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Guys Share Their First Date Horror Stories

Guys Share Their First Date Horror Stories

First date horror stories are seriously some of the best cringe-reads possible, aren't they?

Yeah, they are. Thing is, they predominantly come from women complaining about men. It's almost enough to make you think women don't pull crazy first date stunts.

Think again, folks!

Reddit user adrien_68 asked:

Gentlemen, what is an absolute red flag a woman can raise on the first date?

Rather than respond with hypothetical red flags, these reddit users responded by telling real-live OMG NO first date stories. These red-flag first dates absolutely prove that women are just as capable of being cringe-worthy as men are.



Obsessive

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"A girl I dated was really obsessive over her ex, but not like wanting to get back with him, no no no, good sir!"

"She just wanted to make sure he didn't date anyone, and would force everyone around her to help towards that. Including me. I found out from her ex (who was actually a really nice guy) that on the first date we went on, she chose a specific restaurant because she knew he had a date there, and she wanted to ruin it."

- IzJustMeOG

TMI Too Soon

"Had a date who mentioned the fact that she only had sex one time, but she got pregnant and then had an abortion three months later. I met her all of ten minutes prior to her telling me this. Quickest I've ever got the hell out of a restaurant."

- Someone_other_than_you

Dinner Was Lovely

"I went on a first date with a young woman. Toward the end we were finishing our meal. Waiter came over and date said, pointing to me. "Dinner was lovely. He'll take the check now."

- YasJesusSlays

Not A Groupie

"She was a fan of a well known singer. Ok."

"She was member of a fan club. Well, why not."

"She spent her life travelling through Europe attending each and every concert whenever possible. Uuuuhhh."

"And she spent the whole evening telling me everything about this singer I never wanted to know. At least she "never was a groupie."

"Anyway. Two hours later I had a couple of beers with good friends and whenever I hear this singer on radio, I have to turn it off."

- Steinfall

Like Mexican Food, But...

"We went to get Mexican. I asked why she was so rude to the waitstaff, she said she liked Mexican food but "hated illegals." I was supremely uncomfortable."

- MrAndrewDonald

Daisy Said No

"I have a small white fluffy dog. Back when I was dating, I would bring the dog along for the first date - great ice breaker, hit with the ladies etc etc. Daisy (the dog) loves people and tagging along wherever I go, so everyone was happy!"

"ANYWAY, on one particular occasion we arrived at the pub to meet my date, and rather than the usual wagging tail greeting, Daisy started growling at her, and did not stop until we left, by which time I was convinced my date was a serial killer, and Daisy just saved my life."

"So if a dog doesn't like them.... BIG red flag."

- vareynick84

Spit, A Suitcase and Another Man's Child

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"Your well meaning coworker sets you up on a blind date with her fun friend. You agree to meet at a bar, but then her friend asks you to pick her up because she lost her license"

"You get to her apartment and she is arguing with a man out front. She flips him the bird before spitting in his face then gets into your car. It is at this crucial point you notice she brought a suitcase full of her things."


"After you finish the drink you ordered with your meal she finishes her fifth one. The entire time you haven't said more than a few words. Not because your being indifferent, but because she always interrupts with anecdotes about her abusive childhood."

"The bill comes, she slides it over to you. She informs you that she doesn't have any money and assumed you had intended to pay for the entire date."

"On the way to the car she informs you that she wants to have unprotected sex. Don't worry though. She tells you that you cannot impregnate her. She is already carrying another man's child."

"While taking her home she begins gesturing to her suitcase while asking to live with you a few weeks. She is broke and destitute till she begins her new job as a stripper on Monday. The man she was arguing with was letting her stay with him till she saved up enough money for her own place."

"Unfortunately that man had kicked her out since she was bringing other men over to his apartment. In her opinion it was unfair. After all, she never agreed to only be sleeping with him exclusively."

"Unfortunately you live in the same apartment complex. Only a couple buildings around the corner. Far enough from where you park but not so far that she doesn't follow you all the way to your front door."

"She assaults you while trying to force her way into the apartment. You panic, but then hear your cellphone ring."

"It's a telemarketer telling you about your vehicles expiring extended warranty. You pretend it's work, push your way outside, lock the door and hope she forgets the number scrolling across it."


"She follows you to your car, asking when you will come back home. You leave her standing in the rear view mirror while you speed off into the night."

"You then spend a few hours sitting in the mall parking-lot; waiting for a chance to sneak back home. While on your third cigarette to deal with the second anxiety attack; even though you previously quit smoking for over one year, you come to a grand realization:"

"Your coworker is kind of a b*tch."

- TrailerParkSup

Never Felt So Happy To Drive Away

"I went to meet a woman from an online dating site and at the last minute she texted to ask if I could swing by her house which was only a few blocks away from the Starbucks we were supposed to meet at. That should have been a tip off in retrospect but we'd chatted a lot online so I felt comfortable enough. Maybe she just needed a lift or something.
Instead, I come up to her house and when she opens the door, she is wearing an ankle bracelet."

"She begs me to please understand how she didn't want to mention it on the dating site and to please hear her out. I was naturally uncomfortable by this point but also curious so I sat down for a few minutes in her living room. She told me of this domestic dispute she had with her ex that had turned violent and now she was on 30 days house arrest. A very overweight teenage girl came into the room at this point, and the woman said "oh yea I also forget to mention I come with this."


"Now I just wanted to get the hell out of there."

"I started making excuses to leave but she kept trying to get me to stay. "Please, just one date after I am done with house arrest. The things I could learn from a man of your smarts.." I said nothing besides "I really have to go, will think about it" I just walked out the door and she followed, explaining that the bracelet had a range of several feet outside."

"I got in the car without a word and just drove. I never felt so happy to drive away from a place in my life."

- dudeArama

"That poor kid. Her mom's on house arrest for a domestic dispute, kid was likely either a witness to it and knows her custodial parent is violent, then to top it off mom invites a strange dude over, and then refers to the gal as "this"? Not even a name, just "this" like a teenager is an ugly lamp or a pile of student debt. WTF."

- FrugalChef13

Live Stream

"I was on a date where she couldn't take her eyes off her phone."

"Her: "I'm live streaming our date. My ex is watching."

"Me: "Excuse me."

"I got up, paid my half of the bill with the waitress and left. Funny thing is...a few months later, I was in a Supermarket and I saw someone facing me at a dead standstill out of the corner of my eye."

"I turn to look and it's her of course, giving me the finger. I just started laughing my ass off, which made her laugh too. I said, "Have a good night." That was it."

- DeanSMartin

Whipped Cream

"This takes me back to the early 20s version of me and a fine lass named Rebecca. We met at a New Years party, she tall and artsy with some feather arrangement in her hair I complimented. Oooohhh midnight and a proper kiss on the cheek with the promise of a first date to start 1991."

"Picked her up for said date a few days later and same hair treatment. She tells me she's obsessed with birds and always wears a feather somewhere. Uh, ok, no problem, she's still cute in full light and this just makes her quirky, right?"

"I was just a few yrs older and we went to a really nice Italian place near DC. She remarks how nice to be out with a "grownup" as she's finishing college and has been dating "boys". Nice! Dinner's great until dessert. The whipped cream on mine reminds her of her last boyfriend. She then tells me in great detail how she stalked him, hiding in bushes near his house to spy, f-ing with his tires and covering his entire car in whipped cream and eggs. "Isn't that just the funniest?!?"

"Check. Please."

- drm38r

Army Wife

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"My brother was in the army when he was set up on a blind date by a friend's girlfriend. Apparently during the first ten minutes of dinner she was talking about how she would be such a great and loyal army wife, and how she thought army wives were so brave and admirable and how she would never leave him if he was injured. He had literally just met this girl."

"He stuck it out through dinner, faked sick and left. She pursued him pretty hard after, but he lied and told her he decided he wasn't really over his ex and wasn't ready for a relationship. He said about a month later she tried to text him with a booty call, and said she even tried to "sweeten the deal" by saying he didn't need to wear protection because she was on birth control. Like how many red flags can one girl have?!"

- nickknox

The Mean Girls Test

"Oh boy here we go..."

"Long story short, I went on a date with a chick and we were vibing really well before she turned ice cold and began acting super rude."

"At that point I just wasn't enjoying it so I made up some excuse about having some stuff to do and left."

"Few hours later she texts me she was disappointed that I 'gave up' so easy and she was testing how much I liked her."

"Needless to say I didn't ask her on a second date. I'd rather be single/celibate than have a relationship/sex with the entire cast of Mean Girls crammed into a single person with a maturity of a high school freshman."

- Fruit-Dealer

Steak, Fries, And A Glass Of Champagne

"Had dinner with a blind date. Only saw her eyes maybe for 3 minutes before she was glued to her Instagram and Snapchat. Giggling to herself and replying to her followers. Tried to have a decent convo, but she was like "uh huh, that's cool" waitress comes, she doesn't even bother looking at the menu, "steak, fries, and a glass of champagne" then out of the blue."

"How much money do you make?"

"I got up, told her the date was done and left her at the restaurant. She was so glued to her phone, she just nodded. She blows up my phone a few minutes later raging that I was supposed to buy her her dinner and exclaimed she had NO money or ride to get back to her mans place."

"So yeah, she was phishing for free food and drinks."

- PrinceLewd808

MLK Day

"She was talking about how she went camping for a long weekend, being that she had MLK day off, but with the side note, "Ugh, I f***ing hate Martin Luther King" and then she fully admitted to not caring much for "the blacks."

- nubosis

When Mom Sets You Up

"There was this woman 20 years ago that I met because my mom knew her mom and both thought that's a nice idea that their only offsprings could become friends. That's what the premise was "Go and become friends!" Never met her before, she knew nothing about me so... yeah, why not."

"Met her at a restaurant, waiter ushered us to our table, we sat and even before the waiter was able to hand out the menus she said "I look for a man to have children with because I want children now."

"The waiter had that "bro... I'm so sorry" smile on his face when he gave me the menu."

"This ... "entree" was followed by a monologue of a list of guys who all failed in her eyes, because there were either from a bad family, somehow idiots, not able to have kids or had some other background she disliked and that she now has "high hopes" for me because her mom knows my mom and they told her that I am a nice and decent man."

"To make one thing clear: she was WAY out of my league. She was fit as hell and just beautiful with long black hair and blue eyes while I (still) look like Shrek. We both were on the same level of intelligence, but I never studied and worked in public service while she was becoming a pharmacist. She said on the first date that she wants kids asap."

"Now imagine sitting there in your mid 20s, with a goddess in front of you both intellectual and body wise, that talks for 2 hours just about herself and that she wants to marry asap and also wants kids."


"She offered me to drive home to her place but also insisted on telling me that we won't have sex as long as I'm not willing to marry her. So she drove me to my home, we talked about her studies and then she became furious because a woman I know saw me in the car while standing on the crossing and smiled at me. "Why is this woman smiling at you? Do you know her? Do you know many women?"

"When we arrived at my place I jumped out of the car, thanked her for bringing me home and almost ran to my door. She tried to contact me for the next 2 weeks but I kinda managed to be "not around". Learned later, she married a guy, had twins and then divorced him."

- uk_uk

Weird Food Combos

"I went on a date with a girl who ordered a steak and a cheese cake and then proceeded to eat them at the same time, like in the same bite. Look I get weird food combinations, but if you're going to make that combination on the first date there's a strong chance you have some body's under your floorboards."

- Boners_from_heaven

Firestarter

"This happened many years ago and requires a bit of backstory. I was at a house party where I blacked out and woke up naked in an unfamiliar room next to a girl I'd never met before. The friend I came with woke up shortly after I did and told me what happened."

"The girl he'd been trying to go home with at the party with came with her friend and was unwilling to leave without her. Her friend liked me. He found me later in the evening in a stupor, hoisted me over his shoulder, and loaded me into the back of his SUV. Evidently I was what made the deal go down."

"The girls got up after a while, and we talked for a bit. I was unsettled about sleeping with a woman and not remembering any of it, so I asked her to go out that evening for a date to get to know her to which she said yes."

"Fast forward to around six that evening. I'm eating supper and she shows up at my house early. I let her in and say "I'll be done eating shortly and we'll head out. Make yourself comfortable in the living room in the meantime."

"A few minutes later I came back into my living room and she'd made a small fire in a large ashtray with paper from my coffee table magazines. I stood there just staring at her dumbstruck while she kept stoking her little fire, not even noticing I'd entered the room. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing, and she simply said she was bored."

"I put it out, then said, "I have tv with cable you're welcome to watch. Do not start fires in my home. I'll be ready in five minutes. If you feel the need to start another fire go outside and do it in the street."

"I like to think of myself as a pretty easy going guy and thought the situation was over with. She stopped burning things and I went into my bedroom to quickly change clothes to leave for our date. My phone rings about halfway through doing so and it's my neighbor from two doors down. He wearily asks me how everything's going over there, to which I said "OK, why?"

"He then informed me that in the middle of the street in front of my house there's a woman that's started a fire. After talking a bit we hatched a plan. I went outside like the date was still on and nothing was wrong. My buddy came over with an 'emergency' that required my assistance. She went home and was avoided ever after."

- DJBJD-the-3rd

Not Accepting It

"I picked up an attractive girl for a first date years ago. We started with the small talk, but as we got a few blocks from her house she said something like "I'm feeling like kind of a b!tch tonight, so if I act like it you're just gonna have to accept it".

"I didn't say a thing but spun the car around and headed back toward her house. She didn't say a thing but as I turned back onto her block she says loudly "What are you doing?"

"I said (really nicely) "Oh... you said you weren't feeling well." Then I pulled up to her house and didn't even look in her direction, just kept the motor running. So she opens the door and gets out. As I drove away I heard her yell "F*ck you!" Very satisfying."

- Loggerdon

The Ex

"She talked about her ex the whole time during a movie. Then after the movie she took me to meet her family, and then I got to meet her ex - who was working at a gas station."

"I thought she just needed to get gas, nope just wanted me to meet her ex and fight him."

"He was a cool guy and called me a cab to get back to mechanics so I could get my car and go home. Thank God picked me up from the mechanics and never saw what car I drove."

- slitthroatgoat

Hide And Seek

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"This is about a girl I was really into, she was into a lot of the same stuff I was. I invited her and a couple friends out to a hibachi restaurant down the road from our uni. She started texting me in the middle of our meal about how she wanted to kill herself. That she was going to kill her ex (who was also there) and another girl who was "stealing" her spot as best girl. What does that even mean?"

"I told her to just breathe and think about something else. We get back to my car and we have to stop at the Walmart just down the road."

"We get into the store and I'm having fun with my friends and I turn around and she's just gone. This sends everyone into panic mode. They can all tell something is wrong, even though they hadn't a clue that she had just texted me she wanted to kill herself. Not to mention several other people."

"We look all over the store and I eventually find her, only for her to run off again. She said she was playing hide and seek."

"When I find her again, she's in the jewelry area and threatened to kill herself if I didn't buy her a necklace as well as several other things. Cue me spending over 300 dollars on her that night as well as the money on food."

"I went through all of that only to find out two weeks later that she was seeing a guy who lived in a halfway house. A guy she started seeing while she was simultaneously using me and abusing me if we're being honest."

- Maine_Made_Aneurysm

It's amazing anyone finds a partner given some of these stories?

Do you have a dating horror story to share? Let us know in the comments below.

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

Keep reading... Show less
Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?