Bullies are people too. It's difficult to acknowledge that, for sure. When you're the tormented person you don't care, nor do you have to care about why the person torturing you is doing it. The black and white answer is that they have no right, no matter how much pain the are in. But it is nice when down the road people recognize the error of their ways and even make atonement.
Redditor u/MrCleanisagodlybeing wanted the reformed bullies out there to share by asking.... Ex Bullies of reddit, what's your side of the story?
It wasn't me....
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She blamed me for stealing a fruit roll up when I didn't. I just happened to have one as well. I got in trouble. My parents were abusive. I got a pretty bad beating that day. I bullied her until I moved away in 10th grade. awwsomedraggin
I didn't know....
Genuinely just didn't know why i was bullying the dude. i thought we were having some friendly horseplay fun every day as i was one of those girls who liked to show off my strength to the boys so they wouldn't call me weak, & then one night over dinner my parents were like "dude his parents told us he complained about u bullying him, what the f**k." needless to say, the "friendly horseplay fun" stopped soon after as i felt completely awful. dementedsockpuppet
Pain Travels....
I bullied some kid in middle school. He was a nice kid but kinda geeky. An easy target in other words. It's no excuse, but I was being tormented by my older brother and my mom refused to do anything to stop him. Anywho, I would pick on him and it wasn't until some teachers and my friends pointed it out to me. I wish I could go back in time and kick my own butt. I actually thought about messaging him on FB to apologize but I chickened out. casino_night
Sorry Aidan....
I think the worst I've ever done was back in 3rd grade. There was a kid who got angry really easily and also lied a lot. Looking back on it I think he was just lonely and had minor anger issues, but my friends and I liked to call him out on his stuff constantly and make fun of him, which obviously only made it worse.
I still feel bad about it and I have no idea where he went after elementary school.
Aidan, if you're out there I'm sorry. From me and the other guys too, we didn't have it particularly good either once middle school started and I know how you feel now. LittleHuzzahGuy
Self-Actualization...
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My friends and I used to make fun of and torment the kids who were a bit younger than us who we thought were "annoying." Only looking back we all realized what jerks we were. RekNepZ
**** rolls down hill....
Bullying was systematic in my school - a relic of the English prep school fagging culture. I was part of a continuum. The older boys bullied me, I bullied the younger boys. It was expected.
They've washed that out of the school culture now. A catalyst was a speech by a single student. He stood up in assembly (as School Captain) a few years ago and spoke about his experience of bullying as a gay student. Changed a lot of attitudes. HandsomeLakitu
I need to Eat...
I was being starved at my house regularly by my mother. When you go long enough without eating you get desperate. I was poor but a lot of kids at my school would get money from their parents to buy snacks out of the vending machine. I use to beat kids up and take their money so I could get pop tarts from the vending machine so I could feed myself when my mom wouldn't let me eat.
I was the most hated kid in my school and kids were terrified of me. Before I started beating people up, I tried asking for people to buy me food but they either only had enough for them or told me no, so I did what I had to do to eat. Cannabilistichokie
I was Blind....
I thought everyone hated me, and thought it didn't matter what I did or said. Didn't really realize it was me being a bully, I was young and stupid. I think a lot of it was self centered, thinking that people should have liked me and they when they didn't, leaned really hard into not being liked. Looking back I'm sure there were plenty of reasons I didn't get along with people in the first place, or maybe they didn't hate me and I just couldn't see that. mindovermountains
I wish you well....
She was about 3 years younger and claimed I hit her. I had not. I denied it. I was given detention for a month. The whole thing was odd. The principal every day asked me if I hit her and I kept saying no. My parents kept getting calls about it. My teachers kept asking me. One month of me saying I never stroke her and them asking me again and again to confess. I still can't make heads or tails of it. Detention didn't bother me much. I thought the whole thing was a waste of time.
No idea. I didn't know her well before that and kept my distance for the next few years from her after that. I sometimes think that maybe I had bumped into her or something and she thought I had hit her on purpose other times I think that she was just a kid and wanted to see what would happen if she made a story up.
In any case she described me as a bully and that is my side of the story I am confused. Hope your life is going well. low_penalty
Sometimes it's earned...
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I never actually bullied anyone but I did beat this one kid up a bit, my grandad had died 2 days ago and this little f**ker came and starts taunting me singing "your grandads dead" so I kicked the little fool in the crotch, several times. MarkGimmeTheZuc
I'm sorry 'C'
I was in 5th grade, only had 1 friend. My friend and this guy were getting close, and having had someone try to cut me off from this friend before, I was scared. So I teased him, laughed at him, even pushed him once on a field trip. It all caught up when a mutual friend caught up to me while I was running laps in PE and said 'C thinks you're bullying him.'
I had to drop out of the class because I was crying so hard, I felt awful. I've since apologized multiple times, he's somehow forgiven me, and he's a wonderful person that I still see around school. trash_tm
Not so sorry....
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I only bullied a kid because he bullied me to such an extent I had to get therapy and my mental health was plummeting. I grew to be bigger than him and I saw it as an opportunity. TBH I loved every second of it and he got to experience what I felt. I still haven't recovered from my mental health scare but I realize how much of a fool move it was to do that but a part of me still doesn't feel bad for him. Urnanhasmitochondria
Not Social...
I used to be one of those kids that just follows the bully around and agrees with everything they say. For a long time I just called people names and talked down to them. I never hit anybody or anything, but I could be pretty cruel. I grew up on food stamps, but lived in a rich neighborhood because my grandparents so gratefully "took us in" (and then proceeded to lie and cheat about damn near everything for a long time, but thats another story).
I was constantly surrounded by kids who got whatever they wanted, and i often felt i had little to no control. There were a lot of missed opportunities for me just because my family couldn't pay. I think shitting on other kids was one of the few things that gave me any confidence, but one day the bully i was friends with moved away, and i realized most kids didn't really like my presence. It set me back socially pretty far, and to this day i wish i could apologize to those kids, but at this point i can barely remember who it was i did that too. Witchy829
Even though you deserved it.....
A girl (classmate and ex best friend) used to bully me, talk about me behind my back and plotted all of my classmates against me and did anything she could to make me cry.
One day I exposed everything she had done and afterwards I bullied her for a while by saying how horrible she was to her face.
One time she cried and I felt so horrible about it that I never did it again. At the end of school I apologized and still feel horrible about what I did to this day because even though she was a vile person I never want to see that I've become someone equally as bad as her. belizzb
He was mean first....
He was actually a really mean kid, used to be friends with him before I realized how mean he was. Stuff advanced to him being teased by the whole class because he was such a d**k to everybody. I joined in on the whole thing, and now I realize it was kinda like bullying in retrospect, even if he earned the negative attention. Rex_Maztar27
Following the Lead.....
I wasn't really a bully but I was a pretty annoying/entitled b**ch back in middle school and it honestly didn't even hit me until a year or two ago (??), I had/have an entitled mother (to some degree) and I looked up to her as a kid so I guess I was just copying her actions. Chogisoo
Don't Lie....
I bullied a girl because i found out she told everyone that we were going out a couple years earlier when in fact we hadn't. Not physical bullying mind you, but verbally and emotionally. Which is just as bad. Things did not end well for her. hammerNspiKe
I was young....
Like many in the comments, I just didn't know what was right and wrong (I was really young). My teacher came up to me and told me that three parents had complained about me (I was 9). It made me really upset and I went home and cried about it. Didn't know who the kids were, all I know is that three different parents all came in and complained about me upsetting their children and to this day I still don't know what I did. TheRopster
My family is just weird...
I literally had no idea I was a bully. My family is pretty rough on each other but in a joking way. People make fun of each other constantly. It took me till I was about sixteen to realize other people didn't work like that and now that my generation is bringing SO's to family parties it's becoming more apparent how weird my family was. Theantsdisagree
I'm just bad.
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There is no story I just didn't like him. I usually just call him bad names and pushed him and get others to come on my side. but I remember one night when I suddenly hated myself and started crying. So I stopped bullying KMH69420
Bullying can create a cycle of resentment, even as adults we've all experienced something like a bully. So, it's important that we understand that they are people as well, and to try to stop them.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.