A TikTok creator's emotional confession about being labeled "poor" by a close friend, and quietly excluded from social events because of it, has struck a nerve online.
In a Feb. 12, 2026, video, Andrey Borul (@father_vs_world) tearfully recounted how a friend joked that no one wanted to invite him and his wife out due to their financial situation.
Borul, who says he’s buried in medical debt after nearly dying from an infection, admitted the comment hit hard, not because it was wrong, but because it exposed how isolating financial hardship can be.
Borul describes attending a party with his wife where a close friend called the couple "poor."
The friend laughed, adding that nobody wanted to invite Borul and his wife to social occasions because of his financial situation. "I was dumbfounded," Borul said of the exchange.
The video continues with Borul admitting that his close friend was correct—he is poor.
"I'm basically right now working almost 20 hours a day trying to recover," he said, of his medical debt. "Obviously, we have to tighten our belts."
For this reason, he can't afford vacations—yet, his family manages to have fun.
"I brought a ton of snow and I left it in our backyard so our kids could enjoy," Borul said. "Because it's true, we can't afford to go to the mountains and spend hundreds of dollars on a trip."
Throughout the 2-minute and 50-second TikTok video, the creator became emotional, explaining how isolating and excluded he feels.
"Being poor sucks. I feel so alone. We haven't been invited for three months anywhere," he says, tearfully. "Invite us to go to places."
In an email to the Daily Dot, Borul explained: "Me and my wife are social butterflies and love having company around, but to be excluded from it really hurt us."
He said their family was deeply touched by the outpouring of compassion in response to his video.
"The morning after the clip went super viral I showed my wife the millions of views it got," he wrote. "She couldn’t believe it and for the next week we were the talk of the community, even reaching our pastor who reached out to make sure we were doing ok."
Commenters say "rejection is protection"
The video garnered over 1 million views and 20,000 comments. Many empathized with the creator and contributed their own stories of being poor.
"You have a wife and kids...a family. You're RICH, brother!!" one comment read.
"Most of us in North America are in your shoes," read another TikTok comment.
But the most liked comments went further—warning Borul that the person in the video who called him "poor" is not his real friend.
"Them not inviting you is Gods protection! Rejection is protection," read one comment.
"If their friend” are so well off, maybe they should pick up the tab," a Reddit user suggested.
"looking down on your friends when they may have less money says alot about who they are," another Redditor added.
"You are THE MAN. Do not let those type of people make you feel any sort of way," read another comment on TikTok. "Run from them. You’re the kind of guy I would be honored to call my friend."
The true cost of medical debt
According to KFF, in 2022, four in ten adults reported having debt due to medical or dental bills, including debts owed to credit cards, collections agencies, family and friends, banks, and other lenders to pay for their health care costs.
Borul started a GoFundMe to help offset his medical debt. As of March 2, the crowdsourcing campaign had reached over $25,000.
Medical debt isn't entirely the patient's fault; it is often the result of systemic problems within healthcare and governmental systems.
"Medical debt is the product of decades of dysfunctional health-care policy, a market-oriented insurance system, and a patchwork of safety net programs with notable gaps," says Stephen Nuñez of The Roosevelt Institute. "The costs can be enormous."
The Daily Dot has reached out to @father_vs_world via email. The creator did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
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