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Heartbroken People Reveal The Moment They Knew Their Relationships Were Over


Losing love is hard. Getting divorced is even harder, as in your mind, that individual was going to be the one you spent the rest of your life with. It's difficult to put yourself back out there, but many divorcees are able to find the strength to move on and find someone else that makes them feel whole.

However, people on the other side of that relationship sometimes notice there might have been a real reason they were divorced in the first place, one they didn't share with you up front. That might have been the thinking Reddit user, r/psxpetey, had, who asked:

People of reddit who married divorcees, at what point did you realize there might be a reason the other person divorced them?


50. Save yourself! 

When he grabbed me by my hair and nearly ripped it off my head. He was mad because I had told him I was worried about him hanging out too much by himself and not leaving his room anymore. After I left his apartment I texted him letting him know it was over. mermaidhairdontcare

49. Did y'all 'play' safe?

When a fellow fraternity brother informed me my then girlfriend had slept with fourteen guys in a span of two weeks, all of them were told that we had broken up and were unaware of the others. I was across the country at my grandmother's funeral/spring break. thelostcanuck

48. Calm down Ben...

Giphy

Looking back, I think I had the first inkling when I was reading Gone Girl and found myself relating to it a little too much.

To clarify, the crumbling marriage fake diary entries. Not the sociopathic mind games. imhereforthemeta

47. Cheers!  

When I kept hoping he'd slip up and start drinking again so I'd have an 'excuse' to leave. :(

46. Hands Off! 

The time I picked up her laptop to keep it from falling off the bed and she screamed and grabbed it from me and said "That's my personal property, you have no right to touch that!" robots_and_cancer

45. Um... That's not Creepy.... 

She had a mannequin. Not just any mannequin though, it was wearing a sweatshirt she took from me, and one of my hats. It was also in her closet. When I asked her about it, she told me it was "In case I missed you too much, I could still hold you." I broke it off the next day. Algorn120

44. Drowning...

When my alcohol spending overtook my food spending. dragon_bacon

43. Ice Queen....

Giphy

Where I felt like I was the only one showing affection and the only one trying. Where I felt lonely even in the presence of her. Pretty sad feeling to invest your all into someone and receive nothing but a cold look back. REDDIT

42. Breaking up is the gift! 

He didn't give me a birthday present. Not a card or a cake or anything. That's when I realized he didn't care about me. Currently in the process of breaking up (we live together). jell_bell

41. Numb to You! 

He would always say the meanest possible things when he was angry... Like, insecurities and secrets that I would share with him during close moments he would later use against me whenever he was mad. I realized it was over when his insults didn't hurt me anymore... I had no feelings left to give. Not even sad ones, let alone ones of happiness or love. TitzMcGhee

40. European Break Up! 

When, shortly after taking me on a romantic trip to Europe, he came downstairs one morning and calmly told me to grab my things so that he could drop me off at my folk's place. He mailed the rest of my stuff to my mother. area--woman

39. Out of Excuses... 

It was pretty simple. I just found myself making more excuses not to be with her because i found I enjoyed time without her more than with her. Jrspike

38. Change in thought... 

When I realized that I don't miss her anymore and started to look at other girls

Also I started to think more about her bad things, only things I dislike, no more "hey, I love her because of that," more like "I hate this at her."


Having a long distance relationship makes things different. I rarely looked at other girls, but suddenly started to think "wow this one is cute and that one is hot" => change of mindset. scorer433

37. Border Jump! 

When he left to another state without telling me. I had absolutely no clue before that. GimmeMuchosMangos

36. Take A Bow...

When she admitted she didn't even bother asking off work to come see me in my play. It was her learned helplessness, her inability to try. At some point, she had stopped moving her life forward so that our life together could get started.

Almost 5 years later, I'm engaged to someone else. She's my best friend and we've got our stuff together. Break ups suck, but they happen because they're supposed to happen. Fenris447

35. Make 'Them' Sob! 

When I realized I was doing all the work in the relationship. I'd make a date, and he just won't show up. The worst was on my birthday. I sat on the park bench for 2 hours waiting and he didn't even have the decency to call me. I must have looked pathetic sobbing alone on a park bench but I was really distraught. VicieuxRose

34. Damn That Pokemon!

Giphy

We stopped having sex. Everything irritated me and other men started to seem attractive again. I wanted to explore new things, travel, do something different then the day before. He wanted to sit inside, watch football, and play pokemon. An entire year went by and this was still our routine football, pokemon, eat, sleep. I needed more. weare_stardust

33. Blackmail?! WTF! 

When he blackmailed me with personal photos if I tried to leave. You really can't look at someone the same once that happens. It lingers in the back of your mind. glitchinthedark

32. No Air.

When it feels like you're trapped when you're around them. Similar to being claustrophobic. dripberg

31. You were in Shock! 

When I was dying in the hospital, and our daughter was stillborn, he said he couldn't come to the hospital because he didn't want to miss classes. It should have ended there, but I was young, stupid, and honestly thought he was the best I deserved. It lasted 2 years until I packed a suitcase and ran. Lost everything except what I could carry. Glocksnkittens

30. Two Wrongs! 

When I realized that we might never have a sexual relationship and that I would put him under a lot of pressure to do things he didn't want to do if I stayed. It was a mutual but very painful decision. xyxthris

29. Bored Now.

Giphy

When I wasn't angry anymore. He was still cheating and lying but I just ran out of angry. I was tired. biglebowski55

28. Sex is a MUST! 

Biggest red flag was that I didn't want to have sex with him anymore.

That has happened more than once... I think I'm just terrible at recognizing when a relationship has run its course. My body has to pretty much shut down sexually before I realize. pastacountess

27. Girl BYE! 

Two days ago. He snapped at me on the ride home after my abortion. I was ashamed and exhausted. He was annoyed the appointment had finished early and interrupted his nap. catland

26. Just Shut Up!

The point at which he said he didn't know that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Also the part right after that, where he said he was in love with my best friend.

Luckily, best friend is awesome and never felt the same way towards him, so I was confident things would never happen, but still... pretty crappy to hear that out of your boyfriend's mouth. jaiex

25. Ah, See, It's The Claws.

I had my wife cheat on me... ended up meeting someone who was "perfect" and just thought I had hit the karma jackpot. She liked literally all the same things as me.

When I asked about her past, I'd hear stories of what sounded like abuse - but it was always implied (like "I was so scared, I thought he was going to hit me"). Then one night she went mental on me - started getting mad about me wanting to visit my daughter who was in the hospital- she wanted to go on a date instead... started throwing glass at me and it was like rain... I pushed her away and just got out.

She called and started threatening me; since I had "hit her" (in falling on her) my options were come back to the house or she would call the cops and report me... I hung up on her and called the cops instead.

By the time the cops showed up, she had bruises on her neck; she self inflicted them to claim I had done it - just hadn't called the cops yet - my hands showed no signs of aggressive force - plus the back of my neck earned her a trip to prison.

It was at that point I realized how duped I was - I KNEW she was the reason for her previous divorce.

I think this question implies any divorced person is flawed - that isn't fair - if you ever dated and broke up with someone, you are in the same exact boat - divorce just often gets messy because there is legal follow up.

-WalkingTaco42

24. Always Listen To The Best Friends

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I briefly dated a divorcee. Till a common friend told me he was still married and often used that as a sympathy card to get women.

I'll clarify- This guy is 26. He got married very young to a woman 7 years older than him and apparently instantly regretted it. He had been building up the marital troubles story for a while now and recently started telling everyone at work he got a divorce.

I work with him and had no reason to doubt it. Unfortunately for him, I am good friends with someone in his university circle who knows his wife very well. When I found out, I confronted him and he started claiming he was in love with me and hadn't had the courage to ask his wife for a divorce yet but would do it soon. Pretty much the exact same line he had used on another girl a few weeks ago.

-redditorx7413

23. You're Not As Clever As You Think

I realized at the very beginning when he started arguments for no reason and slept away from home within the 1st month of the marriage.

-LivingAMaatLifestyle

22. Fun Times, Indeed

Giphy

Sounds like an ex from years ago. He'd pick a fight with me out of nowhere. One time he backed me in a corner demanding to know why I never took the bus. (What???)

Next thing you know, there's a knock on the door and it's one of our friends coming to pick him up. Usually they were going to a movie or something, but I was never told he had made plans ahead of time. I also was told I couldn't go with them because they were going to go to a bar afterward and I was only 20. Not sure why I still couldn't go to the movie. One time a friend who was even younger than I was went with them.

Every time this happened, he'd pick up a girl at the bar and bring her home. Not even go to her place, but bring her back to our place. And I wasn't allowed to be mad because he'd say he thought we were broken up over that fake argument he dragged me into before he left. Fun times.

-gonejellyfishin77

21. Ghosts of The Past

I dated a divorcee for a hot sec. She was actually a really wonderful lady, but she obviously had some lingering feelings about how things had gone with her ex. The first time this came up was: one night we were at a bar and I ended up in a fairly intense, fun conversation about music with the (male) bartender.

She got weirdly upset about this and started dropping lines like 'well maybe you just want to go home with him' and 'it's obvious you guys are into it'. A bit later, when she found out my brother is gay, she got weirdly passive aggressive and started saying enough offensive things that I eventually broke up with her.

Turns out her ex-husband left her for a man.

-GPSBach

20. Stalkers On The Rise

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Well I didn't marry him, but my ex boyfriend was divorced, and he made it seem like his ex wife was evil. He said that he gave everything to her, even quit his job to move to Georgia with her (they both previously lived in Minnesota). He said he had paid for all of her bills and makeup and clothes and even paid for couples trips and she took a different guy with her on a lot of them, leaving her husband behind. The marriage ended when she went on a trip to New Orleans with her friends and didn't come back.

About a couple weeks into our relationship, he began to get EXTREMELY possessive over me. I figured it was because he had been through so much with his last relationship, so I tried to overlook some of it, but it got so intense that he printed out a list of rules that I was to obey, which I obviously refused to accept. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without telling him, he had to have visual evidence of my work schedule. It was ridiculous. So, logically, I broke up with him. But he was relentless. He kept showing up at my house and work and it was just embarrassing. Finally I threatened to get a restraining order and he left me alone.

A few months later, I get a Facebook message from this random woman who is asking me if I'm okay. I'm like, yeah why?? Like, who are you, ya know? It turns out that she was the "crazy ex wife," except that they were never really married. They were dating for a bit, and when she refused to let him pay her rent, he BOUGHT THE HOUSE FROM THE OWNER and would not accept her rent money. He bought a lot of trip tickets and used his key to go into her/his house to put them on her coffee table. She never went on any of the trips.

She moved, but he found her apartment and would leave love letters in her mailbox. He threatened her friends on Facebook, forbidding them from "stealing her" from him. Finally she got her OWN restraining order and moved far away.

So yeah, this still creeps me out because sometimes I get a feeling that he's stalking me, but I know it's probably just paranoia.

-andelynangel

19. It's Always About The Other Person

Didn't actually marry the divorcee I dated, but came close. Fortunately, I realized beforehand that she was completely selfish. Everything was always about what she wanted and she found subtle ways to de-value anything I wanted or that was good for me.

She also had been hiding a bad temper from me (which came out finally toward the end). After the breakup, she tried spreading lies about me to all our mutual friends to make herself look better. Fortunately most of them were aware enough to realize what she was doing. Definitely dodged a bullet.

-RyanDaltonWrites

18. Sometimes, It's Obvious

Giphy

When I woke up at 3am to pee and she was in the living room texting some dude. Kinda went downhill from there. t1me4change

17. Who's To Blame?

It took me a year and 8 months to leave him. He was emotionally and verbally abusive. He became angry easily. He would make hurtful "jokes" and then say I was being too sensitive and that he's just a blunt person so deal with it.

-FlashyPenguin

16. Four's A Crowd

Probably the first weekend when she had a threesome I wasn't a part of...

- chandali007

15. Red Flags

My parents are divorced and both got remarried. My mom found it beneficial to attend a "divorce care" group at her church. She ended up going out with the guy who ran the group and seemed like a great dude. When I asked her about him, she told me he had been divorced himself 2 separate times himself already which was a pretty huge red flag to me, but apparently not to her.

Fast forward 12 years and he's been unbelievably emotionally abusive to her. There was also a point when my brother and I were teenagers where we literally weren't allowed to live with them anymore (because he felt threatened he wasn't the man of the house). She says she's happy still which is truly all I want for her, but it's pretty frustrating when a 13 year old can see the red flags my 40+ year old mother couldn't.

[deleted]

14. Netflix and Chill Out

When we both stopped caring about date night, each other and fighting over who should wash the dishes. The house was a mess and we were both eating delivery food every single night since everything was dirty.

[deleted]

13. All The Little Things Added Up

Giphy

My ex of about 2 years was in the process of a divorce when we met. His wife was crazy and the reason for everything wrong in his life (this should have been my first clue to run but I was young . . . eh, ya live and learn). He had kids, and I would go to sporting events for them and his ex-wife would be there the vast majority of the time, too.

We started to get along and he HATED that. I didn't get that - wouldn't it be easier for the kids if her and I had a good relationship?? Oh no - we would compare notes on HIM and it would ruin OUR relationship! (We quite literally never talked about him). My eyes started to open here.

I was using his computer once and his google calendar opened - and there was an event on Valentine's Day the next week - which he had told me we were not doing anything for due to money (which of course was his ex's fault . . . ). So I opened it (OK, shouldn't have been snooping) and the event was "Day ExGirlfriend Broke My Heart" - now this ex of his was prior to his 20 year relationship with his now ex wife. So I figured out that he never let anything go. Apparently Ever.

A couple months later our relationship was staring to decline on its own (he went over to a friends house without me, in the middle of a planned date night - and I didn't care that he left. I was mad he took the dog though), we got in a fight and he told me I was starting to sound like his exwife.

To which I responded "If we are saying the same exact things, and are such different people - dont you think the issue is YOU?!" I realized at that exact moment that he was a narcissist who was never going to change or grow up. I moved out a week later. I still miss the dog.

TLDR - a million little things finally connected in my mind and I realized he was narcissistic and manipulative. 7 years later and I would still love to sit down with his ex wife and hear her side of the story.

--SleepingBanana86

12. Finally Free

Short and to the point; I got full custody of my kids, she got probation and a 3 year no-contact order, that is a very long story. My girls are absolutely thriving and happy, she's moved somewhere we don't know where but we don't care. We never have to see her or hear from her, the girls went through a mountain of fear and the granddaddy of all emotional roller coasters on the way to being freed from her and excited about what's next forever. I met the most amazing woman alive and I wake up daily with a smile.

So the ex convinced the dude she was cheating on me with she had a hysterectomy, which she didn't, and ended up pregnant. The reasoning behind that I'll never know. Funny thing about that is I had a vasectomy, so she had some explaining to do, but I already knew deep down, I just didn't want to go into the life sucking process of divorce. I ended up broke and living with my folks, but now things are great. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

My kids still pseudo stalk her on social media, and I guess she's got one baby now and is pregnant again. Good for her. Hope she's happy, we are.

-fukkinmike

11. Bad Dog

My husband had an engagement that ended before we met, and the reasons always seemed weird to me - something about her trying to get rid of their dog and getting into a huge fight with his mom when she made a snarky comment about the dog thing, and then getting her mom and sister to call and harass his mom about the fight. Big, ridiculous argument that ended with them deciding they weren't going to work out. They'd been together for like four years.

Now I completely get it. Well, not the part with her mom and sister, but the rest of it. The dog was awful - peed everywhere, was very dominant and aggressive (like biting/drawing blood aggressive at times), and old enough that he was very difficult to train since they hadn't done it when he was a puppy. The dog now lives with my mother-in-law because it's not safe to have him in a home with babies. And my mother-in-law is anightmare, but my husband and his ex saw her multiple times a week whereas we see her once every couple of months.

-reasontostay

10. Any Way To Get The News

Giphy

I dated a divorcee for quite some time. She never told me she was divorced, which really wouldn't have bothered me. I ended up finding out about her past from one of the several people she was cheating on me with.

-Ivedefinitelyreddit

9. Bye Now

That sort of happened with me. I got to the home of a date, and a dude my age answered the door. He introduced himself as her ex-husband. I figured he was just there to pick up the kids or babysit or something, but turns out he lived there because they couldn't afford two households plus kids.

Shortest dinner date ever.

[username deleted]

8. Didn't Want It To Be Anyone Else, For That Matter

I'm a divorcee who dated a divorcee. He got drunk on his bday and told me, "I see why your husband left you" right after I'd given him a $250 watch he'd been wanting

I eventually left because a.) I realized he was a rebound that had lasted waaaaay too long, and b.) he was going to eventually hurt someone with his drinking and driving and I REALLY didn't want it to be me.

-Pancreatic_Pirate

7. Working Day And Night

When we had a kid. My husband has always been a workoholic. It didn't cause too many problems when it was just us, but was a lot harder to manage once we became parents. It's easy to feel like you are doing all of the work and I started resenting my husband.

My husband and his ex-wife had two kids close in age. She was essentially a single parent to them throughout the day. He did cut back his hours slightly when our relationship started to suffer and even that was a lot. I understood why the divorce happened. I considered it at points during the relationship.

-Hopeful_Pessmist

6. But Isn't 3rd Time A Charm?

Giphy

It took me years. I was husband number 3. I should have known that someone who gets married 3 times by age 35 probably has a few areas for improvement.

-washheightsboy3

5. Pretty Wacky?

I recently dated a girl that had just come off a marriage with a man. She wanted to try women and we went out a couple times and started dating. In bed she was very aggressive. I told her to stop and she kept on.

I eventually broke her off of me and locked myself in the bathroom, calling the cops and waiting till they arrived. Apparently she had a criminal record and her husband had divorced her for attacking him when he would come home from work.

[username deleted]

4. Past Actions Speak For Themselves

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Probably the part before she was divorced and came on to me and hooked up with me. Should be no surprise that we are now divorced as she also cheated on me.

Yeah I should have known better.

-anotherusername23

3. Brian Broke A Brain

About a year after I signed the divorce papers (divorced my ex-wife for cheating on me), I met the guy she'd cheated on me with. I actually didn't know him by sight, but apparently he'd seen a few pictures of me- like the ones in my bedroom.

He walked up to me, introduced himself, and then started apologizing for being the one to break up my marriage. I was pretty much over it by then, but I was still pissed off enough to say something like "yeah, well, man it wasn't like you were the ONLY guy she was cheating on me with. I'm pretty sure she was with a dude named Brian the whole time she was with you."

He got real quiet, apologized again, and then left. A few weeks later, someone told me that he had moved out and was in the process of divorcing her. I'll never know for sure if it was my telling him about the other-other man that was the tipping point for him, but I like to think it was.

EDIT: Yes, there was a Brian (not his real name, although it hardly matters). I knew about Brian from a friend, and plus she'd admitted that there had been others besides the guy I confronted her about. Why he felt the need to apologize, I have no idea. Seemed like a nice enough guy aside from the sleeping with another man's wife thing. Did I do it for revenge? Not really. It was just a spur of the moment thing, mostly an knee-jerk response to an emotional situation. Sometimes you get to say the perfect cutting remark.

Sometimes you think of it in the parking lot after the opportunity is lost. I got lucky and didn't say something like "ah that's OK man" and regret it for the rest of my life. I used to feel sorry about it because it might have broken up a marriage, but if that marriage wasn't built on trust to begin with then chances are the infidelity was going to happen anyway (or again, if you look at it that way).

-hendergle

2. Rotation

Giphy

Wow, sounds like my ex-wife. Marry a guy, cheat on him... I was #3 and learned my lesson. #4 threw her for a loop though, he cheated on her before she got a chance and that messed her up. It was so satisfying to watch her completely lose it because she had never been on that side of the table. Every other time she had a guy lined up and now she's single and has no idea how to function by herself.

Daoenti

1. It's Over

Woo, okay. Story time. So my mom just got divorced from my dad my senior year of high school. She has always been the kind of person to be in a relationship, so she started immediately dating around (since my dad cheated on my mom multiple times). She met this guy on PoF, who we're going to call Tom.

Tom was a successful marketing guy with no kids, a steady income, and was divorced because "his wife cheated on him". Early in the relationship, my mom gets a message from Tom's ex girlfriend current boyfriend. She says that she needs to tell her some things about Tom, but my mom ignores her.

A year goes by and Tom seems normal. She moves in with him and so do we since he has two spare bedrooms. He's a cool guy who seems chill and really nice. He'll sometimes go through my mom's phone (she told me), but she thought that all the good things outweighed the bad.

Cut to Election Day, where things aren't going so well for my mom and Tom since they're both liberal. They drink and Tom throws a remote at the window. He calls the police on himself. My mom forgives him.

This is where things start to get weird. Tom starts acting crazier towards my mom, mostly via text message. On Christmas Day, she decides that we don't want to go to his sister's house because she's drunk. We open the trunk to his car to get the presents out and he drives away, with stuff flying out the back. He apologizes. My mom is suuuper weary at this point.

Cut to New Years where Tom is out of town. She texts him that she wants to break up with him because he's saying that it's my autistic brother's fault that the carpet on the stairs is falling apart. He says "get your kids out of my house." So the next day, we have eight people come over to move the furniture that's my mom's while he threatens us over the phone. That was in January.

Over the next few months, and still to this day, he sends crazy threatening messages to my mom. He also found out where we live so he could "take the shared BMW that they owned jointly and sell it," even though my mom has been begging him to take it.

She finally gets in contact with the lady's boyfriend at the beginning of the story. They share stories and she apologizes for not listening sooner.

Tl;dr: my mom dated a normal divorcee who turned out to be a complete psychopath.

[username deleted]

People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.

Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.

The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.

Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:

"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"

Serious Danger

"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."

"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."

oofboof2020

Waiting for Food

"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."

"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."

nowhereboy1964

Captain Hobo to the Rescue

"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."

"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"

"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."

FartAttack911

Survival

tsunami GIF Giphy

"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."

faithfulpoo

These Tsunami stories are just tragic.

On the Sand

Scared The Launch GIF by CTV Giphy

"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."

oyloff

Be Clever

"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."

OstneyPiz

Bad Jokes

"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."

Alegan239

YOU

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"

PrettyLola2004

Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.

No one should talk to others in the dark though.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...