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People Share The Biggest Thing They've Ever Done That They Never Get Recognition For

No good deed goes unpunished..... or seen.

Doing good deeds is often a selfless act. It's a golden rule... go through life doing good and your best and expect nothing in return. It's generous way to be, and often the reward is in witnessing the fruits of it's intentions, but every once and awhile it's ok to admit, a little recognition would be warming or just the thought of receiving recognition. We're all human, a pat on the back goes a long way.

Redditor u/David00001729 wanted hear from everyone who has been slighted for a good deed or two by asking.... What is the biggest thing you did but never got recognized for?

Salty Salt...

Happy Hour Drinking GIFGiphy

Worked 70+ hours a week from March through May to put 3000 student's classes online at the beginning of the pandemic. The president of the university I work for regularly thanked literally everyone else under the sun in the weekly campus updates.

Not salty at all.

Reddit

My Wife's Betrayal

I got one for my wife. My wife and her coworker (both have doctorates in the medical field) were asked to be part of an official task force to help manage the Covid epidemic in our area. They both agreed and their employer let them keep their jobs for when they return. She was tasked with tracking patients waiting on test results, also tracking any that tested positive and who they came in contact with, and then organizing all the data coming from all the separate teams into safety guidelines for the public.

She was working 7-6 for 4 months straight, and some weekends.

Her work has annual, and quarterly awards that comes with a lot of great perks. This quarter they wanted to award it to one of the people who were removed to work on the Covid teams. Everyone knew my wife would get it, all their coworkers knew what my wife has been doing. In the end, the administration picked her coworker instead.

What was his role you ask? He worked 3 days a week, answered phones, and gave a 45 second briefing to public officials every other day using the data my wife and others gathered. He simply got it because he was more visible.

My wife is still really salty about it.

-PM_me_your_recipes-

HIM?!

I wrote a poem for a "Why my mom deserves a diamond" contest which the class bully promptly took from me. He ended up winning with it out of the entire county and I didn't say a thing.

How proud his mom and our teachers were of "his" accomplishment was what pissed me off the most.

Ben_jamonyqueso

The 4th....

I placed 4th in state at a high school FBLA convention and they called the wrong name. I got to watch someone who didn't even compete in the competition I was in go up on stage in front of thousands and get my award.

hunterhartman12

Some New Girl...

Pretty small compared to other in this thread but at my work we have essentially an employee of the quarter award (given out every 3 months) that comes with some nice benefits: extra annual leave days, stay at a nice hotel on the company's dime, free lunch with the higher ups at a fancy restaurant, etc.

One quarter the company was falling apart and I did a bunch of overtime, held my team together, trained new employees, and had to do my bosses job too when he left the job. i'm usually pretty humble but this one time I was certain I had worked harder than anyone else at work and that i'd win the award (this was a large workforce too like 500+ people) and everyone that saw how hard I was working was telling me how much everyone appreciated it and my hard work wasn't going unnoticed.

Anyway they gave some new girl the award the award because she always walked around with a smile and kept everyone's spirits up in during a difficult time (the boss's words not mine) a bunch of the higher up talked to me afterward and told me that I had actually won the award after they voted on who should win but I was vetoed because the big boss liked the new girl (she was way more popular than me) and didn't even know who I was.

That's when I learned not to break my back for my company because forget the little guy right?

ThatKiwiBloke

In the Nick of Time....

Saving a friend's life. We were in a car together, I was the passenger. Had a rollover accident into deep snow. She was thrown through the windshield, I was still in the car. I crawled through the window, found her trapped under the car, she couldn't breath and was in extreme panic. I pulled her out. After ambulance ride, police reports etc. not one mention ever about how she was still alive. I had nightmares for months.

GRA88HO99ER

"that sounds like a lot"

As a child I took care of my mom who was a wheelchair user with MS. From 10-16 years old, I would lift her out of bed, into bed, toileting, dressing, each year she got less mobile. No one in my life told me how much work I was putting in. I'm real tall and was pretty strong, but it was a big job on top of school. The first time I was told "that sounds like a lot" was by my therapist this year now that I'm 25.

My mom tried her best to minimize the work and eventually got homecare, and she tried to keep me smiling and laughing, normalizing it to keep me afloat. Looking back everybody, teachers, friends parents, my mom's friends tried to take care of me, but nobody would admit to me how big of a deal that was, because if they did, I'd probably stop smiling.

And that woulda been okay. I'm grateful either way. They were doing their best. And so was I.

Edit: I'm a woman, just cuz it's becoming relevant in replies. Sadly my username having lady in it isn't the quickest give away!

ladyalot

Covert Ops....

George Clooney Reaction GIFGiphy

Covertly provided information to the EPA that contributed to enforcement actions resulting in a substantial reduction in industrial sulfur dioxide pollution.

Schid1953

Underwater....

Saved a family friend's daughter from drowning. I almost went under as well as I was only a few years older than her. I am not looking to get a celebration every year or anything but quite literally what I got in response was "She should have known better."

Meh not the biggest thing but the first thing that popped into my mind.

Smidgeboo

Intersections

knock knock door GIFGiphy

I sent a 265-signature petition to my city council at the age of 14. I went door-to-door instead of online. It resulted in a set of city ordinances which added flashing stop signs at 3 intersections in town.

piZzaMizzA2004

A Childhood Lost

That I took over the role as mom to my 10 yo brother, 5 yo sister, and 10 month old brother at age 11. My mom was really sick and in the hospital. When she wasn't, she was in bed. I still went to middle school everyday, while a family friend would watch the two younger siblings, and then I'd take over after I got home. This included watching my siblings, making dinner, doing homework with my brother, and putting everyone to bed. My dad worked and was at the hospital a lot, and I know he tried to be home more, but he almost lost his job.

Our extended family (my dads siblings, grandparents,etc) never reached out, and to this day, I am still dumbfounded how no adult stepped in. It was terrible and it made me grow up really fast. After 13, I still served as a mom, but I was bumped to second mom when my mom would just disappear and ignore her responsibilities. She was never mentally herself again and was very negligent when she was physically well again.

Now I am 30 and those days still haunt me. I think it's because my mother and father never acknowledged my lost childhood. I've tried explaining what I went through to my mom, that I don't blame her for being sick, but that it was really hard and I need/needed therapy. My 5yo sister used to cry at night asking if my mom was going to die. My mom refuses to listen until this day, so I stopped trying.

Thanks for letting me rant and reading my story. I really needed this.

afreckledgal25

200 Down

weight loss GIFGiphy

Lost 200lb. Everyone knows me as I am now, they've never seen me fat.

Savvaloy

College Daze

Studying broadcasting in college. The program ran the college radio station, and we were all given shifts that changed on a weekly basis. All to give us that real world experience, they ran it as close to a real radio station as possible.

It was Friday night. I was the last shift for the week. On the weekends, the station is on autopilot... runs nothing but a playlist fed into the computer. Now the person in charge of playlists that week was the class screw-up. As I was getting ready to leave, I thought, "I wonder if they remembered to make playlists for the weekend."

I checked the computer and they didn't. This was bad. No playlists in the computer meant the station would be dead on Saturday and Sunday. And since it was Friday night and just me left, I sat down and cranked out some playlists for Saturday and Sunday.

Station ran smoothly all weekend, the class screw-up still passed, and I haven't told anyone until now.

originalchaosinabox

YA Days....

I was offered then given a job by a publishing company in New York to read YA novels and give my opinion. I'm not even into YA, my dad was just at their office for business and I was there for a tour and you know how sales ladies are. She was like, "Yo, you're a young adult! How would you like a job?!" And I, a jobless teen, was absolutely willing to read some shitty ass YA for a couple bucks.

So I do what I gotta do to get the job, and as a dumb fool teen I ignore the big butt red flag "So, we're a little backed up with all of our readers information, but we'll definitely send you the forms to get payment set up soon!" Several months later, they owe me like 130 bucks at this point (I know, crap for pay. What do you do) and I'm just... Exhausted. I'm reading these freaking things all the time, and they are just crap. So crap. I wanna die, they are so crap. But I keep thinking, if I just stick it out a bit more, I'm gonna get my money.

Until my mom just said no more. I was doing poorly in school, and the disappointment that my very first job was a bust was eating me alive. So I stopped sending them in. And a few weeks after my last assignment was due, I get an email for my freaking forms to be paid. And I never filled them out. And those buttheads made out with like 15 of my freaking essays. Which I know was my own fault, but I was a kid.

BeaDoodle

To the Grape

Will Grace Megan Mullally GIFGiphy

2 majors and 2 minors in 4 years of college while working 3 jobs. Family was late and missed my graduation and drank all the wine they bought me as a present.

cerulean_sage

I just want help.....

I'm currently taking care of my 96 year old grandma. She has 4 living children, 10 grandchildren and a number of great grandchildren. With the exception of one of my cousins, none of them give any care or are geographically close enough to her to do anything but call her on the phone once a week. When I was 22, I took care of my mom for years, while she was ill, prior to her passing and got shit on by her family before and after she died. Now my moms mom needs help and again no one can be bothered to show up. It's infuriating. I don't even want recognition, I just want help.

FrecklePancake

Damn Covid

Finished my sophomore year taking both high school and college classes (I go to an early college and this is pretty much known to be the hardest year at my school). At the same time COVID-19 had just hit and no one else is home but me. My grandmother who has been bedridden for five months at that point needed a full-time care service. We could not afford having a specialized caregiver around the house, so there was no question that I would do it. Both of my parents are working and I'm 16 years old, doing online classes at home.

The transition was rough and I'm hit with new assignments with strict deadlines everyday. School is hard enough online, and it's harder when you have to look out for someone who is paralyzed from their third stroke. Everything from feeding, changing, and giving her a bath. I did it alone.

This went on for at least two months. At one point, I didn't do my assignments for three days and fell extremely behind. My mental state was terrible. I thought I wouldn't make it. I wanted to end it all but I couldn't. I wasn't going to leave before my grandmother did.

After the school year ended in May, I never heard from any of my teachers or classmates again. It all ended so quickly, even though each day was hell for me. As silly as it sounds, I didn't get a pat on the back or anything. With all those sleepless nights, I managed to end the school year with straight A's. Everyone expected me to do it and I somehow... did it.

fistedwaffle647

We'll call him Dave....

I was offered a significant promotion before someone else who had seniority, we'll call him Dave. Dave and I had already discussed his desire for this promotion and he was pretty excited about it, and he was certain he was going to get it. I declined the offer and directed my boss to Dave who of course happily took the offer. It just felt morally wrong to take it when I knew he wanted it, and the large factor of him having more job knowledge and experience than I did. The defining qualities as a worker that made my boss choose me was reliability and dependability.

I never, ever let my boss down and was willing to learn anything.

I was offered another promotion and I took it this time. Dave became distant with me, my new coworkers were buttholes and clearly didn't want me there, and my old coworkers (some of whom I've fed because they couldn't feed themselves and their children at the same time) started to drift away and no longer would stop to chat. I found out that Dave was spreading rumors about me.

About how I only got the promotion because upper management needs something young and pretty to look at, and that someone else deserved it more than I did. I spent an entire year working directly with this guy and we used to have a fantastic work relationship.

He still has no idea that his new position was because of me.

pale_moon_pixie

 'Indiana meets Japan'

I designed an 'Indiana meets Japan' wall mural for the hall leading to the library of my high school. Had a bridge, plants, and the Indiana state tree on one side and a cherry blossom tree on the other. Flower petals from both drifting on the wind and everything.

I didn't get to sign my name on the mural after it was all done since I didn't put the pencil work and paint on the wall. Even though the kids who painted it had to bring me out there to help them figure out a spacing issue the teacher hadn't foreseen.

This wasn't a tiny thing either. We're talking floor to ceiling design in your average 'entrance' hallway from one section of the building to another. If that makes sense?

It's been ten years and I'm still moderately pissed over it.

FaerieHawk

Homeward Bound

Home Sweet Home GIF by swerkGiphy

I paid the down payment on my best friend's house but never told anyone. She has 5 kids and they all needed stability and something to really call their own. Had just cashed out on an investment when she told me she's found a house but didn't have cash for the down payment. It was like serendipity. I had the cash so I gave it to her. I really love her and would do it again.

imnotwezy

REDDIT

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People Reveal What Their Significant Other Did That Made Them Think 'F**k This, We're Done'

Reddit user The_King_Of_Spades_ asked: 'What is something that an S/O has done that made you go, 'F**k this, we're done?'

Young man looking defeated with face to palms
Christian Erfurt/Unsplash
Maintaining romantic relationships takes work, and if the people are invested enough in them, they will be willing to do everything they can to stay together.

After all, the honeymoon phase is not forever.

Eventually, reality sets in for those who want to be in it for the long haul as the lovebirds gradually start discovering weird idiosyncrasies that can either be perceived as cute quirks or aggravating annoyances.

Is it worth it?

That depends.

Curious to hear of make-it-or-break-it moments in relationships, Redditor The_King_Of_Spades_ asked:

"What is something that an S/O has done that made you go, 'F'k this, we're done'?"

These exes had no regard for the lives of others, some literally.

Serpent Murderer

"She unplugged the heater on my red tail boa's tank. Since the tank was in the spare room I only checked it every couple days. It was winter and I had just fed it so I would always leave it alone for a few days after so it wouldn't stress and have issues digesting. She went in right behind me an unplugged it after arguing with me for weeks to rehome it, which I refused to do."

"I went to check on it a few days later and noticed it froze to death. I asked her if she knew anything about it and her response was 'oh bummer, now I guess you can throw all that sh*t out.'"

"The next day when she was at work I packed all her sh*t and threw it all over her sister's front yard, since her sister was always the one telling her to just do things if I don't give her her way and had told me numerous times to get rid of my snake or else."

"RIP Doobie. I'm sorry buddy."

– burkechrs1

Funeral Brawl

"She started a fight with someone at my gran's funeral."

– LapOfHonour

"That's odd. Nobody is looking at ME for some reason..."

– VAShumpmaker

"Ummm...ex-CUSE me! I'M the ALIVE one here!"

– PicaDiet

Family Comes First

"Gave me sh*t for skipping a minor league ballgame with her family so I could go visit my grandfather in the hospital."

"It was the last time i saw him alive."

"Edit - ok i get it, the last sentence is confusing. I’m referring to gramps."

– chickentimesfive

You never know about a person's true colors.

Dodging A Bullet

"Physically barricaded me in the bedroom and forced me to change into the exact outfit he wanted me to wear before we could go out to meet his friends. I put it on just so he would let me leave and then ran a couple blocks away while he was locking up and called an Uber to my friend's house."

– Particular-Natural12

The Freeloader

"My ex drove my truck and returned it with a drop of gas in the tank. Then she took my bank card from my wallet and filled up her SUV and went to work. I started my truck and got to the gas station, opened my wallet and my card was missing. This was back when I was kind of poor and didn't have any credit cards, just a debit card. I had no cash in my wallet, so no gas. I tried to make it back home but I ran out of gas. I called her asking for help, she refused."

"My buddy picked me up on the side of the road. I went home and packed up my stuff and immediately moved out. I stayed on my friends sofa for a couple weeks while I worked out new living arrangements."

– macmac360

The kids will always be priority number one.

Scared Child

"My 12 year old son was struggling emotionally and it was causing issues with his grades. Boyfriend told him he could go live with his dad if he was going to be a loser. My son called me scared because he thought he was going to have to move to his dad’s. I was out of town at the time. I broke up with him the moment I got back and my son and I moved out."

"F'k you Chris."

– Fickle_Freckle

You Don't Go After The Children

"Called my daughter (not hers) a 'f'king b*tch that ruined our relationship'. Hard no from me."

– javawong

"Thank you for prioritizing your daughter. So many single parents don’t."

– CowboyLaw

Those who abuse animals are not relationship material.

The Last Straw

"Kicked my (our) cat."

"He pushed and pushed to get a cat. I wanted one but didn't really want to spend the next 10 years cleaning litter boxes every day. I eventually gave in because he was so persistent."

"After a few months, he came home from work in a mood one day and the cat got under his feet - as cats tend to do. He kicked her and screamed at her, and she ran and hid under the bed for hours."

"Things had been pretty sh*t between us anyway, but this was the last straw. I told him that if he can't watch where he's f'king going, he shouldn't live with a cat. He responded with something along the lines of 'well f'king get rid of her then!', and I told him I'd rather get rid of him."

"I told him to pack a bag and find somewhere else to stay. He went to stay with his mum, and I only saw him once after that day when he had to sign some paperwork to confirm that he'd moved out of our flat."

"P.S. Still got the cat. She's perfect and I love her so much. She still trips me up almost every day."

"Edit: I do feel like I should clarify (even though ex doesn't deserve it) - he didn't like, kick the cat across the room or something, but he did kick her a lot more aggressively than just tapping her out of the way with his foot. She wasn't hurt at all, but was scared. Had it been any worse, I probably would have flipped out on him even more."

– aerialpoler

Always listen to your gut when it comes to being in a bad situation.

Vulnerable individuals who are deep in love have the tendency of ignoring warning signs and realize until too late that they are with someone they never should've been with in the first place.

That's the tricky thing about pursuing love.

You don't really know a person until you spend more time with them, which is all the more reason to not rush into things.

Man on bke wearing an American flag with a woman running behind him holding an American flag.
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

When studying or learning about different countries and cultures, many Americans find themselves fascinated and/or perplexed by some of their customs and traditions.

Up to and including Canada having their Thanksgiving celebrations in October, Guy Fawkes night in England, or spitting on the bride for good luck at Greek weddings.

Many of these same Americans who scoff at the very idea of these customs might not stop to think that the tables can be easily turned, and visitors from abroad often find themselves in an equal state of confusion at some of our customs and traditions.

Redditor thunderpower1999 was eager to hear which American customs foreigners found to be the most baffling, leading them to ask:

"Non- Americans, what is an American custom that you find unusual or odd?"

The Only Thing More Ridiculous, Are Most Of The Candidats

"I find the length of your election campaigns so crazy."- Olivia123321

Presidential elections seem to be some sort of two year affair. It's out of control.

Most Meteorologists Would Agree

"My friend from India once asked me (an American) to explain Groundhog Day to her."

"I had no explanation- it’s just weird."- marmosetohmarmoset

Groundhog Day Winter GIFGiphy

Slowly Becoming Extinct Though...

"The waiter taking your card away to pay."- Vlakob

Trick Or Treat!

"I’ll never forget when a college schoolmate from China asked me 'is it true that you have a holiday where children dress up and go around asking for candy?'"

"I had never thought about it before but all I could say was 'yes, I guess we do…'"- EverLong0

They Think That's Strange, Ask Them What They Think About Our Health Care System...

"The Canadians I worked with in the oilfield were blown away by all of the television commercials for medicines."- rufneck-420

Happy Mental Health GIF by Jimmy ArcaGiphy

Gobble Gobble!

"Pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving."

"Cracks me up every time, and I've lived here 20 years now!"- sandithepirate

Strange Isn't Always Bad

"Let me pull the Uno reverse card on this."

"I am an immigrant, living in the US for a very long time."

"Getting your leftovers to go at the restaurants was a surprise to me."

"But my reaction was, 'yeah, why is that not the norm?'"

"Rather than “Americans are strange'."- BobTheInept

When You Think You Have Exact Change...

"Not including tax in the price tag."- klc81

The Simpsons Animation GIF by FOX TVGiphy

So Much For Camaraderie...

"The obsession with college sports…and in some places even high school or middle school!"

"I just came back from a work trip to Texas and one of my colleagues told me the football stadium for his daughter’s middle school held 20,000 people!"- Speedbird223

Valuing Children? The Very Thought!

"That new parents, especially fathers, are expected to show up to work within days of having a newborn."- kellygrrrl328

How Long Have You Got?

"Some things I found strange in America:"

"Lack of recycling bins everywhere."

"That homeless people have tents everywhere like streets (Washington really surprised me)."

"Ice filled to the brim of the cup."

"Anything and everything having a tipping option."

"Tipping in general."

"Tax not included in the price."

"Massive lawyer billboards on every highway."- effypom

The Office Yes GIFGiphy

Civic Duty, But No Civic Holiday.

You have holidays for everything but a day off for election is too much

Just Plain Gross

"Child beauty pageants."

"Just stop it."- LoadedGull

It should be said that most Americans are equally confused, if not downright horrified, by many of the abovementioned customs.

Which begs the question, what keeps us living here?

Perhaps Americans desire to stay put, in spite of a heavily flawed electoral process, a convoluted healthcare system, and winter being dictated by a groundhog's shadow is the strangest American custom of them all...

A young man with orange tinted sunglasses fans out a large amount of one hundred dollar bills
Photo by Shane

Who among us hasn't wondered about how our rich buddies have made their fortunes?

Some people work really hard actually.

They're in an office or in the field all day and night.

They have their noses to the grind.

And yes some people just collect an inheritance.

That's ok too, but how do you make it bigger?

Redditor h3llofaRide wanted to hear about how the rich make a living, so they asked:

"What does the wealthiest person you know do for work?"

My rich friends are all investment people.

They know when to buy and sell.

It's a gift.

Fancy Services

Coding Looney Tunes GIF by Looney Tunes World of MayhemGiphy

"The wealthiest person I know (and hang out with regularly) built a company (IT services) and then sold it for several hundred million dollars."

"He now runs a company that does the same kind of IT services in a different field. (He figured out a winning business formula and is just repeating it in a different market)."

omniumoptimus

Name It

"A family friend retired after being a COBOL programmer for 30 years. About 2 years after his retirement, a company came to him and said 'Name your salary' and he requested around $1.5 million/year. He was hired on the spot and still works there."

bbbbbthatsfivebees

"A family member worked at various companies, he told me this is very common. It's not obscure programming languages, just that they know what's going on. And don't let anyone else near it or something."

chabybaloo

Oink Oink

"Pig farmer. I kid you not. He's my father's old friend. I visited him once when my father and I were passing through the state. He lives in a modest classic farmhouse with his wife, both in their seventies. I mentioned I was starting a school in West Africa as we were catching up."

"A few weeks later I got a text asking how much it would cost. I told him 40k, thinking it was really nice of him if he wanted to send a few dollars."

"I got a check for 40k. I thought it would take me years to raise that. I'm typing this from Sierra Leone because he also paid for the house I thought would take years to raise funds for."

LadyCordeliaStuart

That Dude

"It's a guy I work with. He started with one Jimmy John's franchise and turned it into 10 franchises. Ran them for 10 years then sold them all and dumped the money into the stock market and real estate. He did this all while working as an airline pilot, currently still working at the airline. This dude owns and flies his own private jet on top of all that."

OT-35

Every day...

Proliferate Charlie Chaplin GIF by nounish ⌐◨-◨Giphy

"Inherited a small factory from his father. Developed it into a huge nationwide company. Still goes to work there everyday despite being worth hundreds of millions."

ShipJust

Factory work. That is where so much greatness begins.

On the Road

Happy Go Crazy GIF by DAF Trucks NVGiphy

"Truck driver. Starting his own trucking company."

Apprehensive-Crow-96

"Tons of money in the trucking business. An owner of one in my city drives a Porsche 918."

ForgottenPercentage

In the End

"Own their own conveyor belt business. Makes almost 2 mil a year after it’s all said and done."

TakeMe_To_Eisengard

"I was a control systems engineer who started contracting on the side. Now I build out crazy manufacturing systems like this. All it takes is getting one project to build a conveyor system and if you end up good at it then boom, you build conveyor systems for the rest of your life. Conveyor systems are actually really expensive and complex in the manufacturing world."

PleasantProgram7572

Life-Changing

"Both in tech. A friend is in a company about to IPO and is VP level so will do well there. Her husband just sold his company (gaming company) to the biggest gaming company in China for, as she put it 'life-changing money.' Both are very intelligent, super nice, and crazy hard-working. They worked for it, and it couldn't happen to nicer people."

BonePGH

The Little Things

"I was a fly fishing guide for many years, and one of my regular clients year after year owned a factory on the East Coast that is one of the top suppliers of O-rings and small plastic machine parts in the world. I never asked how much they made obviously out of respect. But they always tipped absurd amounts ($1500 was my biggest tip for 3 days) they flew private and drank and shared $600 bottles of wine like they were nothing."

The_Kinetic_Esthetic

Let's Play

gamer GIF by TotorialGiphy

"He's the founder and CEO of a very successful games company. I met him over a decade ago when the company was successful but nowhere near what it is now. He's also one of the most approachable and friendly people I've ever met, to the extent that it sometimes feels like an act."

Lauantaina

Games and gaming.

Who knew?

Can I count all of my hours of Nintendo for tax exemptions?

Content Warning: alcoholism, sexual assault, harassment, and violence against women in entertainment

The entertainment industry is constantly changing and generally reflects what the public finds interesting and believes in.

Fortunately, this means that some problematic tropes, storylines, and messages are being retired from the writers' room, and viewers are embracing the more inclusive characters and stories they're seeing on screen.

Redditor midnightsonofab***h asked:

"What TV trope was common in the not-so-distant past but is completely unacceptable today?"

Connected At All Times

"Misunderstandings that can now be cleared up by a text or cell phone call. Entire episodes used to be built around people not being able to find or communicate with each other and just having to figure stuff out."

- OccasionallyWright

"I read a story from a horror writer and he said cell phones changed how they have to write because 99% of the stuck-in-a-murder town or house situations would be solved by phones now."

- Cleets11

"Oh yeah, for sure! I write thrillers for a living, and the idea of a 'MacGuffin' that is hidden is a lot harder to pull off when the now-dead character hiding it could've just called the right people and told them, or sent them the data in an email, etc."

"I have a very good editor (he's BAFTA nominated) and had this exact one in my latest story outline, with them 'finding' a report he's hidden. But... he could've just sent it to his daughter by email."

"As I'm older, I have to adjust my mindset constantly to deal with stuff like that."

- jloome

Security Before Love

"Running through the airport to confess one's love for the protagonist. Or the 'Home Alone' premises. These wouldn't happen today with current security measures."

- flawedmentalist69_

Women's Panic Attacks

"Not really TV trope but slapping women that were supposedly having a panic attack was almost a trope in westerns and noire movies."

- Sufficient-Eye-8883

Unresolved Amnesia

"People walking around with amnesia."

"Every freaking show, someone hit their head and had amnesia and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Like, hello, brain injury?"

- darkmatternot

Stalking Love

"Stalking a woman long enough and constantly will eventually make her fall for you."

- SuvenPan

"This was probably the most confusing thing growing up in the late 80s and early 90s."

"This odd thing was sold to both genders: the guy was supposed to keep on going after being told to be uninteresting. This led to guys thinking 'no means ask again' and girls saying 'no' to guys that they were interested in, but thought this is how the game was played in real life."

"Even in my early 20s, I saw girls in my party crew doing this, quite often harshly rejecting a drop-dead handsome guy, then being all p**sy about it when the guy just f**ked off as being told to and didn't instead start the rom-com mating ritual."

- aamurusko79

Voyeurism Was Not Okay

​"Spying on naked women or women changing clothes as an innocent boy or teen rite of passage."

- coagulatedfat

"'It’s Always Sunny' does a great episode called 'The Gang Hits the Slopes' or something. They go to a ski resort and live out 80s tropes from their childhood before realizing how f**ked up it all was, including spying on women and skiing without helmets."

- tman291

Homophobia "Humor"

​"Gay panic. I love 'Friends,' but how often the joke was AT any of the guys doing anything feminine?"

- HazeAbove

"The flamboyant gay character whose sexuality is either intended for the audience to laugh and make fun of or becomes a joke with other characters."

- DimesyEvans92

"Or in the case of 'Friends,' the straight character who everybody thinks is gay and is the butt (pun intended) of the joke."

- Friesenplatz

The Dark Side of the Town Drunk

"Comedic town drunk. Think Otis from 'The Andy Griffith Show.'"

- dominationnation

"I think part of the problem is the 'comedic town drunk' is something so many people can relate to because every small town seems to have one."

"My town growing up certainly did. His name was Silas. He drove a lawnmower everywhere because he lost his license, and would shout, 'Yee-Haw!' when it reached max speed. The man could consume an impossible quantity of alcohol and just as quickly piss it all out."

"He was homeless and on a first-name basis with every police officer in the county. He could tell the funniest, dirtiest jokes, and in late autumn would commit some minor harmless crime to spend the winter in jail (where he'd put on a lot of weight) instead of spending it in his tent."

"He was also a very reliable handyman, our family hired him a few times to remove massive trees, and he'd drop them right where he said he would."

"But that's where the comedy and trope end. I've referred to him in the past tense because he died of liver failure."

"He was ill with an addiction and desperately needed help to get past it, and that's what the TV tropes fail to discuss. Consequently, it's funny to the audience because it conveniently ignores the harsh reality of the situation."

- Kent_Knifen

Smoking Bans

"'Mind if I smoke?' in places where people would instantly object today, like cars, airplanes, spaceships, the baby's nursery, etc."

- crooked-v

​Anti-Tomboy and Androgyny 

"'Fixing' the 'tomboy' who likes to wear boys' clothes, no makeup, and do boy things."

"There's an 'Andy Griffith Show' episode that would be considered an over-the-top parody if it came out now."

- Visible_Scallion_489

No Locked Doors

"People living in NYC and L.A. who never lock the front door."

- KAG25

"Pretty sure 'Friends' lampshade this with an episode where they all get locked out and Monica even asks, 'Who locked the door? That door is never locked!'"

- rhapsody98

Questionable Family Dynamics

"An overweight, lazy husband with a smoking hot, nagging wife. Add in one rebellious teen and one nerdy kid and boom. The family sitcom recipe."

- chewedupshoes

The Hate for Wives

"The running joke in sitcoms is that every average American man hates their wife and is always complaining about her 'nagging' and just wants to hang with the boys and dreams about the single life or having more freedom but he’s a dad now."

"I think too many are sick of seeing that. It wasn’t really funny in the first place. And now society is trying to push many to see marriage as the ultimate goal anyway and vilifies people for wanting to be single."

- BellaBlue06

Minorities As Targets

"Black dude dies first. It's basically never done nowadays and the trope is almost always pointed out if there's even the possibility of it happening."

- CoolGuy69MLG

When we look through this thread, we can all think of examples of these old tropes, from smoking to consent, and fortunately, most of these shows are older.

As terrible as it might be that these tropes were once popular, it's at least refreshing to see that we are learning, that the entertainment industry is reflecting that, and some of these tropes are fading away.