Many centuries ago, one Eastern sage said: “The word is like a fired arrow. And the arrow has never returned.” Well, regarding the second part of the statement, the sage can be actually forgiven - he lived long before the Petty Revenge subreddit appeared. But as for the first part, he’s damn right.
A word can elevate a person, or it can destroy them. One can cause an incredible surge of strength and energy, or can literally devastate someone with just a couple of phrases. Which, in fact, is what happened to the user u/Few_Setting_4917, the author of our story today. And it happened, what makes it worse, at her own sister’s wedding.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a woman who once had some difficult years over her mental health problems, but managed to cope with it
Image credits: ĐỨC PHÚ (not the actual photo)
Recently the author attended her sister's wedding where she was a bridesmaid
Image credits: Few_Setting_4917
Everything went nicely, but at the reception, the maid of honor dared to mock the author's mental health issues publicly in her dinner speech
Image credits: Genessa Panainte (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Few_Setting_4917
The author decided not to spark a drama in public but simply left the venue in tears
Image credits: Kari Bjorn Photography (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Few_Setting_4917
However, the sister tried to justify the MOH's words, claiming she didn't mean anything offensive
Let's start with a short excursion into the history of the problem. The Original Poster (OP) is a 27-year-old woman who had a difficult few years with mental health issues. Because of these problems, the author even dropped out of college and, although over time she managed to get her life back on track, this topic remained extremely painful for her.
And so, the moment came for the author’s sister’s wedding, where the OP played the role of one of the bridesmaids. Everything went well, but at the reception, when it was time to make a dinner speech, the maid of honor (MOH) completely unexpectedly joked about the OP. Like, that after so many years of being the family screw-up, she managed not to ruin anything at the wedding while being a bridesmaid.
If you thought that a long story would now follow to explain the author's feud with the MOH, then you are definitely mistaken. No, the women have known each other for many years - the MOH is the OP's sister's bosom friend, but their communication has always been limited to mutual greetings when they met. Nothing more. That is why the author was completely at a loss when, in the presence of many relatives and mutual friends, she heard such cruel jokes addressed to her.
We must pay tribute to our heroine - she didn't ruin her sister's wedding or cause a public scandal, but simply went out and only then burst into tears. The sister followed her out and, having learned the reason why the OP was so upset, tried to justify the MOH’s speech - like she didn’t mean anything bad. But the author still left the wedding early.
The parents mostly sided with the original poster in this situation, claiming that they understood her feelings perfectly. But the sister still kept being angry with her - allegedly for trying to 'stir up a storm in a glass of water'. So our heroine decided to turn to netizens for some support and advice.
Image credits: Al Elmes (not the actual photo)
Okay, let's now look at the statistics. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, approximately 43.8 million American adults experience some type of mental illness in a given year. Of this number, 9.8 million people admit that mental issues significantly affect their daily life.
And yet people continue facing mockery of their problems - no matter what. Despite the fact that since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been held every year, the main goal of which is to convey all the information about mental health to a wide range of people. Despite the numerous articles and books devoted to this. Despite extensive coverage of the problem in popular culture.
“There’s this stigma surrounding mental illness, as if it makes someone weak or defective in some way,” says Jeanne Croteau, Forbes former contributor. "Some people believe it's a choice and that people who suffer can just 'snap out of it' at any time. Others say we want attention or are trying to be manipulative. Worse still, many find our most challenging moments to be annoying or an inconvenience to their lives."
And among such people, obviously, is the MOH from the described wedding. However, people in the comments to the original post subjected this woman to merciless criticism. "She's a terrible person. If your sister sees nothing wrong with the maid of honor behavior it's because she's her best friend so don't let it confuse you into thinking that your feelings aren't valid," one of the responders wrote.
The author’s sister also didn't escape criticism from commenters. "From the way you describe your sister's reaction, her bff feels free to belittle you because your sister always goes along with it. I wouldn't be surprised if her maid of honor ran that joke by your sister for approval beforehand," someone wrote in the comments. "If your sister considers insulting you in a public setting like that to be a joke, you can bet money that they have shared similar jokes between them before."
Be that as it may, people in the comments were unanimous on one thing - the original poster was absolutely right in leaving the wedding where they dared to speak badly about her. "You deserve all good things, not scorn and mockery. Turning a mental health spiral around is very challenging, and you have a lot of strength, grit, and determination," another commenter added.
"Take pride in what you've accomplished, and don't let this pimple on the [bottom] of humanity get you down." Well, as they say, there's nothing to subtract nor add here. Although, you, our dear readers, may probably want to add your own point of view - then please join the comments!
People in the comments, however, subjected both the MOH and the bride to harsh criticism, claiming that the author did everything right there
