A woman says she walked out of a family dinner after her stepmother repeatedly called her by the wrong name.
In a Reddit post, she explains that her dad “remarried when I was a teen.”
“His wife (50s female) has always called me the wrong name, like, not even close to my real one. I’ve corrected her dozens of times over the years, and she laughs it off like it’s a joke,” she writes.
She continues: “Last week at dinner she did it again, in front of extended family. Everyone laughed, and I just felt humiliated and dismissed. I quietly excused myself and left.”
But stepping away only sparked more conflict, she adds.
“My dad later called me dramatic and said I embarrassed his wife over ‘a harmless slip-up,’” she explains. “But I don’t think it’s harmless when it’s been going on for years.”
She concludes her post by asking other Reddit users, “Am I overreacting?”
Responses flooded in from people with similar experiences.
One commenter shared: “There was a person in my life who intentionally mispronounced my name. Each time we interacted, my husband would make a point of saying my name correctly, only to have the person reply with the mispronunciation. We don’t interact with that person [anymore].”
“A person’s name is the bedrock foundation of their identity,” the commenter added. “A person who refuses to acknowledge it is denying their personhood, their basic self. It’s unconscionably rude and should never be tolerated. To ask someone to tolerate it for years? Absolutely absurd.”
They advised that the original poster should demand an apology and, if she doesn’t receive one, “you don’t need to worry about going over there for Sunday dinner anymore.”
