Merna Zso retweeted
I started my period unexpectedly at work and bled through onto an office chair. I was mortified because my manager was a man. I told him, bracing for humiliation. You know what he did? He didn’t make me clean the stain while panicking. He quietly got cleaning supplies, took care of the chair, handed me his jacket to tie around my waist, made sure I had pads, and helped me find a change of clothes.
No jokes. No disgust. No scene. He just made sure I was okay.
Merna Zso retweeted
I kept texting my ex-coworker after she quit. Just memes. Funny stuff from the office. “You’re missing this chaos.” She’d reply with laughing emojis. We did this for months. Then she stopped responding. I figured she moved on. Made new friends. Forgot about our inside jokes.
Kept sending memes anyway. Once a week. No responses. Just kept going. Felt stupid but couldn’t stop. She’d been my work best friend. Only person who got my humor.
Six months of silence. Then one day. “I’m so sorry I haven’t replied. I’ve been in treatment. Depression got really bad after I left that job. Your memes were the only thing that made me smile some days. I’d read them in group therapy. Saved every single one. They kept me going”
I sat at my desk crying. Had no idea she was struggling. No idea those stupid memes mattered. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She replied. “I couldn’t tell anyone. But knowing you were still thinking of me. Still trying to make me laugh. It helped more than you know”
We meet for coffee now. Once a month. She’s doing better. Showed me her phone. Folder labeled “Hope.” Every meme I sent. Hundreds of them. “On bad days I scroll through these. Remind myself someone cared enough to keep trying.”
I still send memes. But now she responds. And now I know they matter more than I thought.
—Jake M., Texas
