Teeth Sucking Rage In the Woods!

• Have you ever said yes—but meant no—and then gave into teeth sucking rage? 

• Have you ever felt punished for setting a boundary?

• Do you recognize the low hum of resentment when people agree to something they don’t actually want to do?

• How often do you let silence win instead of saying the awkward thing?

Let me tell you a little story from the woods.

A while ago, I went on a glamping trip with a women’s hiking group. I’m a confident hiker, but glamping and group camping? Not my usual scene. I’d only hiked with them once before, and I signed up for this trip because, in my head, “glamping” meant comfy beds, clean showers, and lounging after long walks in nature. I thought: this is my kind of unplugging. Soon, my excitement turned into teeth-sucking rage.

When I arrived at the site, I was full of anticipation. Then I was handed a “chore assignment”—I’d been placed on the dinner crew. For all three nights. Excuse me? 

My first reaction was disbelief. I didn’t sign up for this. No one mentioned anything about work. I had paid for what I thought was a relaxing retreat, not an unpaid kitchen shift. So I declined. Politely. Directly. Firmly. 

And this is how the journey toward teeth-sucking rage in the woods began.

The woman leading the dinner group froze like she’d just seen someone yell at a puppy. I don’t think she was used to “no.” She asked if I’d at least put out the plates and cutlery. I said yes—begrudgingly. And I meant that “begrudgingly.”

What followed was a weekend-long social experiment in people-pleasing, silence, side-eyes, and disappearing acts. Here’s what I noticed:

• The same handful of women did almost everything. Not surprisingly, they were closely tied to the group leader. They were sucking their teeth, too!
• Lots of others felt like I did—but I was the only one who said anything out loud.
• The group leader expressed her frustration sideways, making a passive-aggressive comment within earshot about “some people thinking this is a hotel.”
• When something needed doing, the “no thank you” crowd just…vanished.
• By the end, the do-everything group was exhausted and quietly bitter.
• And as we packed up, suddenly everyone pitched in—because vanishing might’ve meant getting left. 

The most fascinating part? People found their voices after the fact: quiet whispers of “I didn’t sign up for this,” or “Why didn’t anyone ask us how we wanted to help?” You know that thing where folks say nothing when it counts, then murmur afterward? More teeth-sucking rage!

Later, one of the regulars explained: “The leader probably didn’t explain anything because she assumed we’d all done this before.” There it was. The assumption that killed the vibe. She expected people to fall in line without spelling anything out.

Here’s what I took from it all:
👉 Assumptions ruin trust.
👉 People think resentment is easier than honesty.
👉 Passive-aggression is just conflict dressed in nice shoes.
👉 Silence is comfortable…until it festers.

And here’s what I wish more of us remembered: boundaries don’t make you rude. Speaking up isn’t disrespect. You can opt out of something without opting out of your integrity. And if we never create space to say “This doesn’t sit right with me,” then we invite teeth-sucking rage to return over and over again—at work, at home, in friendships, and yes, even on glamping trips.