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Heartbroken Single People Reveal Their Most Depressing And Terrible Break-Up Stories

Heartbroken Single People Reveal Their Most Depressing And Terrible Break-Up Stories

Heartbroken Single People Reveal Their Most Depressing And Terrible Break-Up Stories

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Breaking up with someone, or having someone break up with you, is never fun. Occasionally, though, breakups get nasty. Really nasty. And P-E-T-T-Y. Whether you're happy in a relationship or not, the way in which a breakup is handled can often cause more collateral damage than a toxic partnership.

This is why I'm single. This is why I have three cats.

Reddit's peopleoftomorrow8 asked, "What is the worst thing to do/say to break up with someone?"

Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.

Beep beep. We're over.

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Back in high school (late 90s) my friend got broken up with via pager code.

She had to decipher that sh*t to figure out the guy was dumping her...

"April fools" except it's not a joke.

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My boyfriend broke up with me on April fools day. Took a lot of "no seriously" for me to believe him

That Escalated

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Convince me to quit my job, sell my house, and spend thousands studying for and taking the bar exam in a new state because you got a good job offer there, then cheat on me with some guy you met playing Heroes of Newerth, give me herpes, tell me you're just not attracted to me anymore, and ask me to move out now that I have no house and no job.

Having mommy do it? Really?

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When I was 14 my boyfriend tried to break up with me by ghosting me, unfortunately, I was extremely dense and didn't get the hint. So he had his mum break up with me over the phone. Good times!

Changing your Facebook status from "in a relationship" to "single" without warning is ghosting at its worst

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Yeah 11 or 12 years ago I was on my computer looking at Facebook when I noticed my girlfriend of a year-and-a-half's Facebook status changed from 'in a relationship' to 'single'.

I figured it was probably a mistake and sent her a text joking about it and went to bed. The next day I had no reply from her. I tried calling and just got voicemail. I tried calling a couple times for the next few days and no reply. I tried her parent's house and they said she was at work. I tried her work and they said she was busy and couldn't come to the phone. I drove to her work to figure out what was going on and she started crying and said it was all okay she was just going through some things and would call me after work.

I never heard from her for like another week or two till I texted her and asked what I should do with all her stuff she left at my house (Like 3 garbage bags full of clothes and random stuff). She told me she would come pick it up tomorrow. She never showed. Then she texted and said she'd come the next day. This pattern repeated for about a month, I offered multiple times to drive her things out to her or even leave them at her parents or a mutual friends house for her to pick up. Finally one day after not showing up to pick her stuff up when she said she would I threw everything in the trash. I texted her saying I threw it in the trash and she called me and yelled a bunch of obscenities at me then hung up.

That month was incredibly rough. I had no idea what happened or why she dumped me or how she could be so mean. It was seriously the worst. The sad part is I was just finishing a surprise painting of her and her horse when she ghosted me. I spent so long on it and it actually looked really good. I hung onto it for a long time after she started ghosting me thinking I would give it to her when she picked up her stuff. A last vestige of hope from a heartbroken man. It ended up torn in half and thrown in the garbage with the rest of her belongings.

So many potential questions answered with five words.

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One time a guy invited me to a beautiful picnic with wine and flowers and then when I tried to sit down he said "Don't eat anything, Rebecca's coming." And then he broke up with me.

It can be cold in New York City, but not this cold. Ouch.

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One girlfriend I was on and off with for a while may fall into this category. Dated in college in Maryland and when I graduated I had to move for a job to New York. I wanted to do long distance and we kept talking, but we started to fade because I was stressed in my job.

After a while, I went back to where we both lived and took her out for her birthday with my family as it was my dad's birthday too. Got her a gift and flowers and surprised her at work and everything. I tell her she should visit New York but she always said no because she was broke.

Fast forward to later that week, I check her snap story and she was in New York, with another dude, saying she's the luckiest girl in the world or whatever. I text her like yo tf what is this, she proceeds to block my number and I text her via Facebook saying she just confirmed my beliefs and to have a nice life. Tells me to leave her alone.

So yeah, I think this one's pretty bad. She still hits me up from time to time and I ignore her and have her blocked on everything else. Oh well, live and learn.

Is this better or worse than dumping someone on Valentine's Day?

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I once broke up with my gf the day before Valentines Day. Was told by everyone I was an assh*le.

Edit: Forgot to mention it was over the phone.

Honestly, Valentine's Day is the worst.

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Only things worse is sitting through an incredibly awkward dinner on V-Day that you could just barely afford because you work a part-time minimum wage job only to confront her about the guy she's been texting the entire evening and get broken up with over text when you get home.

That was me a few years ago. Can't make this sh*t up.

Like I said, P-E-T-T-Y.

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About 10 years ago, I had a boyfriend who was from another state. After dating for about six months, he asked me to bring him to the airport for a flight home for Christmas, which of course I did. He called me about three hours later (on his layover) to tell me he left something in my glove box for me. Thinking left something sweet for me for Christmas, I rushed out to my car and excitedly searched through. It wasn't a sweet gift, it was a letter breaking up with me.

That's a pretty bad way to do it.

This is just unnecessarily petty.

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My ex broke up with me five days before our one year anniversary, on which he told me "I planned to propose to you today but I dumped you instead".

Using depression as a cover for cheating? Rude. Not realizing "I need space" is code for "this is over?" A valuable lesson.

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"I need space due to my depression" by space I mean need to go bang my manager for a few weeks then break up with you the day before your birthday.

I don't think it works that way, but okay.

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"I don't think I'm gay after all." After six months, my ex-fiance that I lived with came to that groundbreaking conclusion.

Thanks for nothing.

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"You helped me through a tough time, but I'm going to try it with my ex again."

The classic save-face method of heartbreak.

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It's not you it's me

Sounds like he did you a favor... yikes.

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My ex told me that the (his name) I fell in love with was dead and never coming back while Silas (the really bad and ugly personality who lives in his head) had taken full control of him.

So yeah. Probably that.

This would tear my soul apart too.

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She said "do you know how many times I rolled my eyes after I turned over to go to bed after you said I love you?" Tore my soul apart

This is some Dante-level nasty.

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One time this guy I'd been seeing for two weeks took me to a cemetery and broke up with me by the reasoning "You're too morbid." Then he went back to my house and copulated with my sister.

Ten years of friendship thrown away via text. That's a low blow.

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By text. 30 minutes before we had dinner plans. A few months before our 3 year anniversary. And we were both 26.

We lived 10 minutes away from each other and were never long distance, had known each other for 10+ years at that point, and I got a f*cking text.

Awkward, but hey, whatever keeps the peace.

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Not a bad break up, per-say, but not the ideal aftermath: My now-ex and I split when we were living together, but there was only 3 weeks left on the lease so we decided to stay living together for those 3 weeks and then move our separate ways once it had finished.

It was all fine until we agreed that since we were no longer dating we could do as we pleased, so came along many nights of me being home and him staying out all night or vice versa, I ended up going to a different city for a week to work and when I got back he went away for a week. It mainly only got awkward when I signed up for a dating app and saw him on there. But then it became comical, I asked him about how it was going and he said he'd met a few girls and that's where'd he'd been staying, and then he helped me set up my profile, helped me choose good photos and write a bio.

But hey I met my current partner on that dating site and now my ex and I are both in long-term relationships now with other people and we still see each other around occasionally, but no biggie.

It was a weird month.

Kids today will never know the hurt.

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Do it over AIM, like my HS girlfriend in 2003.

I'm over her, but I'm still not over how she did it. What a low f*ckin move.

The punishment definitely fit the crime.

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My buddy in high school walked up to his gf and her friends and said "everyone with a boyfriend raise their hand, WHOA NOT SO FAST"

She kicked him in the balls.

I laughed

And I thought MY parents' divorce was ugly...

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What my dad did to my mom. They were married 26 years, and she was incredibly hard to get along with. He was a really passive person and was no match for her temperament. He wanted a divorce but was too chicken to say so. He waited until her father died and they were in the car, driving home from his funeral. She was at her weakest, totally crushed. He told her he never loved her and wanted a divorce. Good timing, assh*le. He and I were always joined at the hip until then. He was too big of a wuss to realize how cruel he had been to a fellow human being.

"That year was one of the worst of my life." Yeah, this is bad. But this mother is an inspiration.

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My last ex dumped me a week before we were supposed to move in together. I let my lease run out on my apartment, I quit my job, I took my kids out of school (it was winter break and I had time to set them up in their new school before school was back in session). To compete it all, I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks before. So I lost my house, my job, and my kid's school because he decided to be an assh*le.

He didn't even have the decency to do it in person. He told me over the phone and then had the audacity to ask for his radio back. The only reason I didn't end up homeless was because my mom got sick and asked me to move to her state to help her out and so she could see my kids before she passed away. She passed away 2 months later. So yeah... that year was one of the worst of my life.

I'm doing better now. I'm in a stable relationship, I kept the baby, I own a car, have a stable job, my kids are straight A students, and I rent out a townhouse. Still, it was a f*cked up thing to do to me and subsequently my kids.

And the worst breakup story goes to...

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My time to shine! When I was 22 I was married. After 3 weeks of being in the hospital with a collapsed lung, I took a cab back to our apartment. I walked into seeing him having sex with another girl in our bed. He looked over his shoulder and calmly said "do you mind? I'm not done yet." No assh_le you're done.

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?

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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?