Talking to your neighbors can sometimes backfire.

In today’s story, one conversation that starts with small talk escalates to guilt and obligation super quickly.

Let’s see how the conversation escalated…

AITA for not wanting to connect with the neighbors disabled child?

I (34M) am an Army vet. Retired after sustaining a serious injury in combat that left me with 30% burns. I recovered fine, though.

I moved into a new apartment and one of my new neighbors is a lady in her 40s who has a 12yo son.

The son is in a wheelchair because he lost his legs in a traumatic accident.

He told his neighbor his story.

The lady sparked a small talk, and I told her about my experiences. In a really PG way with no juicy details.

She asked me if I could talk to her son because she feels like he needs “an example of a brave man” in his life.

Don’t ask me what the hell this means.

I politely refused.

He has reasons for not wanting to talk to the child.

Not like I dislike children or anything.

I feel like he won’t be able to relate to me and vice versa.

I still can run, jump, lift weights etc, and he’s in a wheelchair and will experience that forever.

It probably will be like rubbing it in. And I don’t want to trauma dump a pretty graphic story on a small child.

The neighbor doesn’t seem to want to take “no” for an answer.

She told me that he needs some guidance and needs a person who he can look up to and relate to.

I told her that I’m not exactly the best role model for a 12yo and that I doubt he could relate.

She said I’m being heartless and dismissive of her struggles.

I was like what?!

I mean… what is this person expecting?

The folks on Reddit definitely had some thoughts.

This person thinks it’s not just about the disability.

Another reader agrees that it’s okay to say “no.”

This reader believes “no” IS a reason.

Another person thinks the mother isn’t vetting OP well enough.

Here’s a suggestion that might help OP and the mother…

Why can’t people just take “no” for an answer and leave it at that?

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.