A TikTok creator has caused an uproar online after he made an emotional admission about being labeled “poor” by his friends and quietly excluded from social events as a result.
In a February 12, 2026 video, Andrey Borul (@father_vs_world) tearfully recounts how a friend joked that no one would invite him and his wife out because of their financial situation.
Borul, who said he nearly died from the infection and was deeply in debt, admitted the comment hit hard, not because it was wrong but because it exposed how isolating economic hardship can be.
Boluer described attending a party with his wife where a close friend described the couple as “very poor.”
The friend added with a smile that no one wanted to invite Borul and his wife to social events because of his financial situation. “I was stunned,” Borul said of the exchange.
The video continues with Borul admitting that his close friend was right—he yes poor.
“I’m basically working close to 20 hours a day now trying to pay off my medical debt,” he said. “Obviously we have to tighten our belts.”
Therefore, he cannot afford the vacation, but his family can enjoy it.
“I brought in a lot of snow and left it in the backyard so our kids could enjoy it,” Borul said. “Because it’s true, we can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a trip to the mountains.”
In the 2 minute and 50 second TikTok video, the creator gets emotional and explains how isolated and excluded he feels.
“Poverty sucks. I feel so alone. We haven’t been invited anywhere for three months,” he said through tears. “Invite us to places.”
“My wife and I are social butterflies and enjoy the company of others, but being left out really hurts us,” Borul explained in an email to the Daily Dot.
He said the family was deeply moved by the compassion shown in his video.
“The morning after this video went viral, I showed my wife the millions of views it had received,” he wrote. “She couldn’t believe it, and for the next week we became the talk of the community and even contacted our pastor, who reached out and made sure we were OK.”
Commenters say “denial is protection”
The video received more than 1 million views and 20,000 comments. Many people sympathized with the creators and contributed their own stories of poverty.
“You have a wife and kids…a family. You’re rich bro!!” one comment read.
Another TikTok comment read: “Most of us in North America are in your situation.”
But the most popular comment went a step further — warning Borul that the man in the video who called him “poor” wasn’t his real friend.
“It’s God’s protection that they don’t invite you! Saying no is protection,” one comment read.
“If their friends” are that rich, maybe they should foot the bill,” one Reddit user suggested.
Another Reddit user added: “When your friends look down on them when they have less money, it says a lot about who they are.”
“You be the man. Don’t let people like this make you feel anything,” another comment on TikTok read. “Run away from them. You’re the kind of person I’d be honored to call a friend.”
The true cost of medical debt
According to KFF, by 2022, 4 in 10 adults will report having debt from medical or dental bills, including debt owed to credit cards, collection agencies, family and friends, banks and other lenders to pay for health care expenses.
Boluer started a GoFundMe to help offset his medical debt. As of March 2, the crowdsourcing campaign has exceeded $25,000.
Medical debt is not entirely the patient’s fault; it is often the result of systemic problems within the health care and government systems.
“Medical debt is the product of decades of dysfunctional health care policy, a market-oriented insurance system, and safety net programs with glaring gaps,” said Stephen Nunez of the Roosevelt Institute. “The costs can be substantial.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @father_vs_world via email. The creators did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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