As if the physical pain of an injury weren’t enough, it can often involve a very public—and embarrassing—cast or bandage. That’s just salt on the wound.
One Redditor’s recent injury left him with a particularly attention-grabbing remedy. For him, life in public became a whole lot more annoying overnight.
After one incident really took the cake, he wrote a post on the “Am I the A**hole (AITA)” subReddit.
The Original Poster, who goes by AITAinThisincident on the site, made his injury quite clear in the title.
“AITA For refusing to cover my eye when a parent insisted I do so on the bus?”
OP began by describing his injury, as well as the environment that seemed especially problematic.
“Hello. This happened yesterday and I keep thinking about it not really knowing whether I handled the situation properly.”
“I [29-year-old male] had an accident at work which resulted in my left eye becoming damaged. I wear an eye patch in public. Especially when using public transportation.”
“Though I hate public transportation because I meet people who tend to be openly disrespectful and mean.”
But he did find a silver lining.
“However when I use the bus and when there’s kids on it who approach me all the time and ask if I’m actually a ‘pirate’ I try to cheer them up. make a fool of myself and talk like a pirate and say things like ‘Aaaarrrrgggghhhh’ or ‘Ahoy’ or ‘matey’ and have fun.
“They greet me before getting off the bus and I playfully reply by saying ‘I’m James hook nice to meet you.'”
“I can’t remember how many little friends I made so far. They’re many which I think is cool. I never really thought anything positive would come out of this situation. But I was wrong.”
Though one day brought new exposure.
“Now the issue: My eye has been itching all week. I use an ointment and the doctor told me to not cover it all the time. So yesterday I didn’t put on my eye patch.”
“I need to mention that my left eye is almost closed I have no control over it it’s been like this since the accident. So it’s not like it looked terrifying or anything.”
One fellow passenger struggled to accept the naked truth of the injury.
“Anyway. A 40-something dad gets on the bus with his son and gives me weird looks. Then he started huffing and puffing. I paid him no attention I just remained in my seat.”
“He then asked me if I had something to cover my eye with because he thought it was making his son uncomfortable.”
“I ignored him but he kept asking me annoying questions hinting that any injured eye needs to be covered especially in public.”
“I put up with it as long as I could.”
But eventually, enough was enough.
“He raised his voice demanding I either cover my eye or get off the bus because at that point ‘not only was I making his son uncomfortable but him and everybody else as well,’ according to him.”
“I lashed out at him and told him to stop being a f***ing jerk and told him to get out of my face if he felt uncomfortable looking at my eye.”
OP, however, couldn’t stop reflecting on the incident.
“Everyone was staring at me that’s when I thought I might’ve said something wrong. Those remaining 15 minutes felt like an eternity.”
“That set the tone for the rest of the day I felt awful and couldn’t focus on work.”
Anonymous strangers on the internet were asked to provide feedback by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Most Redditors threw their full support behind OP.
They explained how simple the solution was for the angry dad on the bus.
“NTA. At all. I’m sorry that happened. People can be total jerks. It’s not that hard to look away if it actually bothers them.” — Lynn9494
“NTA. You were following doctor’s orders, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to cover your own face for any reason. If other people don’t want to see your eye, they can simply not look at it.” — e-elegia
“NTA. If he didn’t want to look at it he could cover… Gasp… HIS OWN EYES!!!” — throwaway1999000
Others discussed the example the father was setting for his son.
“NTA, it’s disgusting that he would even think that harassing someone about their injury/disability at all especially in public is a good thing to teach his kid.”
“My opinion he should’ve been kicked off the bus! I’m sorry that no one stood up for you because I would have!” — ToxicDollhouse
“NTA, people shouldn’t expect others to change for their comfort, its setting a bad example for his kid too. Don’t ever feel bad about your eye, it’s so endearing that you’re turning a negative into a positive by giving children some joy too :)” — antique_cornet
“Nta. That guy is a major AH. He should be teaching his kid not to be in comfortable with any injuries or disabilities” — tinkerbell2306
Others keyed in on the fact this all happened on public transport.
A couple people wondered how it happened.
“INFO: Where on Earth are you that people start confrontations on public transportation? Here in New York you’d get your a** beat for that.” — MisanthropeX
“NTA can’t believe that man is living a life where an eye injury is the weirdest thing he’s seen on public transport” — evhanne
A few suggested some comebacks.
“NTA Excuse me but I don’t like staring at your face. Change your face.” — Venom1991
“NTA. This is ableist and wrong. Your face is your face. His face was disturbing by virtue of being in yours, but you didn’t tell him to cover it up. You told him to mind his own, which he should have done.” — fishmom5
And a couple assured OP what the rest of the bus’ silence actually meant.
“NTA. If it makes him uncomfortable he could always not look. The entitlement of some people I swear.”
“I think people were quiet because they were uncomfortable with the interaction and too polite to confront him. Anyone else uncomfortable with your eye had the good sense to let you live your life and just look elsewhere.” — mooseplainer
“NTA. People were staring because there was something interesting happening, and we tend to turn into cud chewing bovine around action like that. That’s not on you.” — accidentallybleach
Hopefully, OP was able to have a better day after reading so many reassuring comments.