1. Thank goodness she's not a mother. She doesn't even sound like an adult. This level of reactivity and selfishness is not compatible with being a good parent. 2. Fertility issues arent a barrier to having a child, they are just a barrier to passing on your DNA. If you'd love a child more or less based on DNA, you're unfit to be a parent. I'm fine with people leaving it up to chance, but then you'v 3. If it's going to be a hard day emotionally, don't go to work. Mental health is health and it's ok to not go in. It isn't ok to make a scene and sabotage other people's presents.

I've had a really hard time getting rich. Amazingly all these a-holes are running around flaunting their wealth everywhere I look and no one will make them hide it, so i am triggered and will now call in sick to work because my boss makes more money than me. I'm sorry, I truly know the pain some people go through to conceive, and how many failed attempts, miscarriages, and still births can absolutely destroy a person's very soul. But at the end of the day you can't hide away every parent because it makes you feel sad. This is the sh*tshow we call life, and no, it's not fair, but it's what it is and you can either choose to be offended/triggered by everything and everyone, or you can learn how to healthily cope with your emotions. Too many people take the easy route to blame everyone else for their hurting. I have massive depression, anxiety, panic attacks (living the dream!) but I'd never want someone else hide their happiness to make me feel better.

My mother was an abusive jackass. Until I had a kid I hated Mother's Day. I hated all the talk of Mother's Day. I hated when people said we should all appreciate our mothers. But never, did I demand other people not celebrate their mothers bc I didn't have that. I just totally avoided church on that day.

I think it's time to let Iris go as she is using her own issues to create a toxic environment and attempting to manipulate the rest of the staff through emotional blackmail

I suspect Iris has other issues with Maria, actually. I mean, how does she deal with it when a customer brings their kids in with them? If she's so sensitive that a bouquet on a coworker's desk sets her off, what does she do when confronted with actual children? She's using that as an excuse to bully Maria.

I can’t have kids and though I’m mostly glad I don’t have any, being confronted with not having had the choice can really sting. Last week I came into work and two colleagues were there showing off their brand new shiny babies. It honestly made me want to crawl in a hole and die, but I just joined in the congratulations and the ooh’s and awh’s for a bit and went back to work.

I think it's nice Maria got flowers for mothers day. Iris needs to get her head out her a*s and be happy that Maria's family cared enough to give her a present.

I lost my one chance at motherhood in a traumatic miscarriage near five years ago. It was the worst experience of my life. For a while, I avoided babies and baby showers quietly. I still have panic attacks and puke at those graphic fetus pictures some activists put up. Mother's Day is always painful for me. However, my mum still got a mother's day card and gift that year, as she always had before and has since. I still celebrate with her because she's my mum. Yes, it's painful. But life is full of disappointments, and at some point you have to accept that. I could see drawing the line at someone having a sonogram picture at their desk. But flowers? That's ridiculous. Someone (perhaps a mental health professional) needs to sit down with Iris and explain that she must live in the world regardless of her own circumstances and teach her some tools to deal with her grief and sensitivities.

If OP knew how sencetive Iris was to this she might have said not just Maria can display her flowers but something along the lines of "if Mother's day is such a triggering issue for you, why don't you take hte day off" which might have pre-empted her stress sick leaving early and passive agressive sick day the next day

It’s sad that certain people can’t conceive but that does not give them the right to demand that those that can not celebrate when they’re having a child.

I've read a few of these "I'm infertile, put away all reminders of my lack of motherhood!" stories, but this one feels a little different. Not that I think OP is wrong, or that Iris is being over-entitled, I do. But in a "middle-aged ladies" environment, that infertility can hit much harder. Most of the other stories have been women in their late 20s to late 30s; a period in which, even if full biological birth is off the table, you would still be of prime age to become an adoptive parent (that's still parenting!). But "middle-aged"? Once you get past a certain point, even fostering and adoption is removed as an option. And your chance at motherhood really hits zero. Iris might need to consider therapy in the near future.

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After recently having had a miscarriage of my own, I can understand wanting sympathy but expecting everyone else around you to fall apart because of your own trauma will get you nothing but a rude awakening.

I, like many others, feel for Iris. But I'm curious why she doesn't adopt children, since she wants to be a mother so much? I get it's not the same thing as bearing your own child(ren), but that is a win-win for both Iris and the child(ren) she brings into her home.

I spent 11 years dealing with infertility, all the horrible treatments, an operation, and it was hell for sure, and yeah Mother's Day could be upsetting, but good lord, you can't be demanding other people not enjoy their children. Just like, I'm vegan now, and does people eating animals around me upset me? Absolutely! But do I tell people not to? Absolutely not!

The married raper joke from a sexual predator narcissist is exactly why he should be in jail for sexual assault and I mean that completely and 100% truthfully. This isnt a game and Im not playing it.

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Everyone's comments illustrate pronatalism at its worst.