In a small sandwich shop, a young woman battles silent pain, hiding her wrist brace out of respect for a coworker recently injured. Despite her tendinitis flaring up painfully from embroidery, she endures the ache quietly, feeling overshadowed and unseen in a world that often dismisses invisible struggles.
But when necessity forces her to reveal her pain, judgment and disbelief greet her instead of empathy. The harsh glare and snide remarks from a coworker cut deeper than the injury, exposing the loneliness of fighting an unseen battle in a place meant to be a team.
AITA for wearing my wrist brace at work while my coworker has a broken wrist
As renowned researcher Dr. Brené Brown explains, “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”
This situation highlights a failure in establishing personal health boundaries under social pressure. The OP’s tendinitis, while less dramatic than a colleague’s broken wrist, is a legitimate medical necessity for the OP when engaging in repetitive tasks like cashier work. The OP’s motivation to ‘suck it up’ stems from a misplaced sense of comparative empathy or fear of being perceived as less committed, which leads to unnecessary self-sacrifice and increased pain. The coworker, Lisa, is projecting her own unresolved feelings or judgments onto the OP, using the visible injury as a leverage point for criticism. This is a form of social comparison that ignores individual realities; a broken wrist and chronic tendinitis require different, but equally valid, accommodations.
The OP’s action of wearing the brace when necessary was appropriate for managing their health. The constructive recommendation is to recognize that medical accommodations are not a zero-sum game. In future situations, the OP should communicate clearly and calmly—if necessary—that their brace is required for managing a chronic condition, treating it as a necessary tool rather than a subject for debate. Prioritizing necessary medical support over the opinions of a single critical coworker is crucial for long-term well-being.
THIS STORY SHOOK THE INTERNET – AND REDDITORS DIDN’T HOLD BACK.
The original poster is facing an internal conflict between managing a painful, existing medical condition (tendinitis) and avoiding perceived judgment or negative comparison with a coworker who has a more severe, acute injury (a broken wrist). The OP’s decision to wear a brace for pain relief has drawn unwarranted negative attention from one coworker, causing the OP to doubt whether they should prioritize their health or conformity.
Should the original poster prioritize their documented, ongoing medical need for wrist support while at work, or is it more appropriate to suppress their pain symptoms to avoid appearing to take advantage of the temporary hardship faced by their visibly injured colleague?
