Being a child is far from easy. It may look cool but it comes with many issues. We just never seem to be able to discuss those issues until we can process them with an adult mind; though sometimes having an adult mind can be overrated. Those first memories of when we learn life is a mess stay with us forever.
Redditor u/Cisqoe wanted to hear from the adults about what they can't stand out their youth by asking...
What was your first encounter with utter bullshit during your childhood?
Your Thoughts?
GiphyMy mom would ask my opinion on things constantly. I would say it didn't matter to me, or whatever she thought was best, but she would force the issue until I finally answered. Then she would scream at me about how I didn't understand or I was an idiot or I never thought of her needs. I still panic a little when people ask for my opinion on something. themissingsister
Not the B-word.
In second grade a friend said the b-word, and didn't realize that it was a curse word. I tried to explain to him it was a bad word and he shouldn't say it. The teacher heard me spell it (because I didn't want to say it out loud) during my explanation, wrote a note to my parents saying I used this word and sent me home for the day. RansackedFish
11 Years Ago.
This was back before classrooms were super tech savvy. One afternoon, the teacher was trying a new system and wanted the class to participate. She couldn't get it to work and called the tech support guy. Well, this took a long time. We were just sitting there quietly,'waiting impatiently and the time for recess came.
The teacher didn't let us go to recess because she couldn't figure out the computer program.'
This happened 11 years go and I am still angry. MarchKick
Paperwork.
Turned in 2 papers in third grade that were not facing the right way. Got held in 10 minutes from recess because (they won't let you do that in college or in business)
Never had an issue with it in college. Worked a retail job with daily paperwork. They didn't care what the paper looked like as long as they could read it and as long as it was done. pherring
And. So.
GiphyLearning that you can start a sentence with 'and.' Despite, you know, me being fed that information since Year 3. gli1tch_unkn0wn
Eye Contact.
Not the first but one that sticks out strongly in my mind: me laying in a hospital bed after an overdose when I was thirteen, and my mother and father were standing on opposite sides of the bed screaming and yelling at each other over me. I recall making eye contact with a nurse for a notable length of time. SupineEuphoric
Shut Up!
Being told I could not use the restroom in class. I was not a cut up and really had to go. It was dehumanizing. BellatrixLenormal
I had this issue with teachers several times in my childhood. I eventually learned to just get up and leave without asking. Most of the time they didn't notice or didn't want to interrupt their lecture to protest.
Any time that they had a problem with it, I simply threatened to pee on the floor right there in front of them. Usually got them to shut up, and then I'd leave. LegoStax
Thanks Mom.
GiphyMy mom: informs everyone dinner is ready by yelling from the bottom of the stairs and expects me to hear her despite my room being on the other side of the house, my door being closed, and my TV being on.
Also my mom: "Don't yell from the top of the stairs, you need to ask me in person or else I can't hear you. I'm not made of ears you know." odWorkLetsReddit
Forget you Ms. Smith.
In first grade getting my yellow card flipped to red while I was in the bathroom. The teacher flipped everyone in the class one card while I was away because I guess she had it with us. Forget you Ms. Smith. saucecat2
My buddy busted a window at his house. I was completely innocent and didn't do anything to help. Yet his mother told my parents it was my fault, so that my dad would pay to fix it.
Of course, I got grounded and had to pay dad back (it would be justified if I actually broke the window). I lost a whole summer, unable to go hang out with friends or do anything fun, all because that woman was a cheapskate.
I'm not friends with him anymore. But I did get to see his mom later on. She was the kind of person who would wear clothes once and return them. So I knew what she was doing. I told her we couldn't accept the returns because she washed the receipt and I couldn't verify it was legitimate (even though I could). So I screwed her out of money too. I'm a terrible person for doing it, but she was a nasty. DM-Hollens-117
It's Not Me....
GiphyMy little sister pushed me down the stairs and I got in trouble for "antagonizing" her. "She wouldn't do that for no reason." You did not know your daughter mom and dad. To my knowledge it was for no reason it was the morning so I hadn't even gotten the chance to piss her off. Also it wasn't the first time she had done it just the first time my parents got involved. frankenstein_73
Snitched!
I remember this one girl in elementary school who had some demented pleasure in getting me in trouble. One of the lunch items we would get (trust me, this is important) was a chicken patty. Sometimes we got it with hamburger buns, while other times we got it with a roll. Every time I got it with a roll, I would use my fork to cut through it and make my own hamburger buns to eat the chicken patty with.
One day, when I was doing this, this fool snitches on me for it. There aren't even any rules on playing with your food! Luckily, the staff she told had common sense, and explained to her that innovation wasn't illegal. After reading some responses to this question, it doesn't seem too far-fetched for me to get in trouble for that. Luckily, my school had nice teachers and staff. IlluminachoXD
My reward was a hug.
In preschool, my mom gave me a book of math problems and said if I got them all done by the end of the day, I'd get a reward. I did the crap out of those math problems.
My reward was a hug. I felt like Patrick from the Valentine's episode of SpongeBob.
EDIT: I feel I should clarify my mom and I love each other very much, it's just when you're 5 and you hear the word "reward", you tend to have high expectations. kemosabi4
Being 9....
My mom finding a cigarette in the backyard, accusing me of having stolen a friend's mom's cigarettes to secretly smoke there and grounding me for it despite me not having done any such thing. I was like 9 at that time. Avocado_3492
Boxed Right.
GiphyWhen I was in kindergarten we had to that thing where you had a grid of boxes, and in each box was a word. You would have to cut out each box individually, then arrange the words in some order. After a few months of cutting out each box like we had been shown, I figured that cutting out the rows and putting them on top of each other so the boxes lined up, and cutting them out like that, would take a lot less time. My teacher saw me do this. I had to stay in at recess to cut them out the 'right' way. awoodchuckcanchuck2
"watch the rectory"
Was asked to "watch the rectory" on Friday nights so the priests could have a night off. I was 12 years old. My job basically was to accept food that was brought by parishioners for the priests and find a place for it in their jammed packed double glass door refrigerator that was as wide as two refrigerators (there were 4 priests at our tiny parish). I accepted fully cooked roasts, hams, casseroles and cakes. I was told NOT to eat anything!
A few months later I was made to clean the convent with a couple of the nuns as a punishment for talking too much in class (there were 23 nuns who lived on site and taught school). Their kitchen had a tiny refrigerator and when it was lunch time they opened a cupboard of expired canned goods. We had very old tomato soup for lunch with stale bread and milk made from powder. I asked them if they knew about the food over at the rectory and they said no.... femsci-nerd
Too Slow?
I was around 7-8. It was sports day in my school and i participated in pass the baton. I was enjoying myself and trying my hardest, but at the end of it my class teacher told my mum (in front of me) that i was too slow. Not sure why i took it to heart but i just felt disappointed and it made me lose confidence in sports. emptydumpling
so I started running again.
I was bullied a lot in elementary school. To be fair, I was a pretty easy target for the bullying, r/RoastMe would have a melt down not knowing where to start. So every day at lunch and recess I would get chased and harassed by 4 other boys. One day the teacher assigned to keep order on the playground grabbed me and told me to quit running. But of course, as soon as I did the 4 boys began pushing and taunting me... so I started running again.
Next thing I know the teacher grabs me by the arm and starts to paddle me (teachers could do that back then). She missed my butt and caught me in the back again, so I cussed at her. She sent me to the principle's office, and when I told him what had happened he just shook his head, then had me stand up to take 3 licks from his paddle. Fifth grade is when I learned the world was utter bull. billified
Teacher Yells....
GiphyWhen our teacher would yell at us if we asked to go to the bathroom at the beginning of class because we should've gone earlier, and then yell at us if we asked to go in the middle of class because we were interrupting, and then yell at us if we wanted to go at the end because we were trying to ditch since the class was almost over. eylc2
I was 12.
The first time I was followed by a couple of guys in a car. I was 12.
I ran to the nearest house for help. And I asked them if we should call the police.. and they said no. Looking back, I think they were wrong.
Edit: This happened in rural Illinois. Billie_needs_a_Mop
A good friend is not always the one with whom you share laughs and fun experiences.
The friendships you want to keep include those who won't abandon you in a time of need or someone who supports you in a variety of complicated situations where not even a family member can be relied upon.
Unfortunately, many of us have experienced a time when a person's true colors revealed to us that the so-called "friend" we've always trusted wasn't one at all.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Aesthetik_1 asked:
"What made you instantly realize This 'friend' is not a real friend?"
These Redditors didn't realized at the time that they were being used.
Recurring Favor
"When he only called me when he needed something. It didn't hit me until much later."
– Queasy-Location-9303
"I have one of those 'friends'. She always gushes about how we're friends but she never initiates contact unless she wants me to do something for her."
– StiffAssedBrit
The Errand Girl
"Several years back, I had a friend who introduced me to this new boy she was seeing. Maybe a year later, their relationship blew up in a fury of bs (whole other story), but by the time they split, I was equally friends with both of them. He and I were both photographers at the time, so the friendship was instantaneous."
"One day we started talking about her, neither positively nor in poor taste, just kind of in general."
"He then asked me 'when she texts to hang out, what does she usually want to do?'"
"I paused. I thought. Holy sh*t, she'd either be asking for a favour or for help with some kind of errand. I was her f'king errand girl."
"She texted me a month or two later, just a 'hey'. I never responded. She never texted again."
"I'm still friends with her ex, though. That dude is genuine as heck."
– ChamomileBrownies
Testing The Friendship
"When you decide to let them be the one to reach out. And you never hear from them again."
– plzdontgetmad
"Yup. Made plans with a friend three times, she cancelled each time. I finally told her to let me know when she was free, we haven’t hung out since."
"She was a good friend for the season, but not a lifetime."
– NoMrBond3
People were shocked to discover the moment they realized they didn't really know who their "friend" was anymore.
The Chaperon
"I had been giving rides to a girl I thought was my friend. To and from school in high school. She wasn’t really suppose to ride with other teens but due to her mothers work hours we could easily pull this off. I thought we were close."
"One day while on the way home my brakes went out. We were about 2 blocks from her gated neighborhood. I managed to roll in safely and parked at her house to call a tow truck."
"She flipped. Told me I couldn’t stay. She knew my brakes were not working as she had also been terrified when we couldn’t stop. She said she wanted to go to a movie that weekend with other friends and her mom would ground her if she saw me at the house. I offered to lie and say I only stopped there as my car malfunctioned on my way home. I had to pass her neighborhood on my way home anyways."
"She refused. Started to scream at me. She didn’t care what happened I had to go. Started to call the guard at the front gate to tell them I had broken in and was threatening her."
"I left her and that friendship that moment. I managed to roll my car slowly to a mechanic not too far away but never forgot the shi* feeling of knowing I could have been seriously hurt and she wouldn’t have cared. She wanted to see a movie. She had the nerve to sheepishly call and ask me a couple days later if I could give her a ride to school. Told her I was too busy and no longer had time… after all I wanted to help her obey her mom's rules. She rode the bus til she graduated."
– Duffarum
Unwilling Companion
"I had this friend in school. Each year there was a funfair in our city, all students received vouchers for a drink and something to eat. This friend complained the whole day that she had no one to accompany her to the funfair. So, stupid me offered to go with her."
"Once we arrived we met another friend of hers. And another, and another... until we were a group of 5 or 6 people. I didn't know anyone and was basically just walking behind them. This friend took me aside and said, 'My friends think you are annoying, and we would like you to leave.'"
"It was a pleasure to see that she failed her exams a year later."
– Auldale
There's the spirit of competition, but when it's taken seriously, we're no longer game for these friendships.
I Can Do It Better
"Constantly 'one ups' me. A real friend is happy for you."
– Complex-Half8338
"That one time I got a fake bag but she doesn’t know and then 2 weeks later messaged me that she also bought a luxury bag… Then when I got a bf, she also went to get a bf within 3 months which is TOTALLY fine but she constantly messages me for us to go on a double date. Anyways, sadly they didn’t last long :( I mentioned that I wanted to go to Cuba, she went ahead and bought herself a ticket to Cuba but I didn’t end up going lol"
– Hot-Coffee-8465
Never Steal The Spotlight
"When they loved the idea of me shining, but behind their shadow, I could never do or achieve anything above them, and when I did, they would get jealous."
– Jasssin23
"Yes! I recently ghosted a friend because of this kind of behavior. She was trying to compete about EVERYTHING. Like she bragged about how her mom’s car accident was more traumatic than my elderly MIL’s - which is not even an appropriate thing to compare. She would also try to 'outshine' celebrations of my milestones and was mean to several of my friends for no apparent reason. She was a loose cannon at best."
– thefifthtrilogy
All About Me
"ALL she talks about it herself and her problems. Granted she has a a lot but never asks about me or my life until she realizes she just bypassed my attempt to want to talk about something in my life bothering me and continued to talk about herself."
– PokemomOnTheGo
People can just be so rude.
"When I got really sick. Very few came to help."
– Tofflus1
"Same here. I got cancer and everyone I knew was over the top supportive for the first six months and then all but three of my friends just vanished. I saw one of them at a Halloween party while I was going through chemo and she told me that my bald head made people uncomfortable. I was dressed as Captain Picard, it was awesome and she ruined it."
– CatGoNoTail
Not Missing High School
"At lunch, she was sitting with her boyfriend, I was sitting with our friend circle. She came up to me, guilted me into sitting with her and her boyfriend, and then proceeded to ignore me for the rest of lunch."
"She didn't care about me, she just didn't want me talking to the friend circle that she had abandoned for her boyfriend. When I pointed this out to her, she called me a jealous b*tch."
"Ah, high school. How I don't miss thee."
– Symnestra
These examples actually served as a good reminder for me to take a moment and assess my friendships.
Not so much about how I've been treated but more about checking myself to see if I'm respecting the people I call my friends.
We've all been guilty of casually mentioning future plans to get together. I embarrassingly wait for people to initiate something, which is terrible.
Show up for your friends. Make them feel important like the individuals they are.
There are few moments in life more momentous than buying your first home.
Of course, as is the case with any big decision, after going through with it, your mind begins to spiral down into a series of doubts.
Most of the time, once you've moved in and lived there for a while, all these doubts begin to slowly disappear.
In some cases, though, those doubts quickly turn into regrets.
Particularly when you notice more and more elements of what you thought was your "dream" home that is more reminiscent of a nightmare.
Redditor californiabred was curious to hear the biggest regrets from people who recently purchased a home, leading them to ask:
"Homeowners who bought recently, what’s your biggest regret?"
Not The What, But The When
"Not buying 4 years ago."- 3rdPartyArbitor
Location, Location, Location!
"The situation when you bought a house where it was possible and a month later they sell a house in the area where you wanted"- BenefitOk3952
"Not knowing enough about the area/town."
"I hate where we live."
"Hoping we can move by the time my oldest starts kindergarten."- MP1087
jason patric fox GIF by Wayward PinesGiphyUpon Closer Inspection...
"The inspector told us the main drain in the basement was clogged."
"We thought it was clogged with something normal."
"It was, in fact, 'clogged' with cement from when our basement floor was redone."
"So now our basement regularly gets standing water on one side."- doctorpotterhead
"Hiring the wrong home inspector they missed so much, I really have to wonder if all those reviews were bought and paid for."- CaptainQuoth
Landscaping Decisions
"Not planting the fruit trees sooner."
"It’s a long wait."- SageLeaf1
Plant Hope GIF by The Seed of Life FoundationGiphyHow Long Have You Got...
"Be shameless enough to perform your own base level of inspection of a house so you don’t have to rely on what an inspector finds or get in a situation where you have to make an offer regardless of what the inspection finds."
"Turn all the faucets on and run the dishwasher."
"Start the washer machine for a second."
"Figure out if there is any water pressure issue."
"Bring a multi line laser and a tape measure."
"Check for any significant changes in slope on the foundation for some settling issues."
"Pay attention to the downspouts."
"Do they terminate right at the house or do they have longer pipes that lead the water away?"
"Pay attention to the flooring and create a rough estimate of what it will cost to immediately replace the flooring."
"Way easier to do when you don’t have a house full of furniture and can do it right before you move in."
"On the financial side you need to talk with multiple lenders at all times and make sure they continue to give you the most up to date closing costs."
"There were a lot of sneaky numbers that made there way in that I was unaware of as a first time home buyer."
"Until that mortgage lender gives you the locked in rate don’t trust them as to what number they are currently telling you."
"Discover your maximum mortgage rate + escrow and work backwards as to the maximum house you can afford."
"Don’t buy based on the pipe dream of refinancing."- from_the_Luft
GIF by BlindspotGiphyProcrastination...
"Not recent, but I still regret not refinishing the floors before I moved in."
"I'll never do it now."- WinterFilmAwards
"I regret not having the inside painted and the carpet replaced before we moved in."
"Been here two years and it never felt like 'my home' until I got rid of the stains of those who came before."- DaisyRage7
Consider A Test Drive...
"Not particularly recent, but we did not pull out cars in the driveway or attempt to park them."
"So we didn't realize that my car could only enter the driveway from one direction, so I had to turn around half a block up every time I needed to park."
"And we just BARELY got two cars in the driveway."
"So my regret is that I took for granted that the driveway met our needs."- gtizzz
homer simpson episode 24 GIFGiphyAlways Read The Fine Print
"I bought a few years ago."
"So many things have gone sideways."
"One thing I regret is not being educated about permits."
"Contractors/handymen/ anyone who works on your house really, never mentions a permit may be needed."
"Learned that it’s up to me and me alone to do the research and phone calls."
"Currently have a job on hold because they needed a permit."
"The company blamed me and now I’m not sure they’re even going to do the work."
"Watch the movie 'The Money Pit'."
"It’s not that far off."
"Some days I wish I’d just be a renter."- MissPeppingtosh
Simply Not Worth The Effort
"Don't bother childproofing your home."
"They still get in."- Blueblackzinc
season 9 friends GIFGiphyIt's easy to question whether or not buying a home was the right decision.
But rather than live a life full of regret, why not make the most out of what you have, and turn your not-quite-dream home into a temporary dream home?
Who knows, it might even increase the resale value.
In an instant, anything can change in life.
Deciding to turn left instead of right at a traffic light can save your life -- and you may never know it.
That's why the movie "Sliding Doors" is so great.
Small choices and seemingly minor chances can shift things massively.
Redditor Lexie_Mark wanted to hear about how life can change drastically by the smallest influences, so they asked:
"What's a seemingly minor decision you made that ended up having a massive impact on your life?"
I had dinner with a guy once.
I told him a joke and let him read 5 pages of my writing.
Now I write for this website. BOOM!
Right Turn
Never Mind Baby GIFGiphy"Turned up to a military recruiting day on the wrong weekend as a youngster. Walked into a BBQ for traumatized veterans accidentally. That changed my mind."
flecknoe
Moving on...
"I had moved countries and decided to go back home after initial plans didn't work out. Had a ticket booked, was in a hotel near the airport, and got an invite to stay with online friends for a week or so before going back. Deferred my ticket, took them up on the offer."
"Met the love of my life there- moved to his city, have a new job, new friends, new life completely."
Severn6
Hey Teach
"While I was experiencing a period of career ennui, I treated myself to taking some college classes in biology, which I had always been interested in."
"While walking in the neighborhood close to the university one day, I saw one of the professors walking down the street, contentedly eating some ice cream. I don't know what possessed me, but I actually stopped him, said hello, that I was in one of his classes, and how much I liked the course."
"I have come across many professors in such casual circumstances before and since and never had the inclination or the guts to talk to them, particularly when they are clearly just having an enjoyable moment and likely don't want to be annoyed by a random student they don't even know."
"But I talked to him, and we had such a nice chat that he invited me to come to his lab and potentially do some work there. I came by a few days later, and he asked me a few questions and then asked one of his postdocs if he'd like to have me give him some help on a project. The postdoc said yes, and within 2.5 years I had my MS in biology (advised by Dr. Professor and helped greatly by that postdoc), and I was on my way to getting my PhD.
"Now I'm the prof."
zazzlekdazzle
On the Vespa
"4 months ago I was riding my Vespa to the gym on a Saturday morning, and I was T-boned by a car pulling out of a side street. She was looking the other way to make sure the traffic was clear and didn’t see me."
"I was coming from her right (in Australia, left-hand drive) and the front left of her car hit the back of my Vespa. If I had been half a second faster, I wouldn’t have been hit."
"I ended up with a crushed lower left leg and foot, permanent nerve damage, and 2 weeks in hospital. Fast forward to now, and I still can’t walk or move my leg and foot, I’m in unimaginable pain, and I (just today) lost my job."
"The recovery timeline is looking like 18-24 months and there’s no guarantee I’ll walk again."
"I was just trying to be healthy and go to the gym on a Saturday, and now my life has totally turned upside down. lol. Sigh."
ShoeAccomplished119
Swipe Right
tinder GIFGiphy"Matched with a guy on Tinder and complained about my current job. Encouraged (and walked me through) the recruitment process for a government job and 5 years later I’ve had 4 promotions, earned almost twice my old salary, and have much higher job satisfaction."
misssofifi
Maybe Tinder isn't so bad after all.
Key Strokes
Jim Carrey Reaction GIFGiphy"Taking a typing class in 1974. Almost no guys took typing at my school. Made life with computers a lot easier."
A20Havoc
"Same here, it was the main reason I got a job in IT, I was able to have a lifelong career."
MyIpodStillWorks
Run
"Started running because I heard it helps with chronic tinnitus, now run 5 days a week, lost 20 kg, stopped drinking, and can sleep. It doesn't cure the tinnitus, there is no cure and probably never will be, but it made it more manageable, lowered the volume in my head, and let me sleep easier. I still have it and struggle with it sometimes, but running/exercise for me is the best way to mitigate the stress chronic tinnitus causes."
rickdangerous85
Brisbane
"Buying tickets to Guns 'N Roses. I'm from Northern Australia and went to the Brisbane show. Ended up going with an old friend who was looking for an extra roommate, moved to Brisbane, did an audio course cause I needed something to do, and ended up working in the music industry full-time. Just got off tour with Suicidal Tendencies as their backline tech and have had an incredible career so far."
Acquiesce95
No Regrets
"My current job was a throwaway application I submitted purely for interview practice. It was one of two listings I saw at once, one was quite detailed and looked really good, and the other one was a handful of vague bullet points that seemed interesting enough. The one I was hoping for never replied, the other one offered me more than the maximum salary on the ad. No regrets."
PM_me_ur_navel_girl
Forever
Smooch Love GIF by molehillGiphy"I decided to have my first ever one-night stand."
"We've been together for 12 years!"
CrabbiestAsp
"So you still haven't had a one-night stand!"
NickyDeeM
Ah, the curse of the one-night stand gone wrong.
Love is all around.
