What are friends for? It’s a question you’ve likely never even considered, since we tend to make friends before we even have a concept of what friendship is and – whether they’re the same friends or different ones – carry people that we care about with us through life. Even as adults we usually have one or two close friends – some people have many more – who we keep up with, and whose presence makes our lives that little bit better.

To some people, friends are the folk they have a coffee with every now and then, and catch up on one another’s lives. Maybe they’ll go to birthday parties for each other’s kids, they might share a dinner a couple of times a year, or get invited to one another’s barbecues. It’s casual, but you know that those people are there when you want to offload, and you’re happy to do the same for them in return.

For other people, even as adults, their friends are a central part of their lives. They see each other most weeks, if not most days, and consult one another on the biggest and smallest decisions in life. Their friends are almost as close as their partners – in some cases, even closer – and they wouldn’t want to live without them.

Neither situation is right or wrong, it’s just what suits the people involved. But what they have in common is the sense of camaraderie, and the knowledge that if something in your life went horribly wrong, those people would be there for you – just as they would be happily there to cheer your successes.

The woman in this story thought she had this kind of a relationship with her friend Ivy, and had certainly been the shoulder Ivy cried on too many times to count. But when the tide turned and she was the one who needed help, Ivy was nowhere to be seen.

Read on to find out what happened.

A lousy friend

My ex-friend Ivy and I grew up together, did everything side by side and had each other’s back always.

About five years ago I really needed her the most because It was a really rough time.

I lost my job, and not long after my boyfriend broke up with me.

I needed a place to stay for a while as I figured things out.

So of course, she turned to her friend.

Ivy, who I had given a place to stay more times than I could count when she was struggling and when she was going through breakups, couldn’t help me this one time I needed her the most.

She just said, ‘I wish I could help but things are tight’. But I just needed a place to stay – I’d pay for everything else I was going to need or use.

I managed somehow, with the help of another friend. Found another job and was doing okay again.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I was doing better than ever – I had a great job, my own place, a solid life.

But then Ivy dealt her a surprise she’d never expected.

Then out of nowhere, and after years of no communication, Ivy showed up at my door – and guess what, she needed a place to stay for a few weeks since she was down on her luck.

I just looked at her and thought about all the times I’d been there for her, and all the times she wasn’t there for me.

Then I smiled and said exactly what what she told me, ‘I wish I could help but things are tight.’ It wasn’t something huge, but it felt great.

Revenge isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s just letting people feel the loneliness and absence they once left you with.

It’s clear that this woman felt truly let down by a friend she’d worked hard to support many times previously.

To be cast aside so harshly must have felt awful, especially given everything she was going through at the time.

It’s no wonder she wanted to give Ivy a taste of her own medicine.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who was totally humiliated when he learned the real reason his friends had ditched him.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person agreed with her decision.

While others shared similar stories of their own.

Meanwhile, this Redditor felt for the sad situation she’d been in.

Not everything in life can be reciprocal, and in a healthy relationship – whether that’s a romantic one, a friendship, or a family tie – you don’t do things for people expecting things in return. You help people because you want to, and because you care about them. But that doesn’t mean to say that if you’ve helped someone plenty, and then you’re down on your own luck, that you might not hope you’d be able to turn to them for a little help, just that once.

In fact, the way that Ivy treated this woman showed the kind of friend she really was. Their friendship was one-sided, based all on Ivy taking everything her friend was willing to give. There are plenty of selfish people like this in the world, but luckily they’re still the minority. It’s great that this woman had other friends who were much happier to help, and that she was able to put some healthy distance between Ivy and herself.

Because nobody needs ‘friends’ like this. And as for Ivy? Well, in the end she might just have learned her lesson.