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People Describe The Most Expensive Mistakes They've Ever Made

People Describe The Most Expensive Mistakes They've Ever Made
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

Money is always a heavy stresser. Whether you have some or you don't, it can often lead to trouble. Cash can put us in especially more precarious situations when we lose it. That's always a fun time. Watching money--whether it be yours or other people's-- evaporate can be vomit inducing experience.

Imagine you lose it by your own hand and wrong doing? That is the biggest oops of all. Knowing you lost a fortune and you could have stopped it from going, if only you hadn't made one or six bad decisions? That's a lot to live with.

Redditoru/TheNarrator315wanted to hear, from whoever was willing to share, about the times some of us lost A LOT of money, by asking:

What was the most expensive mistake you have ever made?

I love money too much to lose it. I've misplaced it every now and again and it nearly gave me a stroke. So I am over the top with keeping track. But apparently some of you are not.

3 flights up...

Mad Tommy Wiseau GIF by The RoomGiphy

"Deciding to carry my 52" flat screen to up to my flat alone up 3 flights of stairs and tripping and dropping it. I died inside when that happened."

- SuperUltraSaiyanGod

Wrecked

"Not me - but I personally know 2 different people who purchased an expensive car on credit and failed to pay insurance. Wrecked car. Total loss. Tens of thousands of dollars in debt and had to buy a beater with cash because no bank would lend again."

- Yellobrix

"On the flip side, almost twenty years ago in Europe some of the car insurance + financing combo deals were insane. I worked for a major brand and we had one case where a woman had bought a new car at a normal discount, benefitted from the bundled insurance at full market valuation, drove around for three weeks, then she wrote off her car in an accident (her fault) - we had to send her a check for the €1000 more that her policy was worth above what she had bought the car for. Yes we had created a system through which crashing a car a month paid out €12k net a year."

- mmoonbelly

Bits...

"I sold all my bitcoins (500-1000) right before they price started to grow up instantly. Yes, I didn't lose money, but just imagine how many I could get if I sold them after they price grew up. So yep, very expensive mistake."

- Alone_Hamster_3258

"Same. My friends and I bought $20 worth of bitcoins for each of us in 2012. Today, none us remember the account that we created. We all regret it every second."

- Gharyl

STOP!

"Starting smoking as a teenager."

- seattlejc

"You can quit them! If you want to do it, I can tell you some tricks that helped me. Of course, there is no "magic pill" and you will have to use some will power, mostly in the first 2-3 weeks, but it gets way easier with time and I can assure you that your future self will be grateful to you for it."

- Foncho_is_Back

I Don't

Pay Day Money GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy

"Marrying my ex? Yep, that's the worst mistake in money and time. At least I got these cool kids though. They rock."

- LovesMeSomeRedhead

Marriage is always a dicey situation. That is why prenup. I don't share my change with anyone, that is one way to lose it. And stop smoking.

Hire Someone

Toilet Paper GIF by 100% SoftGiphy

"Picked up a free toilet to install for a remodel. Ended up breaking my car window driving it to location. Most expensive free toilet ever."

- PizzaShredder

Pre-Production

"Made a mistake on a laptop main board, the design got rushed into production. On the upside, it was caught during the pre-production build. Reworking the laptops cost $185,000."

- McDougal_Scarborough

"I feel like theres stuff like that where I work. Since they deal die casting large parts, even a single smaller portion of a die can be an easy $12k mistake."

- meadowshd29

Craps...

"Gambling. Started with $1,000, kept winning and had $73,000. Got greedy and wanted to hit $100k, and lost it all chasing the loss. All in the course of 12 hours. I was depressed for weeks afterward and haven't gambled a single dollar since."

- Ravioli421

"Well you really only lost $1000 and if you weren't the type to keep gambling, you wouldn't have gotten it up to $73k in the first place. Many people would have stopped at a few thousand."

- LurkerOnTheInternet

Careful with Numbers...

"So this was able to be corrected without actually paying any cost, but it made me sick to my stomach all the same. I was put in charge of ordering new cars at a dealership, and was making my first order. Nothing exciting, just two dozen basic coupe cars with A/C. I got the whole order in, and was pretty pleased with myself until I hit send and then saw my error. See, there are different model numbers. ZZACD is a base model car - NOTHING added."

"ZWACD is a base model plus A/C. And I had chosen ZZACD by mistake. I ran to my General Manager right away, and after he made fun of me for being a dummy, we made a call together, and the people on the other end of the ordering process were able to switch out the models on the 24 cars I ordered. I am super duper ultra careful with numbers now, and get teased for triple checking everything, but man, that panic lingered for days."

- Lexi_Banner

Daddy Issues

"Didn't monitor the oil level in my car closely enough and messed up the engine. Downside I spent about $1200 and a month of weekends swapping the engine out. On the upside it was a good learning experience doing a major repair like that and I did it with my dad so it was a fun bonding experience with him."

- adeon

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Alo-no...

Happy Dance GIF by PLAYMOBILGiphy

"Moving to Hawaii. 12k in debt and back at my parents house at 27. Still not as bad as having kids though!"

- Ohdigidy

To Live

"I bought ARK Survival: Evolved (which is my fav game to this day) and it literally became free on Epic Games just a few weeks later."

- Wojtek1250XD

"I did not get it when it was free, because I didn't think, that the game is interesting enough... ended with me buying that for full price a few weeks later."

- Enyy1

"That was a relatively inexpensive mistake in the grand scheme of things, but of course, it's the most expensive one for you. But i feel you because when you buy something, you don't expect it to fall in price so much (or even be free) just a short time after you paid regular full price for it."

- kevin_r13

By the Foot

"$150,000 for mis-measuring something on a construction site. Off by 1 foot."

- RonSwansonsOldMan

"Did sort of the same thing fresh outta school as a surveyor, I didn't check the settings in the total station and laid out a row of 12 2'x2' concrete columns that were later poured and they were out by enough they couldn't be salvaged. Didn't get fired though but it taught me a valuable lesson to always double check crap."

- taco1911

Super Super Happy Face

"I got scammed for the Super Super Happy Face in Roblox. Was worth 10k Robux when I got it and now its around 60k. Might not seem like it matters but that was a big loss that day and I didn't even notice it."

- RedditAverager

"Used to be a developer for them when it was a new game. Started when I was in elementary school back in '09. Had ~300k Robux worth of stuff, stopped playing when I started college. My account got hacked when I started getting back into it and they won't restore it. Kind of crushed tbh. It was a huge part of my childhood."

- Aelsar

Ragged

Car Fixing GIF by The Back RoadsGiphy

"Left a rag in the engine bay which got sucked up into the timing belt housing leading to a violent interaction between the pistons and valves."

- moonorplanet

Laundry Day

"When I was like 15 I was staying at a fancy hotel in Vienna with some friends. One morning I noticed that some of my clothes were a little dirty (a pair of jeans and a t-shirt) so I thought I should get them cleaned. There was a self-service laundry a couple of blocks away from the hotel but it was snowing outside and I was too lazy to put on my winter clothes and walk in the cold so I just asked for the hotel's laundry service instead. I was very naive and thought that the laundry service was free for guests of the hotel."

"It wasn't free and the next day I ended up paying 90€ for the service (just a f***ing pair of jeans and a t-shirt). At the time that was like half of my savings and I stayed broke for the rest of the trip. If I had decided to walk to the self-service laundry instead of being lazy I would've spent 5€ instead of 90€ for the exact same service."

- trip_colours

Moving Art

"I was very young at the time, my parents had put a painting in the corner of out living room cuz we were gonna move it somewhere else, one day I was playing tag with my sister around the house, I ran into the living room (I was wearing socks) and so when I tried to stop to jump over the couch, I couldn't, so I slid on one foot keeping balance and using the other to stop, and the foot I was trying to stop with went straight into the very expensive very big painting."

- ThawingAsh004724

Check it out...

"A friend of mine started a new job and didn't realize he needed to check the oil on the equipment he was operating. 2 million dollars later and all is running. Believe it or not he is still working there. Of course it's a government job."

- elmoz26

"I mean, they did just spend two million dollars on him for a very valuable lesson. Next person won't have that lesson."

- hitrothetraveler

Toilet Issues

Sesame Street Dancing GIFGiphy

"I once hired some exterminators because it wasn't previously disclosed to me that my house had a termite infestation. Long story short, they replaced my toilet with a toilet that had a joke hole that's just for farts and now I can't take a dump in my own house."

- askredditisonlyok

Raisins

"I once left an opened box of Raisin Bran on the kitchen table and left the house to hang out with a friend. I came back to find my three poodles had pulled it down and eaten almost all of it. My wife and everyone else was out of town so I had to bring all three dogs to the emergency 24-hour vet to get their stomachs emptied. One didn't get any raisins so he got to come home. The other two were admitted and monitored for two days. Ended up being a $3,000 vet bill. They were all ok though."

- DaleGribble3

No Exes...

"Got back together with an ex. Found out she had been freaking a former best friend/manipulated me into thinking I was a bad guy for questioning her story prior to the full truth being revealed. Sent me into a massive depressive spiral that ended with me withdrawing from medical school in my 4th year due to a breakdown. Now I owe hundreds of thousands of dollars and am in a dead end job making about 1/10 of my former potential."

- mathaius42

Always prepare properly when you're making a move. Even a move down the street can get costly. What have we learned? Be cautious with your finances, it easily comes and goes.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

The All-Time Biggest First Date Red Flags

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It all started when Redditor APT3993 asked:

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

Dates Of Relationships Past

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

– SiriusGD

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

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

"Ummm, wut?"

– alwaysmyfault

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

– TX_Mothman

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

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

– Stuspawton

I Know What I Want

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

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

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

– MaggieLuisa

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

– AdaptiveVariance

The Position Of Boyfriend

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

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

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

– OkFrostina

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

– passporttohell

Scary As Hell

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

– Twours1944

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

– villainsimper

Stranger Danger

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

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

– Jesusdoescrack

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

– The_She_Ghost

Truly Gross

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

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

– Grapegoop

​Those Who Came Before

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

– 13liz

"The way you phrased this killed me 😂"

– CumulativeHazard

Got Her Feeling Emotions

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

– JumboDakotaSmoke

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

– ladydamnation

"Grey's Anatomy."

– JumboDakotaSmoke

"bursts into tears"

– akennelley

Um...What?!

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

– BigMcLargeHuge77

Ew...Just Ew

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

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

– Deleted User

Bad From The Start

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

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

– CanaDoug420

Stop, Theif!

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

– LookAcrossTheWater

​Cringe-Worthy

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

"He said no."

– Shredded_Wheaties

Oh, yikes! I would be so embarrassed!

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

people sitting inside plane
Hanson Lu on Unsplash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intrigued, Redditor Accomplished-Leg-991 asked:

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

Seems Plausible.

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

- dailysunshineKO

The Grass Is Always Greener

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

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

- StillBald

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

- karenalphas

The Ice Wall

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

- XenophanesJunior

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

- bag2d

Tinkering with the Algorithm

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

- LizardPossum

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

- abirll

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

- LizardPossum

The All-Important Celebrity Weddings

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

- pinballgizard

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

- Suspicious-Craft4980

The Truth of Social Security Numbers

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

- compuwiza1

"Ah, sovereign citizens..."

- CaptainMikul

Dinosaur Bones, Huh?

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

- River_7890

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

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

- mrsrosieparker

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

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

- River_7890

The Worst Kind of Waiting Room

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

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

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

- Hereforthecake

Phantom Time Conspiracy Theory

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

- seandowling73

Gives the Shortcut a Whole New Meaning

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

- Latham74

Infathomly Large Trees

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

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

- inkstainedgoblin

Under Control

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

- 42clickslater

Enough Said

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

- pinkyknee

Big Pharma Chickens

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

- sarcasawm

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

- CelticArche

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

- MissRockNerd

"Big Farm-A."

- cannedcream

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

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

Two guys hi-fiving each other
Tyler Nix/Unsplash

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

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

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

Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Aesthetik_1 asked:

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

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

Recurring Favor

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

– Queasy-Location-9303

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

– StiffAssedBrit

The Errand Girl

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

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

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

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

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

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

– ChamomileBrownies

Testing The Friendship

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

– plzdontgetmad

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

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

– NoMrBond3

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

The Chaperon

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

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

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

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

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

– Duffarum

Unwilling Companion

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

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

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

– Auldale

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

I Can Do It Better

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

– Complex-Half8338

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

– Hot-Coffee-8465

Never Steal The Spotlight

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

– Jasssin23

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

– thefifthtrilogy

All About Me

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

– PokemomOnTheGo

People can just be so rude.

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

– Tofflus1

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

– CatGoNoTail

Not Missing High School

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

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

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

– Symnestra

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

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

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

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