[allturtles]

I think she should have left it out. As anecdotes about humiliation go, it's not much. There's no mention that Sheila publicly shamed her (as the author, by the way, has now publicly shamed Sheila), she just didn't want to be friends anymore. And she's still holding a grudge against her erstwhile friend from when she was 13? People grow apart, especially around major life transitions like adolescence.

[trgn]

It's also the consequence of being shackled to a literary technique common to these long form articles, for authors to write themselves into the piece, in order to make the content more relatable to the audience. It's a form of exhibitionism, where the author has to come up with something recognizable, but not too revealing or truly heart wrecking. Something milquetoast form adolescence will do in a pinch.

I am sure these sort of confessionals used to come across as audacious. Now, it's just a tired trope of the format.

[charlieo88]

I think the proper form would have been to pause the Sheila narrative at the Edna reveal, and then at the very end of the story, have the 50 years later meeting as the wrapper.

[trgn]

haha, yes, you're right!

fwiw - I also wanted to know what happened there right after their encounter.

[a0-prw]

I couldn't agree with you more. I usually stop reading this format immediately. Got about 2/3 of the way through.

[lazide]

As noted in a upvoted comment above - resentment, hate, anger all poison/burn the one who holds it. The stronger it is held, and the longer, the more damage it does.

There is a lot of poison here, and I don’t think it is in Sheila.

[andrewflnr]

The humiliation was when Sheila said she was best friends with Edna now. Being public has nothing to do with it, in that incident or at basically any point in the article.

[matheusmoreira]

> The humiliation was when Sheila said she was best friends with Edna now.

The "now" is especially important. It implies the friendship they shared was never real. Sheila was just keeping her around while she waited for someone better to be friends with.

[andrewflnr]

I don't think that's implied at all. In particular I don't see any evidence that the "friendship" with Edna was any more real. I think kids are just fickle sometimes.

[cafard]

We're sure that Sheila is the other party's real name?