Spending time with a large group and finding activities that everyone can enjoy and participate in isn’t always easy. At the same time, it’s not ideal to exclude one or two friends if the activities decided upon by the majority of the group don’t appeal to them. One teenager found herself in a difficult situation when she went rock climbing with her friend group and one of her friends couldn’t participate in the activity because of her weight. The girl, u/KlutzySpend7837, took to Reddit to share her story and get the internet’s opinion on it.
This new climbing center has just opened in the mall. “My eight friends were in town when I suggested we try it,” wrote the 17-year-old. “However, when we got there, one of my friends was taken aside and asked to weigh herself.” The girl said that this friend was “technically obese.” She added: “They told her that she couldn’t participate because she weighed too much for the climbing harness.” The friend was pretty upset about this and started crying. “Then she asked the rest of us if we could do something else instead. But everyone else was really keen to try climbing and we didn’t want to miss out because of one person,” the girl continued.
“I said we could hang out with her when we were done, but she just went straight home,” the teen explained. “The next day, she texted us saying we were fake friends for letting her down and making her feel left out because of her weight.” She continued, “She said I was selfish for even suggesting climbing without considering her weight because I assumed she weighed enough for the equipment.” The girl emphasized, “I told her it wasn’t our fault she wasn’t allowed in, but she said the rest of us should have stuck with her.” She wondered if she was wrong in this situation. People voiced their opinions in the comments section.
u/riontach wrote: “If I understand your post correctly, you were already out together when you decided to try it. You could have done something else when you found out a friend was going to be excluded and gone climbing without her on a different day. It’s not like this was a trip dedicated solely to climbing. And you really expected her to sit around alone and wait for you to finish? Seriously? It’s pretty clear how little you value this friend.” u/Future-AD7266 commented: “The teen years are difficult. I suspect the friend would probably be just as upset and excluded if she found out her friends did an activity without her (if they excluded her from the plans because of her weight). I say this as someone who was an overweight teen myself.”
u/PoppyandTarget noted, “17 year olds’ brains aren’t fully developed and confidence is usually at an all time low at that age. Maybe an older group of girls would have made a different decision. These are a bunch of teenagers just thinking about themselves the way teenagers do. Still, they’re wrong.” u/addanothernamehere expressed, “And ALL the girls joined in? This looks like clique bullying. NOBODY went with her? Not a single girl offered to do anything else with her. Damn. I’m glad I’m not 17 anymore. This is brutal. I hope this girl finds better friends because this experience will make her STAY.”
