Reddit has always been a hotbed of relationship advice-- but covid-19 has introduced a new dimension to the subreddit boasting 2.8 million subscribers, raising the stakes for every lover’s quarrel. Social distancing mandates have placed extra significance on who one is isolated with—by choice or otherwise—and confined at home there are limited authorities to adjudicate any strife. So people are placing their bets on Reddit users to provide answers to their relationship woes that the CDC and WHO simply do not.
“We’ve seen a stunning number of posts describing scenarios where social distancing was deliberately ignored despite living where it’s either encouraged or enforced,” Bryant Zadegan, one of the moderators of relationship_advice, wrote in an email. “The result is two polarized groups: one acutely affected by the stresses of isolation, another with not a care in the world about the risks of COVID-19.”
Several women have complained about the inconsiderate behavior of the men they’re romantically attached to in this pandemic. One woman lamented about her partner ignoring the social distancing suggestions and complained that he was going on bar crawls, booking a roundtrip flight on the cheap, and ignoring her precautions because he believed covid-19 was overhyped. "He’s still visiting his family. They had a cousin get together today and he went shopping with his dad. He hung out with his brother the other day. His family is pretty big so he’s interacting with a lot of people. What’s worse is that I was stupid enough to see him last week. He told me that he was taking it seriously and not leaving the house except for groceries or to see me. That was a lie. Now I’m sick and he potentially spread COVID-19 to his family members including his older father."
The replies were gentle, but firm: This dude sucks. “A breakup while quarantined sounds miserable, but so does resenting someone for the rest of my relationship,” one woman replied. “Good luck sis.”
In another post, a poster says his girlfriend is threatening to break up with him because he is in quarantine and won’t see her. He insists that he’s just trying to follow guidelines and stay safe upon returning home after studying abroad for the last several months. “I am not even sure if I am going to be able to see her after my quarantine period is over since the state we live in is being put on lockdown,” the poster said. Reddit responders agreed that this girl was bad news.
In another post, a lovelorn man has a crush on his housemate, and wondered if he should let her know how he feels while they’re in lockdown, even though she has a boyfriend (the general consensus on this one: absolutely fucking not).
The relationship_advice subreddit has always offered a genuine cross-section of humanity with guidance, and it is likely to provide more with millions of people forced to stay inside. However, a professional crisis counselor and relationship_advice contributor quite frankly admitted, “I fully expect that in the coming weeks this sub will see an increase in posts about domestic violence,”
No comments:
Post a Comment