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People Divulge The Cruelest Thing Someone's Ever Said To Them

People Divulge The Cruelest Thing Someone's Ever Said To Them
Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

It is a universally acknowledged truth that kids are master minds of cruelty. They have a sixth sense which allows them to pinpoint the source of insecurity in another human, craft a statement that is as cruel as it is creative, and launch the insult with cold and distant absence of guilt whatsoever.


Unfortunately, Redditors remind us that other adults, even friends, can provide self-esteem battering statements just as bad. Years later, statements like these fork into two distinct paths: the humorous shade offered by hindsight or the profound snowball growing intensity.

Reddit was stocked with both.

TheCrowsNestTV asked, "What is the cruelest thing someone has said to you?"

A Deadpan Slam

"When I was a kid, my best friend was always kind of mean or standoffish with me at school but we hung out a lot just the two of us."

"At some point I confronted him and said, 'you keep doing this, are you embarrassed to be my friend?' He just said 'Yes.'"

-- Stalkachu

Meme Wtf GIF Giphy

Objectifying in the Other Direction

"It was a thing in my school where guys would go up to an 'unattractive' girl in a group, in front of everyone, and ask them on a date."

"Just when the girl would start to believe it was real and give a response, the guys would all start laughing and the one who asked would tell her it was just a joke and that, 'no one would ever wanna go out with something like you.'"

"And yes, they would say 'something,' not 'someone.' It hurts yeah."

-- fvck7h15

When the Kids are the Mature Ones

"My son had a liver transplant and has huge scars on his belly. He was playing at our local park where they shoot up water. Great summer fun for young kids. Another parent says, 'they should cover that kid up so we don't have to see it.'"

"Thankfully, another parent spoke up snd said, 'just because that kid's gone through a lot doesn't mean he has to hidden to make you feel comfortable.' I started to breathe evenly and smile."

"Funny thing is, when kids asked him about his scars, my son would just say, 'I had surgery.' Then they would continue playing. Adults were more cruel."

-- Italophilia27

Sociopathic Roasting

"The worst was probably in fifth grade, just after my dad died. The whole school knew, and everyone was being really nice to me except one girl. I believe the exact quote was, 'go suck your dads d*ck. Oh wait you can't, he's dead.'"

"It didn't even hurt my feelings, more of just bewildered me like who says something like that?"

-- Standard-Cost

A Most Certain Red Flag

"Ex-wife once told me that she wished my mom had died of the breast cancer that she beat when I was in 2nd grade. She's been in remission for 20+ years now and has always been a sweet, thoughtful and smart lady. I had to leave the house to calm down - and luckily i left the relationship eventually."

-- SandoMann

Priorities...

"'You are caring, smart, treat me well, have your sh!t together, and are great husband/father material, and are a wonderful man to be around. I wish you'd lose 20 lbs. so I could date you.'"

-- hired_g00n

"Dad, it's Boston Pizza. Also, that's Horrible."

"When I was 16 and looking to apply at Boston Pizza which had just opened up in our town, my dad said, 'don't you have to be pretty to be a waitress?'" -- laurieali

"Please don't say parents, for the real word is creeps." -- King_Pecca

A Backhanded Guestimation

"'Guys our age'...Dude was at least 20 years older then me. Yeah, honestly me and my partner had a laugh about it later. But at the time i died a little on the inside." -- anotherDutchdude

"He didn't think of you as older, he thinks of himself as younger." -- Hektikdt

Taking the Long Way to Attraction

"'Your freckles look like you stood behind a screen door and had sh*t flung on you.' This was a neighbor who was looking to hook up. It never happened and I quit talking to him." -- sukiintheshower

"Is this some kind of advanced ninja flirting technique I'm not aware of?" -- UHMWPE

An Out and Out PUNK

"7-year-old cousin: 'Hey derp, how old are you now?'"

"Me: 'I just turned 26.'"

"7-year old: 'You're not a man!'"

"WTF kid...."

-- derpado514

"I'm 21 and my niece is 8, but she considers us to be basically the same age. Makes me feel good when I get sad that my childhood is over." -- brearose

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Not Something You Can Just "Try Out'

"My mom said that her life would have been better if I never existed." -- earthling_probably

"To hopefully make you feel better, some people just should never have been parents. It's much more likely she's saying she just never should have had kids because she's not able to handle it." -- Not_A_RedditAccount

Whiplash

"My biological father came back into my life when I was 14 and had a girlfriend. Everything was great for a year until she made him choose between his new family, and me."

"I got a text message on Christmas Day saying 'Father and daughter relationship not working out, all the best for your future. Please dont call me, it will cause me problems.'"

-- SabrinaSpellman1

Suddenly, a Snob

"There were years I worked multiple jobs to help support us while my ex was working on her doctorate. Once she had herself a tenure track university position, she let me know I wasn't 'educated enough to be married to a professor' like herself."

"I have my bachelor's degree."

"Well, I found myself sleeping on the sofa for about a week, while looking for an apartment so I could move out. During that time, every morning as she'd greet me with the phrase 'Why haven't you killed yourself yet?'"

-- 2ndbreakfastfan

At Least an Insult is Attention at All

"Nothing. When my best friend of 20+ years ghosted me, that was the cruelest thing." -- MelissaMiranti

"Wow, that's terrible. I really hate when people don't even have the guts to say why or have an adult conversation instead of ghosting." -- Neilia_Moon

Abusive Control 101

"'No one will love you like I love you because you're uninteresting, boring, & annoying.'"

"Getting past it a day at a time, but I do occasionally find myself apologizing my husband for being 'boring/annoying.'"

-- c0untc*ntula

Severely Out of Touch

"I struggled with anxiety caused bulimia a few years back... One of my best friends (who has some self consciousness issues so she likes unhealthily skinny bodies.) told me after I recovered and gained my healthy weight back that I 'looked better when [I was] bulimic.'"

"....That made me feel so small and empty."

-- izzygirl123

The First 25 Minutes of "Grease"

"9th grade year I met a girl who moved on to my block the week summer break started, we spent almost every day together. We lost our virginity to each other."

"First day of school and she won't talk to me because I'm not on of the 'cool kids.'"

"Destroyed me."

-- rangoranger39

Experimental Snog

"The boy I had a crush on in high school had kissed me and I was pretty excited about possibly dating. When I asked him about it the next day he said he didn't like me in that way."

"I asked why he kissed me then, and he said, 'I needed to make sure I didn't like you.'"

-- Petunia_Fish

A Wild Escalation

"My stepson told me he was glad that my husband and I have fertility problems."

"He was 15 at the time, and pissed that he was in trouble after several of his teachers had contacted us to tell us he wasn't doing his homework or completing schoolwork and assignments."

-- KittikatB

Ewww

"Asked a girl out and just got "ewwww" as a response. So that was cool. A no would've been fine."

Kamilny

"This happened to me too. That's rough bud." :(

-- Trekkimon

michelle obama eww GIF Giphy

Dearest Mother

My mother told me once that no one nice or decent would ever want me/be able to love me. Crazy how much stuff like this sticks on your relationships

Edit: you guys are amazing people to be willing to share your stories--I'm so sorry all of you have had to experience this nastiness. I hope you're all currently doing well and I appreciate all of you. <3

-- partisanmilkhotelx

The Crash

I crashed my motorcycle quite a few years ago now. I was being stupid and didn't have my gear on. So I have some very extensive scars on my arms and legs.

I'm super insecure about them. I've worn long sleeves since they've healed.

Last summer I was feeling good about myself and not caring. So I went to the beach in a bikini.

I was sitting there reading a book when a group of girls behind me starts talking about me.

There were several comments about my appearance but the one that really stuck was, "God, she should just kill herself so we don't have to look at her."

Yeah so much for self confidence that day.

-- littleredhoodlum

Brutal

I was in a car accident, no harm to me at all. Told the story to a couple people. One literally said, and I quote "I wish you would have died in the accident." it was some idiot from middle school, he hated everyone with a burning passion. He said other things too, such as "your parents are what made the plane fliers on 9/11 do it."

-- Thatisjake

No Yours

I was about 16 and sat on the train next two two preteen girls. The song on my MP3 player switched and therefore i could hear them. One girl pointed at me and said "That is your new boyfriend." the other girl replied "Eeeeww, no yours!"

-- overbread

Can confirm. Girls go through a stage where they can never admit to other girls that they like boys (at least they did 30ish years ago when I was that age. Its weird.

-- audreyrosedriver

The Uncounted

Had a huge crush on a friend in high school and asked her to a dance, she said no which was fine. Nothing was weird.

Then about a week later she started telling me how upset she was that no one had asked her to the dance and when I brought up I had her response was:

You don't count.

Apparently she thought I had just asked her to be nice or something. When I told her that wasn't the case she still said no but apologized for saying it. Still really hurt though.

-- lonewolf210

He's Out

Not to me directly, but my mum once said "I don't like him anymore" to my sister when I was in clear earshot, so it was meant for me.

It's the context that got me, considering it was all over me not being comfortable enough to go back into school to get a Christmas pudding, and getting so mad at me over something so small overwhelmed me and made me feel like a failure, I guess. Was also through the worst time in my life, which she knew about.

-- Responsible-Coyote

"If I"

"If I were you I'd just freaking kill myself."

Good thing I wasn't suicidal in high school. Same guy ended up running away from home and dying his hair trying to hide from the cops that year, so yeah that dude had issues. We were sorta friends later, I don't know if he even remembers making the comment.

-- verminiusrex

Die Laughing

I was around 15 year old. I was hanging around with my friends and there was this guy who had recently started joining us every once in awhile. He was someone classmate but I don't think he was close to anyone and I thought it was weird that he was hanging out with us as it was hard to see him fit in, there was so little in common.

We rarely ever spoke to each other directly.

But then he once said pretty much out of the blue "If Horredu ever gets a girlfriend I will die by laughter".

Group of friends laughing, they can't help it and someone almost rolling on the floor. Someone agreed between the burst of laughs.

Affected my self-esteem a lot, probably more than I've understood earlier.

Being 26 year old now and still never been in a relationship, I sometimes think they were right.

-- horredu

Pray for your Soul

This will get buried but mine was hands down when a co-worker/decently close acquaintance told me to my face that maybe if I had prayed harder and put more faith in the lord my son wouldn't have died. Witch had worked with me since before I got pregnant, through the genetic dx while still pregnant, his birth, multiple surgeries etc. and knew damn well what the hell happened and still had the gall to say that crap. Mind you this was also like 6 years later and I'd already had two more children, countless hours of therapy, and with one statement she stabbed me in the heart all over.

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In a horrid twist of fate - the eldest of her two children was killed in a motorcycle accident about 18 months ago. My heart broke for her and I did reach out to offer my condolences, no parent should ever experience that kind of loss.

But I would a lying hag if I didn't admit that a hateful little voice inside me whispered to my soul 'maybe she shoulda prayed harder.'

-- LFF9002

But She Did

This wasn't really said to me, but it was said to my mom about me. I had admitted to my grandma that there was a girl that we both knew that I had a crush on (I'm a girl). I said it quick so I didn't think she'd catch it. But she did. A while later, she looked my mom dead in the eye and said something like, "It's such a shame. Your daughter WAS so pretty. Such a WASTE." So I'm a shame AND a waste... And if you think she ended there oh hoho!!! You're wrong!!!

She later called my sister EXTREMELY FAT in front of me (I went up against her for that one). And right after we shunned her from our family, I found out there was a chance that she was "watching" my big bro because he, "Reminds her of her dead husband." She did way WAY worse than that to my mom. Even calling my mom a parasite in the middle of a restaurant. I'm glad she left. We almost got kicked out of our home because of her screwed up lies.

-- RoseQuartz100501

Cutting Deep

"Your friend deserved to get stabbed." (Friend got a knife pulled on him in a fight at a party, stabbed him 7 times, critically wounded him and partially paralyzed him for life).

-- akaponokh

Births and Deaths

It wasn't too me, but about me. Everytime I'm around my mom and she has friends or family over she'd always being up how painful giving birth to me was. She said that she was considering giving me up for adoption because I was the most painful out of her 5 other births. (I'm the second oldest) I know she's probably trying to make a joke or something but it gets old when you 13 times a day. And. Sometimes I wish she had given me up for adoption.

-- minionthestupid

Awkward

"You're awkward" - coworker to me in my nervous first few weeks at a new job.

It was small but confirmed my fears that I might not fit in, the anxiety to follow was crushing.

Ended up making plenty of friends at my new job, he isn't one of them.

-- kellogg888

My Sacrifices

My mom told me she was worried I would abuse her and my dad when they got old because I was abusive as a teenager. I agonized over that for a couple years before I finally convinced my parents to go to a therapy sessions with me, where I found out the teenage "abuse" she was referring to was, according to her, me pushing past her roughly once as a teenager and getting too many parking tickets.

I lived to please my parents for most of life, so hearing her accuse me of abuse when I'd sacrificed my own integrity for a long time to make them happy... that really hurt me.

-- hopelesslonging

You're not for us

Was approached by a modeling agency once in a shopping centre with my best friends. I was very shocked as I'm quite self conscious at 5ft 11" and very curvy, so it was extremely flattering. Didn't have enough confidence to do anything about it so just left it as a nice memory. My best friend was bragging on my behalf to a group of kids in school the next week and one girl just looked me up and down and said "Oh I didn't know the menswear department of 'Middle aged clothes shop' were looking for models?'... I was 15f and it killed my confidence for years...

-- galwaygirl_aus

Expired Lunch

In middle school a girl found out I had a crush on her and decided that best way to go about dealing with that was telling everyone at lunch how ugly she thought I was because I had acne at the time. Which really sucked. Because I was already super self conscious about it and kind of just a shy person in general.

Was made even worse because it was a small private school. So everyone knew everyone's business and there was no getting away from it. I stopped eating lunch in the lunchroom for all of that year.

It sucked and the whole thing honestly made me feel like crap for years.

As we got older and were in high school, I think she tried to get back on my good side. But she never actually apologized and honestly, that ship had already sailed for me. Too little and way too late.

On the last day of senior year I let all the air out of three of her tires.

-- Slowjams

Mothering

"It's a good thing you can't have kids, you would make a terrible mother."

Also:

"You won't be a real woman until you have children."

-- SalemScout

family

While I was grieving my sister's passing, my mother told me "You need to suck it up because I have it worse than you. I had to bury my own daughter so you need to be helping me instead of focusing on yourself."

I didn't finally get the chance to grieve until I started dating my husband.

-- cjcmommy0123

???????????

It wasn't cruel in the way that it hurt me, but really bothered me. My mom had died a few years prior and was considering getting a tattoo in memory of her. She had always wanted a trinity knot on her shoulder blade and we had even discussed getting matching ones. I told a friend this and said "I can still get it, even though she can't get a matching one because she is dead". My friend responded "you could be close by putting her ashes in a vibrator!"

Like, what the freaking hell.

-- SaturnaliaSacrifice

Seriously GIF by Debby Ryan Giphy

My Journey

"I'm so disappointed in you. It's like I don't even know you anymore."

-my mom, after she discovered I had online friends... who I had known for 4 years. God forbid I take a road trip to see them, I guess...

-- _Fengo

Just Be Happy

"Suck it up, other people have it worse."

One of the few times I reached out to talk about my depression with a friend and she said this to me. Took the wind out of my sails, and that was 7-8ish years ago. I haven't spoken to a single soul about my depression since and never will. I don't really talk about how I feel or what I go through. I wear the mask that everything is good.

-- Guerrin_TR

Try to Grow

When I was 12 my family and I went to a farmer's market. This couple was handing out samples and the husband said "Let the boys try some."

I said "I'm a girl."

The wife then yelled at me saying "Well grow some freaking boobs, then you'll look like a girl!!!!!"

Ouch.

-- cocoabean30

Why so Rude?

My ex-bf saw the stretch marks I have on my inner thighs and said it looked like I had been scratched by a bear, even though he perfectly knew how much I was insecure about my physical appearance. Also a girl I knew a year ago used to bully me because she thought it was funny when I got angry, then one day I started to snap back at her rude comments and she told me that I was a horrible person and that I had serious mental issues.

-- fanny_moonbeam

The Disgrace

You're a mistake and an embarrassment. You are a disgrace to this family. -My older brother in a restaurant with my parents watching. They said nothing to this but when I tried to tell him to just shut up I got yelled at. Yeah not only do I make better grades than him I also don't ever get in trouble anywhere except for at home unlike him who is the exact opposite.

Sissonater

You're Nodody

My paternal grandmother: "He looks nothing like his father. He looks like nobody in the family. We call him the (last name) that doesn't look like a (last name)."

Meanwhile I'm a spitting image of my father. At my dad's funeral a coworker drove seven hours to speak at his funeral. I'd never met him before and his first words to me were "you are a clone of your father." Grandma hated my mom so much that she took it out on me.

-- GialloGuy

Thanks for Nothing Ma

"You've always had some excuse for why you did poorly in school" - my dear old mother.

I'm 21 years old & only now getting diagnosed with ADHD because she never believed me. Thanks mom, almost getting kicked out of university was really great.

-- QueenCostco

In his handwriting.

I'm sure there's lots of things worse but this sticks so hard, mainly because I see this person daily at work and have to be polite.

My fiancé passed away this past July. I got a tattoo on my inner forearm of the message he wrote in the last Valentine's card I received from him. In his handwriting. It brings me much comfort. This guy at work, while I was still barely holding it together maybe 4 weeks after the funeral, saw it.

He grabbed my arm, pushed my sleeve up, read it, and announced in front of everyone in the room(50-60 people) "How stupid are you? He's dead. You can't hang onto him. You'll never get anyone to sleep you now. Nobody will want you with the reminder that you loved someone else!"

I immediately melted down, nuclear. A couple of kind souls took me into my office, I'm not sure what was said to him, but he swears to this day he has no idea why I won't speak to him unless I'm forced. Of course he's not brave enough to ask me either.

-- cpbaby1968

That's not True

I did poorly in grade school on language and math, but our grade school actually has a history and geography class and I was always good at them. There was one time that I was the only one that scored the bonus question because I paid attention during class (wasn't in the book).

The teacher gave my test back and we were asked to stay quiet while she hands them out, and I did. When I talked to her afterwards at question-time, I showed my test with the right answer to her and she said, "you wrote it after I handed you the test". And no I didn't, I really really didn't. And I still remember her like, 20 years later still.

-- IsaSilver

End Scene

"I hope that someday you'll hate someone as much as I hate you."

-- Wrong_Answer_Willie

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If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/


REDDIT

People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.

Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.

The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.

Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:

"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"

Serious Danger

"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."

"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."

oofboof2020

Waiting for Food

"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."

"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."

nowhereboy1964

Captain Hobo to the Rescue

"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."

"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"

"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."

FartAttack911

Survival

tsunami GIF Giphy

"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."

faithfulpoo

These Tsunami stories are just tragic.

On the Sand

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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."

oyloff

Be Clever

"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."

OstneyPiz

Bad Jokes

"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."

Alegan239

YOU

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"

PrettyLola2004

Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.

No one should talk to others in the dark though.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...