The Reddit post story comes from a woman in her late 20s, known intriguingly as yeehors on the forum.
The trouble began with her decision to go out on a limb and do her sister's wedding sober. Throw in a gossipy aunt, misread social cues, and a sister/bride with a fragile ego, and the day quickly became a train wreck.
The tale begins personally, with yeehors' matter-of-fact recognition of a problem she'd been struggling with, and a deliberate attempt to solve it.
"I am a woman in my late 20s and I've very recently started to realize I've got a binge drinking problem."
"I've very recently started going to a therapist, and she is also referring me to a recovery program that I'll be starting soon."
She continues by sharing what will become a key detail: her husband is the only personwho knows about her problem, or the decision to change the behavior.
The story then moves on to the main event: Big Sis' wedding. Apparently, this was the first real test for yeehors.
It's not surprising. Imagine deciding to stop drinking, trying to keep it chill, and feasting your eyes on a room full of celbrating people and alcohol in everybody's hand.
This was the belly of the beast.
"At the wedding, there was an open bar, champagne at every table, and pretty much everyone was drinking."
But yeehors had her eyes on the prize.
She kept a low profile for awhile, no doubt overthinking how every single person in the room was noticing her not drinking and forming infinite judgments and assessments.
We've all experienced some social anxiety.
"I got myself a glass of water and I felt like I stood out a little for not drinking. A couple people offered me drinks, my brother, my uncle and aunt, even family of the groom who were mingling with us."
"I'd always decline politely, 'No thanks, I'm good for now.' Nobody asked any questions for a while."
yeehors was hanging tough.
"Until it was time for speeches and toasts."
As always, everything is calm, cool, and collected until one of the aunts shoehorns her way into things that have nothing to do with her.
When yeehors' aunt asked why she declined a glass of champagne, the jig was up.
"She was like 'Are you...' And wiggled her eyebrows in a way that seemed to mean something."
It was at this point that yeehors made a fatal miscalculation.
"I had no fu**ing idea what she was getting at. The anxious part of my brain was filling that empty space with questions like 'Are you an alcoholic? Are you afraid you're gonna binge drink if you start drinking?' Etc..."
"I just froze up and shrugged awkwardly."
After the interaction and some time passed, Big Sis Bride came in HOT.
"It was only later that i understood."
"My sister came to me furious at stealing the spotlight from her on her wedding day, being jealous I'm not in the wedding party, making drama by making people think I was pregnant when I'm not, being all coy about not drinking when 'everyone knows what that means.'"
The wedding ended with a total impasse between her and her sister, leaving the newly sober yeehors on the other side of a catastrophic early attempt at the new lifestyle, and with only one place to turn for moral absolution: the internet.
The majority of comments identified her aunt as the key villain.
"The aunt is the one stirring things up. You didn't steal any spotlight and the aunt is the cause of the drama. Seems like she has manipulated the bride into thinking it's your fault." octopus-god
"For starters, no one should need a reason not to consume intoxicants other than 'I don't want to', so that's strike one."
"Then your aunt decided to not only press the issue by asking you, but infer an answer you never gave AND begin telling other people AT A WEDDING. That's insane busybody behavior that needs to be reeled in." rabbiskittles
"How annoying when a grown adult can't politely declined a drink, without an reason or suitable excuse." juliag0700
"Even if you WERE pregnant, that would have been your news to share and obviously not something you were wanting to tell people about." ooh_shinyobject
Plenty of people took the opportunity to offer some pragmatic advice about how to handle the barrage of the "Why aren't you drinking?" question that yeehors will likely be receiving until the end of time.
"For future, as a friendly tip, I usually order a club soda with a lime in a cocktail glass so people assume it's vodka and don't question it."
"I also just let people pour champagne for toasts and just don't touch it." grb3456
"Pro tip: drive everywhere. 'I'm driving' is a perfectly acceptable reason not to drink." Narcdoff
"If you're at a social event and don't want to be questioned why you don't drink, say that it interferes with some medicament you are taking. Nobody questions this." somniumx
"Sometimes, I'll even check in with the bartender and hand them a tip and ask that if anyone orders another round, mine is tonic or sparkling water with lime." CheyBridgeMan
Others took a moment to leave behind pragmatism and just give a good old fashioned congratulations and emotional support.
"Congratulations on your sobriety. You were incredibly brave going to a wedding where folks would be drinking; hopefully the rest of your family recognizes this." The-Bouse
"Good luck on your sobriety. Having watched my brother struggle, I know it can be hard to maintain. Use your support system." gevander2
We'll never know if yeehors' sister ever did come around. But our narrator can rest easy knowing at least one virtual, anonymous group of people totally has her back.
