Normally we go into these articles with an intro that segues into talking about the relevant article - but this is a no intro needed situation.
We all know what it's like to realize a friend isn't who or what you thought they were.
One Reddit user asked:
When did you realize your best friend, wasn't really your friend?
and honestly the amount of violence, betrayal, and scandal here is enough for even the juiciest novelas.
Read ahead with caution
Thieves
When I opened a drawer in her house and recognized my jewelry, trinkets. I looked at it all, took back my mother's ring, and left. 3 years this person stole from me. I was her only friend. I'll never understand it.
- katkre8s
I brought an expensive uncommon piece of electronics over to a friend's house. Put it in my bag, got home and it was gone. Called my "friend" literally 30m later and he swore he didn't have it.
Narrator: He did.
I get it back 6 months later broken. His story: his mom came into his room picked it up off the ground and put it in a closet that's in his room but he can't open. This would be one of his many weed related thefts.
Maid Of Honor?
jean vigo bride GIF by Maudit
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When I asked her to be my Maid of Honor.
As her response, she left the care package I made for her when she was in the hospital back on my doorstep in a box. I put together some books and coloring books for her while she was sick. All of it was there.
She also stopped returning my texts and calls.
She reached out a couple years later, and I asked why she ended the friendship the way she did, and her response was that she was just being a dick.
I guess she resented me and the relationship I had with my now husband; but instead of talking to me about how she felt, she just dumped me.
It really screwed me up and ruined how I interact with my friends now. Everyone is arms length and I don't open up at all to them. I'm constantly worried I'm a bad friend.
We're still not friends.
Oldest, Not Best
Been friends for over 20 years with someone. He always makes it a point to introduce me as his best friend.
I'm like "well... oldest friend" and I do care about him, but I would not call him my best friend. We have so little in common but that's not why we have drifted apart....he just has no understanding of me.
I'm an introvert. He's an extrovert (with low self esteem) and he thinks that people like me are sad, lonely losers who don't know how to have fun.
He bases his worth on if he is in a relationship. When we hang out all He talks about is who he is dating/sleeping with/engaged to at the moment. I'm happily single who can do without all the drama.
He lives off his dad and is stupid with money. I'm extremely independent and self reliant. He has a taste for expensive, name brand items, I like Target 🤪.
One big thing that really irritated me was when I finally bought a place of my own, instead of being happy for me, he criticizes it for being in a "ghetto"....when I bought furniture, instead of buying the expensive stuff from the high end store he worked at, I bought at a ordinary furniture place.
He once made the mistake of making fun of my taste in and I replied (with his dad sitting next to him who Has Long subsidized his life) "at least I paid for it myself"...he turned red and his dad started to giggle.
Screenshots Are Forever
When I received screenshots of a post in a social media group bashing me and saying truly horrible things.
The person who sent them was a random stranger who said they looked on my then best friend's social media account and figured the post and comments had to be about me since she called me her best friend on a lot of posts. She said that she thought I should know what she was saying about me because they were so bad and if they weren't actually about me then she was sorry for sending them.
She was posting telling the group that she always thought I was a spoiled brat, that my boyfriend (now fiance) and I were never going anywhere in life, that I was just jealous of her, and she also threw in some insults about my family as well. It was a lot more detailed and rude, but I deleted the screenshots (after I sent them to my "best friend") so I wouldn't go back and obsess over them.
I thanked the person who sent them to me and promised to keep her anonymity so the girl wouldn't get kicked out of the group. Then I sent screenshots to my "friend" and said "this friendship is over."
Her apology was basically an, "I'm sorry I got caught" apology.
She basically said "I'm sorry you saw it, I thought it was on a private group page." Nothing is private on the internet.
Then a few months ago she reached out wanting to reconnect. I considered it for a few minutes and after a small handful of texts I realized she would never understand what she did and that she truly thought I was in the wrong. Her attitude was still basically "I'm sorry I got caught," and she also said she was just stressed, upset, and ranting.
I said that the things she said were not things you should think about a friend if they're really your friend and that I didn't want to reconnect and that was that. I found it odd that she wanted to reconnect when part of the stuff she said included that her family never liked me, she always thought certain negative things about me, etc.
I considered her family like my second family; we were best friends for about 17 years.
I actually am happier without her around, though. I never noticed some of the negative aspects that she brought to the friendship until we weren't friends. So its been really good.
- gundy92
Going To The Races
My birthday was coming up and I had nobody else. It was a really low point in my life, like it was bad. She knew how bad I was doing, I asked her to hang out on my birthday.
She promised that on my birthday she'd be there for me. Gonna come over with some beers and watch movies all day so won't be alone. Good times.
I message her a couple days before, yup we're on!
I message her the day before to ask what time she's coming past and she says whenever I want.
On my birthday I message her and ask if she can come over now.
"No. I'm going to the races today."
Like, Jesus Christ... Not only are you blowing me off so coldly, but you're putting it in a way like "I could invite you to come too, but I won't."
I doubt there even were races, or she ever intended to be there for me. It hurt so bad, like a physical gut punch even though I half expected it. She would constantly do things like this specifically intended to hurt me. It's why I kept asking her leading up to the day if she really was gonna come through.
After the birthday thing though, I was lonely but not lonely enough to continue to be fucked with like that constantly.
In retrospect, I honestly think she maybe actually wanted me to hurt myself; so she could play the victim, or whatever reason she had to hate me so much. Actually I doubt she hated me. I don't think she felt anything at all for me either way, just emotionless, f**king with people for entertainment.
- user1444
Can't Stand Deadbeat Dads
When his wife caught him about to cheat. He said he'd work to fix his marriage, but instead he ended up walking out on his wife, 3yr old, and newborn.
He came to me expecting me to back him up and tell him he was right to be rid of them, but I chewed him out instead. He then came up with some bull about her being too controlling from the start of their relationship. I asked him "then why get married and have kids?"
He left their home and started seeing some other women. He still texts me sometimes about sports or something, but I can't stand deadbeat dads. He's refused to get a divorce saying he doesn't know what to do.
You left the family home 18mths ago, G. You know you're not fixing this, so man the f*ck up and get a divorce so you can all move on.
The Cabin Weekend
My 27th birthday was the one where I truly realized that none of the people that I considered my close friends actually gave a sh*t about me, and the one that I thought I was closest to was narcissistic.
I got drunk and watch sh*tty movies by myself while my Facebook feed blew up with these friends having a fun time at a weekend trip to a cabin in the mountains (that I wasn't allowed to go to because there was 'no room').
The following week, I was hanging out with the narcissistic one and that's where I found out that the organizer of the cabin trip let someone join last minute. Like, he asked if he could come on Thursday afternoon and he was in the cabin Friday evening.
I didn't say a word and I just left in tears. Everyone knew that it was my birthday that weekend and that I was really upset that I wasn't allowed to go, but no one did anything to make it up to me.
Fool Me Once...
When he blacked out and tried to murder me in my sleep. Then 5 years later when I forgave him, he attacked and robbed me in front of my house after giving me a ride home. Fool me once...
He was the best friend I've ever had in my life. We were extremely close for the vast majority of our lives.
He was very drunk and smoked an absurd amount and blacked out. 40 shots and 40 dab hits that night. This was well beyond the normal scope of smoking.
He has a history of violence. The night of the first incident, he put me in a chokehold while I was asleep. He was a psycho with a violent streak. He had no reason to be mad at me at any point that night or the surrounding period.
He just held it, talking about how easily he could kill me and that he was going to for fun. It wasn't an easy spot to get out of.
There's nothing wrong with trying to be a forgiving person towards someone you love. It took years of him begging for forgiveness for me to give him another chance and things went really well for about a year until there was another incident.
But I'm never speaking to him again now. I still wish for the best for him as he's the best friend I've ever had but I won't ever give him another chance. I got fooled twice.
Unholy And Sinful
I shared with him that I was beginning to explore some interest in guys as well as girls, and his response was completely unsupportive. He told me it was unholy and sinful to explore my sexuality, and that I had to pray about it to find guidance out of my evil temptations.
It completely destroyed the trust between us that he would push me away from discovering what I want in life. I was unable to have an open and honest relationship with him from that day onward.
The nail in the coffin came a few months later when my parents were beginning to seriously discuss a potential divorce. I went to him for advice on how to navigate the situation, as he was personally familiar with my position due to his own parents' divorce.
He pushed me away, telling me that he wouldn't help me and that I was on my own. We haven't spoken since then.
Since 2012
I realized with one of my former friends that he was nice to me, but not to other people. He treated me with lots of respect (I think its because he thought I was useful to him), yet I heard stories of him beating up other people for suspected wrongdoings against him.
Unsurprisingly, once I told him that his behaviour was out of line, he told me that our friendship was over because I was not loyal enough to him, and he also threatened me with physical violence.
As he seemed very serious about carrying out this threat, I had to be escorted to and from school by my parents or my other friends for a week or two. My head of year had to get involved and instituted disciplinary action against him.
My former friend eventually got expelled in my third year of secondary school for kicking in a glass door. He went off social media and so I didn't hear about him for years. None of my classmates kept in contact with him - I think some were only 'friends' with him out of fear.
Looking back, he treated all his 'friends' like minions, not equals - my parents told me that he ordered me around like a dog. I did see him in my local pub back in July this year, the first time I had seen him since 2012, and lets just say he had not changed one bit.
Thankfully he did not recognize me, but he nearly got kicked out for trying to hit on one of the bar staff who was clearly not interested. I quickly finished my pint and got the hell out of there.
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When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.