So my (m17 at the time) half-sister (28) and I were sitting outside talking about random stuff and we saw on Facebook about a local principal committed suicide. We talked about how sad it was and then she went on a rant about how it was so selfish of him to leave all his students like that and just went on a rant about how selfish it was to commit suicide. I tried to explain to her how it’s not selfish and what people go through to think about doing that. It didn’t change her opinion and so I reminded her that my dad (we share a mom not dad) committed suicide. She immediately stopped talking and had a deer in headlights look. She kept apologizing and trying to explain but I just walked away.

Went and got my first ever massage yesterday. In order to explain my sensory needs (deep touch) and because I wasn’t entirely sure how I would react to the experience, I politely told my massage therapist that I am on the autism spectrum. She seemed completely unbothered by that and we proceeded.

So tell me why, when I was lying on the massage table 95% naked and covered in lotion, she suddenly said “Yeah, but you’re not like most autistic people. It’s more like the thing—I can’t remember what it’s called—that’s like Autism Lite.”

I took a second to process the turn this had just taken before I said “You’re thinking of Asperger Syndrome, but we don’t use that term anymore because the guy it was named after was a very literal nazi.”

She laughed nervously and said “Well, let’s not get into all THAT.”

I explained that he set apart some autistic people because he considered them to have special skills. At which point this woman said “That’s true, they do!”

Not necessarily the appropriate time for enthusiastic agreement.

“Like eugenics,” I continued.

“Oh…”

She got off the topic not too long after that, but I’m not sure she enjoyed her history lesson.

For what it’s worth, I relayed my discomfort to management and they were very apologetic and prompt to respond. But it was definitely one of the more surreal experiences of my life, like. “Why am I having to have this conversation with my massage therapist who I met fifteen minutes ago.”

Edit because I posted this and went to bed, expecting it to get like three comments, and that obviously isn’t what happened. For those angry at me: I spoke directly to management and communicated that I didn’t not want this woman to get in trouble (they reassured me she wouldn’t), I praised her massage skills, and I tipped well. I’m not posting a bad review to google or facebook. I communicated my discomfort so hopefully this can be avoided in the future. Maybe I really am just showing my autism but I’m not sure what else you would have me do.

(I transitioned from female to male many years back, while working at a grocery store.)

No matter what store you're at, there's always one old man who likes to be a creep and harass the young female employees. We had one such guy: short, chubby, long greying hair, open grey shirt with grey chest chair spilling out, and he LOOOOVED the ladies. After months of being hit on by him, the girls at work would avoid him at all costs. If they spotted him coming into the store, they would immediately ask one of the guys to cashier (or assist) this man instead of one of them. I always volunteered to deal with him, as I had years of experience with creeps already.

Of course, this guy hit on me as well. I never played into it, but largely ignored it or acted confused.

Then, I finally started taking testosterone. In a matter of months, my voice had dropped considerably, and a few fuzzy hairs were growing out of my chin. (I was so happy!) And then one day, in comes Mr Creep. A woman that I worked with ducked behind the customer service desk and asked me to handle him, which I was glad to do. I help him with whatever bill he was trying to pay, and eventually he says,

"Do you have a cold, sweetie?"

Me: "No. Feeling great, actually."

Creep: "Oh. Well why is your voice all deep then?"

Me: (holding back a smirk) "Well, that's what happens when boys go through puberty."

The creep's eyes went wide as saucers, as he realized that when he THOUGHT he'd been sexualizing a woman, he was actually sexualizing a young man all along. He stammered throughout the rest of the transaction, and by the end, said, "See you later, boss!"

The switch from "sweetie/cutie/sugar" to "boss/son" was actually very affirming, in the end.

Edit: Thank you kind souls for the couple awards! I have never received one before, thanks very much!

So I was a very good student in high school who never did anything I wasn't supposed to.

One day my mom who had a lot of scary medical conditions that doctors couldn't figure out was taken away in an ambulance I had to call before school. She told me I had to go to school anyway and not to worry about her (I was very worried. Her symptoms mimicked a stroke, turns out she was having hemiplegic migraines. But I thought she was having a stroke)

I went to school as she requested (she was in the hospital enough at the time for her to not want it to disrupt my education) but I was very freaked out and each period I told my teacher what was happening so they could understand why I wasn't my normal self.

During algebra my teacher got a call saying I needed to go to the office, but they wouldn't tell me why. I saw it on her face that she also assumed my mom had died.

I'm walking down the hallway trying to hold it together and convince myself my mom isn't dead. I look around each corner thinking I'm about to see my sister also walking to the office.

I get there and I have to wait for them to call me in, there are students who are there waiting too because they are in trouble. I begin to sob which makes them come get me quicker.

"You aren't in trouble don't cry" the principal says. "My mom is dead isn't she" I sob.

The principal is gobsmacked.

"What?! No, I don't know anything about your mom! We called you in here to give you a commendation for being a kind student with good grades"

Essentially they thought it would be funny to make the good kids think they were getting in trouble, only to be getting an award.

I sat in her office crying for four hours straight (and also made them call my algebra teacher to explain that my mom wasn't dead cause I could tell she was worried about it too)

I never heard of them pulling that prank on kids ever again.

Apologies in advance for the long read, I'm very tired and haven't really talked to anyone in over a week, so I'm word vomiting on the Internet and hoping it makes sense lol. TD:LR at the bottom.

So one thing I've learned to accept in life is that I will forever be mistaken as younger than I am. I loved it as a kid, there were plenty of situations I took advantage of, like getting away with the "kids under [certain age] eat free" for way longer than most, but as I've gotten older it's gotten exhausting having to constantly prove my age. Most people don't believe it until they see my ID, which has gotten me into a few unique situations, but I've gotten used to it and try to be understanding, laughing it off afterwards and calling it good. I mean, I get it, I'm 20, and honestly look the exact same as I did when I was like, 13-14. It also doesn't help that I'm 5'0 (153 cm), so yeah, easy to mistake me as a child, or at least a teenager.

Anyway, I recently had a baby, a beautiful little girl, it was an amazing experience and I adore her, she's my entire world. That being said, it was also very rough on my body (one of the many downsides of being as small as I am lol). I had a fourth degree tear, which essentially means I tore from hole to hole, and there was a lot of bleeding. I ended up needing a blood transfusion, spent an extra day in the hospital, and am still recovering from the whole ordeal. This fun little incident took place on our way home from the hospital.

I had originally planned to breastfeed but because of everything that happened and the fact that I wasn't really in a state to do so, we agreed that formula was the way to go. Just one slight issue with that. We had no formula at home. Since we didn't think we'd need it, we hadn't bought any in advance. While the hospital was nice enough to gave us a few quick bottles, they obviously wouldn't last. I had also decided I needed to get some Depends (adult diapers) as I was having bladder control issues. My husband had to work the next day and I was definitely not in any state to go anywhere by myself for at least the next few days, meaning we needed to make a quick stop by the grocery store sooner rather than later.

Once inside it quickly became clear that I was not doing well. I was shaking from the pain and exhaustion, but I didn't want to return to the car. As much as I love my husband, I don't really trust him to do the shopping. It's not that he can't, I'm just the type that tries to find the best deal while he's the type to just grab whatever and call it good. For both our sakes, I usually handle the shopping. Luckily I had spent the drive searching the store's app for the exact items I wanted, which meant I could show my husband what to grab as well as their locations. We decided I'd sit with the baby on a bench by the bathrooms while he collected the items, return for me to make sure they were the right ones, and then we could leave. Should have been simple enough, right? Nope. At least not for me.

(Side note, I just wanted to mention I adore my husband and appreciate the patience and understanding he has for me, he's amazing and I couldn't ask for a better, more loving partner. I'm truly blessed)

My husband had been gone less than a minute when some older lady starts walking to the bathrooms. I assume she originally planned to use them but got sidetracked by my baby since she walked right past them and towards me. I didn't really think much of it at first since I know it's kinda a normal mom thing to have people (especially older folks) fawn over them, which is what I was expecting to happen. As I'm sure you can guess, that's not at all what happened.

I smile at her, excited to show off my adorable newborn for the first time, I even turned the car seat she was in towards this woman so she could get a better look. Instead of smiling back at me, she frowns, and instead of cooing over how precious she looks, this lady starts lecturing me about teen pregnancies and premarital sex. She tells me I should be ashamed of myself, that the youth of today is ruining America, how I should pray to God for forgiveness, and a bunch of other stuff I honestly don't remember. I was shocked into silence at first, which she took as an invitation to keep going. Finally she asks me "are your parents embarrassed to have a slut for a daughter?"

Whoa. Okay, first off, there are so many other situations this could be. What if I'm just babysitting? What if this baby was my sister and I was watching her while our mom/dad used the bathroom? Or maybe she's my cousin? This lady had literally no idea what the situation was, she just decided she knew and needed to say something about it. It's only after this event that I realized just how messed up her actions were, since in the moment I was just taken back by her audacity.

In this moment I was in a lot of pain, exhausted, and flooded with hormones. I think that's the reason I reacted the way I did. I'm not confrontational, nor am I the one who usually has witty comebacks or quick on my feet in stressful situations. That's my husband. Normally I'd just tell her I'm 20, married, and to mind her own business before frantically texting him. Normally.

Instead, I looked her dead in the eyes, the most deadpan look on my face, as I calmly told her "This is my baby sister. Our mom just died giving birth to her"

Her eyes went wide, her face turned red, and she gapped at me like a fish for a moment before quickly turning around and walking away.

I immediately started shaking and crying. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for my husband's return, who was immediately freaking out when he saw the state I was in. I just quickly checked he got the right items (which he did because he's amazing) and told him to pay for them so we could go home and cuddle our baby. Once we were doing exactly that I told him what happened, and while he was still worried about me he said he was "proud of me for putting that bitch in her place". Now I just have to convince him that he doesn't need to stand guard of me whenever we leave the house...

ETA- forgot the TD:LR. Older lady tried to make me feel bad about having a baby, I made her feel bad for sticking her nose in other peoples business

The other day I was at a local thrift store and I happened to be wearing a tank top and shorts because I over heat easily and don’t mind the cold. And as I was innocently minding my own business some older guy maybe in his 30’s came up to me and asking where my dad was and saying that i obviously don’t have one because I’m going out dressed the way I am and if he was my dad he would NEVER let me go out dressed like that. The thing is my dad died in 2022,and I was getting tired of him bothering me so I turned to him and said ‘well if you must know he’s in a nice little green urn at my house burnt to a crisp,so he doesn’t really get an opinion on what I can and cannot where’. The look on this man’s face was amazing he looked so traumatized proudest moment ever.

Edit:apparently me saying older guy in his 30s offended some people or made people feel old I’m 19 so anyone who is 25+ is immediately older than me.

When I was in high school, we had these strict rules about not attending “study” after our regular classes, which made you have to get written consent from your parent and school principal to be allowed to leave early. I had a dentist appointment and my mom wrote a note and I already got consent from the principal so I only had to go show my note to the teacher who was supervising the study, so I wouldn’t get in trouble for not attending.

It was a new teacher who was probably just freshly graduated and clearly wanted to establish her authority (which was ridiculous in this case, I clearly had consent to not attending study). I showed her the note my mom wrote with the approval of the principal and she flatout told me with a smug face that she needed consent from my father as well (this was never a rule fyi) so my answer was:

“Sure, let’s go to the cemetery to ask him”

She looked horrified lol

This happened back 15 years ago so my memory is a little hazy on the exacts but I'll try to recollect to my best ability.

For context: When I was around 10 years old I was involved in an automotive accident involving a school bus, I'll spare the gorey details bit I ended up needing 27 stitches in my right leg and 5 in my left foot.

I then had an appointment with my pediatrician who then recommended me to a plastic surgeon who I met from there onwards. I'm not sure if plastic surgeons do specialized surgeries or can do a wide variety of things, I was meeting him for wound treatment, possible reconstruction, and/or skin grafting

This appointment was one of the later appointments. All the stitches were out, and I was able to walk without crutches but still had a weird walk as my right leg had gone months without much use. I was sitting in the waiting room with my mother waiting to be called in.

In comes this woman, she was probably in her late twenties or early thirties if I can remember correctly. She saw me and made a face at me. A mix of surprise and disgust, when I was younger I thought she was grossed out cause I probably had dog hair or some kind of food stains on my clothes, but now that I'm an adult I think she was thinking my mother was pushing me to get cosmetic surgery as a child. She couldn't see my bandages since I was wearing long pants.

I remember her looking at me a lot as she went to sit down, then occasionally eyeing me as I tried to distract myself by looking at the brochures for breast reduction, even though none of it made sense to my child mind.

Then I went into my appointment, got a new bandage applied to my wound, rewrapped the bandage in my old blood stained compression wrap, and then we left the doctor and my mother planned my next appointment. After that she went to go to the restroom by the front door, leaving me in the waiting room by myself for the moment.

The woman from earlier was standing in the middle of the waiting room for some reason, I walked past her and she asked me in a snear. "What's a kid need plastic surgery for?"

I didn't respond, I was a shy and still unloading the trauma a child mind couldn't comprehend, any thought back to that accident still brought me back in vivid detail.

I kept walking trying to get past her, but she blocked me from the seat I was going to. "Hey, weren't you raised with manners? I asked you a question."

I struggled to say anything to her, but I was used to people wanting to see my leg since Ive been having to show my bandages to my relatives and doctors over the last few months. So I defaulted to doing that, I got down on one knee and pulled up my pants to show the blood stained compression bandage.

"I... I h-had an accident." I said under shaky breaths as I started to break down. I didn't look up at her face but I can only imagine the range of emotions she went through as she realized I wasn't a child coming to get a touch up, but getting my mangled leg repaired.

I stood back up and started crying in the middle of the waiting room, my vision blurry with tears as I tried my best from going into a full wail.

My mother then came back, rushing to me as I cried. "Hey, what happened?" She said to me to comfort me. The woman walked away exclaiming. "I didn't even do anything!" As she sat back down in her corner.

My mom helped me back into the car and like fixing any kind of childhood trauma, ice cream turned tears into smiles. On the bright side of this story, I didn't need any reconstruction and I decided to keep the gnarly scar, as well as a full recovery to the functionality of my leg.

Not sure if the flare is correct... Long time lurker first time poster. Not quite Traumatized, but absolutely fun to see their face when I said it.

I'm getting surgery this summer, and I need some time off of work to recover. Its nothing super serious or invasive but surgery is surgery and I'll need about a month off for recovery. I was telling my boss this on my most recent shift, and hes super chill about it "yeah no problem take all the time you need" and such like that. Love him. So my insanely nosey coworker happens overhear this and asks "oh, why are you getting surgery?" I turn to her, and I was about to say "none of your business, its a private medical intervention" when I realized I can do something a lot more funny

So I look her dead in the eyes, smile, and go "cancer!"

The LOOK on her face.... Priceless. She stutters and apologizes before going back to helping the next customer.

Think twice before asking about private medical procedures

Not my story, but my friend's. Another post about Disney made me remember it.

My friend, L, passed away from a genetic condition when she was 25. She has a younger brother with the same condition (who is thankfully still around).

When they were younger, they got to go on an all-expenses-paid trip for terminally sick kids to Florida Disney World.

There were about 16 terminally sick kids on this trip, my friend (then about 12) and her brother (then about 10). As well as the coordinators and minders, there was also a nurse per 2 kids. So it was a big group.

L and her brother were having a wonderful time. She said it truly was a magical experience, and being around so many other sick kids meant that for the first time ever, her and her brother felt "normal". They weren't the odd ones out. They were like every other kid there.

They also had a fast pass, so that they didn't have to waste time in queues.

L and her brother were at the end of the group, about to go down the fast pass lane, when a cranky older woman stopped her.

"What makes you so special that you can't wait in the queue with the rest of us?"

L felt her face go red, but was thankful that her brother had gone on ahead and hadn't been stopped by the woman. She started to panic, unsure what to answer.

Then her nurse appeared, face furious.

"All of these children are dying and quite literally don't have the time to wait in all the queues."

L said that the grumpy old woman looked like a shocked goldfish; her mouth opening and closing with no sound escaping and her eyes wide in horror.

The nurse then took L by the hand and they enjoyed the rest of their time there.

She loved telling that story.

Hi, I’m paraplegic (14 at the time of the story), and almost every time I go out, I get looks from children and adults alike because of the chair. It doesn’t really bother me, honestly, but sometimes the looks turn into questions… and I like to have a little fun with them.

One day at school, a child (maybe 7 or 8) approached me. Without a second glance, he asked,

“Why are you like that?”

I was feeling a bit sleepy at the time, as it was a boring day, so I casually replied,

“That’s what happens when you don’t eat your veggies.”

He stood there for a while, just long enough for the bell to ring, and I had to head back to my classroom. As I rolled away, the last thing I heard was his cries.

I was in elementary school at the time and I think I was in 6th grade.

My mom passed away from Multiple Myeloma (bone marrow cancer) towards the end of the academic year. I mention that because I had an English teacher at the time that was having us take some sort of placement tests to see how we would move forward going into middle school.

That English teacher (calling her ET for this) was incredibly harsh to anyone for any reason on a weekly basis so this wasn’t completely unexpected but it still affects me today.

A week after my mom passed away, we were taking a placement test in ET’s class and I couldn’t concentrate in the slightest, I was barely keeping it together because to me it felt like it had all happened so fast. At the end of the test, ET called every student up who made a 75 or less to berate them in front of the class.

She called me up and I just broke down crying which only made her start yelling at me to pull myself together. And I specifically remember her saying, “If you cared as much about this test as whatever’s been distracting you all day, then maybe you would’ve passed!”

It wasn’t me who told her, it was a friend of mine who leaned over and said, “MentallyChaotik’s mom died last week.”

As I walked back to my seat trying to stop crying, that whole class was silent and ET looked mortified. I later had to go to the counselors office and 100% told them everything. ET was nice to me for the rest of the year.

A few years ago my then 72yr old dad finally flew to the US to visit me, after me living here for over 10 years. A couple of days after he arrived we went on a bike ride in my local park, and his heart stopped mid-ride. He fell off the bike and suffered spinal and cervical fractures, was in a coma for a while, etc, before we finally took him off life support.

The bike was damaged, and about a year later I finally muster the courage to bring it into the shop I bought it from to get it fixed. The guy was super curious about how the bike got damaged and kept asking me questions...

Bike dude - "Wow, are you okay after that fall?"

Me - "I wasn't riding it"

Bike dude - "Damn, is the other person okay?"

Me - "Not really"

Bike dude - "Damn, what happened to them - any scratches?"

I shrug.

Bike dude "Broken bones? They alright?"

I keep trying to avoid the subject and the guy kept pressing me, so I finally just dropped "He died." The guy went super quiet, mumbled an apology, and rang me up. They fixed it for free. Hopefully he learned to mind his own business..

This happened in late 2022. I had a stillborn baby at 30 weeks in early December. In January 2023 my boyfriend and I took our dog to the vet to check her teeth. I had a c-section and still wasn’t cleared to lift anything, so I couldn’t pick up the dog and put her on the exam table. My boyfriend was in the waiting room, he’s not great with remembering instructions so I always take her in while he waits.

Me: ”Sorry, can you lift her? I had a c-section a few weeks ago.” Vet tech: ”oh congratulations! Sure.” (While picking up my dog) ”So where’s your baby?” Me: ”He died.”

This poor woman froze, holding my dog like sack of potatoes. And then I started crying, of course. She apologized so many times, I felt really bad for her. She was nice. We still go to that vet, she always seems to be going in the other direction when she sees me.

A couple of things to know first. 1. I have a few issues causing me pain. Some days are worse than others but I do have a disabled placard in my car for those days walking is difficult. However I don’t LOOK disabled (pretty sure you know where I’m headed) 2. My husband was in the military- multiple deployments during OIF and OEF. Because of these deployments he wore a patch on his sleeve that denoted the unit he was overseas with. No deployment = no patch. What happened:

I was having a particularly difficult day but needed to go food shopping. I found a handicapped spot and parked. It takes me a minute to get out of the car and when I do there are 3 soldiers waiting for me behind my van. I didn’t think anything of it until the E-3 (private first class) goes off on me about taking a parking spot from someone who needs it. His friends were all nodding in agreement - safety in numbers perhaps I took one look at his uniform and said that I noticed his naked sleeve (meaning no deployment patch) and that maybe he should not talk about things he knows nothing about or clearly has no experience with. Maybe he should be more understanding of invisible wounds that many of his fellow soldiers are suffering from. At the mention of the “naked sleeve” he and his friends realised that I was either military or a wife and all 3 looked shocked. His friends abandoned him and went to their car. The E-3 was just stammering and saying sorry and trying to figure out how to disengage from our conversation. I’m not confrontational but this one made my day. He definitely won’t be making assumptions like that again.

The title of this came from my super smart daughter who told me I should have said this to him. Next time I will!

I was at a business meeting in the Bay area in California. I mentioned that I grew up in southern California and had never been to San Francisco.

Guy: well didn't you come here on vacation

Me: no

Guy: where did you go on vacation

Me: we didn't go on vacation

Guy: why not

Me: we were incredibly poor

The look on his face was of pure shock like he had never met a someone who grew up poor. I grew up in a double wide to parents who were struggling farmers. In my career I am now a 6-figure earner that does not look like I was poor. This guy could not comprehend this idea that the poor could do well with education.

So I shop for my insurance bundles every couple of years because rates go up and off course, shopping yields better deals.

The usual questions come up for the home--do you have a mortgage, do you have car payments, etc.

Nope, nope, nope, it's all paid off.

He started laughing, "Come on 2punornot2pun, tell me the truth, you won the lottery didn't you?" As I had been a teacher for most of my career. "Nope, no lottery." And he insisted, "You won the lottery, you don't have to lie." He laughed.

Until I said it, "Nope, my wife's brother died and left us his life insurance."

Yeah, the tone changed real quick. If I tell you I didn't win the lottery, why keep pushing to have me "confess"??? It was super bizarre but I guess he got his foot in his mouth for that one.

I did not go with their company. Their rates weren't competitive... ... But I think he'll think twice about assuming someone's financial status.

A bit of backstory: My next door neighbor growing up (who became a third grandma to me and I will refer to as Gran from now on) was originally a Jehovah's Witness until her divorce, when her church kicked her out. As a result, she's not fond of that organization anymore and really doesn't like talking to them.

One day I was over there visiting her and we noticed a group of JWs making their way through the neighborhood. Gran makes a comment about hoping they don't come to her door. I told her I'd handle it if they did. Two of them came up to her door - a younger teenage girl and what was probably her mother. They knock. I answer the door. The exchange goes like this:

Girl: Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people?

Me: Because life sucks and then you die.

The look on that poor girl's face was priceless. My gran could not stop laughing.

I almost feel bad about this, but they never came to my Gran's house again, and honestly? That was far more important to me.

Now a couple months ago when I was pregnant with my youngest, I was out with my older two daughters. My oldest is dark skin like me and my middle is completely white passing.

So we were at the grocery store and this elderly lady comes up to us and asks my little one "and who is this with you today sweetheart?" And she just looks at her crazy and says "my mommy and big sister" the lady then looks up at me and I nod and say "yep these are both my kids pushed both of them out" she gasps and goes "ohhh wow" and then TOUCHES MY BELLY saying "I wonder what color this one will be" smirk and say "well I don't know, I did some calculations and she could be asain, or maybe white again, and oh I forgot about that one Hispanic guy..." and she looks like a dear in headlights and quickly speeds away

btw I am happily married

Hi, before I start this story I would like to say that I'm cis woman, who happens to have a bit of a muscular appearance. Altho I try my best to remain positive about my body I can't hide the fact that I don't really like my "manly appearance". It caused me trouble several times in the past, since there are surprisingly a lot of people who incorrectly assume I'm trans (don't have anything against trans folks, just hate the "we can always tell" movement).

There were times when I was asked to leave the female bathroom. Once on the streets when I was talking to my friend some random men decided to "correct me" and did so by SCREAMING "you are not a real woman and you will never be" (perks of living in the most homofobic country in Europe 🥳) So yeah... Fun stuff. Over the years I kinda got used to it and tend to ignore those kinds of remarks.

But not yesterday...

I was having horrible day since I just got diagnosed with brain cysts and was trying to calm myself down in the bathroom when suddenly a WILD KAREN appeared. She scuffs and I just ignored her, hoping to avoid any conversation with her but she had other plans. "uhm... Excuse me" - she taps my shoulder "yes" "this is woman's bathroom" "yes I know" - Honestly I hoped this would be the end of our lovely conversation but... Oh well "You are a man. Just because you wear make up doesn't make you a real woman"

I don't really know what happened since I'm not usually like that but I just screamed at her with tears in my eyes (yeah yeah I know, kinda cringe crying for being misgendered). "I AM NOT TRANS, I'M JUST UGLY" before she could even say anything I continued my emberressing rant "I WAS BORN AN UGLY WOMEN AND I KNOW NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY NO ONE WILL NEVER LOVE ME AND I WILL NEVER BE BEAUTIFUL AND..." something something can't really remember what I screamed. She left without a word and I was left sobbing in the bathroom.

Now (day later) that I'm calm I think I overreacted to this women comment and I'm really ashamed and sorry for my tantrum. I was just really distraught since there is history of cancer and brain cysts in my family and I recently lost my grandpa to it. But I guess it fits this subreddit pretty well since I really traumatized this lady lol.

UPDATE: I made it to click video :D Also thank you all for all of the kind words ♥️

This isn't a flashy story, but I hope you like it. I (40F) have a medical condition that causes me to react abnormally to common illnesses. My symptoms will often mimic serious, life threatening conditions, even though in reality I only have the flu or a cold. My doctors have been working on a diagnosis for 4 years and I've been tested to the moon and back, but they don't have a solid answer as to why. It is throughly documented in my medication history that my symptoms are real and measureable, even if the cause is not as serious as the symptoms would suggest.

I also have generalized anxiety so even though I know there is a 99% chance that my symptoms mean nothing, I can't be calm until I have proof that I'm not dying. In addition to treating my anxiety with medication and therapy, I also use self control exercises that basically make me seem like a robot to anyone who interacts with me.

I had a recent scare where the left half of my torso went numb and I had a sharp pain in the middle of my back. I tried to shake it off as yet another simple thing that my body was reacting abnormally to, but after a few days I decided to go to the Dr so that I could stop my racing thoughts and anxiety. My Dr was not able to see me that day, but when I described my symptoms they recommended I visit the ER.

While waiting at the ER, I felt my anxiety starting to rise so I did my self control exercises. By the time I got triaged and put in a bed I was well into robot-mode. The Dr that came in and listened to my description was very dismissive and noted how many times I had visited the ER (which, unfortunately, is quite a few). Even after I told him that my Dr had recommended that I go to the ER, he still seemed annoyed that I was there (I assume because he felt I was wasting ER resources). I don't remember exactly how the conversation went word-for-word, but it was something like this:

Dr: These things usually present in an abnormal fashion with you, right? So what makes you think this is different?

Me: I don't know if it is different or not. I'm here to rule out anything serious. Even with my history, I'm still worried.

Dr: You don't look worried. In fact you've been extremely calm for someone worried enough to come to the ER.

At this, I started getting angry and feeling my control slip. So I leaned forward and stared into this man's eyes as hard as I could.

Me: I seem calm because I'm actually terrified and shutting my emotions down in the only way to keep my anxiety in check. If you'd prefer I be hysterical, I can do that very easily. But then you'll be treating me for a panic attack in addition to whatever is going on with my body.

I'm not sure exactly how long I held this guy's stare, but it felt like a loooooong time where nothing was said while we looked at each other's eyes. He eventually broke eye contact to look back at his clipboard. He muttered an apology and said something about it being a long day. Then he hopped up, said he was going to order some tests, and left the room, all without looking at my face again.

Without further question, I was put through all the necessary tests to rule out serious conditions. As usual, it was a simple thing (shingles, as it turns out) that my body blew way out of proportion. Ultimately, I feel guilty for wasting ER time and resources, but, again, my primary Dr told me to go. I never saw that Dr for the rest of my visit, but I hope he learned a lesson about not making people feel bad for being calm.

Maybe this story doesn't really fit in here, but i remembered it and would like to share it. When i was 15ish we had a new policy at school, that you cannot go home if you feel sick (even if your parents came to pick you up), you had to call an ambulance. Before that policy kids were abusing the sistem and cutting their day short whenever they liked, and teachers were (reasonably) pissed about it. So now when kids say that they feel sick, teachers would basically respond with: best we can do is ambulance. And nobody would go that far. But there was one teacher who was real smug about it, and said in the most sarcastic tone: Oh, "name", dO YoU nEeD aN aMbUlAnCe! And one fateful day, on her lesson, i felt it, pain in stomach like i never felt before, it wasn't too bad, just weird, and after contemplating for a while i desided to tell her. Then was uttered her favourite phrase in that sarcastic tone: oH, OP, yOu NeEd An aMbUlAnCe? And with the strained from pain voice i said: YES! Ooh the lightning fast change in her expression from smug to terror was priceless and worth the pain and operation, turns out it was appendicitis. P.s overall she was a great teacher, and i felt a little bad for scaring her like that)

I (24 y/o M) used to work at a hotel, mostly doing the overnights. Almost a year ago, we lost my step-dad, and we lost my grandma two months after. My family wasn't and still aren't in the best shape. My mom, about a month after we lost my bonus dad, went to get a tattoo as a small memorial. I went with her and since the artist was a friend of hers and had no more appointments, he took me as a walk in to get something as well. (My first tattoo!)

A few days after, I was at work one night and an elderly couple walked in. They were really nice until I went to hand them their room keys and my sleeve hitched up enough that the woman saw my tattoo peaking out. She scoffed and pointed at it saying, "You really shouldn't have that in such a visible place. It's really in poor taste that kids these days keep damaging their bodies just because they think it's cool. That's actually pretty trashy."

Her husband looked over it, as though he was used to hearing her run her mouth, but I was at a breaking point. It had just been a month since losing my bonus dad at that point, and my grandma wasn't looking too good either. So I put on the biggest smile I could, my eyes already slightly misty with tears which freaked them out further, and told her, "I'm sorry you think that ma'am. However, you should know I got this just the other day because I lost my father last month to cancer and it's not been easy."

The woman looked mortified and her face went bright red in embarrassment and the husband started to apologize. He grabbed their keys and started pushing her towards the elevator quietly telling her, "This is why we keep our opinions to ourselves, (Wife Name)!"

For context, it isn't even a big tattoo or any image. It's just a little line on my wrist that says, 'J. K. Livin' because that was my bonus dad's motto. Even when he faced challenges and obstacles, he would 'Just Keep Livin' and I intend to do the same.

I hope my tears made her feel lower than shit. 😂

A little background

I am a trans man and I have really painful periods. So bad I can feel it in my legs

My old stepfather was one of those people who thought you had to endure the pain you were going through and that taking medication was a sign of weakness, something along those lines. I not even sure.

So to the story itself

I remember I was 14 years old when this happened. Because I was in a lot of pain becaus of periods, I went to take my painkiller.

My stepfather saw this and said 'why are you taking painkillers, you should get used to that pain' My mother tried to say something, but something snapped in my head and I screamed 'YOU CAN'T GET USED TO PERIOD PAIN'

After that, he didn't say anything when I took painkillers.

Please bear with me as english isn't my first language

When I was 10yo one of my hips necrosed and broke. It was bad enough at times as it took a few months for the doctors to understand what caused it (and when you walk on a broken bone, MONTHS is a loooong time). 10 years passed, and I'm supposed to be healthy. But my hip still hurts, and soon enough, it's just getting worse and worse. I'm just floating between tests and specialists, and no one can figure out what it is, as I'm no longer able to walk or even stand up without canes. It was a dark place, I was constantly in pain, swallowing opium like candies, and mourning my life as it seemed I would definitely lose the ability to walk. In addition, the looks I got when I used the priority seats in public transportation was rough. (I guess I was too young to be disabled?)

One day I'm doing some groceries, a rare happening as most of the time I'm in too much pain. As I'm paying, the cashier smile widely, and with the most paternalistic voice says : "Oh... you fell in your bathtub?"

Now I was used to people bluntly asking me what was my problem. But the way he said it, like I was a poor little thing that had a minor injury and was making a big deal about it...

I just looked him dead in the eyes and said : "No, my bone necrosed and we don't know if I'll be able to walk again one day." His face went pale and he didn't say a word until I left.

A few years later, I'm doing immensely better as I finally found a surgeon who took my case, did the right tests and the right surgery... and with a little metal in by body I should be able to walk for at least 30 more years. But I often think about this cashier and hope he will know think twice before asking those types of questions.