As far too many of us know, the cruel words of a childhood bully can hurt long after you finish school, and running into them as an adult can be a very upsetting experience.
When out for drinks one night with his new girlfriend, Hannah, and a bunch of her friends, one 24-year-old man claims to have found himself in an uncomfortable situation.
A group of noisy women could be heard chatting loudly a few tables down, and he soon learned that they had picked on Hannah and her pals back in their schooldays.
They decided to stick around for the moment as the women didn't notice them, deciding to leave if the group started any trouble.
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Unfortunately, Hannah, 27, encountered the main bully of the gang - Nicole - while at the bar, and had to endure yet more mean comments.
Taking to Reddit, the boyfriend explained that Nicole has tried to pick on Hannah once again, even tormenting her with "the awful name those girls made up for her".
It was at this point that they decided to move on somewhere else, but it wouldn't be the last they saw of Nicole that night.
The poster - who goes by the username u/unreasobaleahole - went on to tell how - in the early hours of the morning, by which point they "were all very drunk and wanted to get home", they discovered Nicole "stumbling around outside a club in tears".
He continued: "She heard Hannah's voice and came up to us. She was extremely drunk and had gotten separated from her friends and her phone had died. Worse than that, she'd ended up losing her glasses in the club. She couldn't see well enough to get to a cab or make her way home".
Nicole proceeded to beg Hannah for help, all while still referring to her by that hateful childhood nickname. Understandably tired of her longstanding cruelty, Hannah wanted to just leave Nicole to it, but her boyfriend knew he couldn't just leave her outside on her own "blinded and drunk".
He recalled: "I got an Uber and jumped in with Hannah and Nicole. We went to Nicole's house and her mum was extremely grateful for us looking after her daughter. After we got back to Hannah's place, Hannah exploded at me for helping Nicole, and 'making her' sit in a car with the girl who made her life hell in school.
"I argued that Nicole was alone, blind without her glasses, drunk, and her phone was dead. She was completely helpless and vulnerable. I'd want someone to help Hannah if she was in the same position".
Reflecting on the situation in retrospect, the boyfriend feels conflicted.
On one hand, he completely sympathises with his girlfriend and all that she went through because of Nicole. But on the other, he knows he couldn't have just left Nicole out on her own in the state she was in.
His fellow Reddit users empathised with his dilemma, with one person commenting: "I was bullied atrociously all through school by one girl. Putting myself in Hannah’s place, I would be upset at having to encounter her again but ultimately thankful my boyfriend gives a s**t about other people. But I’m all about doing the right thing, even to s***y people".
Another wrote: "It may be upsetting for Hannah now and she might’ve preferred getting revenge by leaving the bully to figure out her own sh*t, but down the line, I think she’ll realise how helping her in spite of everything proved she’s a bigger person".
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