Fed-Up Coworker Accuses Colleague of ‘Milking’ Her Son’s Death 3 Years Later

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There is no amount of space or time that allows for a mother to "get over" the loss of her child. Even for mothers who haven't had a child die, the mere thought of losing them is enough to put anguish into their hearts. So when a woman close to us goes through that, we all do our best to rally around her as much as possible.

Unless you are this particular Redditor, who verbally suggested that a mom who lost her child was "milking" the death for sympathy.

Three years ago, this Redditor's coworker had a son who died after having a seizure in the night just two days after his 13th birthday.

The mom now regularly takes his birthday and the following days off to give herself a little time to mourn away from work. 

"Now don't get me wrong I'm sad for her but I feel like she is just sympathy milking at this point," posted the fed-up coworker.

Back in January, the Redditor was wondering where a work friend was, and the colleague said she was covering for the grieving mom.

"I got a bit upset," the person wrote. "I said 'Why does she get all this special treatment like she does this every year' and they all went silent for a bit and one of them spoke up saying: 'She's not having any special treatment she uses her days."

I said 'But come on it's been 3 years now she has to get over it at some point like I lost my Mom 7 years ago and I got over it in a few weeks.'"

The officemates were generally bewildered, and defended the mom by reminding the Redditor that she lost her son just a few days after his birthday.

"Don't you think she's having a hard time," they evidently asked the person. The response the Redditor had knocked the wind out of the office: "I said 'Look I understand that she's sad 3 years later at this point she is just milking for sympathy.'"

It was then that the break room erupted into shouts, and that's when the Redditor's boss intervened, asking what the commotion was. When it was explained, he asked the "offended" coworker to go into his office.

The boss explained again that the mom was going through a hard time and essentially needed support.

"I tell him that I feel like she is getting special treatment and that she is just using you all. He looks at me dead in the face and tells me that I'm being a insensitive and need to get a grip and tells me to leave his office."

Evidently since then, people in the office have basically shunned the fed-up coworker. When the person complained about this to the boss, the manager told them that it was the person's own fault, and his coworkers are under no obligation to be friends with that person.

"They all blocked me on social media and try to avoid me at all costs," the person wrote. "I feel like they are being immature about this and need to stop being mad."

The poster genuinely wants to know if what they (the poster) were in the wrong for what they said.

People were honestly impressed that the coworker thought he or she even had a leg to stand on.

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"She's not milking anything," defended one reader. "Her son died. She lost her child. It doesn't go away, and the grieving process doesn't just stop just because YOU don't understand what it's like to be her. You're [expletive] disgusting."

Others backed up the fact that grieving has no time limit by sharing their own losses.

"Everyone’s grieving process is different," one user wrote. "My sister died 17 years ago when we were teenagers. I still miss the [expletive] out of her. I still take off work for her birthday and death day and spend that time with my mom and other sister, doing things my late sister would’ve enjoyed in memory of her."

Commenters even mentioned that technically she isn't getting special treatment, because she is using her paid time off days. So all in all, this poster was deeply in the wrong.

Here's to hoping that person learns how to apologize and gains a little empathy.