One Tiktoker is quickly learning the meaning of “never post” after a video of hers, in which she laments the fact that 9/11 had to take place on her birthday, found its way to r/ImTheMainCharacter.
In the video, the young woman opens with, “I can’t think of a respectful way to say this,” which is a good sign that maybe you shouldn’t say whatever you’re about to say on Al Gore’s internet where everyone including relatives and potential employers can see.
9/11 should have been on a different day because it’s ruining my bday
byu/TrinspectorGadget inImTheMainCharacter
She continues, “I just really wish that 9/11 didn’t happen, but I wish that it would’ve happened August 11th, or September 21st, or October 11th.” The reason for this wish? “I have not had a normal birthday since 2001, every birthday I’ve had since 2001 has been tragic.”
She closes the video with a nod to self-awareness, explaining, “I know that not everything’s about me, but my birthday’s about me, okay?” Yes, girl, but to most human beings on earth, your birthday doesn’t matter, so some perspective is important.
A commenter shared a different strategy for coping with the fact that you share a birthday with a major historical event: “A cousin of mine also has his birthday on that day, he gets drunk and hates on Bush all the same.” Sounds like a good birthday to me.
Other commenters were sympathetic to her plight, with one writing, “I’d feel weird if my birthday was that day too.” Another added, “It’s weird that we want to focus so much on public tragedies that we don’t allow people to share their individual (and less tragic) experiences anymore.” Others agreed that she isn’t an example of a Main Character because she’s trying to express her feelings respectfully and her heart is in the right place.
Honestly, sharing a birthday with an event as world-altering as 9/11 has to be weird, especially if you are in any way connected to people who were directly affected by the tragedy. But the internet is where nuance goes to die, and videos like this one quickly find themselves stripped of their context and presented in the worst possible light in order to find the internet’s next “main character.”
The only silver lining: At least she found herself as the center of attention during her birthday season.
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