently left out all the hours Shelton spent in practice sessions and traveling.
Yes, and one must calculate all the expenses of years of training, coaching, traveling to matches with little prize money. Years of expenses w/no certainty of a real payoff. Injuries for some players add delays. It’s a long road to get to this paycheck
— Beth Hill-Skinner (@bethhillskinner) November 14, 2024
To be fair, it has been a positive season for the 22-year-old. Apart from winning one title, he has also earned substantial prize money of $2,222,233 so far this season. However, that does not deny him his right to question the cost of something despite his huge income.
The only question is whether he should have done it publicly. In the changing social media-dominated world, there are unfortunately no restrictions. This won’t be the first nor the last of something like this happening since everyone is sharing practically everything in their lives.
