On Reddit, a woman recounted an uncomfortable encounter at a bar with her friends, which led to a falling out with her boyfriend. former high school bully.
Despite having forgiven the bully a long time ago, she made it clear that she was not interested in establishing any kind of friendship with him, declining his request to start a friendly relationship.
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However, it appears that her parents were not pleased when they learned that she had turned down the “invitation” of friendship.
The woman received criticism from her parents for not wanting to be friends with her former bully. At the age of 25, she decided to provide more details about the situation, describing the events that took place at school and how bullying negatively affected her life.
Reminiscing about her school days, she revealed that she was bullied due to her weight and also suffered from stuttering, which was triggered by anxiety when being around malicious people or intimidating.
She reported that at the time he weighed about 68 kilograms and was approximately 160 cm tall. During his school days, this fellow bully stood out as the meanest among all bullies.
She describes him chasing her on her way home, engaging in acts of aggression such as spilling things on her and pushing her into bushes or into traffic.
She also shared a traumatic incident on a school trip when Jake (not his real name) pushed her into a lake, even though he knew she couldn't swim.
After enduring a great deal of torment and bullying, the woman shared that she had reached a point in which she could no longer cope with the situation and tried to take her own life by taking medicine to to sleep.
Luckily, her uncle found her in time and took her to the hospital, even though she was already badly damaged. She remained in a coma for 11 days.
After this traumatic episode, the girl chose not to return to school and was homeschooled during her senior year. He revealed that he only kept in touch with two schoolmates, who visited her in the hospital and remained friends with her to this day.
During a visit to the bar in the company of her friends Sara and Kate, the bully from the past approached her. Although she initially didn't recognize him, Sara did. Feeling rather anxious, she chose to act as if he weren't there.
As they were leaving, the bully approached them and greeted her. She politely greeted him back and engaged in casual conversation. When their Uber arrived, they said goodbye and left.
After the encounter at the bar, the woman reported that she received a lengthy email from the bully, in which he detailed the incident and expressed deep remorse for his past actions.
He shared that he felt ashamed of being that person and that it had haunted him for a long time. Furthermore, he mentioned that he had found out about her suicide attempt.
In her reply, the woman stated that she had already forgiven the bully a long time ago, as she did not wish to harbor hatred and resentment from her high school days. Interestingly, they met again at the pharmacy.
During the date at the pharmacy, the bully expressed a desire to have dinner as friends and talk. However, the woman politely declined, explaining that she preferred not to.
When asked why, she made it clear that forgiveness doesn't necessarily entail getting involved or being friends with the person, and that she simply didn't want to maintain a friendship with him.
Assertively, she made it clear that he had no right to have dinner with her and that his guilty conscience was not her responsibility. She responded by saying that she had no intention of having dinner with him and suggested that he seek the help of a therapist.
However, her parents expressed the opinion that she was being too strict with him. They suggested that she make an effort to help him forgive himself, arguing that no one deserves to live with guilt.
They emphasized that a simple dinner wouldn't mean much and that she should put that aside and move on.
However, she remained steadfast in her decision and was annoyed by her parents, as were many people in the post's comments. People questioned the attitude of the parents, as they saw that the daughter tried to take her own life because of the “ex-bully”.
Apparently, the user went on with life normally, despite the mishaps. And who caused endless episodes of bullying cannot live in peace.