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Cashiers Reveal The Moment That They Snapped And Yelled At A Customer

Listen, whoever said "the customer is always right" clearly NEVER worked in retail, or else they'd have taken that back and publicly apologized to everyone who ever heard the phrase.


My first job was at a very popular chain "discount fashion" store. I was 15. It was the holiday season. I was in no way ready for the f*ckery that I encountered those few months.

Why do people use fitting rooms as bathrooms? Why do people "try on" lingerie only to put their dirty panties back on the hangers like we wouldn't notice? Why would you assume you can leave your toddlers "playing" in the toy area of the store while you literally go to other stores in the mall without them? What would make you think you can return items you didn't even buy here?

Being young, I never worked up the proverbial spine to rip any of these people a new one (no matter how well-deserved it was) - but that doesn't mean it never happens.

Reddit user TheRoastedKing asked:

Cashiers of Reddit, what was the worst time you blew up on a customer?

... guys... things got glorious. Check these responses out.

Check Your Wallet

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At a pawn shop. The lady paid me with a $20 and I gave her change. She flipped up because she knew she'd given me a $100 bill. She screamed, cursed, and called me every name in the book. Just lost her mind. The whole time, she's saying she knew she paid with a $100 bill be she'd just put one in her wallet earlier.

I asked her repeatedly to just check her wallet then to see it the $100 bill was still there or not. She just kept yelling she didn't need to check because she knew she'd given it to me.

Eventually she checked and all the anger just blew out of her. She was mortified, the $100 bill was there. B*tch.

- I_Lost_My_Shoe_1983

B*tch Get Out! 

I was a bartender - which is like being a cashier, therapist, and janitor all at the same time. Right after we closed one night I was sent to sweep up a broken glass that happened to be next to a table where a couple of girls were still sat finishing their last drinks. The DJ had just stopped playing music and bouncers were in the process of asking everyone to leave.

A lot of the broken glass happened to be under where one of the girls was sitting so I politely said "Please can I ask you to move so I can sweep up this broken glass?"

She gave me a really dirty look, downed her drink, threw her glass on the floor next to her (so I now had twice as much to sweep up), and said "You can't make me move anywhere."

That's when I got mad and yelled at her:
"B*TCH GET OUT! WE'RE CLOSED AND I ALREADY ASKED YOU POLITELY."

My manager heard, came over and asked what happened, I told him and he just went "OK. You're barred" to the girl, it was so satisfying when she tried arguing with him and he got the bouncers to escort her from the building.

- Evilcockney

Sort Your Life Out

I was working at a coffee shop in a busy downtown area. There was a businessman that was notorious for being abusive with our staff. One morning he came in and ordered a coffee and a cranberry scone. We happened to be out of cranberry scones that day, and when I informed him of this he flew off the handle and started swearing at me.

I looked him square in the eye and said "You're a grown man throwing a temper tantrum over a cranberry scone. Sort your life out." I then calmly turned to the next customer.

The next day he apologized and was never a problem again.

- ListenToTheStooges

Subway

When I worked at Subway in high school there was this guy in his 30's that came in with his wife almost everyday. He was a d!ck and talked to you like an idiot. Not because he was in a bad mood either, because he thought it was funny to be a jerk to kids working fast-food jobs.

One day I had enough and took his sandwich I was in the middle of making and spiked it into the garbage can and told him to f*ck off. He told me I couldn't talk to customers that way and I told him "I just did you ret*rd."

He called the owner and dropped my name (we had name tags) and she told him that if I blew up on him like that then it was probably deserved. The owner asked him to not return.

I for sure thought I was fired. Lucky for me the owner knew exactly what customer she was talking to and knew me well enough to know it takes a lot to get me irritated and that I wouldn't do something like that for no reason.

- tyrshand90

Coffee Umbridge

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This woman who used to come into the coffee shop I managed was the real-world equivalent of Dolores Umbridge. She was smug, obnoxious and delighted in being a giant pain in the @ss. She came in daily and had a ridiculously complicated drink order which she was unnecessarily nitpicky about. She came in one day when our grinder was having issues (which I warned her about). I happened to be on register and not on bar and so my employee (who was my best employee at the time) made the drink. She took it and left.

The next day she came in and before she even hit the register she announced very rudely in my general direction, "You're making my drink, right?"

I switched places with the person on bar in order to make it. As her drink was so wildly complicated, it took several minutes to make, throughout which I was told how terrible her drink had been yesterday, how it had ruined her day, how she'd lost faith in the company, etc. I apologized profusely and offered to comp her drink. That was not good enough. She told me she wanted the person who had made her drink before fired.

I... lost my temper. I more or less told her that I was sorry that her drink was not up to par the day before, but that I had apologized, offered a free beverage and had actually warned her we were having an equipment issue the day before, which was the likely culprit and not my employee.

She told me I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

I said "No. Actually you are a giant pain in the @ss. Your order is obnoxious and we bend over backwards to accommodate you daily and if that's how you feel please take your business elsewhere."

For some context, she had a whole list of things aside from the crazy drink; it had to be served with a certain number of napkins, her sleeve had to be facing a specific way, etc.

Coffee Umbridge tut tutted her way out of my shop in a huff and I didn't even care if I got in trouble for telling her off (I didn't.)

- Kasparian

15 Free Meals

I was a server years ago and this woman (usually a pretty nice lady) comes in and apparently we had messed up her salmon a few days prior so the manager had given her a free meal card which is good for one single meal.

Well a few days later she comes in with at least fifteen people about an hour before we closed and they all order seafood and steak and wine and her whole party is awful to both me and the other server. One guest even threw his plate on the ground breaking it and throwing food all over because his steak was over cooked!

After all of this the other server went to take the woman her check and it was a couple hundred dollars and she WHIPS OUT THE FREE MEAL CARD. The server takes it to the register comps one of the meals off and comes back with the new total and the woman loses it.


"I have a free meal card! This was one meal for all of us! It should be free!"

The server just stiffens up and politely explains that that isn't how it works and stresses that she had to have known that she couldn't have brought fifteen people in here and expected free meals for everyone. The woman stands up and pours her red wine all over the server - who just goes "WHAT THE F*CK!?" and runs to the back to get the manager.

The server kept her calm, honestly - but the manager flipped out and told her to get the hell out and never come back. Technically they got away with it, which was a shame, but we were all so angry we just wanted them out. They were banned from that point on. That was a crazy night.

- dangit_chelsi

Dollar Store Dental Work

Not a cashier exactly, but a bartender.

There was a hotel next to the restaurant/bar I worked at, which often would bring in crews of construction workers and other types of traveling workers. Most behaved themselves just fine, and some of my favorite regulars were seasonal workers who stayed next door. There were crass, classless individuals from time to time, though. Usually a quick comment that they're in a restaurant, not a sports bar, was enough to calm them down, but not this group.

They came in on a Friday, were loud, rude and vulgar, making passes at waitresses and irritating other guests. I ended my shift while they were still there, and when I arrived the next day, was informed that they followed a waitress out to her car, and wouldn't let her leave. They blocked her from getting into her car, and when she finally was able to get past them, they stood in front of her car and jeered, making rude gestures and remarks. Eventually the kitchen guys came out, and they left.


They showed back up the next night, and I was instructed to deal with them if they came back after the GM went home, which of course they did.

So we started with the usual deal, "you're not welcome back due to your behavior, please leave" etc. The foreman (or whatever he was) insisted it was all a joke, and that I needed to get a sense of humor. His exact words were "You need to go to the dollar store and buy a sense of humor." Whatever that means. Remember that dollar store detail, it'll be important in a second.

So this goes on for a bit, he actually had the gall to ask for a refund for the previous night. I declined, and as this conversation continued, I began to lose my patience. The guy got more belligerent, and insulting, and repeated his weird dollar store comment multiple times. I finally lost my patience roughly the 400th time he said this, and said "The dollar store, huh? Is that where you get your dental work done? You have 10 seconds to get the hell out of this bar before I call the cops."

I could tell this was a sore spot for him, as he looks like he chewed rocks every day for breakfast. He deflated quickly, as several patrons and most of the waitstaff witnessing this laughed at him openly.

He left quietly and did not come back.

- DJNimbus2000

Tires and Racial Slurs

I was super busy trying to run my tire shop and the counter. I had already sold 14 sets of tires - not including the odd or individual tires - when this older guy came up and demanded I go get him a tire. He tells me the size and I inform him it will have to be ordered since we don't carry 13" tires on hand.

He blew up started calling me racial slurs I haven't heard since grade school. I told him to leave my shop. He got in my face and raised his hand to hit me.

That's when I lost my sh!t and dragged the old man off the property and called the cops on him.

The next day the dude came back in glasses and a hat (like a Scooby-Doo disguise) and asked politely to order the tire. Called the cops again and have him jailed for trespassing.

- AthenasPrayers

The Sweep

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When I was working as a stripper we had our usual amounts of assh*les that would come in. At least once a night you would have a complete jerk just be a complete jerk because he saw you as less than human. I have many stories but one that sticks out for me was the time I had a customer sit right up front by the stage and not tip any of us girls. Well, strip club etiquette says if you're sitting up front in the best seat in the house you bloody tip.

This guy and his bunch of buddies (about 8 of them) were taking up nearly the whole stage, not tipping, and blocking any would-be tippers from the stage. 2 dancers had already told the group to move, they wouldn't.


Then it was my turn on stage I'm up there doing my thing and go around for tips and they laugh saying we don't have to tip we already paid door fees. Us girls don't see any of that door money. Well, the main perp had just come back from the bar with 8 jaeger bombs with red bull (hideously over priced drinks) and puts them on the stage leaner that ran around the stage. There were signs clearly stating DO NOT put your drinks up there as the stage is tiny and chances are they could be spilled by a flying foot.

Well, I saw my time to shine and did a complete sweep with my foot of all the drinks in 1 swoop.

Nearly $100 bucks of drinks gone. Guy went nearly apoplectic screaming and yelling, I smiled and said "oops!" The bouncers come over now to see what the problem was and the guy starts nutting off saying that I did it on purpose. The bouncer showed him the multiple signs saying not to put any drinks there. Tough guy says he doesn't care; its still my fault. He had caused enough of a scene that bouncer picked him up and tossed him out of the bar - like literally tossed him. All his friends got escorted out.

- katchafire99

Call Of Duty

I was working one of the Call of Duty midnight launch events. We had about 300 people lined up outside. My boss was trying to give instructions to the customers using a small bullhorn that wasn't very loud. I stepped in with my "mom voice" and while explaining how the lines would move some kid starts yelling the names of women's private body parts at me.

I finally lost it on this kid and yelled back at him that if he didn't knock it off I'd send his @ss to the back of the line. All 300 people went dead silent but the kid never said another word.

I'm now standing there realizing that my boss is standing next to me and he heard all of that. Fast forward to the end of the night after we got all these people their games and my boss gives me a high five and we never spoke about the incident.

- Coffeenomnom

Change and Cigs

At a previous gas station gig, my coworker and I were prepping to shut down for the night. This woman walked in and demanded our cheapest pack of cigs, which came out to like $6.48 or something after taxes. My coworker rang her up and she drops this fistful of loose change on the counter and reaches for the pack. We both ask her for help counting it, and she insisted that it was all there. I told her that the cigarettes weren't leaving til all the money was accounted for, so she huffed and started counting it out. Lo and behold, she was over 2 bucks short, so we refused the sale. She ran out and came back with some more change, slapping it on the counter.

"There, now give me my cigarettes."

Once again we told her it needed to be counted, it was store policy, and she was clearly getting agitated. She counted again and was still short, so we refused the sale again. Then came the kicker.

"You're supposed to take what the customer gives you. Now give my my fucking cigarettes."

I was done at that point.

"Alright. Here's your change back. You're not getting your fucking cigarettes. Have a nice day."

She started screaming and hollering, demanding her cigs and to speak to a manager. There was none on shift and I wasn't about to waste his time with a stupid incident like this one. I lost my temper at that point, telling her to get the f*ck off of our property before I call the police.

She stormed out, vowing to sue the company, but nothing ever came of it.

- Tyrannosaur87

The Subway Couple

I worked front desk at a massive two story gym about 8 years back. The upstairs level was a full size "workout" gym only accessible to members - but the ground floor contained two indoor soccer fields and two full size basketball courts. We held huge intramural leagues of all age brackets for both soccer and basketball throughout the year so it wasn't uncommon for the ground floor to be full of "non-members" as you didn't have to be a member of the gym to play in the intramural leagues or to watch your kids play.

Inside the gym they also built a small cafe that would sell sandwiches, pizza, smoothies, salads, etc. (The gyms idea to get money out of "non-members".) But since the gym was located in a heavily populated restaurant area, people began bringing their own food in, Subway, Chipotle, etc. since it typically much cheaper than our own snack bar. So, the snack bar began losing money.

Long story short, since I was front desk, my manager made it my job to tell people "no outside food was allowed." The only exception was that we allowed outside drinks. (You can't really tell people not to bring in gatorade to a gym, plus we had a Starbucks and Jamba Juice next door that the owner had really good relations with, so drinks were allowed.)

ANYWAYS, intramural season started and of course no one wanted to be told they couldn't bring food in. Since anyone was allowed inside on the ground floor, whole families would stroll in just to watch "little Timmy" play some soccer and they would turn it into a picnic. So it was no surprise that people would get heated when I would stop them at the door and tell them "sorry my dude, no outside food". So eventually to make my life easier, the owner printed "No outside food, drinks OK" on the front door and life seemed to be alright. Until the subway couple showed up...

Started off as a normal day, checking people in, pointing people out to which field they would be playing on etc. Until a couple came strolling in holding two subway sandwiches and drinks. So I had to give them the bad news.

Me: "Hi there, I'm really sorry, we don't actually allow outside food, it says on the front door. You are completely welcome to have your drinks though."

Them: ....

They just kind of looked at me waiting for me to say "Just kidding, gottcha." So I nervously laughed, apologized again, and walked back to my station and watched as they walked outside. I figured it was over and was relieved it didn't escalate.

45 minutes pass and another couple walks in holding Starbucks, I smile and greet them and watch as they walk by to the soccer fields. But from somewhere off in the distance I hear: "They brought in STARBUCKS!!" It was the subway couple. The husband power walks up to the front desk and begins to lose it.

Subway Dad: "HOW DO YOU NOT LET US BRING IN SUBWAY BUT THEY CAN BRING IN STARBUCKS, THAT IS OUTSIDE FOOD."

Me: "Sir, I said you could bring in outside drinks."

SD: "Well it's not just drinks, I see all kinds of food, gatorade, pizza, donuts, etc."

Me: "Sir, we have a gatorade machine behind you and the snack bar serves both donuts and pizza."

SD: "NOT THESE DONUTS, they look different than what you guys sell!"

At this point the subway mom had run up and she begins to spout off nonsense.

SM: "I feel like we are being discriminated against, let me speak to the owner!"

I try to talk some sense into the couple but at this point they keep cutting me off, so I ring up to the office and ask my boss to come down"

SM: "I've never been treated so poorly by anyone who's worked here."

And then spouted off a bunch of nonsense about how much she pays for her kids to play on the intramural leagues, how she's going to pull her kids out of the leagues, and how she felt discriminated against and that she felt I was being racist.

(The couple is very clearly white, I'm very clearly white.)

AND lucky my boss just happened to enter the conversation just at this moment.

Me: "Uhhh ma'am, I'm white."

Boss: "Yea excuse me, why are you calling my employee racist?"

SM and SD both begin yelling about how they were "selected" out of the people in the gym and told they couldn't bring food in.

Boss: "You are having a tantrum and calling my employee racist because you couldn't bring subway inside the gym? I'm sorry you feel that way but rules are rules. No outside food."

This was not the response that SM and SD wanted. They lose it and erupt with an attack of F-bombs and how they were going to call corporate and get us fired. At this point, their kids game had ended and he had walked over and I could tell they were leaving.

My boss reached into his pocket: "Here you go, here is corporate's number, tell Dave "Hi", he is actually a good friend of mine."

SD: "F*ck off."

With that subway mom and subway dad left. They never showed up the next day. I figured they actually did go through with their threat about pulling their kid out of the intramural leagues.

All over a couple of subway sandwiches.

- Giloc

Pocket Dog

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Coffee shop. Saturday morning. Line out of the door. Lady barges through the entire line, throws her massive purse containing a small dog onto the counter knocking over both tip jars and several drinks (she's wearing thick sunglasses...you know the "it's fashion not that I'm an alcoholic/addict" kind of daytime ultra dark sunglasses) and then says she's been stuck in line for fifteen minutes and needs her drink now. Like barely even looking up from her phone. It was astounding.

To which I respond that, she hasn't been in line for fifteen minutes because the people she just cut in front of had been in line for far less than that. Meanwhile my co worker is scrambling to pick up all of the shit she spilled everywhere. I tell her: "Go to the back of the line or leave."

She's like "what?" looking up from her phone like, stunned she isn't getting what she wants, and then starts spouting off her order like I'm going to make it. I repeat:
"Again, go to the back of the line - also we are out of that."


She blows up and like "You don't even have what I want?!?!?!?How hard is your job?" Then she kind of laughs and looks around for backup...which was just, delusional. There was no way she was getting it. I f*cking lost it.

"You know what, that's not my f*cking problem, get the f*ck out of this cafe, you're lucky I don't use your stupid pocket dog as a f*cking mop to clean up all the shit you just spilled everywhere. Go call your daddy and have him take you to f*cking Dunkies you entitled piece of sh*t."

Yo the faces she made as she paced around for a few minute afterwards was priceless. She was absolutely stunned that someone had said something like this to her. Then she asked for my named and I was just like "go f*ck yourself." Then she said I was "classy."

She once again tried to get the other people in line to take her side by saying all kinds of shit, calling me a sexist etc. I also want to point out that she was clearly well off. Like, this was not a situation where she deserved anyone's sympathy for any reason.

I can't say the other people in line started clapping but, absolutely no one was against what I did and tips were good that day.

- iph0ne

The Okay To Go Off

This guy would come in all the time and complain about his wife, probably 2-3 times a week, grab a soda and say stuff like "This old c*nt, I tell ya what, b*tch this bItch that, I told her I was gonna beat her ass" always loud and annoying. Most times I would ignore him. This time he was in a line with a bunch of ladies with their kids and he was cussing up a storm, every dirty word he could think of came out.

I got the evil eye from one of the ladies like "wtf are you gonna do mister?!" Boom, it was like that lady gave me the okay to go off on this sexist piece of trash. I got right up in his grill, tore into him, told him to watch his mouth, ladies and children were present, he started to mumble some shit and leaned in at me.

I took it as a threat, grabbed him by his sweaty collar and drug him to the door. I told him he was banned and to never come back. I was the assistant manager at that time, just happened to be at the register. Was a good day

- Kurtisaurus-Rex

Large Popcorn

I was working at a movie theater and one night we had this group of 20 or 30 junior high kids come in, like they were there with some club.

I was working concessions. A guy and his girlfriend walked up to get something to eat. She asked for a large popcorn. He snapped:
"Nah I'm not paying for a large popcorn, bitch."

She didn't respond, just looked away. I was really shy usually, but it was sad that she put up with that. I told him to stop calling her a bitch, and that I was going to fill a cup of water up to throw on him.

He walked away while I filled the cup up.

- Delica

"Women Are Useless"

Not a cashier, but I worked inbound customer service for a small appliance company (mainly vacuums, steam mops, and a few kitchen products.) Buddy called in and heart my voice and immediately went
"Ugh. I need to speak to a MAN. Women are useless and my vacuum has no suction."

I offered our usual "oh I'm so sorry you're having that problem I have a few things we can try" he said:
"No I'm not wasting my time with a dumbass woman.. transfer me to a man NOW."

I gritted my teeth and said:
"Ok, well just humor this incompetent lady for one moment. Please remove the handle and hose from the machine completely and drop a coin through. Let me know if it comes out the other end."

It didnt. I saw my moment, so I said:
"So I'M the idiot because I'm a woman, yet you, a MAN didnt know enough to check for clogs when your vacuum stopped sucking..... ok then!"

He apologized and gave me a perfect 10 on my customer service survey.

- Ashleighbell032

No Books For You

I was working at the liquidation of a closing bookstore chain. People were waiting over an hour to check out. I had a woman start giving me a hard time because we had to manually change the price of each book. Her attitude increased with each one. I finally snapped, grabbed her whole basket and dumped it behind the counter, voided her sale, pointed at the door, and I said, "Get the f*ck out you're not getting any books today."

She screamed to get a manager who was already stressed standing one register over. My manager told her to leave. What were they expecting the manager to do? Fire me?

- SiegeWolf

Squinting

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I worked at walmart shortly after high school for a few years and I wasn't a cashier but I still worked around cutomers. I had broken my glasses and had to squint for a day till my prescription was ready.

As I was leaving the back room a guy decided I was giving him a dirty look and nothing I said would convince him otherwise. Of course they complained and I explained to the manager what was going on in front of them. They stood smugly watching and the dudes wife or girlfriend called me an assh*le and started going on about how my story was bullshit.

Of course the manager apologized to them because Wal-Mart. I didn't get in trouble but I was still pissed that they left thinking they were in the right.

Well I forgot about it - but a week or so later they were shopping there again and walked passed me and the guy gets all cocky like: "Oh no dirty ass looks today?"

At first I was confused, like what? Is this a joke, then it came back and I pointed at my glasses and said:
"NO, CAUSE I HAVE MY GLASSES BACK STUPID ASS!"

I got in trouble for that but I felt it was worth it.

- TheCarnanator

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

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

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

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

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

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

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

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

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

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

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

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

LonelyMail5115

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

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

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

Severe_Airport1426

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

crappycurtains

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

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

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

chriseo22

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

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

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

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

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

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

REDDIT

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

Gecko-911

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

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

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

LeastFormal9366

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

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

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

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

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

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

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

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

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

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

mattshonestreddit

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

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

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

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

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

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

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

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

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

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Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

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

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

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

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

Communication Issues

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

- maggiebear

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

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

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

- chobani_yo

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

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

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

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

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

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

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

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

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

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

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

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

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

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

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

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

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

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

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

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

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

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

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

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

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

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

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

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

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

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

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

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

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

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

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

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Backupusername

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

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

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

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

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

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

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

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

– AlexRyang

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

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

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

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

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

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

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

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

– brown_pleated_slacks

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

Welcoming Committee

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

–MoonieNine

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

– impiousdrifter

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

– raisinghellwithtrees

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

– realneil

A Busy Day

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

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

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

– mediocrelpn

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

– Worried_Place_917

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

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

I would be paranoid.

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

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