People Divulge Which Things Some Folks Fervently Defend That Don't Seem Worth Their Time
Why do we keep standing for things that have proven unworthy?
We as humans are gluttons for punishment sure, but there should be a learning curve by now.
Some aspects of life are just not worthy of our time and energy.
Or some people.
Redditorhippolyte_pixiiwanted to hear about what many of us are wasting life on by championing the obsolete.
"What do people defend so fervently that you can tell they know it actually sucks?"
Ipods. I miss Ipods and still want them back. But I hear we're past them.
It's Over
Relationship GIF by GIPHY Studios OriginalsGiphy"Bad relationships."
KitKat2014
"Trauma bonding is real and so sad."
Weekly-Quality6243
It's All Fake
uncleskeleton
"Sunk cost fallacy. By the time you realise you're further in the hole than you'd intended, you convince yourself that your success is just around the corner."
"Also a read a blog a few years ago about someones adventures through an MLM, from the start to finally getting out and the impression I get is that there is very much a 'fake it till you make it' situation. Yes maybe there are some people who do well in MLM's, but the vast majority that appear to do well are faking it on social media with the goal of recruiting as many suckers as possible to be part of their downstream. Stay well away."
joshi38
It's Round
"Flat Earth nonsense. We watched a documentary about the flat Earthers, and it was obvious that many of the higher profile 'celebrities' in that community no longer believe their bull (if they ever did), but they've invested too much of their lives in it to be able to admit they were wrong, and for some of them, it's become their income source."
EarhornJones
The Grind
"Working super long hours - despite all your talk of ‘grindset,' I know you know it sucks."
"Burn-babies-burn. My dad gets 20 Vacation days a year and brags about not taking them. I'm like bro, that's not a flex but he just doesn't see it that way."
TheFluffersFluffer
"I was like that until about 2 years ago, I'm 28 now. From 19-26 I laughed at people taking vacation days and thought 'How lazy are you that you need to take time off other than your scheduled 2 days?' Well, thankfully I'm not like that anymore as I finally realized loyalty doesn't buy you anything and the business could care less about you."
JD2694
Schemes
Drink Gym GIF by Bucked UpGiphy"Some lady tried to sale my wife and I this supplement or whatever called 'thrive.' It was just some dumb pyramid scheme. Those who buy into it really drive home how great it is, way too extensively."
gould_35g
I tried Thrive. And I don't want to talk about it.
"Don't get me started on those things. If you find a Jeep addict driving a mall-crawler, if you just keep asking them about their mods, they eventually start to crack and barely admit that they made the vehicle a pain in the butt to drive, for off-roading capability that they will never use."
crapgarbage
Soda Brainwash
"The Coca-Cola marketing in Mexico is extremely overbearing. It has been for a very long time. it has gotten to the point where they have convinced Mexicans that Coca-Cola is part of their cultural traditions. To shy away from Coca-Cola is to shy away from your friends, family, and community."
"Basically, they have convinced a large portion of the Mexican people that if they don't like Coca-Cola, then they are odd and/or unethical people. That being said, my Mexican wife refuses to acknowledge that she likes Pepsi better. I've given her Pepsi in a cup without telling her and she has praised how good the 'Coke' was."
"After I reveal that it is Pepsi, she throws it away and claims she didn't really like it. If her family is around, she won't offer Pepsi to them if it's all we have. It's not just Pepsi either. RC and store-brand is the same. If it's not Coca-Cola, then it's an insult to her heritage. The brainwashing is remarkable to say the least."
qwerty4007
'pay our dues'
"Being a 'company man.' At FedEx I met a lot of old men decades deep into their, erm, 'careers' as mail sorters. They seem to think that just because FedEx will throw them a couple cents more per hour every year they stay, that makes hard work and loyalty to the company somehow invaluable."
"Then they freak out at us young guys all the time for not taking the job seriously because we have bills due NOW, not 20 years from now when we 'pay our dues' and eventually get a comfortable wage."
KithMyAirs
Thankless...
"Nursing. Don't get me wrong, those people do a thankless job and deserve a lot of recognition. But my best friend is a nurse and she's told me that 90% of her job is wiping @sses , and a lot of her coworkers are ex-high school mean girls who love to martyr themselves."
jesters_privelage
Apple Life
New York Holiday GIF by Virgin AtlanticGiphy"Living in New York City. Sure, there are all sorts of fantastic things to do… theatre, concerts, comedy, clubs, nightlife, authentic ethnic cuisine… it’s just a shame you can’t afford any of it."
EastCoastExile
Males
"Being alpha males or sigma males. If you ask me it's just means of justifying shi**y behavior and being pretentious."
MundaneConclusion246
"The Sigma male thing is hilarious. A bunch of neckbeards have decided that the coolest man to be is the one without charisma, influence or friends. Like it's some kind of political position to be a complete social outcast, and not something that's forced on them because they're unlikeable."
FatStoic
Beholden
"US healthcare and private insurance. It sucks in so many ways: you are beholden to an employer for your well-being, you get gouged prices, you can’t get care unless approved, it just goes on and on yet people insist that private insurance is somehow worth defending."
liarbility
Rugrats
"Their kids."
New_Horse3033
"Every parent loves their kids. But only parents who truly admit they love their kids can admit to other adults that they can’t stand their kids sometimes. But if you tell your kids you can’t stand them, you definitely don’t love your kids."
sketchysketchist
"I had to scroll down way too far to find this. KIDS."
multiplesneezer
Generations
Working Mothers Day GIF by Libby VanderPloegGiphy"Being a mother. My God I wish women would openly discuss the things they hate about motherhood to better prepare the next generation for parenthood."
LippyWeightLoss
"Not to mention, it’s the woman that usually ends up doing most of the work anyway. If you’re lucky enough to have one with a man that does his equal share it’s STILL a lot on the woman."
KekeSmall
That BTS
"I hope I don't get flagged or banned for this one... but... some of the members of BTS's singing ability is genuinely not good. I'm an army myself and I've been to a live concert but I know they sing along to back tracks and I think some of them lip sync often and those clips are the evidence that fans give when they want to prove their 'talent.'"
"I think most of their popularity is chalked up to a couple of them being talented singers, dancers, rappers and the rest is just how charismatic they are and the kind of content they put out. That said, I think a few of them have improved their singing abilities a ton over the last few years with practice so I really love how seriously they take their career since they really don't need to do that."
pendant_fawn
TV Love
"Their favorite show that nobody else watches."
TheUnblinkingEye1001
"There are so many shows out there, and their popularity is so reliant on communication and adverts that many awesome things are bound to remain unnoticed."
"The few times I tried something that a friend fervently recommended, it ended up being great. Simply, there are too many great things out there to experience them all, so I focus on things tailored to my specific tastes."
BarelyBearableHuman
I'm Fine
"Spanking. I don’t know why people like to die on that hill. Tell them that spanking is bad. And every study that has ever come out says it’s bad. People will die on that hill. The most common being 'I was spanked and I’m fine!'"
cleaning-meaning
Get Up
New York Showtime GIF by Desus & MeroGiphy"The whole 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' mentality. People that want others to suffer only because they once had to suffer is a particular kind of a**hole."
The_Gristle
Somethings are just meant to go by the wayside. Everything can't stay in fashion forever.
Inflation rose again this month.
Things are getting out of control when it comes to charging the customer.
So what do we do?
Cut back of course.
Sacrifice... spend the same for less.
At least for now.
Redditor ubewankenubi wanted to chat about how we spend and all the risks involved.
So they asked:
"What have you given up because of inflation?"
I've tried giving up vegetables. I'll only pay so much for corn.
$20
Pay Day Money GIF by MOST EXPENSIVESTGiphy"Ordering any kind of takeout. $20 for one person for a mediocre meal. No thanks."
dinoroo
Ridiculous
"Chicken wings."
nineelevenairways
"This has been my big one as well. Wings at restaurants are well over a dollar each. Some places are closing in on two dollars. I like wings, but I can literally buy steak at those prices."
CrayZ_Squirrel
"I went to the grocery store and a pack of chicken wings was $24!!!! Ridiculous, needless to say I got the drumsticks instead."
klb1204
8 Months
"I haven’t purchased anything relevant to any of my hobbies in around 8 months."
chungoglungus
"I run a local club for my hobby and the first half of the meeting was people sharing what new things they bought and tried (or haven't yet tried). Now the time set aside for that is halved and most people get up and talk about what they 'rediscovered' in their stash."
Many-Conclusion2217
In the Freeze
"I've started tossing out significantly less food. I'm lucky that I've been able to afford a chest freezer before inflation hit, and it's been a life saver. Any leftover scrap just goes in there. It's mostly for proteins for me as well. Normally I'd just go beach fishing and take at most two or three flounders, turbots, plaice or sole home at the end of the day, but now the entire catch is ending up in the freezer. Great fish to have in stock."
UnoriginalUse
Go for Water
See Ya Peace GIF by PepsiGiphy"Quite a few branded products like Pepsi. Also don’t eat out out much these days."
isham66
"Seriously. Soda prices have jumped so much, i hate buying it but we have a Coke problem in the house lol."
Get_off_critter
There is no issue with generic for most things anyaway, even soda.
Passions
Music Video Popcorn GIF by Chris MannGiphy"My husband and I have given up our expensive hobbies and date nights so we can still afford to pay for our kids extra curricular activities. We would live on rice and beans before we made them give up their passions. We had a date night at home last night while they were with their friends. Frozen pizzas and Netflix in sweat pants. It was still fun to us."
bmy89
paycheck to paycheck
"Just when I started to live comfortably, inflation hit hard and now I’m back to scraping by paycheck to paycheck because, like always, my pay doesn’t keep up with inflation."
Shinagami091
"Exactly that, I moved out from my parent's house nearly a year ago, and at first I had a lot of leftover money to buy new furnitures and even a 3 grand computer that I built myself."
"But since a few months now inflation went right into my a** and my groceries went from costing me like 50$ a week to 100$ a week. It's absolutely demential these days, and I can barely live now."
Craftspirit
For Fun
"Slowly but surely giving up little side purchases and funsies. It's just now getting to me how expensive essentials have become. My depression specifically makes it difficult for me to meal prep and cook for myself and with both groceries and takeout rising in price I've just been eating less overall."
peachpinkjedi
Choppy
"My hair. I just cannot afford the splurge on the amount of products it needs to be healthy. Chopped it all off."
escapefromallreality
"Been cutting my families hair for years now. My husband, lucky likes wearing it short. My kid is in college, and really doesn't care. And I just hack mine to shoulder length now and then. Normally a salon appointment would be $90- tip included. It was hard before all this. Now? I just can't pay that."
LowkeyPony
Life
Joe Biden Jobs GIF by GIPHY NewsGiphy"Moving out of my parents. Even if I get a job in my field with my degree I just received, in my area there's no entry level jobs that would permit me affording an apartment, barely scraping by with a roommate as well. Jobs out of state or across the country don't seem to be hiring either."
Neurotic_Neurologist
Well this is depressing. We need some hope.
Which dropped luxuries would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
Lots of people think they could survive an apocalypse, some even delight in coming up with in-depth plans for exactly how they would go about it.
But there are a lot of angles most people don’t consider.
Redditor breathematt asked:
"What is something nobody considers when talking about surviving an apocalypse?"
Out of sight...
"GLASSES!"
"I don’t see a thing without mine, in an apocalypse I would be down right away for sure."
"Imagine being in the middle of an apocalypse and you can’t see a thing because your glasses got fogged?"
krpfc
The Internet Is For...Knowledge
"How much knowledge we'll lose without the Internet. How much knowledge based textbooks will be hoarded and even fought over"
- honeybutterbuscuit
"The sad thing is less and less knowledge and information is going on paper. A lot of people run everything through their phones. Bills online, online pay stubs, online banking. If everything is wiped there probably isn’t a record of it elsewhere."
"A lot of media, music, books, shows, movies don’t even make it to any type of hard copy. It’s just on a site somewhere. And EMP would just destroy everything that’s not on paper or physical."
- User Deleted
"When I moved recently I threw away an entire encyclopedia. I got sad for a min. If there's ever a next Dark Age, Landfills will def be mined for knowledge and resources."
- captainawesome1983
Rats...So Many Rats
"One of the biggest things that very few books and movies touch on is pests."
"In an apocalypse where a disease ravages the world and leaves most people dead, the insects and rodents will have a feast for a fair while and their populations will explode."
"Billions of dead bodies laying unburied will provide them with food for several months. There will be massive swarms of flies. Ant nests will grow to the point where stepping into a building they are in will be a death sentence unless you know they are there and are properly prepared for it.""But the biggest threat would be rats. They breed quickly, grow quickly and can get into damn near anywhere. The bodies will provide them with a readily available food source. A colony of a few thousand rats would quickly grow to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Nothing remotely edible will remain anywhere near them. Once they are everything in one area, they’d spill over and swarm into the next. There’s no real way to stay safe from the rat swarms that would form in cities."
"In a zombie apocalypse, the rat swarms would be smaller, but they’d still form, and you’d have the added worry of whether or not rats carried the disease."
"In any other form of apocalypse that didn’t involve people being teleported away or the 'earth becomes a video game world' type, a lot of people will still die. It might take longer, and the swarms might be smaller, but they will still be a threat."
"Edit: I just did a quick google and it’s worse than I thought. Rats reach sexual maturity in just 5-6 weeks. A single pair of rats can start a colony that grows to around 1,250 in a single year. That can then grow to 500 million in just three years."
"New York City has an estimated rat population of 2 million. The swarms there after a single year would be mind boggling."
- Jungleman6
Your Own Body Might Kill You
"Medical conditions which are routinely and easily treatable will most likely kill you now. I'm looking at you, Mr. Appendix..."
- KoalaDeluxe
"There’s a scene in The Stand (the book, I don’t remember if this made it into the filmed versions) with this exact situation."
- AMerrickanGirl
"Diarrhea will kill a lot of people"
- hasta-la-cheesta
The Slug Isn't The Only Part Of The Bullet
"Making gunpowder for your gun. You can always melt down lead and make reloads, but where are you gonna get the gunpowder and primers from? Of course, folks will initially hoard ammo, and gunpowder so they can do reloads; but eventually all the gunpowder gets used up."
"Now, of course, you can try and make your own, but if the formula is off just a bit, your velocity can be substantially different than what's desired, or, just blow up in yo face!"
- BinjiC0D3R
No More Immunity
"Any child born will have no vaccinations. Likely, there will be a boom in previously preventable diseases like tetanus and diphtheria."
- captain_chocolate
Cooperation Is Key
"People who can cooperate in small (<150) tribal units will do better. Rugged individualism is and has always been a myth."
"Obviously for a period there will be warlords (looking at you Idaho) , but as fuel, food and ammo runs out these autocratic individuals will fail. Plus the heavily armed survivalist types will likely feud among themselves, thus reducing their numbers relatively quickly."
- noun_verbnoun
"I came to say this. Humans are social animals and 10 people trying to solve a problem together will do better than 20 individuals. Sure, it'll be rough at the start, but we already know the benefits of farming and specialization. Plus, we'll be able to mine/restore existing infrastructure."
- I_Want_an_Elio
You're Not Getting Out
"You're not going to escape your city. The roads will all be clogged up by people who also think they can escape. No one will go anywhere, and you'll all starve together and die of poor sanitation disease."
- Surprise_Corgi
People Will Do Extreme Things In Extreme Situations
"I think it’s considered but not really openly discussed and it’s the fact that no matter how nice or good of a person any of us are most of us would murder other people for supplies. Not a person here would let their kid die while they knew a guy down the road had antibiotics and refused to share or trade."
- JudokaPickle
Even if you think you’ve got your apocalypse survival planned down to the most minute detail, there might still be something you’re forgetting.
Warning: Potential spoilers ahead.
Ever since I watched Grave of the Fireflies for the first time, I can't get that ending out of my head.
An undoubtedly depressing story about a young boy taking care of his younger sister in the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Japan, the film offers a very stark picture of what society was like for those whose lives were upended only to later succumb to radiation sickness.
Did I mention that it's an anime? The artwork is incredible.
The film is well worth a watch... if you don't mind shedding a tear or two.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor bartertownbeer asked the online community:
"What movie ending is horribly depressing?"
Stand by Me (1986)
"Stand by Me. Listening to narrator talk about how friends fade into obscurity and only memories remain becomes more relatable every time I watch it."
RabbitCartman
The ending hits even harder the older you get. Might be time to revisit it.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
"The Fox and the Hound. It hurts my heart."
Xenovitz
This is one Disney movie that goes for the more mature ending and it's truly so much better for it.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
"No Country for Old Men. Nobody wins, except maybe Anton."
kryotheory
Even that's debatable.
No Country for Old Men is a good commentary on how sometimes, despite effort, motivation, and ethical behavior, good people lose and terrible people face no consequences.
Se7en (1995)
"Se7en. This is the one that popped into my head right away. That was horrible. Definitely no warm and fuzzy feels with that ending."
Cynthus68
The final ten minutes are so disturbing and sad. It's an ending you can never forget.
American History X (1998)
"The ending of American History X hit me pretty hard the first time."
[deleted]
It continues to hit pretty hard. The acting in that film is incredible, especially from Edward Norton and Beverly D'Angelo.
The Mist (2007)
"The Mist. One of the only movies I can remember watching in theater that had me legit mad after walking out, because it was just so good, but so painful."
CamoCoelcanth
I adore this film. It's one of the best horror films to come out in the last 15 years and the ending is even better than the one in the novella, which is truly saying a lot.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
"Dancer in the Dark. I think it’s not just the ending. The whole movie is just hopeless. Terrible, beautiful, and hopeless."
MeMacarron
This is such a devastating film and Bjork deservedly won the Cannes Best Actress award for her work on it!
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
"Requiem for a Dream. The best movie no one wants to see twice."
justafatgoat
This whole movie is devastating. I've seen it more than once but it's been years since my last watch... should I be brave and see it again?
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
"In the 1990s, my parents found this movie for us because we loved Totoro. They put it on for us and then went out to dinner. They came back to utter chaos. 20+ years later I am still traumatized."
ravravioli
Oh dear.
Nooo! Not surprised you haven't recovered!
The End of Evangelion (1997)
The End of Evangelion. All these traumatized and depressed kids are trying to prevent the apocalypse, and then it just happens anyway. The movie is incredible, but super depressing in an existential way."
FredForeskin
Imagine doing the impossible, escaping the merging of consciousnesses, retaining your ego. Only to be reminded how disgusting (as Asuka said) existence is.
If you're looking for a good cry—or if you're okay with undergoing an existential crisis of some kind—it might be time to watch some of these.
And if you've seen some of these more than once, you are quite brave.
Have some suggestions of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
Some people prefer being single. They don't have to answer to anybody, they can play by their own rules, and they can continue going about their day-to-day without accommodating the needs of a significant other.
But that status of perpetual independence can eventually hit a breaking point.
It makes one wonder while being single can be a convenience, are we meant to live alone forever?
Unfortunately, avidly seeking out a relationship is a hit or miss, so an individual's situation can be out of their control.
But for those who are apprehensive about giving up their freedom to share a life with someone, married people imparted their wisdom when Redditor Charming_Cash asked:
"Married people of reddit, What something you wish unmarried people knew?"
Redditors reminded that maintaining a sense of self in a marriage was of great importance.
Being Good To Yourself
"Being married shouldn’t take away from having a good relationship with yourself."
– Electronic-Cattle993
The Power Of Three
"My wife's uncle officiated for us, as he has for other family members and friends. Before the ceremony he told us his 'theory of love and marriage.'"
"He said many, if not most people look at marriage as two becoming one, but that's not accurate, healthy, or stable over any length of time. He said it's not two becoming one, it's two becoming three; there's each of us as separate individuals, and then us together as it's own creation. Each of those three needs love and care and attention."
"I've found it to be incredibly hopeful, helpful, healthy advice."
– HauntedCemetery
Working On Yourself
"Your single problems will be your married problems. Marriage and your spouse can't fix you. Work on yourself as much as you can before you get married. For yourself and for your spouse."
– happyharborgirl
Here are tips that may come in handy in the bedroom.
You Can Still Sleep Well
"It’s okay to use two blankets. No one likes to wake up with cold a** cheeks because your spouse stole the blanket."
– sparklingshanaya
Sides Of The Bed
"This was a game changer for us! We're both cold creatures but we both also like our space in bed. We'll cuddle for a few minutes then separate to our respective sides of the bed to actually sleep. We each have our own duvet and it works out perfectly!"
– FifiLaFifi
It Doesn't Work For Everyone
"i wish my wife liked her own space in bed, i woke up the other night and she was sleeping on top of me..literally no part of her body was on the mattress, it was all on me....i had to yeet her across the bed just so i could breath."
– avadakedavradata**
Once Upon Two Mattresses
"Along with two separate blankets we also have two twin xl mattresses on a king size frame so there's no energy transfer to the other side of the bed when one of us is shifting around or whatever. Also makes moving the bed setup much much easier than dealing with a floppy two-ton king size mattress."
– GothamDad
These are things to keep in mind when considering tying the knot.
It's Not A Bandaid
"Getting married WILL NOT help solve any issues in your relationship..."
– LoveBaby67
The Thing About Having Kids
"Totally agree with this and the same with the kids point too. I’ve always thought marriage adds extra pressure in the legal confirmation of you being together and the vows you make to one another."
"Children just add an extra layer of pressure were you have less time to devote to one another so any cracks that were in the relationship before will get blown into massive fissures which can be fixed. However if the relationship needed saving before the kids it is not going to last when that kids comes along I don’t think."
– cornish-yorkshirepud
Making Time For Each Other
"Pretty well written, my wife and I had minor problems that could all be managed by just chatting and hanging out together. We made each other happy enough just by being together that the minor stuff wouldn't even be an issue, so when we had a kid (which has been largely awesome) and our time together got turned into time for our daughter, we started to fight a lot more. Make time for mom and dad dates without the kid(s) for the good of you both, you need some time to just hangout and love each other."
– Cherreh
The Day Of The Nuptials
"The wedding is just one day and does not fix any issues. It goes back to the exact same relationship afterwards. And if you're lucky, that's a good thing."
– No_Yard_7363
Some good points here were mentioned, and I can agree with all of them.
I knew a couple who was about to spend some time apart due to work opportunities. Fearing the guy might drift apart from his girlfriend while he was working abroad for six months, he proposed to her at the airport as she was sending him off.
They never got married when his contract was over. Turns out he cheated on his girlfriend on several occasions while he was away.
So much for that proposal as insurance his heart would be forever true and faithful.