Surely at one point or another, many of us have said hurtful words when describing others. Sometimes we feel that it’s merely human nature and other times, we just need a good gossip or venting session. A lot of the time, however, we don’t realize how those hurtful words can affect others.
If you’ve ever been a victim of bullying—be it when you were a child or an adult, you’ll know that words most certainly cut like a knife. This story brings light not only to adult bullying, but also the fantastical way in which the victim in question responds. We could all take a page out of this brave woman’s book.
Dianne Hoffmeyer went into her local Tim Horton’s in Fort Gratiot for a coffee and a donut. She had been up all night tending to her two-year-old daughter and felt that she needed a quick pick-me-up. Little did she know that this seemingly innocent event would bring her to tears.
As she stood in line, she heard two middle-aged women talking about her. They were making nasty comments about Dianne’s hair and weight. “She’s a whale. Oh, the whale needs to eat,” Dianne recalls. What these women didn’t know, was that Dianne was working hard at maintaining a healthy lifestyle, having already lost 177 pounds. Instead of telling them off, however, Dianne quietly sobbed. When it was her turn to order, she did something truly amazing.
Credit: WXYZ
Instead of merely ordering her coffee and donuts, she offered to pay for the two ladies’ coffees. She received her order, paid for the goods and returned back to her car where she cried for at least 15 minutes. The women, completely speechless, finished their coffee and were said to never return to the coffee and donut chain again.
When interviewed for her courageous act, Dianne says that – if given the chance to see the women again – she would buy them each a second cup of coffee and explain to them how the comments affected her and inform them of her weight loss progress and lifestyle change.
Hopefully, these bullies—as well as others who hear this story—
are inspired to be more kind to others and to do the right thing. Hats off to you, Dianne Hoffmeyer.
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