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Bartenders Reveal The Wildest Things Drunk Patrons Have Ever Admitted To Them

Bartenders Reveal The Wildest Things Drunk Patrons Have Ever Admitted To Them

Bartenders Reveal The Wildest Things Drunk Patrons Have Ever Admitted To Them

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*Bartending is a tough gig. Aside from the physical hardships there is the emotional. Everyone sees you as their best friend, confidante and therapist half the time. Why? Because they hold the keys the liquor! You know we all get a little crazy and a lot truthful once we've had a libation or six. *

Redditor **manaustin reached out to the bartenders of Reddit asking... *Bartenders of reddit, what are some of the things drunk people have told you while completely hammered? *Careful of those inner secrets people. Maybe that last shot isn't a great idea.**

WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN?

I used to work in a bar across from a large hospital. I had one guy spend a lot of time in the bar while his wife was in the hospital across the street having a difficult childbirth. He told me my martinis were the best and promised to name his child after me. I of course dismissed this as the drunken ramblings of a madman.

Came in a couple weeks later and showed me the birth certificate of his daughter. She had four middle names, one of which was a feminised version of mine.

To this day I'm kicking myself for not asking who the other three were named after. I wonder if any of them were other bartenders...

MAYBE JUST LIVE TOGETHER FIRST.

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One guy told me his girlfriend wanted them to get married. He was asking me if I thought it was a good idea even though this was the first time I'd ever met him. I told him if he's asking a stranger if they think it's a good idea for him to get married then it's probably not a good idea.

ONE, TWO FREDDY'S COMING FOR YOU....

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Had a regular get drunk and recount a dream he had once about Freddy Krueger.

Several years later, I'm having a conversation with someone about dreams in that same bar. He just happened to be sitting next to the customer I was chatting with, fairly drunk and idly listening to our conversation so I decided to try it...

"This one time I had a dream that I was being chased down the street by Freddy Krueger, then while he was chasing me he grew really big and would cup his hands over the sun. He would do it really fast and there was this crazy strobe effect."

This was nearly exactly how he had originally told it to me. About halfway into the story I noticed him look up. By the end of it, he was standing, tears in his eyes, scared to death that we had the same Freddy dream, yelling "No way dude! No way! Are you serious? Are you with me right now?"

"Yeah dude, I'm messing with you. You told me that story a few years ago and forgot."

I had him going though.

The story pretty much ends there. We had a good laugh. He let the relief wash over him. I think he might have said "good one" at some point. I might have told him there's no such thing as Freddy at some point.

LET ME GET MY CRYSTAL BALL.

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My dad was drinking at a bar and talking to the owner (who was really drunk) and the owner was telling my dad his plans for the future. Just basic stuff like how he wanted to move to Arizona and open a bar there, etc.

Anyway a few months later my father was in the same bar and there was a psychic there reading fortunes and shit. My dad declined to have his fortune read saying that he didn't want to because he was a psychic himself. So he proceeded to recount all the owners future plans back to him. The owner was shocked and agreed that everything my dad said was true. The psychic gazed deep into my fathers eyes and after a few seconds proclaimed "You have the gift." My dad didn't reveal his method and probably milked it for a few free beers.

I REMEMBER YOU FROM MY PREVIOUS LIFE.

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My favorite was a regular who came up to the bar for a glass of red wine. At this point he was not yet a regular, it was his first time here. I poured the elderly man a nice glass of pinot noir, told him a little about the wine and the history of the building the bar is in (built in 1604!) cause he seemed interested in it. He was.

We chat a little and he is overall a pleasant, but quirky, old man. At one point he looks at me and says _"You must know, I have a gift. I can read people's past. Not their current past, but previous lives. I can't do it with everyone, but I am getting strong signals from your past. Would you like to know yours?" _We're now joined by another regular of mine, a girl I was actually trying to get with at the time, but the saaaadly never happend.

I pour the man another glass, pour myself one too because this is about to get good. He tells me what he sees and feels in my past lives. There is one live he can see very clearly, but it's a bit shocking he says. I tell him to go on. The girl is asking all kind off "in your face" questions, she's being a little annoying honestly. The old man ignores them or answers them if she can and tells me about this previous life I lived. He tells me I was an Irish boy (I have a big red beard, go figure!) and that my family and I feld Ireland during the famine. We got on a boat to new york, my mom died on the boat and I joined a gang in new york. I eventually die in a gang fight with a rival gang. Sounds familiar, right? Well, when the man went to the bathroom I checked and indeed, "Gangs of New York" was on cable the night before.

The man comes back and the girl and I play along. He tells me some more details about the movie, I mean, my previous life. I go along with his until he stops talking about it. Then the girl turns to him and asks "And me? Can you see my previous life?" He looks at her, takes a sip of his wine and says "Yes. Yes, you were a monkey".

CAN I TELL YOU A SECRET...

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I once had a military guy, probably about 26 who was a regular at the bar I worked at last year. He would come in alone to chat with my coworker and I and seemed pretty lonely; this bar was in a smaller town with not a great scene or much military presence. Anyway one slow night he comes in right before I am about to close and asks me for a whiskey sour. I make it for him but before I can even give it to him he looks up at me with the saddest face and says "I have something to confess. I take steroids." I was pretty speechless so I said "uh, at least it isn't heroin?" And on the next breath he goes_"I take them up my butt. I've never told anyone that." _And slumps down in his chair. I have no idea if he had a bad sexual encounter or if the weight of his use was just too much to keep private anymore, but I honestly felt bad for the guy. Wonder where he ended up.

EXCUSE ME... I NEED TO MAKE A PHONE CALL. HELLO... 9-1-1...

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I have had so many bizarre people walk into the bar I work at. It's a really small place that people enjoy drinking quietly at. Over the years I've had a range of odd topics from a restaurant owner admitting he never sold fresh food to people unless they knew him.

Lots of people end up talking about how they have no one to talk to about their problems so I guess they find comfort telling a stranger who doesn't have an obligation to care.

GENTLEMEN.... TIME'S UP!!!

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I have two favorite stories :

The first one is one time while I was working my husband stopped by to visit me and he was flirting big time. The guy next to him who was plastered leaned over and attempted to whisper but ended up shouting "she definitely wants to go home with you but I don't know if you noticed she is wearing a wedding ring, tread lightly" my husband started laughing and said "well she is my wife so I hope she wants to come home with me"

My second favorite story was when this girl came in with this guy, the whole time he was this sleazy a-hole to her constantly putting her down and touching her inappropriately even though she constantly told him to stop. Later he went to the restroom and she admitted this was their first date and she didn't know what to do. She was really scared. Then she went to the bathroom just to get away for awhile. When the guy came back he poured something into her drink thinking no one saw. Right as she was coming back I picked up her drink and dumped it on his head and told the bouncer what happened. I have never seen the bouncer happier than when he literally picked this guy up and threw him out. The girl and I are now best friends.

I'LL TELL YOU WHOSE ABOUT TOGET PUNCHED SIR!

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5'3" Waitress here - a man at least 250 lbs and 6'2" told me he'd punch me in the face if I didn't get him a to-go cup for his Long island iced tea he asked for after I told him it was illegal. So there's that.

DRUNKS ARE FIESTY FOR SURE!

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Man so many to choose from here I'll give a few of my favorites. The time this woman was talking to me and started to complain about her boyfriends penis, he was sitting next to her she didn't notice.

The time some drunk guy gave me an I.d. That was obviously fake, I denied him and he said "No it's fake it's fine."

Extra story when I was a cocktail I actually got knocked out by a drunk guy who tried to punch another guy but was so drunk he missed wide right and made contact with me. When I came too he was on the ground by the bouncer and apologizing to me, I felt bad for that guy.

SOMETIMES YOU NEED A CONFESSIONAL NOT A BAR.

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Regular, quiet fellow. Usually stayed for one or two pints and then headed out. It was several weeks before he opened up.

He wasn't hammered when he told me, it was really just conversation. Buddy had killed a guy while driving under the influence. He started coming to my bar after he finished his prison sentence.

He seemed pretty damn choked up about it, I always wonder how he's doing. I got out of the business though, lost touch with the regulars.

CRYING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL.

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I'm a bartender/waiter at a restaurant in Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Irma the owner bought a huge power generator so we wouldn't go out of business. We were fine for a few days before we got our butts kicked by Hurricane María. I was able to get back to work 5 days after the María hit and I have never had such an emotional day at work. I worked for 12 hours straight selling bottled water and sodas due to the dry law.

After about maybe the 8th straight hour working the place started to empty due to the curfew. There was military enforcing people to go home before nightfall. I was cleaning up the place when an older gentleman, Vietnam vet and coincidentally a die-hard Steelers fan (just like me) came over for a whiskey sour. At first I told him I couldn't sell it to him because of the dry law and I could get in really big trouble. Turns out he's friends with all the military surrounding the area and he had permission for one drink.

I served him the drink and he just straight up asks me "How are you, man? How's your family?"

That destroyed me. I hadn't seen my parents in days. Had no cell signal so I couldn't call them. I had just moved in with my GF and after the storm she had to stay with her mom because she lived closer to her job. I was incredibly alone and felt hopeless. I just started crying and talking to the guy and eventually calmed down but hooooly crap I needed a good cry.

EVERYBODY NEEDS A FRIEND.

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All of the things that they would tell anyone else, if they had anyone else. Got a lot of mentally ill and downtrodden folk sitting in front of me just to have a chat. Took me a while to realize that I'm the only person a lot of them ever talk to in a week.

WHATEVER... JUST SHOW ME THE $$$$$

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I was a paid designated driver and i have a ton of stories.

i used to drive to people to the big city and take them to strip clubs and such way before uber. one one trip this guy is flashing a fistful of hundred dollar bills. we are at the strip club and he's flashing hundreds to the waitresses and tipping singles. i'm the designated driver so basically i get free soda and in a few places wings and such. at the end of the night the guys is supposed to pay me ten bucks, since it's ten bucks a head and there's twelve people in the van. he's like well i'm outta singles here's one of the hundred dollar bills. the next morning he shows up asks me if he gave me one of the hundreds. i look at him and i say you told me not to say anything about last night.

JERRY. JERRY. YOU SHOULD WRITE THIS STUFF DOWN TO KEEP TRACK.

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There's a regular at my job, Jerry, who is also our locksmith. He's a mess. He likes the daytime bartender best but he's known to come in around noon and not leave until midnight or later. He's also prone to lying and forgetting what lies he's told us. We all swap Jerry stories about the ridiculous things he insists are true. Some of my favorites are:

-He's had rabies (but he got better)

-He's got 8 kids

-He's a gay man (it changes from day to day so our best guess is bisexual)

-He impulsively bought 4 horses

-He sold all 4 horses less than a week later

-He saw the play Hamilton in high school

-He had AIDS (but he got better)

-He's installed locks on the White House

I'M NOT GOING TO HIT YOU.

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There was this guy at the bar a few weeks ago, he was lonely and his face was completely hazy. He stayed until closure time without saying a single word beside what drink he wanted. Usually I don't but this time I had lot of pity for the man so I offered him the last round (he was the only client left). When it was time for me to go home he asked really politely if I could knock him down and that he will give me 50€. I started laughing but quick after I realized he was serious so I tried to ask what's up and why do he wants me to do this, told him that no money will make me hit an innoncent man. He didn't answer but he thanks me then moved on. I called the police to describe the guy and let them know my fear that he does something stupid to himself. No news from him or police since so I'm sure everything went good that night thankfully.

YES SIR OFFICER.

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Been a bartender for years. Have older ladies trying to pick me up pretty regularly, have dealers slide me 50 dollar bills. Have had people try to fight me because I cut them off or it was last call.

The craziest things is the people I see cheating, or the people that I learn are swingers. I live in a pretty small town so it's weird to see. I've had some bad experiences but I've also had some great ones.

I took social work in college as a stepping stone to get into policing but had kinda given up after not being able to find a job in social work. I was serving some guy at the bar top and suddenly he calls me over and out of nowhere says " you're into policing eh? " I was pretty confused cause I hadn't mentioned it at all and I've never seen this guy. I asked him how he knew he replied _" I've been a cop for 30 years, we know a cop when we see one. " _and this motivated me. I explained my situation and how I couldn't find a job and he gave me a bunch of tips and pointers on how to get into policing and I was just really appreciative.

He was sitting there quiet all night not saying anything till suddenly he bursts into conversation like that. I was pretty confused but he was a great guy.

YOU GOT PROBLEMS DUDE. I KNOW... I'M A DOCTOR.

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I had one guy who claimed to have studied sociology/psychology while in the army, started telling me about how much he knew how much about soldier's brains, and made it clear he was actively analyzing me and testing the reactions of my coworkers. It was very uncomfortable, as I'm already aware of how screwed up I am and complexes I have, but hoped it wasn't that obvious. He did tip me though, so he's definitely far from the worst customer I've ever had.

SEE NO EVIL. NO QUESTIONS.

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Back in the 90s I bartended in a club called the Zone Cafe in Hong Kong. Massive Triad hangout, tons of fights. Closing time was about 4am- anyway this bloke wouldn't leave, in the end he was hauled out by the bouncers. All the staff sit down and have a couple of beers, then we lock up and walk towards the MTR (underground station)- all along the pavement theres splashes of blood (for a good 30 yards). Found the guys body between two parked cars- he'd been chopped probably 20 odd times. We were told he had slept with the girlfriend of a'big brother' in the 14k Triad. Poor guy.

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

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Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

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Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?