Top Stories

Beauticians And Wax Experts Reveal Their Worst Client Horror Stories

Beauticians And Wax Experts Reveal Their Worst Client Horror Stories
Getty Images

Let's face it: Any job that requires you to work with the public is emotionally taxing. To put it even simpler: It sucks.

Redditor dreamingofwealth––don't we all?––is responsible for today's burning question, which delves into another side of customer service jobs: "People who wax others for a living, what's the worst horror story you have of a client?"


"My nail teacher..."

My nail teacher told me this one:

A very large lady would ask for a Brazilian wax, which includes the butt crack. She already had strong body odour and when my teacher waxed the crack, the wax strip was caked in feces. She just about threw up on the client.

stefaniey

"She and her girlfriend..."

Not me, but this happened to a friend of mine. She and her girlfriend decided to get Brazilian waxes together. It was her first Brazilian wax, so she had no frame of reference for how much it was supposed to hurt. First strip, okay, few more, fine, then one more pull and MEGA PAIN. The waxer looked terrified, but then just smiled and just quickly made gestures for her to get dressed and come out front to pay (this happened in South Korea).

When she got home, she inspected the area, and the waxer had actually ripped her labia. She had to immediately go to hospital to get stitches to have it repaired. All my friend did was go back to the salon with her hospital bill and demand that they pay it and call the matter settled, which they did.

helenmaryskata

"I was a hairstylist..."

I was a hairstylist and we really only ever did facial waxing and offered to clients as an up-sell. A regular client of mine was traumatised by a prior waxing experience (with a stylist that was not my self years prior) and declined. Well, the stylist went to wax her brows and dropped a giant clump or of wax on her lashes! Then proceeded to take a long time to remove the wax (I think like an hour) with only water and no oil residue remover that would have made the wax side off instantly.

Webbigailafey

"Client story..."

Client story - went to a waxing studio I had never been to before and got a Brazilian done. The lady did this with bee wax (I think) which you just put on the skin, it dries quickly and you pull it off without a cloth/paper. You have to apply it at a certain thickness for it to work.

The lady begins and at first, everything is going well, she works her way to the "more private areas" but I can tell she works pretty hard (I have strong hair and this was after 2-3 months of growing). When she gets to the labia, the problems begin: she can't seem to rip the hair off.

Her solution is to apply more wax on top, but still no budging. More wax is applied and she starts slightly spreading it out too, so I am now covered in warm, thick wax almost everywhere, which feels a little like wearing a small harness.

I get a little scared and just hope that she knows what she's doing. She however chooses this moment to inform me that it's possible to rip off skin as well and to kind of scold me for having thick hair. Incredible people skills, so comforting. Luckily, she somehow managed to get it off. Never going back there though!

regulardashian

"I asked this question..."

I asked this very question to someone who was waxing me. Their worst is normally hygiene related, like a woman who'd clearly had sex at some point just before the appointment and hadn't cleaned out properly.

wetfish-db

"Most stories..."

Most stories have to do with bad hygiene, some with clients attitudes or actions, and some will just be plain old problems getting the hair off. I haven't had a REALLY bad one in awhile, or maybe I just am not phased by it anymore.

A favorite of mine was the girl who came in for a brazilian and was shaking from nervousness before we even started. I'll spare you the details but it took over an hour to finish the service (usually takes 15-30 minutes, 45 is the MOST it should EVER take) and at some point she had a full on anxiety attack. I was being as gentle as I could considering I was ripping hair out of her body and after every pull she sat up, cried loudly, and then dropped back onto the bed. She got off the bed still half naked and started pacing back and forth loudly sobbing and hyperventilating.

I was trying my best to keep her calm but honestly, it was all in her head. Getting your hair ripped out always hurts but her hair SHOULD HAVE been an easy service, she let herself panic and the fear got to her. After she left I sat in the break room, took a deeeep breath in....and starting sobbing lol. I was so glad to be done with it. She was sweet otherwise, no smell, easy hair to work with, but God that was the most stressful service of my life. She actually came back a few more times after that and we finished in 20 minutes, no more incidents :).

WTFIsntTakenYet

"2 or 3..."

Giphy

2 or 3 layers of skin came off with the hair, it was on a guys genitals and there was a lot of blood and yelling.

Muppouni

"A new client..."

A new client came in right after having sex, and leaked all. And she wanted me to finish the job, so cleaned herself right in front of me, completely nonchalantly! I couldn't look her in the eyes.

And another one, but service wasn't rendered. I was 18, working at my first salon, alone. It was this huge place in a really good area, but new so business was slow. This guy steps in, wearing a super nice suit, and asks for a back wax. I have him step into the wax room, ask him to remove his coat and shirt and lay down facing down. I go to grab some towels as extra precaution to lay over his butt so his pants aren't ruined. Come back to see him naked, and he's asking for a Brazilian wax.

Caught off guard, I just kind of stand there before realizing what a situation I'm in. I have no experience in that, and it's not a service we provide for men. I try to explain that to him and ask him to dress, and he tells me it's not a hard thing to learn, to practice on him. At this point I'm freaking out. I still have an advantage point of running out the front door as he's butt naked and we had two security guards for the plaza, but the situation kind of locks my legs together. I don't even remember how but he eventually listens and dresses and leaves. It kind of taught me about the risk of working alone in a building where I'd need to take clients into a room in the back. I made friends with the security guard that day and got his number in case I ever did need him to step in.

Playfully_Mandeh

"In high school..."

In high school I had a friend who was smart but lazy. To get him motivated to get better grades, my friends & I made a bet: if he didn't meet a certain average then I'd get to wax his armpits. If I didn't make that same average, I'd have to do 50 push-ups on the cafeteria table.

He didn't make the average so I had a pool party at my house with my friends & him & we all gathered around to watch me wax his armpits. He was lying on his back on the family room ottoman & I was sitting beside him, leaning forward to do it all. We also recorded it on video. He spent the entire week hiding from his bigoted dad cause he was scared he'd get in trouble for having incredibly smooth armpits.

Fast forward to a few months after, when I had a school project that involved making a video. So I took the camera to my teacher to show it to her. This camera shows the history of most recent videos, so since the waxing video was the only video before my project, she saw the thumbnail of me leaning over my friend, lying on the ottoman, but you can't see what I'm doing with my hands....after freezing & seeing the confusion on her face I tried to quickly explain "myfriendlostabetsoihadtowaxhisarmpits." I stuttered & struggled a lot with that.

I don't think she believed me. That little thumbnail honestly looked like the intro to very bad amateur porn. I still got an A on my project though. I also never had to do push-ups in the cafeteria.

Krystaaaan

"A waxer..."

A waxer once told me that she had 'accidentally' waxed a girls tampon straight out. The string must have got caught in the wax. Neither of them said anything for the next 30 mins.

MSG080

"Frequently..."

Not a waxer, but an eyelash technician. One time I had a client come in with crabs in her eyelashes which was obviously the worst thing I've ever seen. Frequently people come in for fills and haven't bothered to clean their eyes for 3 weeks thinking it will make the extensions stay on longer resulting in a nice layer of yellow crusties all along the lash line.

cwestwoodh

"My sister..."

My sister was an esthetician and refused to do 'LAs' (lips and @ssholes) because of issues with people's hygiene and how gross it could be. Her co-workers gladly did them though (better tippers, in general, when you're waxing their @sshole and don't hurt them too bad lol).

Sometimes people come in and their super sweaty, and it's hard for the wax to stick to sweaty skin, so, usually, they just pat some baby powder on them and problem solved.

One day a younger woman came in; she was super sweaty, so the esthetician decides to haul out the baby powder, dabs some on and turned to get the pot of wax to do the job...I should mention the woman getting the wax was on all fours on the table, as they usually are. So, esthetician turns to get the wax, woman on the table lets out a fart. Just a little slip, but still, baby powder went everywhere, all over the table, all over the esthetician, and was hanging in the air.

I asked if the girl was embarrassed, and my sister said that apparently she just played it off like she didn't drop a bomb, but the baby powder evidence told the truth. Plus, it reeked. But the esthetician was a total pro and didn't even phase her...that would have been the end of my waxing career lol

cherry_bomb_1982

"A regular client of mine..."

Not so much a funny one, but a bit of a story nonetheless.

A regular client of mine that I had been seeing for about half a year came in for her Brazilian wax. Everything is going fine as normal and then I get to the labia and as I'm spreading the wax I notice a golf-ball sized lump deep under her skin. I remove the wax and investigate a bit.. not an igrown hair, nothing surface related. I let her know and she tells me she'll see her doctor ASAP. I never saw her again. Still wonder if it something serious :(

On a funnier note, had a woman come in for a Brazilian who clearly hadn't done any maintenance in a LONG time. I remove the towel that's covering her ladybits for privacy while we enter and leave the room and I actually out loud said "whoah". Hair had to have been almost 4 inches long. Not my most professional moment. Client laughed though.

laubeen

"I went to beauty school..."

I went to beauty school for massage therapy and was talking to an esthetic student during lunch one day. She said a guy had come in for a back wax looking like a shag carpet. Being that there was so much hair and surface area, it took quite a while. He one-upped every conversation with his Dungeons and Dragons game and even after the service was over, kept talking her to death about it, and didn't tip. He also moved and got a quarter-sized drop of wax on his arm and just left it there the whole time.

SailorVenus23

"We laugh about it..."

Client story - not as dreadful or gross as the others here but...I tried a new place that promised to do full Hollywoods in 15 mins.

I walked about 10 minutes to the salon on a freezing cold evening.

The girl slathers on the hot wax all over my front garden and starts to pick off the wax. Only she can't. She laughs nervously and says it's probably because my skin is ice cold still. After 10 minutes of humming to herself nervously, she calls in the manager, who calls in another beautician. I now have 3 women all working together on my lower region while my legs are akimbo and I'm panicking thinking I'll be the laughing stock of the A&E. Eventually the manager just fucking goes for it without warning and rips it off in one piece. I scream "OOH FUCK OFF" and everyone is suddenly feeling a mix of relief and upset. They are devastated how terribly it went, I'm devastated because the original girl is still upset. I assure them they didn't rip off my labia and henceforth would not be leaving a bad review on Google. We laugh about it afterwards though. They gave me a complimentary treatment which went well and I've been a regular since.

savethedamnbees

"I'm a cosmetologist..."

I'm a cosmetologist so I am trained in waxing, but this happened to my instructor during school, not to me - although I was watching her demonstrate.

A woman came in for a Brazilian wax but was a little "unprepared". She said she'd just had sex with her husband right before her appointment and hadn't cleaned up afterward, so there was some...residue and some pretty gross smells going on. My teacher cleaned her up and began the wax, and suddenly the woman started moaning. She asked if she was okay or needed to stop the wax, but the gal said to keep going. Obviously she was getting off on it and with every tug of the wax strip, her moaning got louder and louder until she finally climaxed. My poor teacher was obviously horrified and just did what she could to get that woman of there as fast as possible. It was a ridiculously uncomfortable situation and to be honest, I would have told the client to leave if I had the courage to speak up. Totally weird and not appropriate.

thatweirdvintagegirl

"It was made even worse..."

Not an esthetician, but a client. I got a manzilian wax once and accidentally "leaked" a tiny bit of semen during the wax. I was horrified and it wasn't even my first time. I wasn't aroused or anything and it just happened. I apologized profusely and she said it was fine and that she'd give me a towel and step out the room to clean up. It was made even worse because I had just minutes before asked her about her horror stories. Now I'm hoping I'm not one of hers.

ManzilianThrowaway

"It is not uncommon..."

It is not uncommon for clients to have dingleberries when coming in for Brazilians.

My personal story is a client who had WHITE blonde eyebrows. These things were impossible to see, and there was a LOT of eyebrow hair. She said she loved my brows and wanted hers like mine. I laid her down on the table (also note: she had foils in her hair as she was getting her hair done) and I get to work. I am a new esthetician and so I'm slower with my waxes. I am trying to be meticulous with my shaping and at one point I could feel my armpits get spicy and I think to myself "I can't fucking do this." I finished one brow before she had to have her hair rinsed out and another stylist finished her other brow. I am still ashamed.

meagies

Double Standards That Make People Angry

Reddit user Extreme-Minute-4746 asked: 'What double standards make you angry?'

angry girl in black and white striped shirt
Photo by Julien L on Unsplash

Double standards are an unfortunate part of society.

A double standard is when two or more individuals or sets of people are treated differently when they should be treated the same.

A good example is the difference in the way my brother and I are treated when we cook. I'm big on baking and have a natural talent for it. Whenever I bake anything, even something complicated, like cheesecake, I'm given minimal praise, if any at all. This is because I'm a woman, and in my family culture, women are expected to be able to bake.

My brother isn't as good a baker as me and rarely does it, but when he does, he is praised for subpar brownies because he's a man and it's amazing he can even cook as well as he does.

I'm not the only one who has experience with this.

Redditors have identified many double standards in society and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor Extreme-Minute-4746 asked:

"What double standards make you angry?"

Civil Service

"As a federal government employee, why do I have to follow all kinds of ethics rules, but politicians and judges don’t?"

– mittychix

"F**k, right? I have to spend six weeks reviewing documentation and hearing out dozens of random companies to award a £100k contract but the minister who runs my department can give his mate's company a multi-million£ contract to run ferries without even getting quotes - DESPITE THAT COMPANY NOT HAVING AND FERRIES AND THE PORT IN QUESTION NOT HAVING CAPACITY FOR THEM."

"I left the civil service after that one."

– Disco_is_Death

"This. Yeah I could get in trouble for accepting a gift over $50 (like I have that much influence anyway) but politicians and judges get lobbied millions..it's infuriating."

– gtbeam3r

"Yes. And they get to keep their jobs for being completely dysfunctional, but if I pulled a fraction that garbage, I’d be fired."

– TrekJaneway

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

"That some people expect you to respect their no, whilst they will most definitely not respect yours."

– IvyBloodroot

"On that note, respecting someone as an authority is often equated to respecting someone as an individual."

"Eg. Teachers who say if you don't respect me (as a superior), I won't respect you (as a person), when they're really not the same thing."

– Paperonia

The Bullied

"School bullying."

"The kid getting picked on has essentially no power. Go to a teacher? Get labeled a snitch and tattle tale. Don't do anything? You're just made an easier target. The moment they fight back, they're the ones who end up dealing with detention, suspension, expulsion, etc. You have more power as a bully in the schools than the victim."

– FriskeCrisps

"It's because bullied people are usually rule followers, and the school wants the problem dealt with as quickly as possible. Best way to do that is to expect the rule follower to follow rules, rather than the rule breaker to suddenly change their ways."

"Fairness ends up on the chopping block."

– darsynia

Services Cliff

"I'm 41 years old and have Cerebral Palsy. If I try to find anything related to the disease - how to deal with it, any kind of ongoing care - it is virtually impossible because all the care is just for children with CP. It's like once you turn 18 the world just doesn't care anymore."

– Zechnophobe

"I’m autistic and in the same boat. “How to deal with a child who…” I'M ASKING FOR ME."

– aroaceautistic

A Two-Way Street

"People who are obsessed with the idea of kids being respectful towards adults, but don't treat kids with respect in turn."

"Edit for example: I went to a very old-fashioned school where the rule was that when an adult entered the room, even in the library and break/lunch, every student in the room had to immediately fall silent - mid sentence, mid word, didn't matter - and stand up until we were given permission to sit back down again. If we didn't, we were chewed out and sometimes even given detentions. The argument was that it trained us into respect, but I was also brought up to believe it's rude to interrupt, and it felt like the teachers were constantly interrupting us."

– MerylSquirrel

"My father in law is like that. He’s “kids should be seen and not heard” type of old school."

"But then he wonders why the children in the family all steer clear of him and why they disregard most things he says."

– Macintosh0211

Doctor, Doctor

"This might be a bit controversial, but I’ve come across a couple of doctors who demand special treatment away from work but preach and practice treating all their patients equally."

– kimchi-pancake

"They charge you a fee or cancel if you’re 5 minutes late but have no problem leaving you waiting for hours. I’ve waited an hour in the lobby and another in the actual examination room."

– SadComfort8692

"Same! i can understand if it’s out of their control but i could hear her, clear as day, giggling with her coworkers about her weekend. i waited 20 in the lobby and 20 in the exam room. i love a good gab but, for f**k’s sake, do it later! if i yapped outside for 20 minutes, it would be a $50 fee and another 4 month long wait to be seen again."

"I suddenly had a $50 i-can-hear-you-nattering-through-the-wall fee. she laughed but it’s been collecting interest ever since…"

– manyfeetball

Alcohol Is Alcohol

"Beer drinkers act like they aren’t alcoholics because they don’t drink hard liquor. Ok sir you just drank 25 beers and then looked at me sideways for drinking a g&t at the family reunion."

– Brainfog_shishkabob

"Same goes for the “sophisticated” wine drinkers..."

"Stop judging me for enjoying a drink on the terrace a few times a year, when you empty 1-2 bottles each evening..."

– 2Madam_Mimmm

"That’s definitely the way it is. I’ve got a snotty alcoholic family member, that THINKS she’s sophisticated, because she drinks high dollar wine, out of very expensive glasses."

"Yeah, pissing yourself and passing out, in front of the mailbox, are definitely the traits of a sophisticated person."

– sweathogbrooklyn

Mr. Mom

"Fathers taking care of their kids."

"I take my kids to doctor appointments, dentist appointments, take them to school, and pick them up. I do all that stuff."

"Every single f**king time, it's, “Dad’s babysitting today?” Or some stupid comment like that. No, I’m not babysitting. I’m being a f**king parent!"

"I hate the double standard that dads can’t do stuff like that with their kids."

"I can’t take my daughter to the park without being questioned or looked at funny either."

"People need to give dads more respect. A lot of us bust our a**es too. I work hard. I take care of my kids, I play with my kids. I clean the house. I do laundry. I don’t stop. I don’t rest, I don’t relax."

– moms-sphaghetti

"Give us changing tables in the men's room!"

– Da1UHideFrom

"Nothing bugs me more than when a place only has changing tables in the women's bathroom."

"It's 2023, I take my son to the aquarium by myself sometimes... Looking at you London SeaLife centre 🤨"

– AstonVanilla

Household Split

"The laundry is always a wierd one. My wife is a much better cook than me. And she hates me cooking when she's in the house. So to compensate I do all the laundry, including ironing before someone mentions it, and all the washing of dishes."

"But even at work, this doesn't seem to be understood as possible. I complained my washing machine had broken and the comment was 'Oh no, what's wife's name going to do?'"

"To which the answer was 'Wonder why I haven't done the washing this week.'"

"But it's infuriating."

– RelativeStranger

Justice Is Bought

"The American justice system. You can afford the best and many more lawyers when you have money."

– TooAfraidToAsk814

"Justice is blind, but the b*tch sure can smell money."

– burgher89

Worship

"I am supposed to respect people's religion, but people aren't supposed to respect my non-religion."

"Particularly when their religion instructs them to not respect my non-religion."

– GeebusNZ

"It kinda makes my head spin that there are people who I get along well with who, per their religion, think I deserve to be tortured in agony for all eternity."

Daztur

Yup, me and my non-religious self have personal experience with that last one!

well-dressed woman holding shopping bags
freestocks on Unsplash

Money is tight for many people.

But sometimes paying more is better than pinching pennies.

Keep reading...Show less

People tend to have a lot of opinions about other people's workplaces, whether or not they've ever worked in that industry themselves.

There are some professions, like teaching and retail, where people will assume they know all there is to know, even if they've never set foot in that position, and there are others, like the CIA, where people view these positions as elusive and awe-inspiring.

But there are beliefs that people share that frustrates those who are actually in the industry.

Redditor Madalyn_Robert asked:

"What's a myth about your profession that you want to debunk?"

Veterinarian Secrets

"Veterinary medicine is not a happy-go-lucky career choice where you get to deal with cute animals rather than people. Most of your patients are sick or scared, and every case involves a fraught negotiation with their stressed-out human."

- Drabby

The Truth Behind Anesthesia

"Anesthesiologist: you're not asleep you are anesthetized. When you're asleep and someone stabs you, you wake up."

- Drsuprane

"Even more terrifying, anesthesia doesn’t exactly prevent you from feeling what’s happening, it (in effect) disrupts the timing clock that allows different parts of the brain to talk to each other. You won’t be able to remember it or be conscious to experience it, but somewhere some part of your brain is receiving those pain signals and is trying desperately to tell the rest of your brain what’s happening."

- Steaveee

Preventative > Reactive

"Maintenance is worth doing and is definitely worth paying for."

"People say, 'I don't know why we pay those maintenance guys, nothing ever breaks around here!'"

"The reason Germany and Japan (and South Korea) became and remain such manufacturing powerhouses is because they know the value of maintenence. If you keep everything in clean good working order, you end up with minimum down time. Working maintenance into manufacturing schedules keeps output level, because you have no unexpected downtime."

"It's the same for your car or your home. Setting aside time and resources for maintenance means you won't lose unexpected time and resources when things break. Good maintenance will spot things before they break and switch them out. That's worth paying for."

- TriviaBanal

The Power of a Reboot

"IT. Rebooting is NOT a waste of time and solves a remarkable number of problems."

- gfhggdssgg

"Instead of using shutdown, use restart."

"Modern versions of windows have something called fast startup, which basically hibernates when you shut down. You don't get the benefit of a reboot."

- gerwen

Giant, Flying Puzzles

"Commercial aircraft are built almost entirely by hand. Like 96%. There's very little automation in the process."

- Kalepsis

"Authentic, handcrafted commercial airliners."

- Keyspam102

"Free range, GRASS FED, Authentic, handcrafted commercial airliners!"

- Wiggly96

Doing Library Things

"I am a public librarian. While curating books is still a portion of the job, much of it these days is taken up by database assistance and training, program development and teaching, and public education. It’s much closer to school teaching, but for adults and without grading homework, than it was in the past."

- SmallDarkCloud

Rate the Emergency

"If you go to the ER via ambulance, it does NOT mean you will be seen quicker."

"ERs take the sickest people first, definitely not the ones who come in by ambulance first."

- DoIHaveDementia

Not in Charge

"Teachers have very little say in anything. We advocate the best we can but most of the time, it’s out of our hands, including holding children back who desperately need help."

- chasindreams22

Define "Recycled"

"Print industry. Your paper isn’t as recycled as you think it is."

- mullett

True Lawyers

"That all lawyers make absurd amounts of money. The ones that won't sell their entire life for big bucks tend to make pretty average money."

- dudeblackhawk

"Yes! Some months I barely make enough for all my expenses. Some months I make a lot of money. Some months I make absolutely nothing. Having a private practice in my country means financial instability. The Estate does pay me to represent people who can't afford a lawyer but it pays very bad and takes forever to get that money."

"Also, we're not all like in the movies. Most of us actually care about the people we represent and we try our best to help them."

- ZucchiniAnxious

Not Everything Is Memorized

"I can write code. I cannot debug most of your Windows problems without googling them."

- Resies

Underpaid and Overworked

"School Custodian here and we are NOT overpaid cleaners. What would you pay someone that can paint, Sheetrock, tape/mud, patch concrete/asphalt, operate/repair commercial landscaping/snow removal equipment, operate/repair commercial custodial equipment, restore various types of floors including vct/hardwood/carpet/tile, replace toilets/faucets, air filters, belts, trim/fell trees, shovel roofs, etc?"

"Not all of us are cleaners/janitors, which are vital and underpaid as well. Some of us are Jack/Jill of all trades and you want to pay us peanuts?"

"All employees of a school are important and administrators shouldn't try to balance their budgets on the backs of workers when I've seen an exponential amount of administrative salary and stupid purchasing decisions, not to mention unfunded mandates from the state."

- Nutella_Zamboni

Speech-to-Language Complexity

"There is sooooo much more to the speech-language pathologist scope of practice than working with kids who stutter or can't say their 'r's."

"An entire half of the field is in the adult medical setting working with people who have dementia, swallowing disorders, oral cancer, strokes, Parkinson's disease, and voice disorders, plus some other niche areas like transgender voice or accent modification."

"The pediatric half of the field also works with AAC devices, social skills, literacy development, syntax, executive functioning, writing, feeding, and more."

- bibliophile222

Realistic Therapy

"Therapist here, specifically a couples therapist."

"Therapy is not just about venting or having someone agree with you all the time to make you feel better. Yes, we validate and listen and venting happens at times. But we also challenge you, encourage you to set goals and make change, and sometimes give 'homework.'"

"Therapy is an active process and if you want to see change you have to be willing to make change. I think the media has really warped people's ideas and they expect miracles to happen by showing up without any effort. I wish I could do that for you! But I need you to partner with me to make things happen."

"Also, very few therapists actually have you lay on a couch."

- Dependent-Citron4444

Well, Then.

"Scientist (more specifically, molecular biologist in biotech)."

"I am not hiding the cure for cancer, and I don't know s**t about actual medicine."

- DaOleRazzleDazzle

It's surprising how much we often think we know about other people's professions, and it's probably annoying to them to hear misconceptions day in and day out from the general public.

This is a great reminder of how much we can learn from each other, even just in the workplace.

Person holding two vintage photographs of family portraits
Cheryl Winn-Boujnida/Unsplash

How well did you really know the people who are no longer with us?

Many of us present our best selves to our friends and relatives but do you share with them your deepest, darkest insecurities and secrets?

Maybe you do. But there are plenty of others who take their secrets to the grave.

But those closely guarded secrets or the truest identities can come to light posthumously in many forms, giving a glimpse of who they were to the people they've left behind.

Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor WhoAllIll asked:

"What secret was revealed when cleaning out the home of a deceased family member?"

Not everyone had pure morals or ethics.

Shady Business

"Elderly aunt had a hidden room with staircase to basement area no one knew about. She and her son had a meth lab. This was in the 90’s in Philly. Blew us all away."

– pekepeeps

Here's The Story

"We all knew this one uncle had a second family. We expected drama at the funeral."

"No one was expecting his third family to show up. Wife. Three kids. This new family knew the rest of the family by name from pictures. How we are all related, names, hobbies. That was a wildly bizarre experience."

– z-adventure

Late Discovery

"My dad passed away in 1994 (I was 28). While going through his safe I found some adoption papers. While reading through them I got excited at the prospect I might have a brother out there somewhere (I was raised as an only child) but couldn't understand why my parents never told me that they'd adopted a child but never told me. After rereading them, I realized that they papers were about me. After confronting my family about this turns out everyone - family, close friends, I mean everyone, knew I was adopted. Except me. That was a fun day."

– rolandblais

You never know about a person.

Once Upon A Cash-tress

"Many years ago I went with my dad and aunt to clean out my great uncle’s apartment after he passed away. He was never married, no kids, and lived (we thought) very poor. Tiny apartment with a twin bed, table and chair, a couple of pots and pans, a couple pants& shirts, and that’s basically it."

"As we stripped the bed and moved the mattress, we were shocked. He had hundreds of stacks of 10 dollar bills, wrapped in rubber bands, under his mattress. They were all 10 dollar bills. He lived during the Depression and didn’t trust banks, apparently, but we had no idea he had so much cash. He never spent it on anything. Just bundled it and saved it under his mattress. Some of the bills were so old and yellowed. It equaled thousands of dollars. We had no idea."

– Sostupid246

The Neat Hoarder

"My grandfather, who spoke English as a third language, was a bit of a hoarder. Lots of old sh*t stockpiled in his basement, but well organized. Imagine a generic episode of Hoarders, but with a prepper OCD vibe."

"Everything was sanitized, stacked/nested, and grouped logically. It was like the stock room for a store that wasn't yet sure what products it was selling and wanted to be ready."

"So we find a cylindrical container that was kinda heavy for its size, and it had the label 'OLD PENIS'. It was one of those black plastic film containers."

"Hesitant, but curious, we removed the lid."

"It contained a collection of one-cent pieces which had been minted in the first half of the 20th century."

"Part of me was disappointed, part of me was relieved."

"Edit: I'm glad so many people got a chuckle from the mystery of my grandfather's old penis. It was an innocent typo, but he was a jovial man and would have enjoyed knowing it made so many people laugh."

– funkme1ster

Unpublished

"We knew my originally British, naturalized Canadian great-grandmother had been an enthusiastic amateur historian, who had been fascinated by Britain’s war with Napoleon - not for the least reason because she was herself tangentially related to the Duke of Wellington’s family, via a cousin’s marriage to his son’s nephew, or some connection equally obscure and tenuous."

"What we didn’t know is that, likely in preparation for a book she never wrote, as a young woman she had actually interviewed several dozen elderly English, French and Spanish veterans about their experiences during that war - including three actual survivors of Waterloo (two English, one French), and an aide-de-camp to Spanish General Francisco Javier Castaños, at the time he handed the Napoleonic army its very first defeat in the field, and captured nearly 20,000 French troops at the Battle of Bailen (1808)."

"But there it was, stored in a wooden egg crate under her iron-framed bed, among old calendars, untested recipe clippings and copies of Family Circle magazine: a manuscript with nearly three hundred pages of transcribed military memoirs - all laid out in three languages (in which she was fluent) in her elegant, Spencerian hand."

"My parents donated her manuscript to the Imperial War Museum, where no doubt it will never have human eyes laid on it again."

– theartfulcodger

These Redditors share heartwarming discoveries.

Preparing For The Onward Journey

"My dad was in hospice at home for a couple months before he died of lung cancer, and when I went to clean out his house I found that he had already sorted and packed away most of his personal treasures in couple storage bins. It was heartbreaking all over again thinking of him sitting there packing up his own life knowing it was coming to an end."

– F0regn_Lawns

Messages From Beyond

"When my husband died a few years ago i found several notes/letters he had scattered in various places around our home, written to me in advance (he had terminal cancer & knew he was dying). some were marked 'open when you can't stop crying' 'open when the holidays are too rough' 'open when you have to put one of the cats to sleep'."

"They didn't contain any secrets, but they are heartbreakingly beautiful."

– miss_trixie

Sweet Keepsake

"My dad kept a handwritten note in his wallet containing my mom’s old address, phone number, and directions to her house from when they first started dating in the 70s. He had moved it from wallet to wallet over the years. ❤️ He just died this past March and that was one of the first things we found."

– Jinx5326

Scavenger Hunt

"That my dad hid money all over the house, not huge amounts mind you, but $60 here, $120 there. Felt like a bit of a scavenger hunt when we were cleaning out his stuff. He was always a bit of a sneakily generous guy, always gave me and my brothers a secret handshake with money tucked in his palm when we’d go back to school after a weekend home, etc, so wouldn’t be surprised if he’d done it intentionally. Made us smile every time we found some, iirc I think the final total was somewhere around $800."

– Mzunguman

Photographs are treasures.

When my family cleaned out the house of my father's aunt who lived in America, we found stacks of vintage photographs well before the advent of digital photography.

There were photos of my great aunt in Japan from when she was a teenager to photos of her and her husband at a Japanese internment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.

There were no secrets uncovered but it was so profound poring through images capturing decades of her life captured on film.