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People Share The Most Disturbing Thing That Has Ever Happened To Them

People Share The Most Disturbing Thing That Has Ever Happened To Them
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Life is full of surprises. Some of those surprises are good. Others are not all that pleasant.

Some of these surprises can even be downright scary. Those are the kind that really take a toll on people's psyche, and they usually stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Curious to find out what some of these disturbing and scary surprises are, a Redditor asked:

"What is the scariest/creepiest/most disturbing thing you have ever encountered?"




The Worst Possible Ending

"About 20 years ago, I was working at a school. A teacher was in my shared office working and she and her recently divorced daughter both worked worked at this school. Anyway, her ex son-in-law just came into the school without signing in and came into my office asking his ex mother-in-law where his ex wife (her daughter) was. At this time, I had only heard anecdotal, vague stuff about him, but the second he opened my office door, I was really scared. He just had this look that told me not to engage with him in any way."

"He tried to get his ex-wife to go somewhere with him and she refused and he left the school. The mother and her daughter didn't show up to work the next day and they didn't call in either. The principal went to check on them and found them shot dead along with two other people. We just continued to have school that day with kids talking about them being dead all day and it was just horrible."

– fortheshadeofitall

An Alien Invasion?

"I was around 19 years old, and the night host/closer of a semi-famous pancake restaurant. We closed at 2 am, everyone did their thing while I counted the money, did the books, called in the numbers, etc. We locked up around 3 am, everyone said see ya tomorrow, and left. It was a bright full moon, but kind of hazy, and I was two blocks from work when I thought I saw something odd. I missed it as I was driving, but swore I saw someone up on top of a houses roof. Glancing around while I'm driving through some neighborhoods, I saw another figure standing on a roof, then another, and more and more. I started to freak out, it's 3 in the morning, not a single car out on the streets except me, and there are people out standing on their roofs, all of them looking up at the sky! After seeing maybe 6 or 7, I broke out in a cold sweat and just stared straight forward, trying not to look at them any more while I finished my drive home. I mentioned it at work the next day, someone mentioned maybe a meteor shower got people out to see it, but nothing was written in the newspaper. To this day, I have no idea what that was all about."

– khaymanbb

Home Invasion

"My mother always told me to close my window blinds as a kid before i went to sleep.I usually remembered but one night i forgot. I woke up in the middle of the night to an old man staring through my window, smiling. We stared at each other for like 10 seconds.I calmly got out of bed and walked to my mom's room. On the way there,I passed the living room and saw someone walking past our living room windows. I went to sleep in her bed and never brought it up."

– balleditmoreravens

The Woods Are Always A Bad Idea

"About 5 years ago, a few buddies and I went camping in Tennessee. We were on mountain bikes so we were able to get way far out from civilization and set up camp in the middle of the woods. This was not a camping area, so we didn't run into any other people, and we were so far away from anything we didn't expect to. We all went to sleep without incident and it was as dark as dark can be outside with clouds blocking the moon. After being asleep for a couple of hours I heard leaves crunching probably about 20 feet from our tent."

"It was obviously footsteps. I then noticed a little bit of light shining on the tent from what I assume was a flashlight. Then I hear two men whispering. Then I hear "ya'll asleep in there?" My instinct was to remain completely silent and I didn't make a sound. Eventually I heard more footsteps heading away from the tent until eventually I heard nothing again. Needless to say I got absolutely no sleep after that and I woke my buddies up about ten minutes later to tell them. In the morning there was no sign of anybody, and we left quickly. Never figured it out."

– SalamanderFeast

Now You See Them...

"Halloween 2019: Me and my friends go to my best friend’s house and decide to play hide and seek in his backyard, cue creepy stuff. We play the first few rounds without a problem. Some of the guys were drunk and hiding in ridiculous places (crouching behind a chair, laying along the fence, etc.) and we laugh about it. We start the third round and suddenly we hear this horrible shriek and we all jump out of our hiding spots and look at what it came from. I was this huge figure which had 2 legs and 2 arms. It was about 7 foot and had some sort of futuristic armor on. As soon as I saw that we were looking at it I turned around and sprinted a very, very fast pace and opened the gate which led to my friends in ground pool, and took a huge jump which put it 10-20 feet in the air and suddenly for a second it looked back at us still floating in mid air, floated for about 10 more seconds and then disappeared with a huge cracking noise. My friends and I ran inside his house, locked every window, door, and possible entrance and ran into his room upstairs and we all didn’t sleep and didn’t come out of the room until noon on November 1st. When we looked into the backyard, there was no sign of anything that we left there, it all just vanished. We still talk about it occasionally and wonder what it could’ve been."

– Deleted User

Stalked

"I was 21 and just moved to a college town living in my own. I noticed my AC unit was being turned off during the day. I thought maybe it was maintenance or a faulty breaker. So I talked to property management, they couldn't figure it out. I brushed it off."

"Then I started coming home and there was dishes I didn't remember leaving in the sink. A cereal bowl, a fork. I had a brain tumor so I was concerned my memory was getting really bad."

"Then one day while I was in the shower, I thought I heard a man downstairs. I turned off my shower, froze, and grabbed a razor. I realized the door had no locks so I braced myself against the sink and door. I held my breath and listened. I frantically texted my high school friend who lived in the unit next door."

"When I heard his voice, I flew downstairs and he was staring at ammunition on my carpet. Just bullets, scattered everywhere."

"And this began the three year saga of my stalker and we made the first of multiple police calls."

"So while not traditionally creepy, those bullets made my skin crawl and heart sink. I knew someone wanted to hurt me and had been watching me."

– PM_YOUR_PET_PICS979

It's In The Eyes

"When I was a kid, I had the weirdest experiences. Things that I saw really made no fuckin' sense, and I had no idea why."

"The scariest thing, though, happened when I was about to fall asleep. I had been living with the feeling that there were people in my room while I slept for the longest time, but I got used to it. This night, however, I wasn't really feeling it. I dunno if it's just my brain being weird, or-"

"And then it happens. For a sec, in a half-dream-half-awake state, I see, just.. eyes. Literally just a pair of eyes in the dark. Then I heard the mental equivalent of violent, pained screaming. It was loud. Like, the kind of loud that leaves your ears ringing. I fell out of my bed, screamed for my parents, had some warm milk, and went back to sleep. Things like that haven't happened since."

– AmZeeeee

So Loud

"I was speeding down this dead end road to get to the house i was house sitting (by speeding i mean 40 in a 35) and this dude runs out in the road and starts screaming at me."

"I swerve around him and park behind the house, hidden from the road. While I'm getting out i hear a truck fly down the road and the man was walking around the cul de sac SCREAMING and slamming doors."

"After i snuck in the house, i locked up everything and laid down."

"Weeks later the owners were telling me about their crazy neighbor who is quick to pull out his gun in arguments and if people use his driveway to turn around in."

I" know that's a lot and it probably sounds stupid, but i was scared."

– chiaobama

He's Still Out There Somewhere

"I don't have a lot of interesting stories about creepy things that have happened to me but my mom has an extremely creepy story."

"This was in upstate New York and happened when my mom was 22. Her and her friend had been sitting at the bottom of a big hill (picture just a long trail in the woods and a big road going up and at the bottom is a nice area to sit and talk) having conversations (this was the early 90s) when they notice a man hiding in the brush to the side of the road watching them they immediately realize that this man is doing un-holy things with his dong while watching them my mother immediately tells her friend about what this man is doing and to not freak out. So my mom makes a decision that they need to run the opposite direction of the creepy man he immediately starts sprinting after them. Now i know that this sounds almost too perfect I know, I know but my moms boyfriend was driving the road at the time with his friend and sees my mom running down the hill now i have to assume that when the creeper saw the car he gave up but my mom told her (ex) boyfriend what happened like the natural badass he was (?) he goes to pop his trunk and pulls out a baseball bat and proceeds to go hunt down the man unfortunately he never found them obviously a police report was made but they never found the man and they never dealt with him again"

"The End"

– Abstrektor101

Someone's In The House

"I got a short one from a while back, maybe 8 years ago. At the time my wife was pregnant, two kids were in the living room with us and 2 kids were upstairs in their bedroom with the door closed. The oldest in the room with us went to microwave something and accidentally turned in the gas stove without lighting it. A half hour later we realize what happened so I turn it off and open some windows. A few minutes later the kids from upstairs run down screaming and crying because someone was banging on their door. They thought it was me messing with them at first so we laughed it off. Well, at first, until they said they saw black boots and heard heavy steps in the hallway. I was downstairs the entire time. Right after they finished telling their story the lid to the hamper came flying down the steps. No windows were open up there and there was never any circulation through the house. We left for a while to calm them down"

– otterplus

Ghosts

"When I was 16 my parents got a divorce and I went through the typical angst, part of it was firmly denouncing religion and anything not explained by science. My mom, sister and I moved into a creepy old house where they both complained of paranormal instances, which I was quick to dismiss. I came home from a track meet around 7:30 pm on a Friday. When I came in I heard my sister hysterically laughing with her signature snort."

"I asked her "what's so funny Taylor" and while barely speaking through the laughing and snorting she replied "just come up here, it's hilarious". I slowly walk up the creaky steps as I listen to her laugh the entire time. She kept saying "you gotta see this, come up here". When I opened the door it was pitch black and she was nowhere to be found. Then I realized when I drove into the driveway there were no other cars, I was home alone. I then remembered my mom and sister had gone to tour colleges that weekend."

"I got out of there ASAP. I now believe I know nothing about this world."

– brandtgrui

How Scary Is It To Screw In A Lightbulb?

"This is a really fucked yo story so I’m 13 and I think this happened when I was still 12 and I was up late one night and when I went to bed it’s about 2 am at this point I hear talking outside my door and I know it ain’t my parents Becuase it would been more soft and next think I know I hear foot step and see a hand unscrew my light bulb Becuase it was still on a little bit Becuase on died and a hand just reaches up and unscrews in and I got it on video but it won’t let me put the video on here"

– xXphoenix365

Republicans In My Passenger Seat

"I was dropping off a rider in NJ from Manhattan and decided to pick up a couple of rides near Newark. A guy gets in my car with his family and sits in the front seat. He then turns my way and doesn't talk for like 2-3 minutes. I'm now officially creeped out and start thinking I should move a little faster. Then he starts to ask where I'm from. I'm instantly even more on alert and say Brooklyn. He says "no where are you originally from" and I'm like dude Brooklyn."

"He starts getting agitated and asks where are your parents from and I'm like Brooklyn. Then he screams dude where are they originally from and I'm now officially terrified. His daughter starts screaming in the back telling him to stop cause he's scaring me and to be honest, I lost all control and may have started going through reds. Not once did I even think about looking in his direction. Made a 15 minute ride in like 6 minutes and not once was I stupid enough to mention that my family originally came from Pakistan. He started yelling at his family next and l began to regret taking rides in NJ. I was trapped in a box with a maniac and kept expecting a knife or a gun to pop into his hands any second. I was pretty happy when I pulled into a gated building and the police was there. I dropped him off, turned off the app and drove all the way back to the city without a rider. Lesson learned, no more driving in NJ."

– i_M_Momin

Evil and Invisible

"i was walking my very old, deaf, blind dog on his poop walk on a quiet street, going very slow. quiet street, 5 pm. an unseen force shoved me on my right shoulder, pushing me to my knees. in that exchange i broke a finger and sprained an ankle. i uprighted my self, remained on my knees, looked behind me and saw nothing. a second, more powerful shove pushed me on the ground and my arm broke in two places. my dog ran off and i was alone on the road until i rolled over and made it to a neighbor's. i have the pins in my arm to prove it."

– ilovemypooch

My Feelings

"When I was five years old I had a nightmare. In that nightmare there was a man, and he just stood there doing nothing but repeatedly saying "You won't wake up" over and over. I was scared to the point I couldn't move. When I woke up from the nightmare, I could still see and hear my dream. He was laughing at me. I forcefully opened my eyes with my hands but I couldn't get him out of my head. I was so frightened I was about to cry. I got up from my bed and felt my way to the kitchen where my mum was making breakfast."

"I tugged on her shirt but and asked her to help me but she just said "Just open your eyes." I tried to show her my eyes were open. "They are!" But she didn't turn around and ignored me. Well, if mom wasn't going to help me, then I was. I thought if I went back to sleep I could fight this laughing man for my freedom, so I went back to bed and closed my eyes. And eventually the man and his laughing faded as I counted down from ten. Immediately I ran back out to mum, just to make sure that what happened was actually real but she just laughed and ignored me again. To this day I have never felt so betrayed by someone."

– ChurchSpaghetti

Waking A Demon

"I walked with my friend through some street as we usually did that then. We had similar topic of conversation as it is of this question. We were talking about some house in which he was in with our mutual friend. That mutual friend told him it was haunted but my friend would not believe it so they went to check it out. They settled in living room of the house. As they sat, lightbulb flickered. They were little freaked out but that could be explainable, building was abandoned and lightbulb could be little broken. So they went to the basement. Basically there was written 666 on the wall and there waa blood everywhere. Baby toys were scattered on the floor, lamp was broken and lightbulb flickered. They went to the hall, freaked out obviously, they started screaming and cursing. In every room in the house was the sound of rustling, breaking and crashing. As they opened the door, the lightbulb broke, leaving the house in darkness (windows were sealed of with wooden planks). Went they closed the door and went out, there could be heard scratching and rustling of the door. So lets get back on my friend and I walking, as we were walking beside that house, all my hairs on my body have risen, scream tore the air, and rustling started. We sprinted across the street straight to our homes. I think my friend have awoken a demon."

– Pennio69

The Observer

"The scariest thing I've ever encountered was I was mowing the lawn around 9PM when I was 11. I remember the lawn mower kept randomly sputtering as if it was going to shut off but wouldn't completely die. I checked the gas at least 3 times to see if that was the problem. When it finally just completely made a clunk and shut off. At the exact moment the sound could no longer be heard there was a large cracking sound behind me."

"Come to find out a few weeks later there had been a man who was watching us from the fern tree behind our house. There were only 2 windows in view from that side of the house. The first one was ground level and you could see the backdoor, kitchen, living room and if my mom's door was open her room. The second one you could only see if there were lights on upstairs. If the lights were on upstairs it meant us kids were awake. The police even found a sheet of plywood in the tree for him to sit on and it was believed he'd sit there for hours on end. We never found out what his intentions were but he'd just been watching everything about us."

– xSarcasticx

Reluctantly Safe

"This happened very recently. I was driving east on the 91 freeway (CA) two days ago (31st) I saw a woman who was about to jump off of an overpass. As I drove past, it was so nerve wracking to see her up there. Then I got back on the freeway and the westbound traffic was backed up for several exits. I kept seeing people in stand still traffic, getting out of their cars."

"Googled it later and she was detained and is safe. Thank god."

– golden_pinky

Near Miss

"A few years ago, when I was at college, I was heading back to my apartment building after class. It was still early evening and the sun was still setting so it wasn't like it was dark and gloomy or anything, and I got dropped off by my school's shuttle system so I felt relatively safe. But while I was walking down the sidewalk I saw a man in jeans and big sweater round the corner of my building. The hoodie was up and over his face so I couldn't make it out and he didn't look, to me, like a college student. The build looked more for a 30/40 year old and there was no one else around but us two."

"But the second he came into my line of vision my body went cold, my heart started racing and literally every single hair on my body stood up. I quickened my pace to my door but that was what caught his attention. He turned right to me and began speed walking, almost running, right at me and I was so scared I thought I would freeze. Luckily, I had my key already out and I flew inside, bolted the door and closed all the blinds. I called public safety and they sent out a patrol car but it took me forever to calm down. What sucked even more was that I was all alone that night. It was a feeling I've never felt again (knock on wood) but one I won't ever forget. I'm grateful I was lucky!"

– acourt95

Not A Pupper

"I was walking home from school one day and I saw a coyote about 20-30 feet from where I was standing. Originally, it looked like a little husky so I whistled to it. It made a loud snarling noise and ran away back into the woods. I didn't give it much thought until later that night on the local news the coyote was said to be rabid and attacking other dogs in the neighborhood. The story itself isn't that scary it's just the thought that what if it came to me when I whistled at it and attacked me is frightening"

– Dave_0225

Plunger Next

"I was out by myself around 12am and a scary guy followed me home and stayed outside my windows until I decided to call the cops. They said no one was there when the did a sweep of my land. I went to bed and woke up around 5am. The creepy dude was just staring into my bedroom looking at my bed, I stared right back at him and made sure to keep my eyes on him. I texted my neighbour to call the cops. I left my room and heard my window break so I went into the bathroom because the was the safest place around the time. I heard the cop cars and his foot steps. I decided to fight this guy because, it was either sit down and cry in the bath tub like a little bitch or fight. So I got my broom and opened the door. I looked around for a little and found him. He charged right at me and gave me a bloody nose, I him multiple times with my broom until the cops came. They said it was self defence and said nothing of it. After that night, I've never been out past 10pm alone."

"If I could go back, I should have used my plunger."

– ShadowGorl666

The Bored Ghost

"Ok, this one I cannot explain. It happened when I was between 8-10."

"I used to get home from school long before my mum got home from work. It wasn't a big deal. I'd grab a snack and sit myself in front of the TV. This happened before we got Sky TV and kept the TV and Sky box plugged in all the time. My mum was terrified of electronics getting fried by lightning so she never left anything plugged in. I got home from school and my usual routine was to lock the house back up and turn the TV on. This afternoon I really, really needed to pee, the TV was unplugged so instead of turning it on first, I ran upstairs and with the door open I used the toilet. About half way through my TV comes on, the sound on full blast. I just froze. I could see down the stairs from where I was and nothing was moving. I finish up and eventually pluck up the courage to sneak back downstairs. No one was down there, but the TV was now plugged in and it was freaking loud. There was no way that could have happened. I turned it down and checked the house. It was still locked up tight, no one else was inside. I just went back to my usual routine and never brought it up to anyone. Now, even if the TV was on standby, which it 100% wasn't, we didn't have a remote for it so it couldn't have been that. The sound turning itself all the way up was especially weird."

– Zanki

Sleepover Nightmare

"Once, I was sleeping over at my friends. We were near the back with the trampoline, we went in witj blankets and stuff, it was all good. As we were there, my friends female cousins (about 8-9) said something was in the woods. Me, being the smart yet exhausted kid i were, would shine my flashlight into the tree line. Nothing. Then, after turning it off and about to walk back, i hear a screech. We ran like hell, back into the house and talking to my friends parents. They heard it, which is why they were about to come outside. We have no clue what it is, even now."

– LocalSoftToast

We are certainly glad these didn't happen to us. And we may sleep with the lights on.

Do you have similar stories? Share them in the comment section below!

The Corporate Decisions That Were Met With Huge Public Backlash

Reddit user Astro_Shogun asked: 'What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?

Corporations don't get big overnight.

A lot of tough decisions, big wins, and sometimes even bigger losses, go into their growth.

But sometimes companies make mistakes that the public simply cannot let slide, and it can be hard to imagine how the company could stay afloat after the backlash.

Redditor Astro_Shogun asked:

"What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?"

Dang It, Photobucket

"When Photobucket decided to take the whole internet hostage by asking for 400 dollars a year for what was previously a free image storage solution. The move broke years of forum posting and erased a significant portion of the web collective knowledge."

- denpo

"Yup. And now they're holding almost all of my son's childhood photos (some of which I managed to save in other places) hostage."

- KnockMeYourLobes

"Browse any forum thread from the early 2000s and practically all the images are gone because everyone used Photobucket back then. It will be the same way with Reddit whenever Imgur goes under."

- NothingOld7527

So Salesy

"JCPenny doing away with sales and trying to present itself as a more upscale store. Sales immediately plummeted, and they reversed course quickly."

- flyingcircusdog

Cheap Jewelry

"Gerald Ratner said the reason his jewelry company could sell stuff so cheap was because the products were crap. It destroyed the company overnight."

- simplemtbman

Front Wheel Drive

"Ford, in the '80s, tried to replace the aging Fox body Mustang with a front-wheel drive, Mazda-based car. This was pre-internet, but car people got UPSET and deluged Ford with a letter expressing their anger."

"Ford backtracked, kept the Fox body around, and released the vehicle that was going to be the new Mustang as the Probe. It lasted two generations, but the Mustang soldiers on."

- StillN0tATony

Online Only

"Microsoft got roasted when they announced Kinect and always-online were required for the Xbox One. Took all the momentum they had from the 360 era and put them miles behind Sony."

- Jerry_Williams89

Childhood: Destroyed

"Sonic having human teeth."

- LightDash

"I just immediately pictured teeth in a Sonic milkshake and had a horrified reaction before my brain caught up to you meaning the character."

- Rolizas

Questionable Upgrades

"Very recently, T-Mobile. A company that 10 years ago called itself the Uncarrier by making a series of pro-consumer changes to its plans and the previous CEO built almost a sort of cult of fans of the company. Then T-Mobile acquired Sprint and got a new CEO."

"A couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile internal documentation revealed it was going to automatically upgrade customers on old grandfathered plans up to new plans, which were more expensive. Customers would have to call in to opt out of the change. 'They weren’t raising customers’ rates, they were moving them to better plans.'"

"Well, major tech news got ahold of that, and then even some local news stations, and T-Mobile quietly 'clarified' a week later via internal communications that only one percent of their customers would be affected."

- artimaticus8

Coming Together in Hate

"Anyone remember the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad when she solved police brutality?"

- vernon3

"Those moments are precious. There are a few things these days that bring everyone on the Internet together. That was one of those things. We all hated the Pepsi ad that solved police brutality."

"That ad had it all. Pandering, ignorance, arrogance, and talking down to their audience."

- notwoutmyprob

"And a Kardashian."

- Kitchen_action

With Every Purchase

"I couple of years back a local Detroit area car dealership decided the best way to celebrate MLK day was to give away free car alarms with every purchase."

"Nobody liked that."

- graveybrains

A Sale Gone Too Well

"Hoover UK offering two free flights to America if you spend £100 on their products. They anticipated that people would spend a lot more than the minimum required which would cover the approximately £600 value of the tickets."

"When the company was deluged with purchases around the £100 mark, they reneged on the offer, which prompted a very expensive lawsuit. The fallout was so bad that the UK division of the firm was sold to a rival company."

- Live-Dance-2641

New Drink, Who Dis?

"New Coke."

- PeggyWithPhatA**

"After the relations disaster, the public clamored for the decision to be reversed, and Coca-Cola released 'Coke Classic.'"

"Coke Classic soon had an even higher market share than Coke did before the public relations fiasco, and a new theory made the rounds: that Coca-Cola deliberately made these decisions, simply to gain publicity, and increase market share."

"The reaction from Coca-Cola’s executives was, 'We aren’t that smart, and we aren’t that stupid.'"

- Malthus1

A Tweet Turned Sexist

"Burger King stating that 'Women Belong in the Kitchen.' What they were TRYING to say was that they wanted more diversity. People didn't see it that way, and in the end, they had to issue an apology."

- zerbey

The Downfall of an Incredible Publication

"Here’s one there should be a public outcry about."

"Disney bought National Geographic and controls everything it does. This is the last year the iconic magazine will be available. I’m incensed."

- redheadMInerd2

(The writer of this article is equally incensed.)

Predicting the Future

"I feel like whatever YouTube is cooking up lately will be the next one."

- Just_Aioli_1233

"Tech companies sure know how to kill off highly popular and profitable apps, super quick. It’s interesting to watch it happen in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, all losing tons of followers and destroying their own stock."

- Eleanor_of_Accutane

It's easy to see how all of these mistakes resulted in huge backlash, sometimes at the total expense and downfall of the business.

But some of these mistakes were made by companies that are still huge today, and to a certain extent, that's kind of surprising.

Demonstrator holds sign that reads, "Drop this act of corporate gree!"
Patrick Perkins/Unsplash

Companies are typically in business for profit, and very few have the goal of keeping the customer's interests in mind.

But some corporations go even further to get more out of their customer in exchange for their "quality services" and as a result, the line between general business and scam becomes blurred.

Redditor jwwin asked:

"What is a predatory business that shouldn't be legal, but is?"

Students paying an exorbitant amount in tuition in order to seek higher learning should be warned there are additional expenses to cover for.

A Textbook Example

"College textbooks, they will release an 'updated' edition every semester but the information doesn't change. And then after you spent a fortune on the books the places that buy textbooks will give you like 5% of what you paid for the book."

– teethalarm

A "Double Whammy"

"Former Prof here. I talked with a book rep about this once and learned a lot. It is a bit complicated but worth understanding. Book publishers rely on large quantity sales to make any money on a book because the cost of production is so high up front (author, editors, printing, etc.). So, for a book to be profitable, it has to sell a lot of copies to spread the cost of production across all the books. A paperback in the fiction section might sell 100,000 or more. A textbook might sell as few as 1,000. So, the publisher needs everyone to buy the book to break even."

"Now add colleges into the mix. Somewhere in the 1980s (give or take), colleges saw publishers selling books and making larger profits on them than the college bookstore was making per book. So they got the bright idea to start buying used texts and reselling them. Before that, a text would come out and 97% (making the number up but it was close to that) of the students would buy the book in year one, 85% in year two, 75% in year three, 60% in year four and 50% in year five. A $50 dollar book would cost $25 to make (again, making the numbers up), sell to the bookstore for $40 ($15 publisher profit), and be sold to the student for $50 ($10 bookstore profit). Across the five years, the producer would make a profit."

"Then, college bookstores began offering students $25 for a used book and selling it for $40 ($15 profit - $5 higher than that of a new book). Students would then prefer the $40 used book over the $50 new book. But that cut the publisher's sales from 97% to 50% in the first year. Because they could not sell as many books they had to do two things: (1) raise the initial price of the text to cover the production cost in 1-2 years rather than 4-5 years, and (2) cut the cycle down from 4-5 years to 1-2 years to ensure that they got sales of the book. That is a double whammy. Texts that used to cost $50 now cost $300 or more. And they have a new version out every 18 months or so. Students refuse to pay that price and that cuts the sales numbers even further forcing the price up again. And, with new editions out so frequently, it is harder to sell them back to the bookstore."

"That's why you see so many 'course packs' now - where a professor will pick a few pages from a book to give to the students. I went from having nearly every student purchasing a text in my early career to having zero students with a text late in my career. Your professor probably dislikes the state of affairs as much as you do. I cut down what books I would select because I could not justify students paying that much for what they were getting. I would also recommend students look for older editions on Amazon and the like which got me in trouble with my administration because I was not supporting the bookstore. But, it was difficult to teach from a text that no one had or had access to. The University's desire to generate revenue from texts truly was killing the chicken because it was not producing enough eggs."

"So look for an older edition on Chegg, Amazon, or the like and match it up with what your professor is teaching from the new edition. You are right, it probably has not changed. Be careful for the problems at the end of the chapter - that is often where the changes are."

– BewnieBound

These businesses parade as services but they are notorious for taking more than what you're willing to pay for.

For A Future Owner

"Rent to Own (furniture, appliances, TVs, video game systems, etc.) The mark up on the interest over time ends up costing 4 times the purchase - or more."

– PartyAlarmed3796

"Well the trick is to not pay (seems to be what a lot of people do)."

– Expensive_Ad2695

"Which is why those places are so expensive and why they're actually kinda necessary for some people."

"They're taking a pretty big risk on people with no credit, and if a person with shi*ty credit needs a refrigerator or other necessary appliance, there's usually nobody else willing to work with them. Also, most of them report to credit agencies so you can build your credit through them."

"I'm not a fan by any means and I hate that people are buying video game systems and couches through them, but I still think they're filling a need."

– Pitiful-Pension-6535

Money Sucker

"Payday loan companies – they're like financial vampires, sucking the life out of people with high-interest rates."

– neonliolia

"And yet most of them are owned by major banks... hmmmm."

"Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, JP Morgan/Chase collectively all own the largest payday lender companies."

– Bramtyre

"In Canada, there is an effort to turn Canada Post into a kind of bank that offers basic banking services to the most vulnerable. Not sure what happened to that, but it was an alternative to check cashing and payday loan rackets."

– hobbitlover

Greedy Event Vendor

"Ticket Master."

– LTVOLT

"Agreed. We went to a preseason hockey game the other week. Tickets were $5 each but there was around $8 of Ticketmaster fees for each one and you had to use their app to get in the door because the barcodes change like every 30 seconds or something. It's ridiculous."

– darfus1895

Where can citizens turn to receive genuine care without drying up their financial resources?

Big Pharma

"Health Insurance and over priced perscription drugs."

"Wife is type 1 diabetic. Her pump is over $1000 a month WITH 50% coverage. $177 for just the sensor pack. We have the best coverage we can afford."

– Dukeboys_

"US pays the middle man for health care coverage. The middle man and the health care provider come up with "health packages" you can buy into, just in case you get sick. It's just sick how they funnel money from the middle class into this."

– dcoolidge

"Healthcare insurance industry. They can straight up reject claims you should be covered for and make you jump through near endless hoops to get them to pay for the service that is part of your plan."

– ColdHardPocketChange

All Out To Get Ya

"Homeopathic 'medicine' sellers."

"Psychics"

"Domain search engine registration scams (fake emails or physical mail that shows up saying 'your domain search registration is about to expire' and look exactly like warnings that your domain name is about to expire)"

"Fake homeowner warranty/car warranty scams loaded with so many limitations and exclusions they’ll basically never pay out."

"Multilevel marketing systems like Amway."

– 4wqrewtety

Losing Sight Of Kids' Well-Being

"From my experience working in group homes for youth are awful. The owners only want money and the more kids in care the more money."

– OddReputation3765

Going Nowhere Fast

"Car insurance."

"You get penalized for using it. Even just once in some cases."

– Effective_Sundae_839

"1000% agree. I was rear ended by a hit and run driver while i was stopped at a stop sign. Literally came to a stop for 3 seconds max and got destroyed. Car insurance wanted to give me 4k and shut me up. It’s called the nuisance fee. I eventually lawyered up and got 25k out of it. But like wtf. B*tch that’s what we PAY FOR, following renewal of my policy it increased hundreds of dollars a month and that was even after i switched to a different company. 'A claim is a claim regardless who is at fault.'”

– HitBackZach

Businesses taking advantage of their customers should be a crime, yet here we are.

What companies can you think of that legally continue to look after their own profitable interests above providing a decent service?

Two women looking on over a sunset
Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash

Everyone has disagreed with their friends, even their best friend, at least once in their life.

Sometimes these disagreements might even lead to arguments or fights.

Of course, the sign of a true friendship is the ability to forgive and forget, and if all is not necessarily forgotten, it eventually becomes water under the bridge.

Sadly, this isn't the case for everyone, as sometimes words are said, or incidents occur that are difficult, if not impossible, to forgive and recover from.

Bringing even the closest friendships to an effective end.

Redditor Duemont62 was curious to hear what led people to cut one or more of their closest friends out of their lives, leading them to ask:

"What's something a friend did that made you end your friendship with them?"

Meow!

"She was a cat hoarder and when I talked her into giving up 20 she said that would help making space for the fall litters (outdoor feral)."

"I gave up."

"She had 120 cats inside her house."- MeowMix24

Not Even The Tiniest Gesture...

"I was run over by a drunk driver years back."

"Died temporarily and had to be revived at the hospital."

"Both my brothers told my best friend of over 20 years what happened."

"Not once did he reach out to see how I was or ask if I was ok or wished me well."

"I was hurt by it, but tried to make some sort of sense of it, like maybe he just didn’t know what to say or he was shocked by the news or he wanted to give me space to recover."

"Months later I’m home but still in crutches and can barely move without a great deal of pain."

"Reached out to my friend on the phone, talked a bit and asked if he felt like coming over to watch a movie, play some games and just hang out."

"I was lonely and missed him."

"He seemed enthused but asked if I could WALK to his house in December on icy roads barely able to hobble around on crutches to hang out there instead."

"He lived 0.2 miles from me and couldn’t drive or walk the roughly 5 minutes to my house."

"I stopped talking to him shortly after."- MitchConnor555

Victim Of The Bottle

"I had one where the guy was a horrendous drunk."

"Super sensitive to alcohol and would very easily slip into blackout status."

"When he would get drunk, he just wanted to f*ck with people and be a sh*t disturber."

"One night he was pretty drunk and we didn't feel like f*cking with with so we went out without him."

"We come home around 11 that night and he had a bunch of sketchy people in our house that we're also obnoxiously drunk."

"He was almost passed out on the couch after he had burned a huge hole in our carpet after going into my room and getting my hookah setup."

"I go upstairs and there are just random people I had never met just chilling out in the random bedrooms."

"Some people smoking weed on my bed."

"One random drunk guy was screaming at someone on the phone and gave the person on the phone our address and told them to bring everyone over."

"We kicked everyone out which of course was a huge scene and conflict."

"We booted the guy out the next day."

"Haven't talked to him since"- PutinBoomedMe

When People Refuse To Change...

"Maybe not anything dramatic but my best friend from university came back to visit his parents who live in the same city as me and we wanted to have dinner."

"I knew he was super flakey in university, so I made sure I kept my week open because I knew he wouldn't know when he was available until the last minute."

"I was so excited to introduce him to my fiancé and show him our new house."

"We got everything for a really nice dinner."

"The day before we had planned to have dinner, he texted me that he didn't feel like driving over from his parent's house (30 min) the next day because 'he might be tired'."

"I was mad that he was flaking on such important plans, but I offered to bring all the stuff for dinner and drive out to him instead."

"He said, 'No thanks'."

"I realized that he really didn't care about anything that was going on in my life and was still as immature as he had been in university."

"I decided it wasn't a friendship I wanted to maintain anymore."- kitskill

It Was All Fine Till SHE Came Along...

"He married a girl who is incredibly hard to get along with and turned into a robot."- Gua_Bao

Warped Priorities...

"Friends for over a decade."

"I was her maid of honor."

"She had 3 children with her husband, whom I was also very good friends with."

"I was very close with the kids, they called me auntie."

"I worked for her out of a home office."

"Watched the marriage deteriorate."

"She started a relationship with one of her clients after the marriage ended."

"She then started to treat her children like a burden."

"The new relationship was (and still is, to the best of my knowledge) more important than her children."

"When someone starts to severely neglect their children for a new exciting f*ck boy, I have to walk away."- redrainbow76

Friends Don't Take Advantage Of Other Friends...

"They were using me for free rent and as a scapegoat."- Chicago_Synth_Nerd_

The Green Eyed Monster...

"After talking to a guy I liked, we found out my 'best friend' was telling both of us that the other person didn't like us/found us annoying."

"He would ask her to invite me to parties, and she'd tell him I couldn't come, or that I said no and that he annoyed me."

"She'd tell me that he didn't invite me because he thought I was annoying."

"All because she liked him but wouldn't admit it to anyone."

"When we finally realized, we got together and stopped being friends with her."

"We've been together for 11 years now!"- horton_hears_a_homie

Not There When You Needed Them...

"The last straw: showing me no support when my dad passed away."- didyoubutterthepan

What Goes Around Comes Around...

"My best friend of 10 years and her husband had a falling out with my brother because my brother chose to stay out of a situation they were having with someone else, another mutual friend of ours."

"He didn’t wanna get involved."

"I agreed he shouldn’t get involved."

"They got so nasty and bitter about it all over time, and ended up lying to my brothers new wife and told her he cheated on her with one of our other friends."

"I knew this not to be true at all."

"They continued to make up stories and lie to her about him and it eventually destroyed their marriage because it created mistrust and conflict."

"His wife already had a lot of mental health struggles and it made it worse for her."

"They eventually divorced."

"I cut them out of my life."

"Since then, they have apologized and admitted to making up all the stories out of hurt and bitterness that my brother wouldn’t take their side in the conflict they were having with someone else, but it is all just too late."

"My brothers marriage was destroyed and so was our friendship."

"No coming back from that."

"By the way, my brother didn’t get involved because they were the ones in the wrong and if he told them that, imagine how much worse their revenge would be!"

"They’re unhinged."

"And their own marriage has since fallen apart."

"Karma."- NachosandMargaritas

Some might say that any true friendship is salveagable.

Leading one to wonder if any friend you found yourself cutting out of your life completely was ever a real friend at all.


man holding book on road during daytime
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Starting your first job is always nerve-wracking. The start of anything new usually is. That's why it's helpful to get some advice.

Before I started my first job, a friend of mine told me that there were a lot of things I should be willing to do in order to become indispensable, but one thing I should never do is give up lunch.

Even if it's a busy day and everyone is working through lunch, take five minutes to buy something at the deli next door or pop something in the microwave. You will not do your best work if you do not eat a meal.

I was very glad to get that advice, and it was something I always followed.

I also followed my own personal rule of writing down the process to do anything at work, even if it was as simple as where to look for a particular file. Anytime I thought 'oh, I'll remember,' I ended up having to ask again. It's always better to write it down so you not only know how to do it, but are the one that people come to when they need to know how to do it.

I'm not the only one that has good advice for someone starting their first job. Redditors are full of advice and are ready to share.

It all started when Redditor CampDreamy asked:

"What advice would you give someone starting their first job?"

Think Positive

"95% of success is showing up on-time and not having a bad attitude."

– Firebolt164

"There’s a quote that goes something like: you don’t need an advanced degree to show up on time, work hard, and have a positive attitude."

"I basically used this as my mantra as I built my career (and still do)."

– tyrannosean

"This has been my experience in my first ~5 years of employment. Being someone that people enjoy interacting with, sticking to deadlines, and broadly trying to make lives easier rather than harder will get you pretty close to the top, and it’s a lot easier than working overtime every day."

– 2catsinatrenchcoat

"Yep, when I was younger I always thought that just showing up on time, being a decent person to work with, and doing a good job were the bare minimum that everyone did....I learned later that this will put you above approximately 90% of your co-workers."

– raoulduke212

Sound Advice

"Poop on company time."

– 1320Fastback

"Well, sh*t."

– CampDreamy

"Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That's why I poop on company time."

– mrselfdestruct066

Everyone Makes Mistakes

"Don't worry about f**king up. You're going to f**k up. We all f**k up. Constantly."

"Learn from it when you f**k it up so you do it better next time and you'll be the best employee in any job."

– MaximumZer0

"And when (not if) you f**k up, own up to it, and do your best to fix it. It's way easier to fix a mistake when it first happens than 3 weeks or even hours down the line. This applies to basically any field."

– super5aj123

Gossip Girl

"Listen to gossip if you want, but never spread it."

– GamerMomLife

"Yep. I worked in a private pool snack bar kitchen last summer, and nearly all of my coworkers were high school girls. The amount of sh*t they talked on each other was insane, but I just tried my best to not get involved. It never became anything other than sh*t-talking, but it's just a good idea in general to keep your head down."

– super5aj123

"I work in a kitchen with majority middle-aged women, and it's simular to what you described."

– DeadStar800

Do It All

"If they tell you to sweep, just sweep. You still make the same amount. Unless you’re an MD or something else, in that case you’re f**ked!"

– PublicEnema11

"A programmer consultant I knew in the 90s lived by the motto "it all pays the same.""

"You want him to spend his $50/hr time doing things that an unpaid intern could handle? Sounds like an easy day."

– Cacafuego

(Don't) Let It Burn, Burn, Burn

"Don’t burn bridges if you quit or get fired."

– kbrown423

""Never cut what you can untie.""

"- Robert Frost"

– sophistt_

It's All Public

"Assume everybody in the company plus clients will read every email you send."

– CouchieWouchie

"Yeah this is genuinely a great rule that will save your @ss. Write every email as if it will be read by the whole org."

– FrungyLeague

"Also speak as though anything you say is being recorded."

– squished_frog

Protect Yourself

"Document EVERYTHING. Every time punch. Every direction from your supervisor."

– DejectedDonut

"Do this if you are working outside your duties/responsibilities as well, or directed to do things. You want a paper trail of why you did what you did if something screwy happens."

"Ideally, the work place should concentrate on policy, protocol, training, engineering and admin controls and such... but well stuff isnt always ideal."

– Zech08

Work Friends

"You're going to feel tempted to make strong relationships with your coworkers - but remember that you shouldn't share with anyone what you wouldn't want known by everyone. You may think you can trust someone, but you should have a bit of caution."

"A lot of work relationships feel a bit like a friendship, but they are not. If they move on, or you do, it is rare that you will stay in touch. Accept it for what it is."

– Mobtor

Education

"Take advantage of tuition reimbursement to get degrees/certifications that will benefit your career and don't worry about "owing" the company for it."

"Many industries have pretty generous tuition reimbursement programs where they cover your school but you owe them time after they cut those checks. A typical program might have a requirement that if you leave the company you need to pay back anything they had paid out in the last two years."

"The thing is that you want to leverage that degree for a salary jump and the current company won't give it to you because they have you "locked" in now, right?"

"So you interview for your next job and when that company gives you an offer you explain that you're on the hook for the tuition reimbursement at your old company "and since you will be getting the benefit of that education I will need a signing bonus to cover my financial obligation to my current employer.""

"Keep in mind that the signing bonus will be taxable income so you need to shoot for an amount that will have taxes taken out and leave what you need to pay back the tuition."

"I've known too many people who didn't get a degree that could have really helped them but they didn't want to be "on the hook" to their employer. I even know one guy who spent close to $30k out of his own pocket to get a master's degree because he didn't want to "be stuck here" when he was done."

– tacknosaddle

The Little Moments Matter

"Don’t miss any major life events (or the major life events of close family/friends) for work. You might feel pressure from your employer not to take the time off."

"The family/friends will still be around for many years, the first job probably won’t."

– mxxiestorc

Learn To Save

"Pension! Pension! Pension!"

"Put as much as you can afford to into your pension. Retirement might seem a lifetime away but the sooner you save for it the sooner you can achieve it."

– Grayzo

Money, Money, Money

"Pack a lunch! Eating out can put a huge dent in your paycheck!"

– awileycat

"Can't stress this enough. For the price of eating out unhealthy food for 1 day you can usually pack healthier lunch for 2-3 days."

– QuantumExileMusic

Oh, yes! I found out about that last one the hard way...and still haven't learned!