Extended bouts of life at home during the pandemic have given rise to some new, recognizable lifestyle dynamics. We might call one of those the “resurface.”
After going literally days without leaving the house, a person must go out for some kind of basic necessity. The sweatpants, an almost second skin, are shed, adequate footwear is at long last put to use, some fresh air—a foreign concept by this point—is finally breathed.
But looking good is low on that list of preparations. The resurface is a functional outing, after all.
For one guy, the resurface went terribly. He got himself to the supermarket, took a chance with some public dairy creamer drinking and paid for it.
After an unknown bystander caught him in the embarrassing moment and posted the maneuver online, he took drastic measures to make her delete the post.
He explained the whole ordeal on the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit. He evidently felt a little conflicted about his response.
The post first outlined the trip before things went downhill.
Take careful note of his resurface look.
“I haven’t shaved or had a haircut in months since I got laid off and…”
“…a few days ago I went to the store to return water bottles and while I was there I got some coffee creamer because I was almost out.”
“Then I got thirsty cause it was hot out and I walked to the store so I just drank the coffee creamer I had which isn’t a big deal.”
Then came the public shaming.
“Someone took a photo of me doing that and put it on the local Facebook and captioned with a question about why a hobo would return bottles to the store just so he could buy and drink coffee creamer straight.”
And finally, the confrontation.
“I know who it is because she Facebooks under her real name like an idiot so I found her phone number in the book and called her and told her to take the photo down…”
“…and she tried to tell me that there’s nothing wrong with drinking creamer or being homeless and I told her I’m not homeless and that she obviously thinks there’s a problem with those things or else why would she take the photo…”
“…and unless she took it down I’d start following her around and taking photos of everything she does.”
“So she took it down, but not without a snide remark about being threatened by a hobo.”
For the most part, Redditors agreed that she should not have snapped the picture just to shame post it.
They called him “NTA,” for “Not the A**hole.”
“NTA. I hate people who take photographs without the person’s permission, and when they upload it onto social media as well? It’s definitely a red flag to a bull issue for me.”
“Not ignoring the simple fact that it’s rude and invasive, what if this person doesn’t want their photo online for security reasons?”
“She was 100% in the wrong. I’m glad she took it down, and the snide remark was just a way for her to feel better about herself.” — readingismyzen
Many of the supportive comments, though, did include some questions about his public creamer consumption.
“NTA she invaded your Privacy and insulted you. Although I never have heard of anyone drinking coffee creamer.” — kdmcr
“NTA but frankly, drinking coffee creamer?” — dragonaute
“NTA but dude that’s weird. Control your weird a** self in public or don’t be surprised when people are laughing at the weird a** sh** you’re doing.” — Ngin3
“Lol coffee creamer doesn’t sound very refreshing.” — willjski23
“NTA because she was calling you a hobo, but tbh if you do something crazy like drink a bottle of coffee creamer in public, you gotta do it knowing a picture of you might end up online. Don’t do crazy cr*p in public if you’d be embarrassed if people see lol.”
“Also, why the f**k would you drink an expensive milk drink because you’re hot instead of grabbing a $1 Gatorade when you’re at the store anyways?” — kaitou1011
Some weren’t quite as on his side of the ordeal.
They did criticize her decision to shame post the photo, but they also took issue with his response.
“ESH,” short for “Everyone Sucks Here,” was a common starting point for these comments.
“ESH. It’s pretty shitty on her part, but from your story, it seems like you handled the conflict badly.” — fnuduwuh
“ESH. She shouldn’t be so judgmental and should have taken it down with the first request. You quickly threatened stalking and harassment. You both suck.” — Ickulus
“ESH — Okay, first of all, you were in public… returning water bottles? And drinking coffee creamer? Honestly just get another bottle of water. What?”
“You’re not the a**hole for telling her to take it down. You’re the asshole for not just? Asking? ON FACEBOOK? And STALKING her?”
“And she’s obviously being an a**hole, but still. Come on.” — riningear
And a few comments just laid into him completely, dubbing him with the “YTA” tag, meaning “You’re the A**hole.”
“Your NTA right up until you threatened to stalk a stranger. YTA.” — maruchunn
“Oh come on! YTA, how are you not the AH? You went out in public looking like The Dude from The Big Lebowski, all scraggly and chugging creamer in public.”
“You made a spectacle of yourself and you are surprised that people took pictures and posted them online? Did you just wake up from the coma you fell into circa 2004? For right or wrong, this is the world we live in now.”
“And you threatened to stalk this total stranger if she didn’t take the photo down? YTA!” — FauxPaws87
“YTA. If you’re embarrassed about your actions and appearance, keep them out of the public eye. If you had stalked and then called ME, I would have invited you to fornicate with your own posterior.” — Fathawg
While non-dairy creamer is great in your coffee, its thirst-quenching properties are less known.
But one fact is for sure. If you decide to drink from the bottle in public in 2020, have your head on a swivel or get ready for your close-up.