You don't want to think about it, but it haunts you at three in the morning, the way embarrassing, awkward memories often do.
You sit there and you CRINGE because dear LORD, it was awful and how in the world did you even survive that moment without DYING from embarrassment?!
Redditor Memes_are_treasure asked:
"What is an embarrassing moment that still haunts you?"
"I have a few..."
"I have a few but the worst, as I've said on here before, was when a colleague gave me a lift home from work as my wife was busy. When he dropped me off, I went into 'wife dropping me off' default mode, and leaned in for a goodbye kiss. Luckily for me, he wasn't looking and either didn't notice, or had an existential crisis and never mentioned it. The walk to my front door was spent bemoaning the fact I had been born."
"I was running late..."
"I was running late one morning my junior year of high school and I had just missed the bus but I had hoped if I ran after it maybe it would stop, so I started running. I got right along side it but my backpack was too heavy and I fell face first onto the road. I could hear everyone laughing so I just laid there, pretended to be unconscious. Eventually I heard the bus leave and I got up and ran away, hid behind a neighbor's car. About a minute later the bus driver and two football players came running around the corner. Apparently the bus driver moved the bus to the field behind the neighborhood and they were going to come help me. But I was gone. I refused to get on the bus again. Fortunately I had already had my driver's license and a couple weeks later I got my first car so it wasn't a problem."
"I was pretty drunk..."
"I was pretty drunk at a bar when I approached two women sitting by themselves, I then proceeded to say "What are two fine ladies like you doing all alone on Thanksgiving?...." It was Valentine's Day."
"I worked at a museum..."
Giphy"I worked at a museum as a young man and my job included talking to school groups before they went in. I had to speak in front of a group of older girls (close to my age) and I was hella nervous (I went to an all boys school). I got through my talk alright but, when I went to walk out the side, I bumped into a banner, which I promptly apologised to. "Oh, sorry".
"I was at a waterpark..."
"I was at a waterpark with family and towards the end of the afternoon, a woman came up to me and whispered in my ear that I have a problem with my swimsuit. I reached behind and noticed a huge gap. The fabric was torn right in the middle and you could see my crack. I was running around like this all day and no one said anything."
"The most embarrassing moment..."
"The most embarrassing moment resulted on a weekend that I was organist for 3 weddings and 2 funerals, starting Friday evening into Saturday."
"At one point, when the priest gave the signal to begin, I lost my concentration and started playing a funeral processional for music as the bride came down the aisle (instead of the wedding march)."
"Nothing terribly bad..."
"I was a freshman in high school, was a fat kid and thus wasn't very good at navigating new social areas. I met a girl, thought she was really pretty and had cool tastes in music and movies, so I went up and tried to introduce myself and talk to her on the bus. Nothing terribly bad or awkward happened, I just introduced myself and said I thought she seemed really cool; she seemed confused, and I took that as a clue that I was barking up the wrong tree and left her alone."
"A few days later, I overheard a girl in one of my classes mention her, and that some creepy fat guy was was stalking her on the bus. Naturally, I was mortified, and didn't talk to many girls for a long time after that. I got a lot better with socialization and more comfortable with meeting new people, but I'll never forget how terrible it felt to be called a creep after a single exchange of introducing myself and telling her I thought she had really interesting tastes. I'd never had someone spread a rumor about me before, and I still remember it clear as day."
"When I was in middle school..."
"When I was in middle school a lot of us were going through puberty and one girl in particular developed very quickly and very noticeably, she was stacked."
"Well we got along pretty well before everything started getting confusing and we both rode the same bus home so one day we're sharing a seat and her friend was sitting across the aisle from us so they get chatting and after a bit she leans back and lays her head in my lap, and she's wearing a pretty low cut shirt so gravity is doing God's work and I'm getting the view of a lifetime while trying desperately to not be a creep because of raging hormones, about a minute in and I've got a situation that would make devil blush and it's just pounding on the back of this poor girls head with every heartbeat."
"She caught on pretty quick and sat up for the rest of the ride and our friendship dissipated quicker than my wood."
"Day comes..."
"Didn't eat fast food growing up."
"Went to Subway with friends a couple times in my early 20's but didn't order. Seemed confusing and intimidating."
"Began studying ordering techniques of friends so maybe I could try it some day."
"Day comes where I'm ready to take the next step. Have my order memorized. I knock down my request segment by segment, like I'm reciting a script I'd been up all night rehearsing. Foot long. Ham. White. Swiss cheese. Lettuce and tomato."
"Pretty excited because I'd nailed it. I stand idly by with my hands casually behind my back, lips optimistically pursed, trying to play it cool so everyone else could be fooled into thinking I'm a perfectly regular human being who'd totally ordered a sandwich before."
"Subway worker throws me a curveball."
"Is this going to be a meal?"
"Not completely sure why he wants to know if it's going to be my entire dinner or not. Sort of thought he may have been inviting himself over or something. Just felt like really odd small talk to make."
"I become panicked and non-committal on the inside, still totally cool on the outside. I pause to contemplate for a moment then I say, "I don't know, we'll see."
"Worker freezes."
"Friend freezes."
"I'm still up on my toes, hands behind my back, casually staring ahead waiting to pay for my sandwich."
"Feels like an hour goes by but a couple moments of silence pass before it's explained to me that a Meal in this case means a sandwich, chips, and a drink."
"Friend never wants to be seen in public with me again."
Sometimes you just have to let the embarrassments of the past go.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.