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People Break Down The Best Low-Paying Job They've Ever Had

In a perfect world, jobs would pay well enough for you to survive doing them. But we don't live in a perfect world and pretty much everyone can tell you that lots of jobs don't pay anywhere near a livable wage.

That doesn't mean they're not awesome.


One Reddit user asked:

What's the best low paying job you've ever had?

Consider this article our love song to those crappy jobs that didn't pay much, but made up for it in laughs, snacks, ability to avoid the public, etc.

So this one's to you, summers spent as a pool lifeguard in a small town. My bank account may have been empty, but my tan was flawless and my hamstrings have never again reached that level of definition.

Thanks, Netflix!

Movie store. Free rentals. Netflix was just starting to take off, so it didn't get busy ever. I got to watch movies all day and drink free slurpies.

- Gingerchaun

Same. Free movies before they were "released" and work consisted of bs'ing about movies and playing Gameboy. Best job ever for being 17.

- PreppyNotYuppie

Same, but I worked at a mom and pop's rental store kind of like Blockbuster.

I was always popular because my family and friends wanted the new releases that came out. So I'd hold them for people - and people always had giant smiles when they came in.

That's one thing I loved about working there. People were always happy when they came in.

Kids got their movies and games, adults would browse for theirs and get pumped if something new was in. Popcorn, candy. All cash. RIP good ole days

- SunsetDreams1111

Living History

night museum GIFGiphy

Working at a small local museum. Basically did tours for local kids who didn't care or the elderly who knew more about the stuff than I did. On my first day, my high school history teacher (who helped me get the job and previously ran the place) gave me a tour and pointed out one interesting thing in each room. When I asked if I needed to learn about the rest, he just laughed and said I would.

Every single tour I did for the elderly someone would get super excited and talk nonstop about something they recognized "hey this signed used to hang at the old mill..." "oh my god, this looks just like the nurse uniform I wore in WW2" "this portrait is my grandmother".

The next tour I'd just mention the stories the previous tour told me about. And even if I didn't have much to discuss about the museum, they loved just chatting.

So I got paid to parrot the previous tour or just smile through rooms of the current tour talking. I even had one tour where I spent most of the tour just chatting about fantasy novels as an older lady just wanted to talk. Two weeks later, she returned while I wasn't working and dropped off a bag of books for me (her old books that she knew her son and grandkids didn't want), a sizable donation to the historical society, and a nice long write up as the last room held an old uniform that was misidentified. She was part of the exact unit it came from and gave the museum director a corrected page with the right unit name and a short description of some of the notable places they had served.

- LibrioMancer

My Current Job Is Much Safer

I worked as a bike courier to up my allowance. I was super fit, riding my bike for more than 1500km per month. On the downside I got "run over" by cars three times.

And that's not to mention the suddenly opening car doors. Those got me twice.

One time was bad: My bike was destroyed beyond repair (the frame was bent), I had muscle contusions, a ripped tendon in one of my hands, injured joint capsules, abrasions all over the body ... I couldn't even walk without painkillers for two weeks. I was exempt from sport for two or three months. That sucked.

Luckily enough I suffered no permanent damages. My current occupation as a software developer is much safer and much better paying, but I think fondly of that time.

- _cnt0

The Whole Job Was To Press A Button

Ski lift operator at a ski resort.

Got paid minimum wage , but the whole job was to press a button if someone fell, which a lot of people did.

I would just see some clearly inexperienced people get wrecked while getting off, stop the lift, roll my eyes, maybe help them if it's going to take a while, start lift again. lol

It came with sweet perks like free snowboarding and half price for food. Also my coworkers were a bunch of dope snowboarding hippies

- Snowfreak2507

Sweet Trouble

Working at a theatre.

We were all young, had our own cash and places for the first time, and got into all kinds of trouble. Very fun!

Plus, free movies and snacks. Pretty sweet.

- NillaBeans

Seconded, working at a movie theater was great. Tons of free movies (sometimes before official release), usually fun people to work with, unlimited access to tokens for the arcades, etc.

I'm genuinely thinking about working at one again when I retire just for the enjoyment.

- Tak_Jaehon

This was going to be mine!

Early in my management career I was a projectionist, I got to break down/build films. Nothing better than sitting in the booth and putting together a film while listening to music. Then after it was built testing it to make sure there were no bad splices.

Also my theatre was extremely slow, so we'd have a lot of downtime to just mess around.

We did a LOT of late-night movie viewings.

- dawrina

Front Desk

Night shift at a hotel front desk.

I spent the night by myself, chilling and watching movies on my phone. Hardly anyone ever checked in at night and when they did it was just a five-minute process. I was also allowed to snack on the food in the kitchen.

I had to make breakfast, and would get to eat that as well every morning. I'd have a big Texas cinnamon roll and some milk just about every night lol.

It didn't pay much, but for someone who enjoys spending time alone and not dealing with the public much, it was great.

- booneisthemoon


As someone who is currently on my nightshift at the front desk, I can confirm it is great however prolonged amounts of time in it can cause health problems from messing up your circadian rhythm.

Also sometimes, like right now, it can get really boring. But can't complain much when I'm getting paid to browse Reddit.

- Sammy_Jacks

Barista 

Being a Starbucks barista actually isn't bad.

Out of all the food service industry jobs I've had, they had the best health insurance plans and you didn't need to work 40 hours minimum to qualify for it. That left me open to waitress and make more money while still getting health insurance and free coffee!

The work was fun too.


I liked the hustle of making all the drinks and I'm naturally very good at small talk and memorizing the little details of regulars lives so I could pick up the convo next time. The customers were generally very nice and tipped well. We often made about 2 dollars an hour (which was split based on weekly hours worked so the more you worked the more you got) which ain't bad.

Of course we got plenty of Karens - especially in the summer when our town flooded with tourists - but even then the regulars would understand and commiserate with us (often loudly while stink eyeing whatever tourist is hassling us) on how rude city folk are.

- Accomplished-Today

Borders

Books Lol GIF by UdGGiphy

Borders Books. Dang I miss that company.

$30 gift cards a month to buy books in addition to the employee discount. Also you could "borrow" up to two books at a time to read and return in salable condition. Pretty good bonuses and incentives for a retail job.

And it was nice working with employees (and having customers) who were book lovers.

- pink_kryptonite


This what I came here to say! I spent just under 4 years there; their final years. All I did was read and get ARC copies of books. I love to organize and talk books. I don't remember $30 gift cards each month but I do remember it always being minimum wage with no benefits or sick time.

I have all the job perks now, but sometimes I go back to that job in my mind. I loved when someone enjoyed my recommendation and would come back.

I always had books checked out in my name and half the time would buy them to re read. Oh and coffee all day....sigh.

- eclecticmuse

Blueberries and Ice Cream

I worked at a blueberry farm where I worked inside the blueberry store.

They sold homemade blueberry baked goods, homemade blueberry jam and other jams, blueberry (and other flavors) ice cream, and blueberry knickknacks and trinkets. The owner's daughter who worked with me was fun and we just manned the cash register and served ice cream.

I worked there for three summers during college, made a sweet $8/hr and got a bowl of ice cream every day. Best job ever

- why___me

The Work Sucked, But...

I worked in the warehouse part of a furniture store when I was 17.

I was the youngest and the other guys were in their early 20s. We just goofed off, told jokes, and had fun. When we actually worked, it was hard due to assembling furniture and unloading trucks, but the rest of the time it was a blast.

- SecretKGB

This. Working at a furniture store was my first job. I didn't like the work, but we had such fun.

- deaconofthedeep

And No Boss!

Bike rickshaw (pedicab) in Austin on 6th street.

Ferrying around drunks all night is so entertaining and was such an easy way to meet girls. Got to see fights, people falling over, and hilarious shenanigans almost every night. And no boss!

Best days were game days and could make bank from the rich alumni between the beer gardens and stadium. Husbands always paid you to take their wives ahead and they could stay back and drink beer.

- Jzzlbbr57

The Local Spot

At an ale house local to me

It made thai food as well and I was basically a waitress with extra responsibilities but wasn't old enough to handle the alcohol or money

I got a free meal every shift and a free drink (non alcoholic due to my age but older staff could choose any) and it was my parents local so they came and walked me home after my shift and I knew majority of the people who came in as customers meaning I was way more comfortable right from the first shift

- Rose__17

If I Hadn't Been Married

coke thirst GIF by ADWEEKGiphy

I was a pool cleaner shortly before enlisting in the AF. I could smoke on the job, work at my own pace (as long as the pools were done and I was back at the shop by 5pm), eat when I wanted to, etc.

Some pools were pretty easy to care for. Others took at least a week to turn from dark green to crystal blue. PRO TIP: If you have a pool, you HAVE to run the pump during the winter, at least a few hours during the week.

Was it like a porn movie? In some ways more than others. Yes, I got to see a great deal of women in bikinis... and less. Yes, I got offered the occasional cold beer during a job. Did I have sex with clients? Well, Christmas don't pay for itself.

Probably would have worked out better for me if I hadn't been married.

- FriendshipExpensive2

The Intern

My internship at an airline maintenance facility. Now, the job wasn't that interesting if you don't like to assemble and disassemble mechanical stuff all day and getting there by train was a constant nightmare. Also they did screw me up on the pay (110€ a month instead of 150€ like the other interns for no real reason) BUT :

  1. Their cafeteria was incredible. I ate some of the best lunches of my life for like 5€.
  2. It was in June and there was one of the biggest heat wave ever recorded in my country. Everybody had to endure 40°C all day... except me who worked in a climate controlled warehouse that was constantly kept at 21°C. Hardly environmentally friendly but I didn't mind.

Summer Of Netflix

Spent a summer sorting documents while watching Netflix.

I had a sh*tty data entry job in a college admissions department, and since no one applies to college during the summer (and thus there's no data to enter) they would normally just cut their data entry folks.

But that particular summer they decided to keep us on full-time and help digitize paper files. My role in this process was to remove all the staples, toss any extraneous documents, then put the documents back in the file in the correct order and with a cover sheet added, so the next folks could scan them.

This was also at time when our building was being renovated and full-time staff was moving around and changing offices.

I found an unused office and just posted up in there for the summer. It was easily the most enjoyable few months of my working life. I watched the entirety of DS9 and Scrubs while working that job.

- [Reddit]

Still Family To Me

Hostel receptionist. It was my dream job.

I would party literally everyday, have free access to clubs around, free tours, free beers, free BBQ, meet people from all over the world. Co-workers were and are still family to me. I miss that job.

If you're ever visiting Santiago in Chile, go to La Chimba Hostel. You will not regret it!

- itsthewalrus

The Best And Worst

The best job was an overnight panel operator at a regional radio station.

The pay was sh*t, but it was the best job I ever had. I'd take my dog in, and spend all night doing crossword puzzles and reading comic books.

In contrast, the worst high paying job I ever had was doing the same thing for an adult movie channel. Getting paid to sit alone in a dark room watching porn for 10 hours a day is not as fun as it sounds.

You get desensitized to it really quickly, especially if you're not into what they're showing.

It was just really weird and awkward. Like being a diabetic working at a Cadbury factory.

- FormalMango

The All-Time Biggest First Date Red Flags

Reddit user APT3993 asked: 'What’s the biggest red flag you have seen on a first date?'

When you're on a first date, one of three things will happen. Either you'll like the person and want to go out again, you like the person fine, but not romantically, and won't want to go out again, or the person will display a behavior that is so off-putting (or make you genuinely fearful), that you won't even want to see the person ever again.

My best friend and I are basically the same person, so when she met a guy who he had a lot in common with, she figured I'd like him too and set us up (I had previously told her I was okay with being set up).

Well, it turns out the guy actually hadn't read any of the books, watched any of the shows, or heard of any of the bands he talked about with my friend. I didn't understand why he would lie about all these things until I left the table.

When I came back, he was on the phone with someone and he was telling them he only told her he liked all those things because he liked my friend. When he found out she was in a relationship, he decided he'd let her set us up in the hopes that he could date me until my friend and her boyfriend broke up, and then he could swoop in.

I just walked out and when he finally texted me asking what was up, I told him I overheard him, then proceeded to block him. My friend was mortified to hear about the date, and I decided never to be set up again.

I'm not the only one who has gone on a date and discovered a huge red flag. Redditors have experienced this too, and are eager to share their stories.

It all started when Redditor APT3993 asked:

"What’s the biggest red flag you have seen on a first date?"

Dates Of Relationships Past

"They won't shut up about their ex."

– SiriusGD

"Had this happen to me on a 2nd date."

"Asked if she could use my computer, I said OK. Then she pulls up her ex's FB profile to browse through it, and she spent the next 10 minutes comparing me to him, saying he she thinks that I will turn out to be controlling and manipulative like him because we both grew up on a farm and we both like cars."

"Ummm, wut?"

– alwaysmyfault

"He angrily told me I would “love” his ex wife. Proceeded to cry while talking about her. They’d been divorced for 5 years. I genuinely hope he is doing better."

– TX_Mothman

"She constantly compared me to her ex, and sat on her phone for most of the night, then expected me to pay for her two bottles of wine, plus really expensive meal and desert."

"She asked me out btw, not the other way around."

– Stuspawton

I Know What I Want

"The guy who tried to change my order with the waitress because he didn’t think the drink I’d asked for was sufficiently feminine."

"I ordered beer. I don’t remember exactly what he thought I should have, maybe white wine? It was a long time ago."

"The waitress was looking at me like ‘You heard that sh*t too right?’ and I told her actually I wouldn’t have anything, thanks, and I left."

– MaggieLuisa

"He changed it FROM A BEER TO SOMETHING ELSE!!?! That’s amazing to me. Like it’s bad enough if you ordered an IPA and he said, “I dunno, sweetie, your delicate female taste buds probably can’t handle the hoppiness. Hey, honey, why don’t we get the lady a Coors.”"

– AdaptiveVariance

The Position Of Boyfriend

"We met for drinks after work (since we both work in the same industry) and she showed up with a list of interview questions. She literally had a checklist on her phone for me to fill out. I thought she was joking at first, but the questions were extremely personal, like how many sexual partners you've had, the oldest, the youngest; How much money you made the previous year; If you owned a house, a car, a boat, a plane; Did you have a criminal history; Where do you parents live; Are they alive; Who did you vote for in the last election; All kinds of stuff like that."

"I even proposed that we could just use that as a conversation starter and we could work through them like that as a fun way to get to know each other. I was really trying. She tells me that she's not answering any of them because I'm trying to date her, not the other way around!"

"I laughed out loud thinking she was kidding, then realized she was absolutely serious. I wished her all the best in the dating world, chugged my beer, overtipped the waitress, and left."

– OkFrostina

"Yeah, I would really push that to the limit without getting law enforcement involved. Start with all the times I have ended up in rehabilitation, my abductions by UFO, the wild, kinky sex partners I have had, the millions I have lost before living under a bridge, etc."

– passporttohell

Scary As Hell

"Had a guy who insisted on buying the most expensive pizza at the restaurant despite my protests then kissed my head when he walked past me to use the restroom. After dinner we walked along the waterfront, he kissed me and then immediately tried to choke me "to be sexy". First date, last date."

– Twours1944

"What the sh*t?? Who taught this idiot that choking in public on the first date all without consent is a great get-to-know-you move??"

– villainsimper

Stranger Danger

"This was literally the day of a first date. But I had matched with an older man when I was still on dating apps. We planned to go on a hike on a very beautiful day by the water. On the day of the date, he wanted me to leave my car at his place, while he drove us through the backwoods so we can beat traffic. I said I’ll be happy to drive myself, and he laughed and canceled. His reasoning was he’s been stood up so many times and he didn’t want to waste his time and me not show up. I said “okay!I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope you find what you are looking for. “and blocked him."

"The red flag was when he genuinely got upset that I didn’t want to ride in a car with a stranger through the backwoods for our first date."

– Jesusdoescrack

"You should have said “you fear being stood up, I fear being murdered.”"

– The_She_Ghost

Truly Gross

"He pointed to another woman at the bar and said she was his ex. But she happened to be my lesbian roommate."

"Yes, I told him I knew he was full of it cuz she was my roommate, and I pointed out her girlfriend who was there with her. I don’t remember what he said exactly but he had no choice but to admit he was lying. I wish I had asked why he said it. I assume to make me jealous? Like that’s a good way to start a relationship? Obviously, that was the only date."

– Grapegoop

​Those Who Came Before

"He told me he had been divorced 5 times. I'm taking the advice of 5 women I don't know."

– 13liz

"The way you phrased this killed me 😂"

– CumulativeHazard

Got Her Feeling Emotions

"Does bursting into tears after I told them I didn't like a TV show count?"

– JumboDakotaSmoke

"I'm curious as to what TV show it was?"

– ladydamnation

"Grey's Anatomy."

– JumboDakotaSmoke

"bursts into tears"

– akennelley

Um...What?!

"He took me to his house (he lived with his mom) just so HE could eat dinner with his mom while I sat in the living room. I listened to them eat and talk about my looks like I couldn't hear them. Apparently, I was pretty but "needed to be taken down a peg or two." I said my period had started so I had to go home. A future abuser and his enabler mommy."

– BigMcLargeHuge77

Ew...Just Ew

"We went to a movie. He spent the first half with his hand inside one of his socks, then pulling it out and smelling it, putting it back in, repeat, repeat."

"Then he spent the second half trying to hold my hand. With his sock hand."

– Deleted User

Bad From The Start

"She asked if I could order for her because she was uncomfortable talking to the brown waitress.

"Added: Same girl would not stop talking about Kardashian gossip even though I told her I know nothing about them and didn’t care to know."

– CanaDoug420

Stop, Theif!

"He showed up drunk with a bouquet of flowers he admitted he stole from his mother's flower shop."

– LookAcrossTheWater

​Cringe-Worthy

"Went to a charity coffee shop for a date. It was “free” coffee where they just ask for donations which went toward their org’s efforts to feed and house people. They explained this to him and asked if he wanted to make a donation for our drinks."

"He said no."

– Shredded_Wheaties

Oh, yikes! I would be so embarrassed!

In fact, I'm kind of losing faith in dating as a concept.

people sitting inside plane
Hanson Lu on Unsplash

Commercial aviation began in the late 1920s, spurred on by early aeronautical companies and several record breaking solo flights.

Since then, there are few places on Earth that can't be seen or accessed by plane. Only icing limits humans from low altitude flights over certain areas like the polar regions, while a lack of landing locations keeps some areas accessible to only the smallest pontoon planes.

From January through December 2022, United States airlines carried 853 million passengers. Globally, air travel reached a high of over 4.7 billion passengers before the pandemic limited flights.

Since then, global air travel has rebounded to over 3.7 billion passengers.

With almost 100 years and over a trillion passengers, the people who crew these flights are bound to have seen everything happen that possibly could at airports and on a flight.

Keep reading...Show less
A skeptical man
Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash

We've all heard our fair share of conspiracy theories, from thoughts about the White House to aliens and beyond.

But some conspiracy theories have become truly strange and nuanced, and it's hard to stop listening to the person explaining their beliefs, because as weird as some of these theories sound, they could almost by some stretch of the imagination make sense.

Intrigued, Redditor Accomplished-Leg-991 asked:

"What's the weirdest or craziest theory you have heard of?"

Seems Plausible.

"Traffic barrels are left up for so long because the Department of Transportation bought too many and has no place to store them."

- dailysunshineKO

The Grass Is Always Greener

"The truck driver that delivered my flooring gave me this gem: The push for green lawns in the US is by Big Pharma."

"The cliff notes version is that to get green grass, you need pesticides, pesticides cause cancer, and cancer is good business for drug companies. It was like a 20-minute long rant to get to that conclusion and it was an adventure."

- StillBald

"I need to drink with him for one night. That cannot possibly be the only banger he's got."

- karenalphas

The Ice Wall

"Recently TikTok kept giving bizarre suggestions where people trying to prove Ice Wall in Antarctica that Earth is bigger and something is hiding behind ice wall in Antarctica… What the h**l."

- XenophanesJunior

"It's a weird subset of flat earthers, who believe in an 'infinite plane' that lies beyond the ice wall (guarded by NASA, of all people), and the reason? The infinite plane has endless amounts of gold mines and gems they can mine for infinite money."

- bag2d

Tinkering with the Algorithm

"That Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen, and they made the movie 'Frozen' so that when people googled 'Walt Disney Frozen,' the movie would come up first."

- LizardPossum

"They updated this theory, but now it is with Taylor Swift. It basically says that she went to that Kansas City Chiefs vs NY Jets game so that when people search 'Taylor Swift Jets,' it will only show news about the game, and not about her going everywhere with her private jets."

- abirll

"It's so wild now these rely on people being completely unable to go to page two of a Google search."

- LizardPossum

The All-Important Celebrity Weddings

"I had a coworker that fully believes the government controls the weather so celebrities can have nice weddings."

- pinballgizard

"Out of all the reasons to control the weather, celebrity weddings are a top priority for the government."

- Suspicious-Craft4980

The Truth of Social Security Numbers

"Your social security number indicates which bank you were sold to at birth."

- compuwiza1

"Ah, sovereign citizens..."

- CaptainMikul

Dinosaur Bones, Huh?

"Dinosaur bones were placed on earth by Satan to trick people into 'abandoning' God."

- River_7890

"There's a big American Church whose members believe that dinosaur bones exist because God made the Earth with leftovers from a previous planet."

"Mental gymnastics to justify their belief that the Earth is only 10'000 years old and C14 dates dinosaur bones as being millions of years old..."

- mrsrosieparker

"I'm absolutely not shocked. The person who told me jumps through so many mental hoops to try to disprove science. She thinks that the government is secretly working for Satan to convert people, too."

"Oh and of course Disney. She's crazy overall. Not just with religious stuff. I could tell so many stories of her crossing lines and saying off-the-wall things. I try to not associate with her as much as possible."

- River_7890

The Worst Kind of Waiting Room

"The USS Philadelphia Experiment and the US army soldier who claimed he was in an interdimensional waiting room as a greeter for eternity until he was suddenly transported back onto the ship."

"People claimed it was a cloaking device gone wrong and left men's bodies trapped within the steel of the boat upon reentry."

"I never looked into it but read about it in a book that had a statement like, 'Nothing in this book is true but it's exactly the way things are,' or something similar. Always thought it was the wildest conspiracy theory ever when I was a stoned teenager reading it."

- Hereforthecake

Phantom Time Conspiracy Theory

"There’s a whole podcast with hundreds of episodes dedicated to this subject. Worth a listen. One of the wildest ones is that Charlemagne’s grandson moved the calendar forward ~300 years and thus the Dark Ages never happened."

- seandowling73

Gives the Shortcut a Whole New Meaning

"Met a dude at the gym who believed that the CIA had built tunnels throughout the Earth's core, connecting all the major cities. Was some kind of global takeover scheme."

- Latham74

Infathomly Large Trees

"Mountains are all the stumps of ancient fossilized enormous trees."

"I'm absolutely obsessed with this theory. It's connected to flat earth, but flat earth isn't a requirement for this theory nor do most flat earthers believe it."

- inkstainedgoblin

Under Control

"We're all infected by parasites that feed on our stress hormones released by negative emotions like guilt, sadness, anger, fear, and so on. They control our minds and, thereby, us to an extent. The only way to combat them is by being aware and questioning if your thoughts and actions are truly your own thoughts and actions."

- 42clickslater

Enough Said

"The one about JFK Jr. coming back to help Trump win the 2020 election is still tops in my book."

- pinkyknee

Big Pharma Chickens

"That owning chickens is the gateway drug to believing conspiracy theories."

- sarcasawm

"As someone who has owned chickens, the only thing they're a gateway drug to is getting more farm animals."

- CelticArche

"That’s what Big Goat wants you to believe."

- MissRockNerd

"Big Farm-A."

- cannedcream

As wild as some of these conspiracy theories were, there's no denying that they're fascinating, some for the simple fact that they're almost plausible.

They at least get you thinking in a new way, and perhaps that isn't such a bad thing every now and then.

Two guys hi-fiving each other
Tyler Nix/Unsplash

A good friend is not always the one with whom you share laughs and fun experiences.

The friendships you want to keep include those who won't abandon you in a time of need or someone who supports you in a variety of complicated situations where not even a family member can be relied upon.

Unfortunately, many of us have experienced a time when a person's true colors revealed to us that the so-called "friend" we've always trusted wasn't one at all.

Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Aesthetik_1 asked:

"What made you instantly realize This 'friend' is not a real friend?"

These Redditors didn't realized at the time that they were being used.

Recurring Favor

"When he only called me when he needed something. It didn't hit me until much later."

– Queasy-Location-9303

"I have one of those 'friends'. She always gushes about how we're friends but she never initiates contact unless she wants me to do something for her."

– StiffAssedBrit

The Errand Girl

"Several years back, I had a friend who introduced me to this new boy she was seeing. Maybe a year later, their relationship blew up in a fury of bs (whole other story), but by the time they split, I was equally friends with both of them. He and I were both photographers at the time, so the friendship was instantaneous."

"One day we started talking about her, neither positively nor in poor taste, just kind of in general."

"He then asked me 'when she texts to hang out, what does she usually want to do?'"

"I paused. I thought. Holy sh*t, she'd either be asking for a favour or for help with some kind of errand. I was her f'king errand girl."

"She texted me a month or two later, just a 'hey'. I never responded. She never texted again."

"I'm still friends with her ex, though. That dude is genuine as heck."

– ChamomileBrownies

Testing The Friendship

"When you decide to let them be the one to reach out. And you never hear from them again."

– plzdontgetmad

"Yup. Made plans with a friend three times, she cancelled each time. I finally told her to let me know when she was free, we haven’t hung out since."

"She was a good friend for the season, but not a lifetime."

– NoMrBond3

People were shocked to discover the moment they realized they didn't really know who their "friend" was anymore.

The Chaperon

"I had been giving rides to a girl I thought was my friend. To and from school in high school. She wasn’t really suppose to ride with other teens but due to her mothers work hours we could easily pull this off. I thought we were close."

"One day while on the way home my brakes went out. We were about 2 blocks from her gated neighborhood. I managed to roll in safely and parked at her house to call a tow truck."

"She flipped. Told me I couldn’t stay. She knew my brakes were not working as she had also been terrified when we couldn’t stop. She said she wanted to go to a movie that weekend with other friends and her mom would ground her if she saw me at the house. I offered to lie and say I only stopped there as my car malfunctioned on my way home. I had to pass her neighborhood on my way home anyways."

"She refused. Started to scream at me. She didn’t care what happened I had to go. Started to call the guard at the front gate to tell them I had broken in and was threatening her."

"I left her and that friendship that moment. I managed to roll my car slowly to a mechanic not too far away but never forgot the shi* feeling of knowing I could have been seriously hurt and she wouldn’t have cared. She wanted to see a movie. She had the nerve to sheepishly call and ask me a couple days later if I could give her a ride to school. Told her I was too busy and no longer had time… after all I wanted to help her obey her mom's rules. She rode the bus til she graduated."

– Duffarum

Unwilling Companion

"I had this friend in school. Each year there was a funfair in our city, all students received vouchers for a drink and something to eat. This friend complained the whole day that she had no one to accompany her to the funfair. So, stupid me offered to go with her."

"Once we arrived we met another friend of hers. And another, and another... until we were a group of 5 or 6 people. I didn't know anyone and was basically just walking behind them. This friend took me aside and said, 'My friends think you are annoying, and we would like you to leave.'"

"It was a pleasure to see that she failed her exams a year later."

– Auldale

There's the spirit of competition, but when it's taken seriously, we're no longer game for these friendships.

I Can Do It Better

"Constantly 'one ups' me. A real friend is happy for you."

– Complex-Half8338

"That one time I got a fake bag but she doesn’t know and then 2 weeks later messaged me that she also bought a luxury bag… Then when I got a bf, she also went to get a bf within 3 months which is TOTALLY fine but she constantly messages me for us to go on a double date. Anyways, sadly they didn’t last long :( I mentioned that I wanted to go to Cuba, she went ahead and bought herself a ticket to Cuba but I didn’t end up going lol"

– Hot-Coffee-8465

Never Steal The Spotlight

"When they loved the idea of me shining, but behind their shadow, I could never do or achieve anything above them, and when I did, they would get jealous."

– Jasssin23

"Yes! I recently ghosted a friend because of this kind of behavior. She was trying to compete about EVERYTHING. Like she bragged about how her mom’s car accident was more traumatic than my elderly MIL’s - which is not even an appropriate thing to compare. She would also try to 'outshine' celebrations of my milestones and was mean to several of my friends for no apparent reason. She was a loose cannon at best."

– thefifthtrilogy

All About Me

"ALL she talks about it herself and her problems. Granted she has a a lot but never asks about me or my life until she realizes she just bypassed my attempt to want to talk about something in my life bothering me and continued to talk about herself."

– PokemomOnTheGo

People can just be so rude.

"When I got really sick. Very few came to help."

– Tofflus1

"Same here. I got cancer and everyone I knew was over the top supportive for the first six months and then all but three of my friends just vanished. I saw one of them at a Halloween party while I was going through chemo and she told me that my bald head made people uncomfortable. I was dressed as Captain Picard, it was awesome and she ruined it."

– CatGoNoTail

Not Missing High School

"At lunch, she was sitting with her boyfriend, I was sitting with our friend circle. She came up to me, guilted me into sitting with her and her boyfriend, and then proceeded to ignore me for the rest of lunch."

"She didn't care about me, she just didn't want me talking to the friend circle that she had abandoned for her boyfriend. When I pointed this out to her, she called me a jealous b*tch."

"Ah, high school. How I don't miss thee."

– Symnestra

These examples actually served as a good reminder for me to take a moment and assess my friendships.

Not so much about how I've been treated but more about checking myself to see if I'm respecting the people I call my friends.

We've all been guilty of casually mentioning future plans to get together. I embarrassingly wait for people to initiate something, which is terrible.

Show up for your friends. Make them feel important like the individuals they are.