Some folks have a hard time letting go of their deeply held beliefs, even if those beliefs are about something extremely trivial. Usually, that person will go on to become insufferable around said topic.
Redditor IndividualFar3810’s mother was one of those insufferable people. The topic under which she exercised her insufferability? Wearing glasses. Held firmly by the belief that wearing one’s glasses too much will hurt their eyes, she made IndividualFar3810’s life quite inconvenient.
After laying down a boundary, our original poster, or OP, went to the popular subReddit “Am I The A**hole?” or “AITA” for objective feedback from strangers:
“AITA for Telling my mother to stop touching my glasses without permission?”
OP talked about why he was always wearing his glasses.
“So for Context, I(15m[ale]) wears glasses as I can’t see very well without them and My mom (56F[emale]) doesn’t like that I wear it almost all the time (I of course remove it when I shower or sleep).”
“She keeps saying that I should stop wearing them as it is bad for my eyes and I should take them off more frequently.”
“I usually don’t listen to that as firstly, I look nicer with glasses than without glasses. Secondly, I never heard of someone who removes glasses just to eat or Go walking unless they are really insecure about wearing them which is the opposite for me.”
“My mother has a bad habit of snatching my glasses from my face while I’m wearing them and I grew to eat and be on high alert to make sure she’ll never snatch my glasses.”
And OP has officially had IT.
“Just today during dinner, I was eating my food and she was talking about something and of course I let my guard down a bit as I was kinda tired.”
“And the most annoying part happened. (I’m fuming rethinking about it) She snatched my glasses off my face while she wasn’t even done talking and she threw it on the table in front of me.”
“She said ‘Stop wearing your glasses, why are you so stubborn!’ Feeling like I have enough, I grabbed the glasses and put it back on again and told her that she should stop taking the glasses off my face while I’m eating without my permission as thats very rude and disrespectful.”
“She then told me how I was being ungrateful and that she was only trying to care for my eyes. So AITA for Telling my mother off? Cause I don’t feel like I’m in the wrong but I’ll see if my mothers method was right”
Anonymous strangers weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Redditors thought mom was a little off for basically continually assaulting her child.
“It actually worsens your vision without glasses. Your eyes have to strain more without them. The straining will weaken your eyesight.”
“You could have perfect vision and the glasses still wouldn’t hurt your eyes, though you would get a headache. Your mother is absolutely wrong. NTA”-SunHatPhoto
“She is lying. I’ve worn glasses since I was an infant and they had to be goggles. You are not supposed to take them off; even when you’re eating or walking because guess what.”
“You’re still seeing things when you’re eating & walking.”
“Taking them off is actually going to end up making your vision worse and cause a lot more vision problems in the future.”
“I’m wondering, and please know it’s not the case, but some people think glasses make you look ugly, and she sounds like one of those. NTA”-DebateObjective2787
“NTA. Yes, she probably heard it from a friend and/or the internet. She might feel like you look different and she doesn’t like it, because you’re her son.”
“That’s kind of understandable, but she has no right to invade your personal space. Why did you go to the eye doctor in the first place, was your eyesight bothering you? Did your mother go with you?”
“Tell her that if she really heard that from the doctor you need to go back there together, since you read something written by a doctor that actually, the opposite that’s true: not wearing glasses makes your vision worse.”-Azizass
“I think your mum is definitely TA here, and I think I know what she’s referring to.”
“When I got my glasses when I was 13, the optician told me that if I kept my glasses on all of the time the muscles in my eyes would be weaker. I did keep my glasses on all the time.”
“As I got older (in my 30s) I was given eye exercises because when I’m focusing on something up close, like sewing or jewelry making my eyes would randomly go from side to side. I was told this was because my eye muscles were weaker.”
“Frankly, it’s beyond ridiculous for your mum to snatch your glasses off your face, no matter the motivation.”
“If you can feel comfortable not wearing them all the time, maybe when reading or doing something up close if you’re short sighted might be a good idea to rest your eyes.”-Rainbow_dreaming
People highly suggested OP tell his mom to start keeping her hands to herself.
“NTA I am a glasses wearer, and I’ve never understood this mentality that normally-sighted people have of ‘only wear them when you need them.'”
“I need them all the time. They only come off my face for cleaning or to sleep.”
“Ask her if she would take a cane away from you, or an insulin pump, or a hearing aid. Because that’s what she’s doing, basically.”-AnselaJonla
“Is she an optometrist? Is she following advice from an optometrist? Because if not, she’s making misinformed decisions.”
“Even if she was an optometrist, that wouldn’t give her the right to snatch the glasses off your face. NTA.”
“She’s full of sh*t. Not sure how else to phrase it, but if you’ve got glasses, follow the advice of the professional that prescribed them, not her.”
“The whole point of glasses is so you can see and also to reduce the strain on your eyes. What she’s doing is ensuring your eyes strain if you can see, or making you go without being able to see properly.”
“Maybe don’t tell her she’s full of shit, just tell her to get a professional’s perspective on the matter.”-TheGingerCynic
“NTA. If you are near sighted you NEED your glasses on all the time! It is worse for you medically to go around squinting everywhere…”
“It can actually cause headaches from straining to see things. Your mother is wrong and shouldn’t be preventing you from using your glasses. Does she have mental issues to think the way she does?”-FuntimeChris79
“NTA When you don’t where your glasses, your eyes strain to make up for it. Which is damaging long term. It can seem like wearing glasses can make your eyes worse without glasses.”
“This is just your eyes (I dont have the technical knowledge to tell you which part of your eyes) relaxing. Not getting weaker.”
“Forcing your eyes to strain will make them deteriorate faster in old age. Like I said I don’t have any real technical knowledge, I just wear glasses and that’s what my optician told me.”-Expensive-Call-7345
And also they recommended bringing in a doctor so she could see just how wrong she really is.
“Did you go to an eye doctor to get your glasses? If so, look up their number and call the office when she is not around. Ask to speak to a nurse. Explain your problem.”
“Ask the nurse if it’s true about being bad for your eyes. Then tell your mom what the nurse said. (No matter what it is, because that’s fair).”
“Also tell her by grabbing my glasses you are assaulting me. I’ve spoken to the doctor’s office. Next step is CPS. NTA.”-Unit-Healthy
“NTA. I was supposed to start wearing glasses when I was 14/15, the fact that my grandma kept saying the same thing led me to believe it was true, it was not.”
“Six months later I was back at the ophthalmologist and my prescription increased like a lot because I had to force my vision to see clearly, now I basically can’t see without glasses.”-cawina03
“NTA I wore my glasses – which were prescribed at age 14 – only sporadically from 14 to 16. My eyesight grew worse in this time.”
“My eye doctor read me the riot act at the annual appointment when I was 16/17 because my presciption grew worse – at 14 my eye sight was around -0,5, by 16 it was at -1,5.”
“Mind you, I was in puberty and growing, but the weak eye sight I never grew out of. However, the worsening leveled out when I started wearing my glasses full time.”
“I’ve been at -2,5 since I was around 20 and I am close to 40 now. What your mother says is complete bull excrement in my eyes.”
“You likely have a ‘defective’ eyesight rather than a weak eyesight, which is not helped by only wearing your glasses occasionally.”
“Also, this is a huge violation of personal space, especially the face area is such a sensitive area.”-cosmic_jenny
“NTA, have you mother call the eye doctor and have them explain what she is doing is wrong.”
“What she is doing is MORE like to damage your vision, especially grabbing them, what if a fingernail hits your eye and scratches them?”
“You have more patience than me, I would seriously just out of reflex punch anyone in the face who removed my glasses.”-Salty_Hedgehog5874
OP’s life has become a game of keep-away—keeping his glassesed face away from his mother, which seems like an unhealthy and all-encompassing use of a parent-child relationship.
Hopefully OP’s mother comes to see reason.