Man's cousin who assumed he uses drugs left embarrassed after he reveals the truth

Caring for loved ones is natural but reading too much into someone's life choices and habits to make assumptions could lead to misunderstandings. Although the consequences of being judgmental aren't pleasant, sometimes it can lead to hilarious situations. One such incident was shared by u/Firm-Tip-9612 on Reddit, narrating how his cousin decided to stage an intervention after assuming that he was using drugs. The 27-year-old started the post by revealing how he has a condition that causes him to overproduce earwax and he has been bullied for it while growing up.

"Every other day, I have to put medication in each ear, let it sit, then flush it out with a rubber-tipped syringe. This prevents ear infections, vertigo, permanent hearing loss and worsening of my tinnitus. I have dealt with all these things to some extent, so I stay on top of my eardrop regimen. If my alarm goes off with others, I knock it out in the bathroom for 20 minutes. If I don't follow my schedule, I forget, so I can't put it off," he wrote.

But since no one except his wife and parents knows about the condition, his 37-year-old cousin Kara grew suspicious seeing him go into the bathroom with a syringe in hand during a family dinner. Upon questioning him, he told Kara that "it's a minor medical thing." "I didn't want to say anything because she gossips. I told her it was personal and scooted past. When I left, she was standing in the hallway. She asked what took so long and why the toilet didn't flush. I said none of her business. She said she didn't mean to offend," he added. But he was caught by surprise when Kara decided to stage an intervention with his friends, after convincing everyone that he used drugs.

Describing the awkward situation, he wrote, "Last weekend, my friend called me to invite me out to lunch with some buddies. He said to meet up at his house so we wouldn't have to drive separately. I arrive at his house to find Kara and my friends sitting solemnly on the couch. Kara said they were there to talk about my problem and that they just wanted to help. I said there was no problem. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit out of shock. I asked why didn't she talk to my wife or my parents. She said she didn't want to involve my enablers. She looked annoyed and said she was done trying to help. I said that's alright by me and she stormed out."

When the man finally revealed his condition to his friend, they all had a good laugh about it as Kara eavesdropped on them. "She burst back in and told me to tell them the truth, to which I said I did. My friend kicked her out. We went for lunch and I thought that was that," he added. The man's mother had a chat with Kara and explained everything to her, but she was really upset because he laughed at her face and embarrassed her. The man believed that Kara had no right to round up his friends based on assumptions, but his mom thought he should apologize to Kara. The Reddit community shared their thoughts on whether or not he should apologize.

u/Forward-Wear7913 pointed out, "She owes you a major apology as her spreading untrue information about a possible drug addiction could've caused you to be harmed. What if somebody shared this information with your employer? You could've been suspended or lost your job." u/ArtShapiro wrote, "I'll refrain from waxing poetic, but you have every right to be irritated about someone prying into a medical condition that you'd prefer to keep private." u/DanielleMuscato added, "You can tell it's all about her and not care for him because she should have been relieved and thrilled that it was a diagnosed medical condition with a prescription, not a drug addiction. The fact that she was mad about being embarrassed shows that she was doing this for herself. This is called a narcissistic injury and I guarantee Kara is a narcissist."