AITA: I’m upset because of my brother and my family turned this issue onto me?

A Redditor (20F) visiting her family during winter break faces a frustrating situation when her last pair of contact lenses, essential for her vision, is dumped out—allegedly by her younger brother (17M). Despite his history of lying and troublemaking, her family turns the issue against her, accusing her of overreacting and being mean, leaving her upset and unsupported as she prepares to return to school and an upcoming conference.

‘ AITA: I’m upset because of my brother and my family turned this issue onto me?’

To preface, I (20F) am a glasses and contact wearer and I only come home during winter break to see my family, but to also go to refill prescriptions and go to doctors and dentists. I never stay for very long, because, due to situations in the past I don’t feel comfortable staying with my immediate family for long periods of time.

It being December, I was on my last pair of contact lenses and my appointment to go see my optometrist is in two days, but once I order my contacts they will not get to my university address until after my semester courses begin. That said, I had just planned to wear my contacts to the end of the month and switch to my glasses when I head back to school.

However, today, my brother (17M) literally dumped out my last pair of contacts and I found the case and my contact solution scattered on the bathroom counter. Obviously that was my only way to see anything for the remainder of the year so I confronted him and he denied everything even though he was the only other person who had been in that bathroom at that point in the day. Mind you, he has a history of lying to cops and other family members.

Anyway, I started texting him because he needed to give me the money to replace my contacts and he said he wasn’t going to give me a dime and then sent the conversation to my sister (23F). She then started talking unnecessarily loud about how mean she thought I was but conveniently failed to mention that my brother called me various insults including calling me fat because my mother, father, and sister said that about me the moment I got home from school.

At that point, they all started yelling at me saying that my brother is a huge help around the house (keep in mind that he has gotten into trouble with the school and the cops and threw my parents into debt because he caused a car accident) and told me to get over it, BUT I AM UPSET BECAUSE I LITERALLY CANNOT SEE ANYTHING.

I don’t even know how I’ll make it through the airport or back to school without being able to see. Not only that, but I have a conference and school starting up again soon and if I can’t see I won’t be able to do well. But to them, I’m overreacting and I’m “being mean” to him even though they won’t address what he has done. Mind you, this is what it has always been like. I end up getting in trouble when people do wrong against me, hence why I don’t come home very often.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

FinnFinnFinnegan −  NTA but this is a good lesson. Always keep your glasses with you.

Silver_Mind_7441 −  NTA but sometimes when you go to eye doctor, you can explain situation and maybe they can give you a sample set. A lot of places give people that are thinking of trying contacts a sample set to see if they like them prior to spending a lot on something they won’t use.

Competitive-Use1360 −  Why do you go back? Just change doctors to ones near your school. Stop torturing yourself.

swoopingturtle −  NTA. And it might be time to get doctors and dentists and eye doctors near your university.

annielizbeth −  NTA, but call your optometrist and ask for a trial pair of contacts. That’s what I do when I run out of contacts, and my insurance won’t kick in for a month or two. Most doctors have prescription lenses in the office for people to try.. Hope that helps!!

CoverCharacter8179 −  ~~I N F O~~: Why didn’t you bring your glasses in case of emergency with the contacts? And why do you say in paragraph 2 that you planned to switch to your glasses when you got back to school, and then say in paragraph 5 that you are going to do badly in school because you won’t be able to see?

I mean, obviously, all kinds of crappy behavior by the various family members. ~~But honestly I’m feeling more E S H at the moment due to OP’s bad planning and exaggerations/inconsistency.~~ EDIT: The glasses are a suboptimal solution because they cause eye strain and headaches. NTA.

jensmith20055002 −  Call the optometrist. There is a near 100% chance they have a diagnostic pair they can give you. Even if it’s not perfect it will tide you over. Tell them exactly what happened and that you already had an appointment. We only hate these calls when we haven’t seen the patient in 3 years, they abuse their contacts and they have no interest in getting another appointment.

NonConformistFlmingo −  NTA but HONEY… Stop going home. Move your doctor to someone closer to your school. Get your ducks in a row so you never have to set foot in that house again. This is not your family. Family doesn’t treat each other like that.

WhereWeretheAdults −  NTA. Do not go where you are not wanted or where you are abused. That includes your parent’s house.

esmerelofchaos −  NTA. Your “family” sounds like a garbage fire, they’re coddling your brother. I’d get out of that situation and never look back as soon as I could.