Top Stories

Disabled People Share Their Most Frustrating Experiences With The Able-Bodied

Anybody who is even slightly different than the average population knows that feeling of looking into the camera like you're on The Office feeling of frustration when you're talking to a normal person.

People who have a difference of ability must accumulate these frustrating experiences faster than any other. We take things like our hearing, our sight, our mobility, for granted so intensely that we probably can't help but piss them off.


u/Griffin1102 asked:

Disabled people of Reddit, what is your most "bruh" moment with an abled person?

Here were some of those answers.


Do You Know Which Sense I'm Referring To?

Giphy

So many. i'm Deaf.

Most common are me finding the email contacts on websites and writing, asking for information and proactively stating that i'm Deaf and can't use the phone. [Yes, there's relay but people hang up and it takes way long and not all operators are equal and.....it's just not good]
i'd say at least 50% of the time i get back a non-form letter, so i know they read my comment word for word....but still want me to call them.

Nope, still Deaf : 0

That and the braille menu being offered at restaurants. [ many Deaf, like myself, will hold eye contact *hard* - because we're speech-reading. how you could offer braille to someone who's staring you down just ....gobsmacks me. ]

grayfae

Please Think, Teach

One of my best friends was born with only one arm, and freshman year of high school in computer class he got yelled at for not having both hands on the keyboard.

AvatarLebowski

When You're All But Speechless

Was born with Achilles tendons that don't stretch properly and are very prone to injury due to thinning and weakness. After one really bad tear caused by a fall down the stairs, I was using a wheelchair and while waiting in line at the store, I had a man old enough to be my grandfather PICK UP the back of my chair so he could cut me in line. I was so shocked I didn't say anything, just stared in horror.

FrizzTheWizard

Ha....Ha?

One of my arms is unusable and notably under-developed, so I do everything with one hand. Once during a meeting with my supervisor, he said something to the effect of, "It's a tough task the first time you do it, but in a few months you'll be able to do it with one hand behind your back." And I was like, "Well I guess that depends which hand..."

The look on his face was great. I actually love making jokes like that with people because you can tell they don't know how to respond.

Jwalla83

You're Gettin' Kinda Brave There

I am both visually impaired and have Cerebral Palsy. I asked a woman for directions to the bathroom on my first visit to a store. She led me to the bathroom, cool. Then she followed me into the bathroom. I was thinking that maybe she had to go to. Then she tried to follow me into the stall. At that point, I had to explain that 'no, ma'am, I do not need help using the bathroom.'

Mokohi

I Think We're Alone Now...Thankfully

Can I tell on myself? I volunteer as a guide for disabled athletes. One athlete I was working out with is blind. She had her dog, and was holding my arm. It's a night, so I had a headlamp.

Anyway, when it's about time to turn around, she wants to let her dog off the harness so he can pee. She squats down to undo the buckles and I...shine my headlamp on the harness, thinking I'm being helpful.

Once I realized what I was doing, I quickly stood up and looked around to see if anyone had seen me being dumb.

tinyahjumma

Justice AND The Stars

There was a blind kid studying to be a lawyer at my college and I compared him to daredevil. His hearing was exceptional and he was a great student. I think he told someone who asked why he wanted to be a lawyer, "Well justice is blind."

wayofwisdomlbw

Can Still See, Bruh

I'm deaf. One day in Astronomy 100 I was sitting up front (part of an accommodation for me) with an interpreter. After class a girl came up to me and straight up asked me if I could read. Think about this for a second. I'm taking classes at a university. I know she meant well, but still. I told her I could. She handed me a note; on the note she said that she could take notes for me if I needed it. It was a nice gesture, but a really dumb question.

br0b1wan

The Prefix Doesn't Mean It's The Same Thing

I manage a Welfare unit at a good number of festivals and I usually work beside the same medic company. I was chatting to a new trainee paramedic while we were having a cigarette. I happened to mention that I am epileptic and she then asked me if I have an epi-pen.

It took her a long time to work out why I was looking at her as if she was the dumbest b*tch alive. Didn't go down too well with the head medic either.

Pyronarix

Update Shmupdate

Giphy

Local nightclub had new owners so they did some "updates" on the building as well as the name change. I went there because I knew it was accessible.

Turns out one of the changes they made was to change how to get to the bathrooms, there was a wall where the slope was and the ONLY way was the three stairs. By the time I realized that I needed to use it and was unhappy. Talked to the manager and said that it's not cool. I know there's nothing he can do about it, I just wanted to point out how stupid that change was and that they no longer had me (or my group of friends) as customers.

He apologized and offered me free drinks for the night. I had to slowly explain why I could not accept his offer and watch his face as he realized how ignorant he proved himself to be.

Codeegirl

That Ain't It, Kid

My mom is in a wheelchair and we live in New England, a part of the country where buildings were built long before OSHA or when disabled folks were even considered peoples.

So places like restaurants have to be called to ensure they're handicapped accessible, so cue this convo:

Me: "Hi! I'm just curious if you guys are wheelchair accessible?"

Woman: "Well... we got a few steps but they're not that steep."

Cananbaum

Short Term V. Long Term

I have Spina Bifida

I work in a kitchen and on this particular shift I was with the two guys I work with. One of them had a bike ran over his leg and could barely walk and we were tasked with cleaning the splash back for our cooktops. Somebody had to do it.. with little to no input it's on me. Explaining to them both if I so much as slip the wrong way I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life (this is at a height of 2+metres) they paused and the injured one said 'well what about my leg?!' Bruh....

SenoritaSassy

I Have No Motivation To Do This

Giphy

"Why can't you go on a boat? No way you'd fall off. You can just wear a life jacket."

After I just said I have a trach, meaning water can get into my lungs and have me drown internally; I don't have the balance or body strength to hold myself above the water, due to a muscular dystrophy disease, or the ability to swim - even with a life jacket, you still bob up and down in the water, therefore get water in your body. Lol. Ignorance is so real.

theStarsShineWithinU

This Ain't Jaws, Bruh

I work with disabled people.

At my last workplace we went swimming (All adult people, group of 6 plus me and two coworkers) and I notice a strange look from some old dudes in the pool. They walked out of the pool and one of them said: "Let's get out, they may attack us"

Like the dangerous disabled people who wanted to play in the water with a ball... very dangerous.

My coworker said that things like happen quite often.

becksisbackalright

What Don't You Get About "Disorder"

Right after I finished explaining my long history (14 of my 21 years at that stage) of disordered sleep and having seen sleep doctors and tried all the usual stuff to a doctor that I was seeing for fibromyalgia management, she paused and said, "well, your fibromyalgia would be a lot more manageable if you just slept more."

...bruh.

catbert359

It Can't Just Grow Back, Linda

Probably when I went to the DMV to have my disability placard renewed. For reference, I have a prosthetic leg. I went up to the lady at the counter at the DMV and said that my placard was expiring and I needed a new one. She said that in order to get a new placard, I had to go to the doctors and get a note that said my leg was still missing. I was like, "I can pull off the leg right now for you to show you it's still missing..." And she looked more than a little flustered, but said that it was a state requirement. So I had to go to the doctors, ask him to write me a note saying that my leg was still missing so that I could get my new handicap placard. Bruh...

Warkiln

People Break Down The Missing Person Cases That Just Don't Add Up

Reddit user yourlastnames asked: 'what missing persons case is the most confusing / doesn’t add up?'

Content warning: suicide.

There are truly some strange unsolved cases out there, but there's nothing quite like hearing of a person who has vanished as if out of thin air.

While some of these cases have been explained away or even solved, there are some that remain a mystery that truly does not add up, no matter how the puzzle pieces fall.

Curious about these cases, in particular, Redditor yourlastnames asked:

"What missing persons case is the most confusing [to you] or just doesn't add up?"

The Last Ride of Terrance Williams

"Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called 'The Last Ride.'"

"The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, Florida, after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again."

"The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing."

"When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies."

- AlanMercer

Paddy Moriarty and Kellie

"Paddy Moriarty and his dog, Kellie. They went missing in an outback town in Australia with a population of 12 people."

"They were last seen leaving the pub riding his quad bike the one-kilometer distance to his house. He or his dog have never been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance."

- Bigred0762

Susan Powell and Family

"Susan Powell went missing from her home in West Valley, Utah, on December 6, 2009."

"She is presumably dead. Her husband, Josh, was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her."

"Sadly in 2012, Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids."

- AlexisVonTrappe

"This case is so frustrating since his brother and father are both dead too. We’ll never know what happened to Susan, but I’m positive she’s in an old mine shaft somewhere. F**k Josh Powell."

- burittosquirrel

​The Last Call from Brandon Swanson

"Brandon Swanson. He drove into a ditch and called his parents for help. They stayed on the phone with him for 47 minutes while they drove around looking for him."

"They heard him say, 'Oh s**t,' and then the phone went silent. They eventually found his car far away from where he said he was but he was never found."

- kittengoesrawr

"Reading this was absolutely chilling. It seems at first glance that it's most likely he drowned, but that really doesn't make sense because the water was only 10 feet deep and they would have found the body."

"He just suddenly said, 'OH S**T!' and the phone went silent, but he did not hang up. The phone call continued with total silence from his end. What the f**k happened to him?"

- angelposts

Babysitter Mar Lou Bostwick

"Mary Lou Bostwick. She disappeared July 18, 1972, from Waverly, New York. She was dropped off by her dad to babysit at a friend's house. This was also her 16th birthday. Her mom stopped by later with a cake and presents."

"The people in the apartment told her that Mary never showed up. However, her bag was in the residence. Nothing else was ever found."

"There was another girl around the same age, Sharon Coston, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town about a year later. October 1983 in Sayre, Pennsylvania."

"There was a man convicted of that, but he always denied doing anything to Mary. One of the people who testified against him and was given immunity was a suspect in Mary's case. Mary's mom thinks there's a connection, but nothing was ever really found."

"I've sadly never seen anyone cover her disappearance on any of the podcasts or YouTube shows."

- Vamp459

Derek Seehausen of San Diego

​"Derek Seehausen. My friend was dating him at the time of his disappearance, and he was actively planning his future in medicine, and was last seen in San Diego."

"I saw him about two months before he disappeared. Please send any tips."

- Hereforit2022Y

The Beaumont Children

"The Beaumont Children. Three kids go to the beach, are seen with a mystery man, and never make it back home."

"Never found out who the man was or where they went. Their parents just recently died without ever getting any closure."

- snguyenx96

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes

"Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. The whole family (parents and four kids) went missing overnight in 2011."

"Employers, schools, and the extended family received weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother, the kids, and the dog hidden behind the house."

"They investigated and retraced the father’s whereabouts in the south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched, but he was never to be found."

- z4zazym

Branson Perry of Skidmore

"Branson Perry, aged 20, disappeared from Skidmore, Missouri in April 2001."

"He was working on his house with a friend, went to the shed to grab some power cords, and was never seen again."

- AdamR91

The Incomplete Story of Marshall Iwassa

"Marshall Iwassa. Good guy."

"He came back to his hometown to visit his family and friends, and everything by all accounts was good. He left to take the two-hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead, it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing."

"A week or maybe more, his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere, no sign of Marshal."

"From what I remember, the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts."

"It's been four years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him, he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day."

- devbot8

Out Shopping Asha Degree

"Asha Degree."

"She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city, and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind."

"Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area."

"In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since."

- EstateWeary5789

The Vanishing Marion Barter

"Marion Barter here in Australia."

"She boarded a plane overseas in 1997 and changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family). She apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared."

"It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called, 'The Lady Vanishes,' featuring her daughter."

"It's so tragically fascinating."

- CuddlySubject

The Grieving Bryce Laspisa

"Bryce Laspisa."

"He was driving to his parents' house (three hours) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication."

"Partway through the drive, he pulled off the highway and just sat there… from 9:00 AM to 3:'00 PM."

"A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine and coherent, and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly."

"Sometime later, his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found. They never found him."

- Just_Raisin1124

News Anchor Jodi Huisentruit

"Jodi Huisentruit was a news anchor who disappeared in the early morning in Mason City, Iowa."

"There were signs that she was abducted and the investigation is still ongoing with new leads nearly 30 years later."

- Have_you_eaten_yet

Three-Year-Old William Tyrrell

"William Tyrrell. In 2014, the three-year-old boy went missing from his foster grandmother's yard whilst playing with his sister. His foster mother and foster grandmother were apparently watching them play outside, and the foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea."

"They then noticed they hadn’t seen or heard him in a while and searched the house and yard."

"In 2021, police began searching national parkland near the grandmother's home for human remains. They also revealed that the foster mother and grandmother were persons of interest in his presumed death."

"Earlier today, the foster mother pled not guilty to assaulting another foster child that was in her care (a 10-year-old girl). She has also been charged with intimidating and stalking a minor. Her husband has also been charged with the same crimes, but plead not guilty to all counts. The foster grandmother is now dead."

"Basically, police believe that William died whilst in the care of the foster family, and they disposed of his body to cover it up. Police are recommending that the foster parents be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse."

"His photos went viral at the time of the 'disappearance,' and he went missing whilst in a Spiderman costume, and the photo that was distributed was taken minutes before."

- Red_bug91

These stories are truly haunting, and it's no wonder that Redditors have worried themselves with what might have happened to these missing people.

We can only hope that answers come for at least some of these cases and that their closest loved ones achieve some sense of closure eventually.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

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

Senior citizen using a camera
Tiago Muraro/Unsplash

The realization you're getting older can smack you in the face at any given time, and boy-howdy is it fun!

It can be in the morning when you get up out of bed, and your body makes crackling noises, or when you can't seem to keep up at the gym and you cut short your running time on the treadmill.

That's just the physical.

When you suddenly have the epiphany that you're suddenly the oldest one in a group setting, it's humbling.

Curious to hear from strangers online who are no longer the young whipper-snappers they imagined themselves to eternally be, Redditor redmambo_no6 asked:

"Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your 'I’m officially old' moment?"

These moments of realization never get old. But people do.

Senior Kitty

"My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students."

– mollusck_magic

Aging In Reverse

"I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?"

– Smart_Alex

The Shook Pediatrician

"My kids pediatrician was also my husband's pediatrician when he was a kid. He was the first kid she had to come back as a parent and she was SHOOK."

– trixtred

Older Together

"See, that's what really kinda drives it home for me."

"I'm not bothered that I'm 48. But that means my school friends are 48, and that's weird for some reason. Like, I went to school with a guy who was wild and crazy. That guy is 48 now, and has a new grandbaby. Somehow, he's old, and I'm just 'getting up there '."

– ThatWeirdTexan

Relics of the past don't just pertain to humans.

Dialing It In

"Had a co-worker ask me, 'Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?' Uh, yeah, pretty much."

– Status-Effort-9380

"Reminds me of having to explain the concept of collect calls to my kids. The whole speed speaking where you were for pick up during the recording so your Mama never accepted the collect call."

– DaraScot

Legendary Aircraft

"Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn’t fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don’t anymore."

"The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers."

– geckos_are_weirdos

Foreign References

"We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn’t even born."

"We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!"

– Itsagabby

Gravity is not our friend, and not just because of its effect on our faces.

The Day It Went Downhill

"When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That’s when I knew."

– day_of_duke

It's About The Recovery

"F'k. That has to be a bummer."

"You fall. You know you're fine. You feel like an idiot. You get ready to wave to the crowd as they laugh and clap. But then... a hand is placed on your arm and you hear 'that was a big fall, are you ok?' You stay in shock for a moment. Of course, you're fine. Everyone is looking at you. They all have concerned faces. Sh*t. Two weeks later, the soreness finally subsides."

– minimalfighting

Ice Slip, You Slip, We All Slip

"This happened to me as well....walking my dog the day after a huge snowstorm. There were some rowdy teenage boys having a snowball fight across the street (schools were closed that day, of course). I slipped on the ice, my feet flew over my head and I landed solidly on my backside. As I struggled to get up I braced myself for the laughter and catcalls, but all I heard was "Are you OK Ma'am??' 'Do you need help??' I was in my early 50s and had never felt 'old' until that moment."

– Ouisch

Conversations with younger coworkers can be fun.

You can quote lines from your favorite TV shows and talk about the latest CD you bought at Target and brag about your new digital camera that takes better pictures than a smartphone.

And then you can watch the blank expressions on your coworkers' faces because they haven't a clue about what you speak.

Yeah. This has never happened to me...

Old.

person getting a tattoo

Collins Lesulie on Unsplash

The art of tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified skin, art and the archaeological artifacts.

The oldest tattooed human skin was found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman from between 3370 and 3100 BC.

Tattooed mummies were recovered in almost 50 archaeological digs across the Earth with locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines and the Andes.

But while advancements in tools and inks have opened up endless possibilities for body art, some designs have garnered a bad reputation.

Keep reading...Show less
surgeons looking down at patient

National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

"I shall do by my patients as I would be done by; shall obtain consultation whenever I or they desire; shall include them to the extent they wish in all important decisions; and shall minimize suffering whenever a cure cannot be obtained, understanding that a dignified death is an important goal in everyone's life."

~ English translation of the modern abridged Hippocratic Oath

It is the hope of those seeking medical help that the medical professionals providing it will be just that—professional.

But no profession is immune to bad days, bad attitudes or bad apples.

Keep reading...Show less