The human psyche is a completely unpredictable thing, especially when it comes to such important and painful issues as life and death. For example, many literary experts are sure that one of the most important reasons that led to the tremendous success of the Harry Potter books was that JK Rowling touched upon the death of people close to the hero in them.
By the way, the heroine of our next story could sympathize with the young wizard - after all, by the age of twenty, she was practically completely alone in the world, gradually losing all her loved ones. Of course, this influenced her perception of family values and periodically led to conflicts with friends and acquaintances. So we'll talk about one of these conflicts today.
This story, described in a post by AITA Reddit user u/Honest_Cake842, has received over 25.8K upvotes and around 1.8K different comments, so netizens definitely found it rather interesting. Therefore, let's now investigate this particular situation together.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post has lost almost all her family members by the age of 20
Image credits: nate bolt (not the actual image)
So, the author of the post is twenty years old, and by this age she has lost almost all her family members. Her parents are gone, as well as grandparents on both sides and all her father's uncles, while those distant relatives that remain alive are literally scattered all over the world. In general, all who remain nearby now are her siblings and her BIL.
Image credits: u/Honest_Cake842
The heroine's best friend, by contrast, has a big family and likes bragging about this
It is not surprising that the topic of family and relatives has become very painful for our heroine, and she continues to dream of a large family. However, it so happened that her best friend has a huge number of relatives, and constantly communicates with them.
Image credits: u/Honest_Cake842
Youth is characterized by some cruelty in judgments, so the OP's friend periodically allows herself some sarcastic remarks like: "Well, if you had a wedding now, the hall would be almost empty." Of course, such remarks offend the OP, and she immediately withdraws into herself.
Image credits: u/Honest_Cake842
The woman is well aware of the situation with her friend's relatives, yet she keeps telling about her own family
For example, during the OP's mother's funeral, there were many empty chairs, and the OP's friend did not fail to notice that if it was the funeral of one of her family members, there would be no empty space in the hall. Yes, the friend was well aware of the situation with the OP's relatives, but this did not stop her at all. Youth, as we have already said, is characterized by some cruelty in judgments.
Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual image)
Thanksgiving, however, turned out to be great and happy for the OP - her siblings and her BIL got together, they cooked food, sat at a common table, played board games... When the OP posted photos from the celebration on a social network, her friend immediately texted her privately, stating that the relatives looked wonderful, and immediately sent a bunch of photos of her family around the festive table, accompanying all this with the remark that there was no empty place at the table.
Image credits: u/Honest_Cake842
After the friend teased the author of the post with her family's photos on Thanksgiving, she couldn't help but tell a morbid joke in return
This completely upset the OP, and she sharply replied that her family would also not have an empty seat at the table - but, unfortunately, it had started to snow, and it was difficult to dig up all the relatives from their graves. According to our heroine's own words, her friend was silent for several hours, and then she just told her that the joke was morbid, and the woman should change her attitude.
Image credits: Paul VanDerWerf (not the actual image)
People in the comments just wondered why this woman is still the author's friend
However, according to people in the comments, the heroine of this story had every right to joke as she saw fit. In any case, this is her family and her relatives, albeit deceased. And if the joke turned out to be painful for her friend, commenters believe, then she should have thought about whether she would hurt other people's feelings with her constant mentions of her own large family.
Moreover, as the author of the original post herself noted in the comments, this girl seems to perceive her friends more as competitors. For example, she once even tried to compare their cats' weight, so that according to the results of the weighing, she could say she's a better owner. In any case, the OP seems to be seriously considering the question that one of the commenters asked her: "What benefit does this friendship bring you?"
In the meantime, we are already looking forward to your comments on this tale, so if you have any tips for the heroine of the post, what she should do about her friend and those constant comparisons, please leave them below the post.
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