Education

A Northeastern student internet-shamed his mom over her late-night snack habit

All in good jest, of course.

Photo courtesy of Nick Avallone

September 12, 2016

1 minute to read

Northeastern student Nick Avallone adores his mom, but that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate a joke at her expense. What he didn’t expect was that the internet would, too.

Avallone, a third-year student from Pennsylvania studying marketing and entrepreneurship, is an attentive son. Typically, his mom, Eleanor, will ask for a snack a few nights each week, and when he delivers them just after 10 p.m., he often finds she’s already out for the night.

Even though he finds her antics endearing, Avallone decided it was time to teach his mom a lesson by shaming her on Tumblr and Instagram. He soon found out that he wasn’t the only one: His photos have gone viral, with thousands liking and sharing them, or leaving comments saying they could relate.

“I ask my son for snacks then fall asleep,” he wrote on a sign, placed it on her, and took a photo of her sleeping as he arrived with a cup of pretzels. Then Goldfish crackers. Then popcorn.

“I love u mom don’t kill me for posting this,” Avallone wrote on an Instagram post that’s garnered more than 21,000 likes since its posting last week.

Avallone worried that his mom might be embarrassed by the photos, but he said she laughed as soon as she saw the posts, acknowledging that she does have a tendency to doze off.

“She’s pretty much been asking for snacks as long as I can remember, and she’s been falling asleep consistently the whole time,” Avallone, 20, told Boston.com.

Avallone is back in Boston for the new school year, a change that brings a break from snack duty. He said he hopes she’ll think of something to keep the joke running.

“She’s just an angel,” he said. “She’s an amazing person and we’re, like, best friends.”