Life has a steep learning curve and one poor decision can drastically alter the course of your own.
This isn't to say that it's impossible to get back up even stronger––many people do this each and every day––but many more will have to settle for being older and wiser even if the way they originally wanted things to go didn't come to pass.
After Redditor TheSeventhRome asked the online community, "What has been your biggest f**k-up leading up to this point in life?" many people bared it all. Some stories are more serious than others, but we each learn in different ways.
Warning: Sensitive content ahead.
"I tried to walk..."
I tried to walk across a guard rail and ended up slipping and hitting my gooch in just the right spot that it tore my urethra. Had a catheter for about 3 months after that.
"On my 16th birthday..."
On my 16th birthday my much older brother killed himself. My regret is that I had called him to ask him to come out with my friends and I to celebrate at a local restaurant. But on the first ring thought "He probably doesn't want to hang out with a bunch of 15-16 year olds" and hung up the phone. They found his body the next morning. I will never be whole again.
"Quitting a job..."
Quitting a job before I had another one (long story), which led to my savings being drained and my credit card debt soaring through the roof.
I've recovered about a year later, but my savings are basically non-existent as I spent all of my excess paying down debt.
"I was 25..."
Staying with someone for way too long because I thought I could help them.
I was 25 when I met her, she was broken and very needy. She had a lot of issues with herself, mainly she always felt insecure and inadequate. For those times when she was ok, everything was amazing and she was the best person to be around with. But those times were rare, she was jealous about anyone and everyone. I didn't even hang around my friends anymore because she would make me feel guilty later on and she could never get along with them. I always thought I could help her, but only after everything fell apart did I realize that in my effort to always be there for her I broke myself.
We broke up 2 years ago, I'm now 33 and just starting to fix relationships that I've abandoned because I was too focused on her. I don't blame her at all because that was my choice, but it's been hard.
"I helped a team..."
2.5 years ago, in my last semester at college to become a props and paint person for tv and film. I went to college at 30 when I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life.
I helped a team lift a very heavy set piece. It was too heavy, we didn't have enough people, but we got it to where it needed to be.
Turns out that lift messed up both of my wrists. For life. Spent the next two years after graduating trying to fix them, figure out what was even wrong. End result? "We don't know what's wrong, we can't fix it. Look into long term pain management."
So now I can't work the industry I wanted to be in, and I also can't even do a lot of the stuff I used to do. Can't lift anything more that 15 lbs without it hurting.
I finally got a part time job at an escape room.
I could have been working in TV, or at the very least, theatre. But I can't bend my left wrist and any sort of repetitive actions hurts like a mother.
Guess what needs full mobility and functionality of my hands? MAKING PROPS AND PAINTING SETS.
"It led to..."
Getting married to the wrong person. It led to a lengthy divorce in which time my ex tanked me financially. It took me years to recover.
Parents Explain Why They Regret The Name They Gave Their Child | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
"Nobody tells you..."
Losing friends because I didn't put effort into maintaining the relationship. Nobody tells you when you're a kid just how hard it is to make new friends once you're past your college years.
"Starting smoking..."
Starting smoking at 16. I'll be 27 in May. I haven't touched a cigarette in 9, ALMOST 10 months. I couldn't stand the smell of them when I did, and I sure as hell hate it more now that I quit.
"Such is life."
Took a very large dose of a research chemical thinking it'd be like acid, went clinically insane for like a year and require inpatient hospitalization. Took me two years after that to build my life up and have a career, but I was never totally the same. Such is life.
"Life is exponentially better now."
Alcoholism from age 19-23. 5 years sober now. Life is exponentially better now. Glad I made it through all that.
People Divulge The Real Reason They Cut All Ties With Their Family
Reddit user Alarming_Basil6205 asked: 'People who cut off their family, what did they to you?'
CW: abuse and neglect.
Some people see their family on a regular, sometimes daily basis.
Others see them in person maybe once or twice a year, even if they remain on mostly good terms and stay in contact via phone or video chat.
Then there are those who sadly are no longer in contact with their families, by their own choosing.
Some people slowly realize that being an active part of their family's life simply isn't healthy for them, and gradually phase them out.
While others might cut ties with their family immediately following one inciting incident.
"People who cut off their family, what did they to you?"
Still Trying To Cut Ties
"Grew up in an explosive and abusive household, when I was finally able to move out I started slowing distancing myself."
"Mom went off the deep end."
"Started out accusing me of sleeping with every single person I know (yes, EVERY person),coming up with outlandish stories for why I was an awful person."
"When I cut her off completely she started stalking me."
"I changed my number and moved to a new state, I did not give anyone, including my brother, my new home address, and started receiving cards in the mail from her last year."- lovelyxcastle
Lies, Manipulation, And Abuse
"I found out my dad wasn't really my dad, and then my mother proceeded to lie about what actually happened."
"I experienced a childhood full of physical & verbal abuse, but he never laid a hand on my sisters."
"Now I know why."
"I corroborated the truth via other family members before cutting off all contact with mom & 'dad'."
"Still close with sisters though."- chAtoyant453
Couldn't Help, No Matter How Hard They Tried
"My cousin had addiction problems and just burned every bridge in our family."
"Used to be we’d buy him food and stuff he needs instead of just giving him money because it’d go straight to more drugs but he eventually became so toxic we couldn’t even do that."- KermitTheFraud92
Only Present When Convenient
"My father was an abusive alcoholic who left us when I was a teen."
"He was clearly not okay mentally."
"We reconnected in my early 20s and when I finally started to build my trust for him again he disappeared."
"He tried to reconnect with me a year later when he needed something."
"I haven't spoken to him since then."- Ducktheducky
Theft
"My cousin (still a12yo child at this point) lost both her parents and the family had to help her sell her parental house."
"Long story short, one of my aunts secretly sold the house without telling anyone and kept the profit (250k) for herself."
"Everyone thought the house was still up for sale until the real estate agent informed my cousin's actual guardian (a different aunt) that my other aunt had sold the house and he thought it was sketchy."
"Good news though, my aunt was sued, had to pay everything back and the 250k was directly deposited into my cousin her bank account and my aunt received an additional 50k fine she had to pay my cousin and guardian aunt for emotional damage."
"We do not speak about this aunt anymore."- locococomokko
Humiliation Over Help
"Aunt in the rich part of the family made my mother clean their bathrooms one day when she told them we couldn't afford food (unlucky situation, both parents unemployed within days), instead of just helping her out."
"They didn't even pay her, they gave her food they had prepared that day and some potatoes and oil."
"From that day on, my mother was so hurt and felt so humiliated I decided to pretend they don't even exist."- oo-----D
Greed And Elder Abuse
"I cut out my mother's side of the family."
"Her sister and brother made it their personal goal to financially ruin my parents."
"Then the other sister piled on."
"All three of them had been borrowing money from my grandparents for years and when the other sister sold my grandparents house out from under them 'because they cant live on their own anymore' my grandparents were appalled when they were told by my aunt that she was putting them in a home."
"So they lived with my parents instead and the other siblings accused my parents of taking their inheritance."
"They harassed, stalked, and vandalized my parents property until both grandparents were dead."
"I will never forgive them and hope their own children treat them as poorly as they treated my parents and grandparents."- Jubjub0527
At Least There's One
"Mother - was never really present."
"Even after my father died."
"Brother - Father died when I was not an adult."
"House was left to four of his sons."
"One brother conned into signing the house over to him for loan purposes to fix the house up."
"Stole house."
"Another brother - stole from me and my family with high regularity."
"Forgave him a bunch of times."
"Kept doing it so I gave up."
"Extended family - non existent."
"With all that being said I have a fantastic relationship with the last brother."- Hopchocky
Befitting Of A "Runaway"...
"They reported me to my country's officials for being a 'runaway' (I was 26), a heathen, a wh*re, and (I wish this was a joke) a witch."
"All are crimes in my country."
"So yes. I have nothing to do with them anymore."- just_lurking_b99
Lies And Abuse Were Just The Tipping Point
"My sister was cut off about 10 years ago after several incidents involving her spreading rumors about me at my work for a third time."
"She told one of my boss that I was a hard drug user (i never touch the stuff)."
"She kept doing that after I warned her."
"I cut off the rest of my family when I confronted them about multiple historical events of physical abuse and torture from when I was a kid."
"They refused to talk about it and were verbally abusive about it."
"I cut them off about 5 years ago and my life has taken a positive turn since."- riconoir28
Not Cut Ties, But Rather Loosened Ties
"Just stress."
"Every phone call, every visit, holidays , events."
"Constantly berated, questioned and feuding."
"I didn’t cut them off in the sense of no contact."
"I just stopped caring."
"I don’t ask, I don’t get involved."
"Phone calls last 3 minutes because I have nothing to share everything is good here."
"Holidays I eat and leave."
"And I’m too busy for random drop ins because kids have sports and friends and I have hobbies."
"When they come to me and vent I simply respond in unique ways that they’ll figure it out and I’m unsure what I’d do in their place."- MochiSauce101
Unhealthy Work/Life Balance
"I grew up in a family that looked perfect from the outside."
"4 kids and parents as a solid unit."
"One thing we never talked about was dads explosive anger which led to 'episodes' that he would never apologize for."
"Just be nice later and we would all just brush it under the rug."
"Cut to my age of 31 and I had been working with my father as a financial planner for 6 years helping grow 'our' client base."
"My mother and younger sister work with us as well as assistants."
"Only problem is every 6 months to a year I’d get fired by my dad."
"Massive blowup and a 'f*ck you, I have everything and you have nothing'."
"'Get out and I will never talk to you again'.”
"Then he would be nice in a day or 2, make some promises to put things in writing and we’d all just forget it."
"But you only want to bring up 'that contract' so many times before you worried you would cause another episode."
"He would say things like, 'you really think I would throw you, my daughter in law and grandkids out on the street?'"
"You would think no of course not, it is what you threaten and I do get scared but no, he wouldn’t actually do that."
"Surprise, that’s what happens."
"Business value almost triples."
"He tortures me until I lose 17 pounds (and I’m a skinny guy) and I quit."
"Walk away with nothing."
"We end up hiring a company that works with family businesses for over 20k to help solve our family crisis."
"Specialists, psychologists and lawyers all involved."
"They write a report after interviewing every family member multiple times for hours and hours, including my siblings that don’t work there."
"Report comes out, my dad loses his mind."
"Fires the company that wrote the report."
"I make peace that it is all over."
"Start interviewing to just work at the bank."
"I have not been paid in almost 6 months."
"I have two daughters 3 years old and 1 years old."
"But my dad comes back and starts making promises again, re-hires the family business specialists."
"We have a meeting where I agree to not take the position at the bank after 3 successful interviews."
"I will manage the business while my father vacations for a month and he will sell me my own clients."
"But I agree cause I don’t really want to work at the bank."
"My dad leaves on his trip."
"I think things are finally getting worked out (for the 10th time) but he comes back a month later and won’t answer my calls."
"I go and see him in the office and bring my 1 year old who hasn’t seen for 4 months."
"He says he is going to finalize the list of clients I am to buy."
"I haven’t talked to my dad since."
"That was over 6 years ago."
"He ended up getting me fired from our investment dealer because I contacted 'his clients' even though he had either never met them or they were some of my best friends."
"Then he sued me."
"I had no money or anyway to fight him so I just abandoned everything and started over."
"I don’t talk to my dad, mom, brother, older sister, grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins and many family friends."
"They all got my fathers narrative."
"The patriarch said get out and everyone else just let it happen."
"Only my younger sister who worked there knows what happened and we are very close."
"We both just don’t talk to our family."
"My wife and I are way better off and super happy."
"I made more money last year than I ever would have imagined and I’m my own boss."- bosonsNblackholes
Cutting ties with family members is never a decision to be taken lightly.
And working towards a resolution and reconciliation is always an excellent first step.
Sometimes though, the only way to reach a peaceful resolution is to move on and step away.
Most of us who have not worked in hospitality have dreamed of having a nice getaway for a weekend, or staying in a top-rated hotel, and relaxing in one of its best suites.
But those who have worked in hospitality are ready to point out some of the unexpected features and oddities that circulate around these fancier accommodations.
Redditor akumamatata8080 asked:
"People who work at super fancy hotels, what kind of stuff happens that management doesn't want people to know about?"
Cross-Contamination
"During housekeeping, hotels use different colored cloths to wipe your drinking glasses, cutlery, toilets, and sinks to avoid contamination. They just didn’t bother separating these cloths after wiping and moving to the next room."
- curry-sauce
The Secret Lives of Guests
"I did valet at an upscale hotel in Southern Florida, and the number of times I parked luxury vehicles with drugs haphazardly or precariously stowed in obvious places always blew me away."
"Not surprisingly, those guests were great tippers as they learned who to trust."
- lazerayfraser
Attention to Detail
"We take notes on your reservation profile. Everything from anniversary information to favorite cocktails and foods. We add notes to pass along to other staff."
- dez_navi
Four-Legged Stowaways
"$2k per night and this place has a serious rat problem."
- prof_dynamite
"Could be worse. My hotel has silly rats."
- snapwillow
What in the Mortuary
"It's pretty common to have a dead guest. There's a standard procedure for it and we take care of it quietly."
- Why_am_I_here033
Casino Funds
"I have a pretty interesting one. We know criminal enterprises have funded casinos in the past. I worked at Revel Casino (now Ocean) in Atlantic City before and after its opening."
"One thing they kept mentioning in our onboarding was that the triads were funding the casino. I thought it was super strange that these execs were just openly telling brand new hires."
- hornet_Critical
Like-New Beds
"I only work as a housekeeper at a regular four-star Hotel, but probably about 25% of people either bleed or leave s**t stains on the beds. It's truly atrocious how disgusting people are, especially when they know someone else is cleaning it up. Even the wealthier guests."
"And the best tippers are the cleanest people."
"If someone fully s**t on the bed and used towels to wipe, drank heavily and puked on the carpet in multiple places, and clogged the toilet, that person will not tip at all."
"But the person who barely used the full bed and didn't use the shower at all and was super clean and polite, now that's a good tipper."
- kpo987
Endless Supply of Gossip
"We turn a blind eye to drug dealers more often than you think. They hardly complain and usually pre-pay huge bonds happily. Also, we don't give a s**t if you're having an affair."
- NotTheGary_JustGary
Odd Celebrity Stories
"I worked cooking at an ultra-exclusive resort in Utah ($3k-$12k/night)."
"Nothing that exciting happened in my year there. I found a bottle in the tallboy (large fridge) labeled 'Kristen Belle's Breastmilk. DO NOT USE.'"
"I had put in my two weeks' notice and was really drunk on a day off, and made a post on Facebook about how Gordon Ramsay was coming and I hoped he wasn't filming 'Kitchen Nightmares' with us. I was fired within 24 hours, lol (laughing out loud). I did get to cook fish tacos for him and his family, though, and I heard he complimented the dinner kitchen crew directly (partially open kitchen), which is cool."
- OM3N1R
Poor Cruise Care
"A good friend of mine is a pilot. It's his first professional job. He flies an air ambulance. It's not typically picking up unstable patients in need of urgent care. More like repositioning stable patients."
"The vast majority of people he flies come from the cruise ship industry. If you get sick or injured on a cruise ship, they will dump you at the next port. It doesn't matter if the port doesn't have the kind of medical help you need. They just need you off the ship."
"It very well is up to you to arrange a private flight with medical crew to reposition you from Tobago to Tampa to get the medical help you really need."
- DoctFaustus
Collecting Stories
"We had an entire wing of the hotel infested with bedbugs. They just move through the walls from one room to the next. We waged a war of attrition that took years, and cost a lot of money, but we never stopped renting the rooms."
"We had one old guy though who was rich, divorced several times over, he just retired in the hotel. He had a room on the ground level right around the corner from the hotel bar. I don't know what he paid for it, but it wasn't cheap, and he furnished his own room."
"Everyone on staff knew his habits, knew his drink, knew when to leave him alone or when he wanted to chat. The funniest thing was, after he passed, he'd pre-booked his memorial at a totally different hotel. He liked his privacy, I guess. RIP, Hal."
- machuitzil
Bed Bug Horror Stories
"I worked cheap hotels and this is super common; even heat treating rooms professionally and quarantining nearby rooms they would always pop up somewhere weeks later through an air duct."
"When I check in to any motel or hotel, the first thing I do before bringing my bag in is lift the mattress and check the seams for bed bugs or blood spots. You can learn how from Youtube if you don't get first-hand experience."
"The crazy thing is if they spent a few thousand to bag every mattress they'd cut down on it significantly."
- galkasmash
Wild Stories
"I worked in room service at a very chic hotel in Miami. One guest requested that a specific waitress (not a room service worker) always deliver him food. Not exactly sure what went on in there, but he tipped her with a big bag of weed each time, which she would promptly bring back to share with the room service staff."
"I can confirm that the concierge will get you WHATEVER you want..."
"We had a local couple, who were staying with us to avoid being served for a lawsuit. We weren't allowed to say that they were staying there. The police eventually showed up for them."
"There were several times when guests would come to the front desk claiming the maids had stolen something from their room. They would be irate, demanding we call the police. Every. Single. Time. They found the item either in their luggage or car or their travel companions had moved/packed the item."
"One gentleman claimed that he forgot his very expensive camera in his room. My manager pulled up a video that showed him packing up his car, placing the camera on top of the car, and driving off without realizing it."
- SnarkyVamp
Questionable Christmas Bonus
"I used to work in accounts receivable for a couple of luxury hotels that were owned by the same LLC. We would open blocks of rooms for GENERIC SPORTS SEASON about eight months in advance."
"Due to high demand, these reservations had to be a two-day FRI, SAT stay. The payment was made in full (450-800 depending on room type). Refunds were available only if you canceled a month before the arrival date."
"When I first started in the position, I discovered $63,000 worth of reservations that had been canceled on time but were never refunded."
"I showed it to my manager, an absolutely incompetent woman who couldn't check in a guest if she needed to, she got back to me after discussing it with one of the owners."
"I can't remember how exactly she put it but I was told to just forget the matter and not to mention it to anyone. I got a $500 dollar cash Christmas bonus that year."
- Weirda**mustache
Secret Security
"Not a hotel employee, but associated with a popular convention that everyone would recognize."
"The convention attendees get so out of control that the hotel will only host the convention if they have a private security force."
"Since the private security isn't law enforcement or licensed, they do pretty much whatever it takes to keep trouble out of the public eye. Mostly it's locking people up in rooms or escorting them out of town, but they can get rough at times."
"But none of the convention attendees know they are there and the hotel staff pretends they don't see them. Even those who run afoul of them don't know exactly who it was that grabbed them."
- rusty0123
While everyone might think that staying at a fancy hotel would be great fun, it may not be such an enjoyable experience for those who work there. With all kinds of questionable behaviors performed by guests, not to mention the messes that need to be cleaned up, that fancy hotel may not feel so fancy for very long.
While we may not all enjoy studying history, we all have certain types of stories that interest us, and one that seems to catch everyone's attention are the hard-to-believe, almost far-fetched tales.
Interestingly enough, history is full of these stories, leaving many to believe that reality is truly stranger than fiction.
Redditor ThrowAwayMyLife2341 asked:
"What are some events in recorded history that are extremely hard to believe, but without a doubt actually happened?"
Second Chance Flight
"My colleague was on the plane to Hawaii where the entire top of the plane ripped off… they flew the rest of the way without any overhead."
"They landed and everyone walked off. It's absolutely insane to see the pictures. Talk about being given a second chance."
- SkydivingSquid
Running Late for the Olympics
"In 1908, Russia showed up 12 days late to the Olympics because the world switched calendars while they did not."
- drailCA
"To accommodate the Russian team, some events were rescheduled so that the Russian athletes could participate. This led to a longer duration for those Olympics, which lasted from April 27 to October 31, making it the longest Olympic Games in history."
- parkerjh
An Inescapable War
"The Battle of Bull Run, one of the first battles of the US Civil War, occurred on and around Wilmer McClean's farm in Northern Virginia. Not wanting to live surrounded by war, McClean and his family moved to Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia."
"The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was the last significant battle between Union and Confederate forces. The Confederates signed the surrender order in Wilmer's sitting room."
"It is said that the Civil War started on Wilmer's farm and ended in his sitting room."
- csudebate
History of Bombings
"There was a Japanese man called Tsutomu Yamaguchi who was on his way to work in Hiroshima in 1945, when he saw falling through the sky, two miles from where he stood, what ultimately turned out to be the atomic bomb."
"He had just enough time to take cover in a ditch as the bomb detonated and miraculously he survived. Somehow the Hiroshima train station was still operational and so Yamaguchi, battered, bombed and bruised, decided to board a train to his family home so he could recover... in Nagasaki."
"Three days later, Yamaguchi was called into work to explain what he saw, which he did. At work, as he began to tell the story of what happened, the second bomb dropped."
"It was the reinforced concrete walls around him that saved him this time, and Yamaguchi quickly ran to find his wife and son. Ground temperatures in the city reached 4,000°C and radioactive rain poured down."
"The family's home was destroyed, but Yamaguchi's wife and son had thankfully been out shopping - looking for burn ointment for Yamaguchi, when the bomb fell, and they'd survived."
"Despite this ordeal of having survived two nuclear explosions and subsequent radiation exposure, Yamaguchi went on to live till 93 yrs of age. He died in 2010 after being recognized by the Japanese government as a 'nijyuu hibakusha,' or 'twice-bombed person.'"
- Voodizzy_
A Monumental Fall
"Nicholas Alkemade fell 18,000 feet without a parachute from a burning plane in 1944 and suffered no serious injury."
- hazps
"I see how the snow cover helped but how he didn’t get skewered by pine trees or break a single bone is shocking."
- switchbladeeatworld
"Imagine what he was thinking when he got up from that fall. What kind of crazy thoughts were running through his head."
- Lankey_Craig
"'Yeah, no one is gonna believe this one.'"
- Pennywise626
"Germans almost didn't, after finding him in just a flight suit but no parachute. They initially pegged him as a spy who'd been dropped behind their lines and had stashed his chute and gear. As such, he was likely to be executed."
"Except Alkemade was so insistent his captors went and found the wreckage of his aircraft, with the burnt remains of his chute stashed behind his gun position. Germans told him the news and shared vodka with him to celebrate."
- JohnnyJohnCowboyMan
Mass Dance in France
"That time everyone died of a dancing sickness where they danced themselves to death in France. Mass hysteria."
- DavinaCole
"St. Vitus’ Dance, as it is called, still doesn’t have a definitely known cause."
"New research as of 2021 shows Sydenham chorea as the most likely cause."
- ENFJPLinguaphile
The Return of the Sun
"The Battle of Halys."
"In roughly 6th century BC, the Medes and the Lydians were at war. The war had lasted for six years and climaxed at the Battle of Halys."
"During the battle, a solar eclipse began. Both sides believed that the Gods were angry at their long and bloody war, and were taking the sun away from them."
"They declared peace that day, and the sun was returned. But yeah, a war ended because of a solar eclipse."
- TheRogueBear
A Spicy Battle
"The Nutmeg Wars. The Dutch and the English went to war THREE times over nutmeg, which at the time was only known to grow on one South Pacific island."
- missoularedhead
Entertaining Prisoners
"Theodore Roosevelt found his boat was stolen. So he built a new boat, tracked the thieves down, and arrested them."
"He then proceeded to walk them multiple days, without sleeping, so they could receive a trial instead of just shooting them on the spot."
"It was in the middle of a harsh winter so he didn’t handcuff them (for fear they’d get frostbite), so instead, he just kept himself awake by reading Tolstoy with a gun trained on them the whole trek."
- Another_Road
"That's only the twenty-second most Teddy thing I've ever read, but a new one, which makes me love it."
- Beard_of_Valor
"I am always half convinced that Teddy Roosevelt was not a real person. No one could have been that absolutely wild and done that many things, but there is just too much overwhelming proof."
- LeSilverKitsune
Christmas Day 1914
"Christmas day 1914. The truce on the WW1 battlefields."
"It shows the humanity inside everyone, but they were able to wake up the next day and go straight back to war, kill the men that they’d spent a sincere day with."
- PotterWhoLock01
Honoring Everyone's Dead
"I can't remember where I saw/heard the story of Christmas Day 1914 (I think from the BBC), but I believe from one of the last-living Tommys, who said that whilst they were forced to start shooting at each other, the majority of shots intentionally missed, from both sides of no man's land."
"I believe it was also the same man who said, in reference to Remembrance Day, to also remember the Germans. That stuck with me. They were like our lads; sent out to fight a war for war's sake, forced to do unspeakable things to other men because some higher-up told them they had to."
- The_Gene_Genie
"Australia is a bit like this with regard to the Turks on ANZAC Day."
"One of the main ceremonies is reading the letter from Turkish commander and later founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk:"
"'Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours...'"
"'You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons, as well.'"
- Zebidee
The Medical Church
"In 1944, during the allied invasion of France, 2 American paramedics, Ken Moore and Robert Wright, 101st Airborne, saved around 80 soldiers of both sides, allied and axis. They set themselves up in a church, had only what was in their first aid kits and medic bags, and had a strict no-gun policy."
"The church was almost destroyed by a mortar shell, but it didn’t go off. It was almost destroyed again, due to friendly fire. Ken Moore would risk his life by venturing out of the church and finding injured soldiers, and both medics stayed behind at the church, even though the rest of their forces had to retreat. Wright took on the responsibility of looking after the soldiers."
"The church still stands in Angoville-au-Plain, France, the blood-stained pews are still there, and a broken tile from the mortar shell was never fixed, to honor the legacy of these men."
"This is very simplified, and probably inaccurate in a few ways, but it is still an incredible story."
- JustACanadianGuy07
A Lack of Perspective
"In 1903, The New York Times published an article about flying machines. They stated that it would take the combined efforts of all Mathematicians and mechanics 1-to-10 million years for powered flight to be achieved."
"Anyway, about nine weeks later, the Wright brothers achieved powered flight for the first time."
"They were also overly cynical after. In 1910 they said that flight would only ever be for billionaires, of course, we had commercial flights by around the 60s achievable for many."
- Joe_PM2804
The Year Without Summer
"1816, The Year Without Summer."
- theassassintherapist
"I'm a big classic horror fan, so I'm kinda glad this happened. Indirectly lead to Mary Shelley writing 'Frankenstein.'"
- UniversalHammer71
An Astronomical Life Cycle
"Halley's Comet appeared in the sky when Mark Twain was born in 1835."
"The comet moves in a seventy-five or seventy-six-year orbit, and, as it neared Earth once again, Twain said, 'I came in with Halley’s Comet and I expect to go out with it.'"
"Sure enough, he died on April 21, 1910, just as the comet made its next pass within sight of Earth."
- SuvenPan
While history may not be everyone's favorite subject, it'd be really hard to believe if someone didn't find at least one of these hard-to-believe occurrences interesting.
Anyone raising children can attest to the difficult challenges involved with being a parent.
And despite every intention of getting it right by doing the best job they can, not everyone is a perfect at being mom or dad.
Hopefully, people will be able to look back on their childhood and recognize that everything their folks did for them was all out of love.
If only that was the case.
Unfortunately, there are those who were never meant to be parents and have scarred their children with bad memories.
Curious to hear from strangers about their experiences growing up, Redditor Deviant55 asked:
"What is something that your parents did that you will never forgive them for?"
Emotional scars run deep for the Redditors here sharing their horrific stories.
Staged Christmas Robbery
"Close to Christmas when I was around 10/11 years old, I was home alone when there was a knock on the door. I answered and it was one of my mum's acquaintances."
"He told me that he'd spoken to my mum and needed to come in to pick some stuff up, so off he went upstairs and proceeded to steal all of the Christmas presents that were destined to be placed under the tree for my brother, sister and I on Christmas morning."
"I was oblivious to what the stuff that needed to be picked up was."
"Mum comes home 30 minutes later, asks if anybody came round whilst she was out."
"Proud as punch I say 'yup, Craig came round and picked the stuff up you told him about.'"
"YOU LET HIM IN THE HOUSE?!?"
'oh crap'
"Mum runs upstairs...."
'he's stolen all of your Christmas presents, you'll have nothing for Christmas now!'
"High drama, anger and profound guilt filled the entire house for the remainder of the night and a while after."
"About 6 months later I overheard a conversation I shouldn't have and figured out that there were no Christmas presents to start with, the whole thing was a setup."
"The household budget didn't stretch to maintaining existence, sating a rampaging heroin addiction AND Christmas presents."
"So yeah, my mum concocted a perfect plan to hide the lack of Christmas presents, remove herself from any perceived blame and let a 10 year old boy think that he had ruined Christmas."
"Those were the days!"
– greenear_1
Losing A Pet
"My mum sold my dog while I was at work. When I came home and was looking for them she told me that someone came to see him today and that they loved and took him. He went to a good home, but I never got to even say goodbye."
– Fenrizian
A Recurring Ailmemt
"My mom left my bro and I behind to go be a methhead while lying to people about having cancer. I've confronted her, told her to show proof of the cancer. Nothing. She gets cancer every five to ten years without going to the doctors."
– ShazBishop
Forced To Referee
"Probably that I ended up being the mediator between my mom and dad as they went through a divorce and one side was being frustrating to communicate with than the other."
"So I in part had to act as a go between information and nagging them to communicate for stuff like medical bills and insurance and school payment stuff from 7-15 or so."
– Hellsoul0
Warning: These involve stories of abuse.
Step-parent get a bad rap because of these unfit parental figures.
Fake Public Persona
"Similar situation. Mom remarried a verbally and physically abusive DBag. The real kicker is him being a teacher at the local High School and loved by the community. He would choke us and throw us around and tell us we would amount to nothing. Even his own children."
"My mom wouldn’t really do anything about it and we complained to my dad. It really messed me and my brother up mentally. Drove us both into deep depression and anxiety as we got into high school. I ended up being a lot bigger than my step dad and he eventually stopped acting that way because I started standing up to him. Now he is pretty chill but I’ll never forgive him for that, or my Mom. My Mom denies denies denies that it was her fault."
– yaboymilky
These examples only reflect a small number of traumatic experiences contributed by Redditors who were brave enough to share their stories.
There were several hundred more examples, showing that it was not uncommon for people to grow up in unloving households.
Hopefully, they have each found a way to find peace and recognize their courage as they realized they were not alone in their trauma based on this emotional thread.