People Break Down Which Things Their 12-Year-Old Selves Would Never Believe About Them Now
12-year-olds are a unique breed of human beings. They sit right in that middle area where childhood innocence, youthful fears, and reckless adolescent confidence all overlap into a completely irrational soup of decision-making.
But that period of life, like all of them, does pass. We keep growing, sweeping through adolescence, surging on through the twenties, and edging into middle age.
Once an adult, it can be difficult to imagine exactly what felt most important when you were 12 years old.
And yet, a few things stick. They lead us to compare and contrast the plans of that 12-year-old kid against what actually occurred in our lives.
The result is a reflection equal parts nostalgic, relieved, and hilarious.
Some Redditors offered up their answers to that question.
coronacel asked, "What would 12 year-old you never believe about adult you?"
Many people keyed in on the clearest signs that adulthood had arrived completely, leaving the zaniness of childhood largely in the dust.
Genes
"That sometimes, when I'm not paying attention, my mom's words slipped right out of my mouth!" -- BlindGirlSees
"Sometimes it happens even when I'm paying attention. I'm too young to turn into her." -- SkyScamall
"I just tell people that my dad is the world's greatest ventriloquist. He can be miles away and his voice still comes out of my mouth." -- OpeScuseMe74
Changing Priorities
"For almost 9 years, I've worked literally 1 minute away from a huge water park and I've never gone there." -- subject_deleted
"Yeah the chance of drowning is non-zero, pretty sure 12 year old me would avoid the place too." -- vizthex
"This one breaks my heart, imagine the look on your younger face." -- Splashfooz
All About Context
"I actually like exercise and physical activity, it's just PE class that sucked." -- mulitvac83
"School does a surprisingly good job of sucking every last bit of fun out of many subjects. PE focused on competitive team sports -- horrible for non-competitive or less coordinated people." -- ljr55555
Bed Time
"That I'm in bed usually by 8:45 every night. To sleep 😳" -- QueenBetsie
"a good sleep cycle rocks. Wish i could push myself to do that." -- GotYeeted
"This is me and then I sleep 8-9 hours and wake up with the sunrise and no alarm. 12 year old me, during the summer, stayed up until sunrise and slept until afternoon." -- pieohmi
Some Changed, Some Didn't
"That I actually like bees now and want to pursue beekeeping some day."
"I used to hate all bugs no matter what, but with more research, I realized that bees aren't so bad. Still hate other bugs tho..."
-- godoffloof
Lost in the Shuffle
"That all of the things I said I'd always remember and never do as an adult, I've largely forgotten and probably do as an adult ..." -- monsieurpoupon
"12 year old me would hate an office job. Ugh, 9-5 is not for me! I wanted to be doing stuff outside. Commutes are gross.
"31 year old me loves my office job and the structure a 9-5 (though I am 8-4, technically) brings my life. I MISS my office and my commute since working from home. They were clear divides of when I work, wind down (commuting with podcasts and audiobooks), and am free at home." -- deskbeetle
No, Special Agents Aren't the Only Ones
"I live in a whole a** other country and speak another language now, that definitely would've come as a surprise." -- Ryoukugan
"Same. And despite all the hours 12 year old me spent with a Japanese dictionary, it's not Japan" -- Cunninglinguist87
Others lamented that some things they dreamed about as kids never quite panned out as the years went by.
To be fair, many of those dreams were rather far-fetched. Though not all.
Still Waiting On the Steeds
"That I'm almost 40 and still don't have a stable full of horses." -- carmindy
"I just turned 40 and finally do have a horse of my own. It was well worth the wait, young me!" -- corporatewazzack
"I used to wake up every Christmas morning, hoping and wishing I'd see a horse on my parents' suburban front lawn. Believe it or not it didn't happen."
"I literally picked a career path in accounting to have the financial stability to own horses some day and am borderline ready to forgo having children to make it happen." -- fivecentssobct11
Not Automatic
"That I haven't gotten married. That something I just assumed would happen and yet here we are and I'm still single."
"I think he'd also be surprised at how rough my teenage years were."
-- snoobsnob
Never Came Together
"That, I too, don't know what the fu** I'm doing with my life." -- lilasketching
"Lol I think 12 year old me knew more about what I was doing in life than I do" -- platypossamous
"12 yo me had her whole life planned ahead of her and was ready to take on the entire world. She wouldn't be happy to hear that none of it panned out the way it was planned and I have no idea what I'm doing on any given day." -- SimonSpooner
Don't Hold Your Breath
"We never got that growth spurt we were promised" -- mumoftheweek
"Same. I'm in my 20's and people still tell me I'll get one one day." -- Monarch_of_God
"Mine seems to have been horizontal rather than vertical." -- AStartIsBorn
But some people took note of the things that haven't changed a bit, despite all the years that separate them from their 12-year-old selves.
They were happy to reflect on the innocence they've managed to retain.
Good for a Laugh
"That I still laugh at the exact same things." -- Billy-Mays-Ghost
"Still listen to the same music too" -- platypossamous
"I love a good fart joke. Probably more than I ever have." -- WaterWatcher
The Locks are BACK
"That my hair would still be this long!"
"I was on chemo from 11-14 and all I wanted was to get my hair back. I had luscious locks halfway down my back(I'm a boy) and I'm proud to say after 3 years of being off chemo my hair has restored to (almost) it's old length."
"I'm eternally greatful for my life, and plan to live it to the fullest!"
"I get that I'm not really an "adult" but I'm as adult as I've ever been"
-- angeryhornet
Finally Striking Out
"When I was not 12 but 13, I got this crazy idea. I dreamed of someday loading a bunch of camping gear onto my bicycle and disappearing for a year or so to ride around the country. Also when I was 13, I started to see signs of trouble in my family."
When I was 17, those family troubles would culminate I'm my parents' divorce. And when I was 20 years old, I would finally set off on that bike camping trip I'd dreamed of for so long."
"So 13 year old me would be super stoked to hear that the bike trip actually happened, and he wouldn't be entirely surprised about the divorce and its lingering effects to this day. But 12 year old me? Yeah, he has absolutely no idea what's coming."
Committed After All These Years
"I'd still sit down for an all night session of Dungeons and Dragons." -- TigerMkIV
"I never played DnD, but I really, really want to try. I've been listening to a bit of The Adventure Zone podcast and it sounds like a blast. Growing up, it was always the bottom of the barrel for nerdism. You could play or be into anything nerdy and get away with it because 'at least it's not DnD.' "
"I think my friends and I would really dig it if they just got past the stereotype. The last time I talked about it some time ago, the idea got shot down. Maybe I'll give it another go the next time I go home, or try arranging it with them online over roll20."
"The biggest problem is that I would likely have to be dungeon master for a group that knows nothing about it. I barely do." -- Voittaa
THE DREAM
"That I own an ice cream shop. 🤯" -- blackcatice
"As an ice cream shop owner, how much ice cream do you infact still consume? Do you get tired of it after a while? Can one even get tired of ice cream?" -- AnAncientMonk
Now that you've read this, take a second to reflect on your own answer to the 12-year-old question.
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Life Hacks That Actually Changed People's Lives
Reddit user robbbala asked: 'What life hack changed your life?'
For anyone who has attempted to adopt a new habit, like rising earlier or exercising or eating healthier, they've likely heard the advice to make the change a little at a time, rather than trying to do it all at once.
Because truly, sometimes it's those smaller choices that make all the difference.
Redditor robbbala asked:
"What life hack changed your life?"
Alcohol Elimination Diet
"If you’re trying to lose weight, eliminate alcohol from your diet."
- dem4life71
"Uggghhhhhhhhh. F**k you, man. I know. I KNOW."
- r_u_ferserious
The Importance of Good Sleep
"When I was 16, I made the life-changing discovery that if I sleep eight or more hours before school, it will suck less. I've been doing it ever since."
- Princessss5
"I keep the same sleep schedule every day no matter if I work or not."
"I fall asleep right away and get better sleep from it."
- chaedog
Be a Good Example
"'Just because someone is doing it wrong shouldn't stop you from doing it right."
- in-a-microbus
"I'm a building inspector and I regularly run into guys who are doing something wrong and when I explain to them how it's supposed to be done according to the code, they always say, 'I've been doing it that way for over 20 years.'"
"I always respond, 'Well, I guess you've been doing it wrong for over 20 years.'"
- lukewwilson
Be One with the Sim
"When you're stuck in a rut of not being able to take care of yourself, I pretend I'm a Sim and someone is controlling me to fill all my bars back to green."
"For some reason, it works. It even works with cooking and doing the dishes. It's kinda fun to feel like you're leveling up in cooking or writing or something, too."
- Tired_tall
"This is how I’ve gotten by as an adult so far. Learned how to turn off the fear response sort of in order to get things done. Go into it mechanically, and deal with my anxiety later."
"Pretending to be confident does wonders. It doesn’t teach you how to handle personal struggles on your own, though. Still gotta figure that one out."
- TinyChaco
Become a Social Media Influencer
"Lol (laughing out loud), when I don’t feel like doing something, like a household chore, I’ll say, 'Hey guys, welcome back to my channel' like a blogger and pretend I’m showing people. It's stupid but sometimes it works."
- Ok-Mechanic9136
"Directions unclear. I used a meme as a model, and now my kitchen is on fire."
- jlp120145
Helpful Apps
"For fellow gamers: I've been using this app called Habitica. You have a little pixel avatar with health and experience bars and completing tasks will raise your experience while continuing bad habits will affect your health."
- WitherWithout
"It works when trying to make friends, too. You have to actually do stuff with people to fill your friendship bar. You have to compliment and say nice things and do your best to actually connect with them. And three to five interactions and activities really do help a friendship solidify."
- HarrisonRyeGraham
A Capsule Closet in the Laundry Room
"Buying one color of socks and undershirts saves so much time on laundry."
- kukukele
"Even better, buy also the same model of socks, so you don't even have to sort them."
- FireBone62
Pick Your Battles
"Care less."
"It leads to less stress and generally makes you better at what you’re doing. Also, caring less tends to help set boundaries, you’ll say yes to less nonsense when you don’t care."
- TurboEthan
"My friend and I always say we only have so many f**ks to give in this lifetime so choose wisely."
- starcielizabeth
The Importance of Exercise
"Exercise. Oddly enough this gets a lot of crap on Reddit sometimes, but it is an excellent depression treatment. Numerous studies have shown this and it's been shown to be just as effective at treating mild to moderate depression as medication is but without any side effects."
"People are not made to sit in front of screens all day. Just get out and walk for 30 to 45 minutes a day and it's super helpful. If you do weight training on top of that, it's a bonus."
- throwaway_4733
An Effective Evening Routine
"This is super basic, but preparing my kids' lunches and outfits in the evenings for the next day has massively reduced my morning stress level."
- mejok
"Setting out my next day's clothes at night is so great. Whether I wake up fresh as a daisy or groggy, I don’t have to make a decision, because it’s already made."
- ccx941
Useful Automation
"Automate everything you can. Bill pay, calendar reminders for taking the garbage out, schedule the dentist a year out etc. Not having to spend mental energy remembering to do stuff makes life WAY better."
- brycebgood
Clean Space, Clean Mind
"Not really a hack, but carving out a couple of hours on the weekend to clean out my car and place. Cleaning it all. Really made me feel better about myself."
- JMT2492
"It is surprising how some self-discipline helps mental health, at least in my experience. Helps my mind feel less cluttered if that makes any sense."
- B3TST3R
Understanding Anxiety
"Understanding most of my anger issues were actually caused by anxiety. Lack of control of a situation doesn't mean I need to mentally produce a solution, and act out emotionally when the situation doesn't go the way I expect."
"Shrugging and saying, 'I guess we're just going do it the dumb way today,' is so much less stressful than freaking out because I'm not in control. I just go with the plan unless it's going to get someone hurt. It's been years since I remember being angry at work, I still get disappointed but it doesn't ruin my day."
- Dizzy-Particular-258
Keep Reminding Them
"Go to the Dollar store. Buy three or four cards you can write 'I love you' in. Randomly give your partner one every once in and a while. Bonus points if you put them somewhere they’ll easily find them when you’re not there."
"It’s the little things."
- Chicagostupid
Gratitude Before Remorse
"Express gratitude instead of remorse, whenever possible. People enjoy gratitude and generally don't know what to do with remorse (and kind of feel like they're now responsible for making you feel better)."
"I.e. don't say, 'Sorry I'm late,' say 'Thanks for your patience,' and don't say, 'Sorry for bothering you,' say 'Thanks for your time.'"
- AWildRapBattle
Though each of these tasks are seemingly simple in and of themselves, it's clear from these Redditor's accounts that they've made a serious change in their lives.
Sometimes it's truly the smallest stone that makes the biggest ripple!
When we were much younger, we thought we could get away with anything.
To cover up something we did that we as children inherently knew was wrong, we may have said something that wasn't true to make us seem more innocent than we actually are.
It doesn't always go as planned, however, and hopefully, that was a good lesson to learn while the consequences are less harsh and people are more forgiving.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Drizzho asked:
"What is a 'little' lie that backfired on you when you were younger?"
These young students who thought they could get away with lying got schooled for their dishonesty.
Scholastic Setback
"Not sure if it's a lie, but in a big state-wide exam day in the 3rd grade the teachers said if you finished your test you go to recess for the rest of the day. I filled in random answers so fast and had the best day ever."
"The test results came back and I was put into special needs classes for 4th and 5th grade before anyone realized I wasn't developmentally disabled."
– hamletreset
Skipping Homework
"In fifth grade I wasn’t doing my homework and I got home from school one day to my mom and mamaw sitting in the living room with serious looks on their face. My mom told me to sit down and said that the school called and told them that I hadn’t been turning in my work. I instantly started crying and said that I had been turning in my work, just not my homework."
"They would always ask if I was doing my homework and I’d say yes even thought I wasn’t."
"My mom said, 'Okay, well you better start doing it.' And then proceeded to tell me that the school never called, she just knew I hadn’t been doing my work."
"Another time when I was fifteen my mom told me to fold the fitted sheets and I said that I would. I thought she was on the back porch so I just shoved them into the storage container and she was sitting right behind me watching me lol."
– RandomLurker04
Fake Pregnancy
"Told my kindergarten teacher that my mom was 'going to have a baby.' Not sure why. My mom volunteered at the school so when she came in a few days later, my teacher hugged her all excitedly and went "congratulations!" She had even gotten my mom a card and everything."
"It was really awkward when my mom was super confused and then had to explain to my teacher that she wasn't really pregnant."
– princessedaisy
Failing To See It Through
"I had an eye appointment in grade 2 and I told my teacher my vision was so amazing that the eye doctor said I had 40/40 vision. It was actually 20/20, but I fibbed and thought 40/40 sounded better."
"She made me read the next chapter of the book in front of the whole class because I had excellent vision."
– 19VWGTI
You can't always fool your parents.
Tongue Clicker
"My parents told me I clicked my tongue in my sleep so that when I pretended to be asleep I would click my tongue and they’d know I was awake."
– AcademicNose7
Leaving A Mark
"I wrote my sister’s name on the closet wall in crayon. I told Mom and tried to frame her. She said my sister can’t write yet. I still remember how stupid I felt for pulling that stunt. But it makes me smile, remembering. I will have to ask Mom if she remembered that. I noticed years later, she never painted over it."
– Ok-Essay-2352
Bad Liar
"In 6th grade, we had weekly behavior reports or something like that. It was weird. Had to get them signed and turned in every Monday morning. I was horrible at remembering to get my parents to sign it."
"One Monday morning, I realized I forgot to get it signed before my parents left for work, so I thought I could get away with forging my mother's signature. After the 10th try with a pencil, I was proud of how similar it looked! Turned it in that morning not thinking about all of the eraser marks left behind from my previous attempts."
"That night during a conversation with my mother, she looked at me and said, 'I'm really glad you got that report turned in on time today. It's funny how I don't remember signing it.' And then she left it at that. I immediately knew I was caught and the guilt ate me alive until I slipped a note under my mom's pillow confessing to my crime. Never heard anything about it, but I quickly learned I'm bad at lying."
– ComplexWest8790
Authorities had to get involved in order for the truth to come out.
No Mickey D's For You
"When I was young, was at a daycare for the summer, along with younger sister and brother. One day, early afternoon, I'm hungry after mom picks us up and ask if we can get McD's. Mom says no, I can wait for dinner. I insisted, 'but I'm hungry...' and then lied and said 'they forgot to feed me.' I claimed I was in the bathroom or something during lunch so I didn't get any.
"My mom went ballistic. She called the daycare right then, sitting in the car (early days of cellphones) and gave them hell. After she hung up - just as I was thinking I won - she declared we were not going to McD's, and I'd just gotten myself grounded for lying, to boot, and how embarassed she was at having just yelled at staff who had been good to us just because I wanted McD's, and that I owed them an apology the next morning."
"Not only did the daycare staff know they gave me lunch, they knew which of the 2 sandwich options I had eaten and exactly how many pieces (quarter-of-a-sandwich sized) I had eaten."
"Lesson learned, kids: don't lie. The truth will always come out and bite you in the @$."
– TellMeRUThatSomebody
Hard Evidence
"I forgot my keys and got locked out of the house in like seventh grade, Usually I'd just wait on the porch, read and do my homework because locked myself out at least twice a month, but it was a long day and I was tired, so I donkey kicked the door."
"When my mom and stepdad came home they asked why the door was broken and I said I didn't know, it was like that when I got home..So they called the police and the police matched my shoe to the shoe print."
"luckily I was generally a good kid and wasn't one for lying, so I just got yelled at a bit."
– MarshmallowFloofs85
Foul Ball
"Holy sh*t my story was incredibly similar! I broke a window playing soccer and lied that a burglar broke in. Police showed up and found the ball in the living room and put two and two together."
– Martini_b13
Prank Gone Wrong
"When I was elementary school age, my parents left me home alone while they went to pick up my sister from a school event. I thought it would be funny to prank 911. I called and said “There’s an escaped murderer in my house!” and hung up, laughing at my funny joke. I got an immediate call back. I panicked and answered the phone and hung up. They called back. So I tried to unplug the landline."
"Just as the police were pulling up, my parents pulled up too. The police pulled a gun on my dad and made him prove he lived there. I was so scared of getting in trouble, I made up a story that a man knocked on the door and tried to force his way in. I told them it was a white man with a dark beard and he ran off in the cornfield. I don’t think my parents ever knew I made it all up."
"The next day, the Oklahoma City bombing happened and I thought it was God punishing people because he was mad at what I did."
– Skr000
Of course the one time I fibbed in fifth grade, my teacher who knew about my deception right away shamed me in front of the whole class.
When she asked us who read the assigned short story, I raised my hand even though I didn't read it.
She called on me and asked me what I thought of the ending and how the character's situation might relate to me.
My blank stare said it all, and she singled me out in front of everyone and I had to write standards on the chalkboard, writing, "I will not lie to my teacher and I will do my homework."
I still haven't read the short story, but I never lied to my teachers ever since.
Many people prefer to know as little about what they're eating as possible, while others will do copious research about their food, namely how safe and hygienic what they just ate was.
Sometimes going down that rabbit hole of research, you might learn something about a product you just purchased or a restaurant that you wish you hadn't.
Then too, some of what you may read is purely urban legend and has absolutely no basis in fact.
Unfortunately, some information is merely the surface of shocking, disgusting secrets.
"What dark facts do you know about food industry?"
Unwanted Extra Ingredients...
"Sometimes the salads aren't bug free."
"There were times where I received crap for taking too long washing lettuce."
"Staff would wash a large container of lettuce like once or twice."
'I did it 3 or 4 times."
"I didn't stop until the water was clear and had no bugs."
"The others had a 'who cares' attitude."
"One time my boss needed my help and said to me frustrated, 'The lettuce is already washed, unpack it in salads quickly'."
"The lettuce looked dirty so I said to myself 'I can't sell this to people'."
"I washed it and guess what the water looked like."
"Dark brown from soil, 50+ dead gnats, a living and swimming spider the size of a penny."- FightStageYouTube
The Contaminants Will Not, Though...
"Worse I participated in as kitchen staff in a rather top-flight restaurant."
"On a slow summer Sunday afternoon, the boss sent us down to the walk-in meat coolers to spray paint the rusted walls."
"We were instructed to not remove the contents of cooler first; rather just shift the meat from one side of cooler to other."
"The coat of silver spray paint will come off during cooking."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
Season 11 Cooking GIF by MasterchefGiphyYou Have No Idea What's Been In There...
"The deep fryer grease is long overdue for a change; but it’s expensive to do so nightly."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
And People Go To Bed Hungry...
"The amount of waste thrown away every single day by grocery stores."
"I worked in the meat department of a decently sized grocery store and the waste their was nauseating."
"I sh*t you not, we would throw away an industrial sized garbage bin worth of meat, fish, and poultry every single day."
"The expiration dates dictated everything which is obviously a sensible policy to have, but they wouldn't do anything about it."
"They wouldn't donate it, let employees take it home, or make adjustments to the orders so we wouldn't have to throw so much away."
"The reasoning was always 'better have to much than not enough' which I guess makes a little sense, but when I am throwing away dozens of pounds of tenderloins, center cut fish and shellfish per night, its to much."
"Mind you, this is one department of one grocery store."
"Sorry for the rant but I feel like it needed to be said."- Zastrow_Studios
Waste Management Food GIF by UC DavisGiphyThere's A Reason They're "All You Can Eat..."
"In my country, buffets often sell spoiled food, like if the employees see mold on top of the sour cream, they just scrape it down and continue selling it."
"Also, if they sell cooked meat, they often leave them on the counter for days and add some oil to it every morning to look fresh."- Wooden_Potential_699
Don't Believe Everything You Hear... (But Remember, This One Was In Canada...)
"So odd to see all of the comments that chain places are dirty!"
"On the weekends I work as a server in the lounge of Boston Pizza (Canadian chain—not sure if there are any in the states) and when I started working there I was seriously impressed with the cleanliness procedures!"
"For one example, parmesan and chilli containers are emptied and cleaned every night, as well as salt and pepper shakers!"
"Kitchen protocols are very clean and organized as well!"- noobishpineapple
Happy Season 17 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyNot Exactly "Haute Cuisine"...
"You'd never want to eat at a restaurant again once you saw how much of your $70 meal for two came frozen and pre-prepared in plastic bags."- PhilipLiptonSchrute
It's Not Just The Greens That Need Washing...
"Grocery distribution warehouses are often extremely filthy and rarely cleaned."
"Wash anything canned, bottled or jarred!"
"They're filthy as hell, covered in microplastics, rotten food, mouse pee, bird sh*t, etc etc."
"I used to do maintenance on conveyor systems for a major US chain and they just send sh*t flying down the conveyors so fast that, its fairly common for glass to shatter because of the vibrations, food to fall off, etc etc."
"I saw Bats, Birds and Mice in that facility, but it was within tolerance of their health policy."
"Also saw people that were sick sneezing and coughing on products."
"Never saw a floor scrubber go through the warehouse the entire 3mo I worked there and I was doing alternating double shifts!"
"The only time I saw a broom was if there was shattered glass."- -Plunder-Bunny-
mice GIFGiphyRemember, All These Incidents Are Case By Case...
"As a former chef, I've got to say that I've never seen any of the horrible stuff mentioned here over my career (mostly higher end and fine dining establishments)."
"We on ocassion would have things like frozen airline chicken breasts brought in, but other than that we did all prep and cooking by hand with fresh ingredients from mostly local purveyors when possible."
"We also broke down and deep cleaned every night from the ranges to the floors to the wells to the vents."
"Every night."
"Myself and staff have always taken this sh*t very seriously, and it's always disappointing when you hear of this kind of behavior."
"Do better, people."- iamtehryan
They Trick You With The Language
"It’s more like misleading labeling."
"No sugar."
"Right?"
"Wrong if you read ingredients on a lot of these packaging it will say things like maltodextrin and dextrose."
"That’s actually a sugar."
"Because of regulation they only have to label it no sugar and people think it’s healthy, etc."- SavemebabyK
Maybe Just Stick With Sausage...
"Worked in a pepperoni factory 20+ years ago as an accountant."
"Found that the more MSP in the bill of materials, the lower quality and cheaper the product."
"Looking at the stuff, it looked kind of like an old square crumbly eraser if you remember those."
"So I asked what MSP was."
"It's 'mechanically separated pork'."
"When I asked what that means, they told me that after all the good meat is cut off of a pig, a power washer is used to blast the remaining flesh off the carcass."
"That's scooped up, dried out and packaged as MSP."
"Enjoy your next cheap pepperoni pizza."- Lahk74
Catering Happy Birthday GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyIt's very easy to decide not to eat at a certain restaurant, or dine at a certain grocery store owing to a less-than-appealing appearance.
That being said, many people might be surprised to discover that conditions at the "higher end" options might be as bad or worse.
Then too... if the food is delicious, and has yet to make you sick, then perhaps ignorance is, in fact, bliss.
Fast food is a staple in most households. While not the healthiest option our there, the food is always good, and it's a great option when you need something fast or in a pinch.
There are dozens of fast food places out there, and everyone has a favorite. My brother and I go to Wendy's once a week, and while we'll eat at other places when we have to, we don't like any place better than Wendy's.
With everyone having a favorite fast good restaurant, everyone also has a least favorite. Redditors are sharing which fast food restaurants they hate so much, they refuse to eat at them.
It all started when Redditor Feisty_Affect_7487 asked:
"What is one fast food restaurant you will never go to?"
Health Code Violation?
"Sonic. Got served rotten dairy, then got called a lying f**king b*tch by the manager. I wasn't even asking for money back since I was already out of town. Just called to warn them that it was rotten."
– Apprehensive-Air8917
"Welp might as well add the time I got a chili dog from Sonic and noticed a strange color on the side while looking at, only to pick it up and reveal that the entire underside of the bun was covered in blue mold. How the f**k does a person not notice that before it gets out the window?"
– GDMFusername
"Me eating my chicken tenders from Sonic while reading this"
"oh."
– burnt_seawing_the2nd
Employee Horrors
"Sonic- I worked there, the hotdogs/chilly have a chance of being 2+ days old, same with the gravy. You also better hope someone taught an employee how to clean the ice cream/ slushy machines. If not, you might have a similar story to mine. When I was new, they were training us at an old sonic, so we would go work at a new one. The manager was also 'new' to that area and was heading to the new one."
"So one day, he decided it was time to clean the ice cream machine and asked one of the employees from there to teach us. They didn't know how, so he went around asking, and no one who worked there knew how to clean it. So he gathered us around to teach us, he shut down the machine and opened it up. A cascade of ice cream mix and maggots came pouring down. The machine was apparently crushing the maggots as it mixed the ice cream. He cleaned the slushy machine the next day, but I wasn't there to see it, I just heard it wasn't pretty."
– petty_witch
"I have a similar story about the Dairy Queen I worked at."
"There was a little drainage channel built into the machine, so melted soft serve could go to the floor grate. This was predictably never cleaned, and soon enough - maggots."
"Owner was informed, and he just said "use bug spray" (which would, of course, have gotten into the ice cream...). Manager rushed over from their other restaurant and desperately tried to clean it with a pipe cleaner, then threatened to fire anyone who spoke a word about it."
"Fun times."
– joefred111
"when you pay like sh*t and cut corners at every opportunity then yeah youre gonna have employees who barely keep it together, if at all."
"I used to run a DQ. Busiest one in the entire region. I was routinely by myself, 7am to well into the night. Towards the end I was getting 130 hours a week in a salaried position. I was *sleeping at the restaurant* it was so bad. The moment I left "oh we'll give you whatever you want!!!" like no dude it's two years too late"
– verdenvidia
"I'm never getting fast food ice cream ever again what the F**K"
– 4ps22
Ew. Just...Ew.
"Jack in the Box restaurant I used to go to almost weekly while working overnights was closed down due to spider infestation of the breading for fried chicken..."
– Tzokal
"In the early 1990s an e-coli outbreak was traced to Jack in the Box. It killed four children, and something like 700 or 800 people got sick. Never eaten there since then."
– Schmliza
What It Turned Into
"Panera is over priced cardboard portrayed as food, blech."
– criket2016
"I would like to apologize for the greed of a once great company called St. Louis Bread Co., nationally known now as Panera Bread. When they started in St. Louis, it truly was different and very good. Mass production does this to most great food. As a St. Louisan who used to love St. Louis Bread Co and even worked there for a short time, I apologize for what they have become."
– Roach55
"I had the weirdest, dumbest experience at a Panera in Portland, Oregon, about ten years ago. I went there under the impression it was going to be good. It was bland and overpriced, but didn't stand out as anything other than kind of mediocre. But the customer service was AWFUL. Legitimately, just the worst. The gal that took my order was needless rude, even though we were polite and tipped generously, and then when I tried to use their restroom and found it was locked, the manager stormed out of her office and yelled at me, saying that I had to be escorted in and out of the bathroom and couldn't just do my business in peace. She marched me to the restroom, stood guard outside and then walked me back to me table after like we were in a prison yard. It was so bizarre and humiliating. I never went back and left them some rock bottom reviews."
"They were near a MAX station, so that's probably why they were so edgy about the bathroom use, but if I actually were a homeless person I think I just would have peed on their floor rather than putting up with kthat kind of treatment."
– Bonbonnibles
Rue The Day
"Every year or two I give Burger King another chance and I always regret it. Can't imagine ever going back."
"Can't remember the last time I've been to a KFC... maybe 5-6 years?"
– ButtholeQuiver
"Burger King used to at least have really good fries but something changed in the last decade or so. I've been there maybe twice in the last five years and regretted each time lol."
– WritingTheDream
Decades Without
"Kentucky Fried Chicken. Food poisoning at 2 different locations during college. I've made it 3 decades not going back."
– bmtri
"Agree. Those mashed potatoes gotta come from a box. Bleh."
– Who-took-my-abs
"I worked there for a month in 1998. Haven't eaten it since."
– g_pelly
"i’ve heard so many stories in my life of people getting food poisoning after eating kfc, that i’ve just never tried it"
– daylightcoke
"I loved KFC as a kid. I took my kids once about 2 yrs ago. It was inedible."
– mykittenfarts
Inflation Is Real
"Subway."
"It's all just awful and I have a proper sandwich shop the same distance in the other direction."
– Jonny2284
"I went last week after about a 6-7 year absense. The $5 foot longs were $12 and $13!?!"
– High_Jumper81
A Complete Mess
"I'm done with mcdonalds. Sh*ts not cheap anymore and the food is always trash. That's if you even get the right order"
– Deceiver999
"The one near me has forgotten items EVERY time I order on the app. I honestly think they’re trying to scam people and they just hope you don’t walk inside and ask them to fix it"
– taco3donkey
An Interesting Cure
"First time I ever went to White Castle/Crystal it ended with me sh*tting my brains out for an hour. Never again"
– blackmobius
"I mean, they call 'em sliders for a reason. :V"
– Funkette
"My grandfather literally gets White Castle when he’s constipated for this reason."
– helloxcthulhu
Remember The Good Old Days?
"Pizza Hut pizza is atrocious now."
– Carmaca77
"Pizza Hut was done the minute they switched to those god awful frozen dough disks and not fresh made like it used to be."
– thedeadbeatclubsc
"It started going downhill 25 years ago. As a kid in the 70's it was great, and not because I was a kid at a pizza place, but because you would sit down at a red-checkered table cloth, a server would greet you nicely. And the place was clean. Now it feels like you're going into a money laundering front with angry servers and everything is sticky and smells like dirty socks."
– BaconReceptacle
Food Isn't The Only Thing That Matters
"Popeyes."
"The food is great. The service is just absolute garbage. There are always missing items from my order. Coke machine always broken. I refuse to go there anymore. I've been to several locations in San Antonio and they all the same."
– starshame2
"A Popeye's opened up in the town I used to live in and I went there for lunch one day. Pretty much got yelled at for coming and they basically threw my food at me. It was fire, though."
– coombuyah26
"Pretty sure it’s a company policy to have sh*tty service. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something as consistent country wide as bad service at Popeyes."
– BustyUncle
I'm starting to think maybe fast food shouldn't be a staple.