I once overheard my dad call me fat. It sucked. He wasn't being mean, he was attempting to describe me to a stranger because he had lost me in a crowd. Since I stopped growing in 4th grade, it happens a lot and for whatever reason people almost never think to just turn in a circle and look down. I'm often right there, just lower than your normal line of sight - so I've heard people describe me about a zillion times. I'm a big girl, so I've heard about 150 million totally unoriginal people attempt to use my size to insult me like it was going to be some huge revelation and I didn't wake up in the morning with all this. I had just never heard it from my father before.
Overall it's not the worst thing in the world. It wasn't even meant as an insult in the way he said it. He described me as "short, fat, curly hair, big eyes, cute as sh!t." Tons of people have called me worse - and heard others say worse about them. One Reddit user asked:
Whats the most hurtful thing you've overheard about yourself by accident?
Here are some of the best (worst?) responses we found, edited for language or clarity where needed. If you're a sensitive type, now might be a good time to grab some comfort food or hug a dog or something. Brace yourselves, folks. It's about to get REALLY harsh in here.
Like, this level harsh.:
With Friends Like This...
My wife had a falling out with some friends of mine that she met through me. We had known them a long time but I had known them for much longer. I was upset with her one night, because they were always asking why she never came around anymore, but she absolutely refused to see them. I always thought it was because of this little side business project they went into together that didn't work out.
So I'm driving my wife somewhere, and I just start getting upset with her that she won't make up with them and move past it like they did, and it sucks that she never comes with when I go over there. So she finally broke and told me the truth.
Every time she went over there without me, they would talk sh!t about me, putting down my personality, my humor, and much more. I guess they thought she would be ok with it, like a joking "haha my husband can be such a [insert something], right?" But she wasn't ok with it. She's not a confrontational person, so she never really spoke up, but she was disgusted by the way they spoke about me behind my back, and refused to have anything to do with them. She had been letting me think it was all her fault and she took it because she knew the truth would hurt my feelings. And it did.
SO Annoying
It boggles my mind to still be thinking about this nearly three decades later. At a goodbye sleepover for my best friend who was moving out of the country, I overheard her saying to another girl, "ugh, she is being SO annoying tonight. I can't wait to leave." The other girl agreed enthusiastically. They thought I was asleep. I cried silently for an hour.
- vbl1776
Never Been Loved
Went out to a bar with some friends for a birthday party for my ex-girlfriend. She really messed me up when she left me, like really bad, but I was trying to be nice since she invited me so I figured I'd go out and be there for a drink or two.
A mutual friend who had gotten dumped a few days before and was there, so as I made the rounds I talked to her and tried to do whatever I could to let her know it would be ok. I'm no therapist, but I did my best ya know? I knew what a bad breakup felt like, as I was also going through one, so I tried to help.
Anyways, after I left the table I overheard her talking to my ex at the bar about me trying to give her advice and she said, "Well nobody has ever loved him so what does he know about any of this?" And they started laughing. Don't think they know I heard, but I grabbed my coat immediately and took a long walk home.
I don't need people like that in my life, haven't willingly seen either of them since.
No Laughing Matter
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When I was in middle school art class something funny happened and I let out a loud laugh. I then overheard one of my childhood best friends whisper to another person "God I hate their laugh." I immediately looked at him and said "What?" And he just looked down at the table like he didn't hear me.
This actually made me change my laugh. It's completely different from what it used to be.
The Wrong Sister Died
When my oldest sister died, my other sister was crying to my mother about how she felt alone. My mother was trying to reassure her and said, "You still have [my name] though." But my sister said, "Who cares about her? I want [oldest sister] back."
I kinda get it... but this was around the same time my mother told me to my face that it should have been me who died instead because I don't have a husband or kids like my oldest sister did. It seemed like absolutely no one wanted me in my family and they all wished I could have switched places with the one we lost.
People wonder why I'm depressed now...
Christmas Eve Confessions
Background: I'm 12 years younger than my older sisters and I was unplanned. At age 7, I overheard my mom crying and saying I was the reason she didn't love my dad anymore/we were poor/why she isn't happy and that she didn't want to be a mom anymore. She said she 'didn't know how to love someone who ruined her entire life'.
It was Christmas eve and she was drunk talking to her best friend on the phone. It broke my heart/spirit and that was only the beginning of my awful childhood. Side note: I'm 29 now and moved out when I was 15 to protect myself. I have no contact with my parents & I'm fully aware it wasn't my fault I was born.... But damn, this memory still f*cks me up...
Roaches And Lice
I was 7 and basically poor trailer trash, but I asked my friend if I could stay the night. He called his mom to ask and I over heard her say "Tell him no, I don't want roaches and lice."
Really cut me deep. To this day I have extreme anxiety about keeping my house clean. I couldn't help it I was poor, and our roaches didn't pay rent!
- Omnicrit
Do You Even Lift, Bro?
I had just finished a phone call and was walking back into the room with a couple of friends. Before I hit the doorway, one of friends asked my then-best-friend why we weren't dating yet. He responded with "I only date girls I can pick up when I'm making out with them." I'm not fat, but I'm not stick thin either, and it has really f*cked me up; I struggle with body image issues to this day.
I later confronted him about it and he told me I shouldn't have eavesdropped. A bunch of other sh!t happened and we aren't close friends anymore, but damn that hurt to hear. Especially from someone I cared about so much.
- Kass_cya
Another Nurse
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'If another nurse had been taking care of him, he'd be alive right now.'
I spent the entire night running around trying to stabilize a patient, and my b!tch of a coworker sat there talking sh!t with my other bitch of a coworker. Those two sat loudly talking about how incompetent I was the entire time. Neither of them lifted a finger to help.
When the patient crashed, both of them magically disappeared and it was nurses from the other side of the hallway who came to help with the code. They came after all was said and done and then I overheard one of them spit out that little gem. When they were asked what happened, they proceeded to tell the unit manager that I was incompetent and crying at the bedside. Thankfully neither of them work on the unit anymore.
The Intern
At my first internship, I overheard one of my supervisors ask the others if I was genuinely mentally handicapped. That hurt.
Yes, she 100% meant what she said, but not in a compassionate way. She not only insulted me, but insulted the undergrad program I came from for sending her someone so "incompetent." Nothing I did or didn't do justified her behavior.
For example, she'd ask my opinion, then laugh in my face when I gave it. Or tell me a meeting was in one room, when it was in another, and snap at me for not being in the right place.
That was 10 years ago. Now I have a few degrees and am happily employed in the same field at a company that values me.
Hideous Thrift Store Clothes
I remember in 7th grade our class did one of those BS award ceremonies (ie. Best hair, best smile, most sociable, etc.) Well I was a wallflower pretty much all the way through high school, never had that many friends or anything. Anyways, to my surprise I had won the award for "Most unique sense of style." I was a bit embarrassed, but hey, at least I had gotten one of the awards! FF to homeroom class after the ceremony, and I overhear a group of kids laughing, saying how funny it was that "the emo b*tch won for her hideous thrift store clothes." What's worse is that I had considered more than one of those people my friends.
- funngus
Math Is Hard
Having my ex wife (married at the time) tell her friends how stupid I was because I couldn't figure out a math problem while going back to try and get my GED (she has a masters degree). It almost caused me to quit the program. But I stuck with it and eventually got it. Wouldn't have bothered me so much except for the fact growing up my teachers always told me I wouldn't amount to anything and would just flip burgers. Well now I'm 2nd in command at my firehouse (Deputy Fire Chief) run a successful side business building decks, and am a lead carpenter for a big construction company.
Painting For The Ex
My ex-boyfriend had an old BMW that he absolutely adored, so, for his birthday I decided I would do a painting of it for him. I spent days carefully drawing it, painting, bought a nice frame for it. When I was finished I sent a picture of it to a group chat with my friends because I was proud of my efforts, without realizing someone had added my boyfriend to the chat earlier. He saw the photo and replied something along the lines of 'hahaha wtf is that retarded thing'....I threw the painting in the trash and never told him.
Shame About Her Face
When I was 12 years old a boy at school, a few years above said: "she has a nice body but it is a shame about her face". It really hurt my confidence at that age.
Plain Bagel
This was years ago but we were in Las Vegas for the weekend. I was in the bathroom getting ready to go out with my boyfriend and his family, mostly cousins. My way of getting ready is shaving my legs, some blush, mascara and eye liner - pretty simple . Maybe if I'm feeling fancy I will even curl my hair a bit. I heard them talking about how they knew I was almost done getting ready because I'm so plain. My boyfriend agreed and added that yes I'm very simple and low maintenance .
I know it doesn't sound like a big stab but it hurt me in the deepest chunk of my heart and soul because he could've elevated the 'plain' or something, but he didn't. He agreed with it. The rest of the night was a blur because I drank so much so I wouldn't keep thinking of the way my boyfriend thought of me as such a plain bagel. We're still together and I've at least added color to my hair and lipstick to my face.
School Shooter Jokes
I once heard my only friends in middle school talking about which kid would shoot up the school. They said that I would be the most likely. They made a lot of school shooter jokes about me after that. I still have paranoia that my friends are just tolerating me.
Mean Girls
Once in 7th grade I had a crush on a guy in my class and my then-best-friend told this to a group of girls she wanted to be friends with. The group hated me for some whatever middle-school-reason. They all started coming up to me here and there and saying things like "He's totally in love with you too, he wants to ask you out tomorrow. He's just too shy;"
I was so happy about it. The next day I was so thrilled and giddy just waiting for it to happen. During the break I overheard a girl from the clique mimicking me how happy I looked and saying that it won't be for long. It turned out that the group was pressuring the guy I liked into faking a relationship with me. He never had a crush on me, the group just wanted to see me embarrassed and heartbroken. Luckily, the guy was honest and told me everything.
Let Him Do It
In the 9th grade, my suicide attempt had gotten around to pretty much everyone. I overheard a girl saying to one of my friends, "Who cares if he kills himself. If he wants to die, let him do it."
The thing was, I didn't WANT to kill myself. I just wanted the thoughts in my head and my crappy feelings to stop. At the time, I thought I had tried everything to help myself and failed.
Funeral Director
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I moved in to a new place. I was incredibly shy but was always trying to make conversation with my roommates. I was very timid.
I heard two of them talking together in the kitchen. They thought I was out of the house so they were discussing what they thought of me.
It hurt so bad when I heard one of them say "She's so f*cking weird. And she's more boring than a funeral director."
Fat Girl's Personality
I've struggled with my weight all my life and finally found a routine I can keep up with without losing faith which has caused me to lose a ton of weight - I overheard my crush tell his friends that even though I've lost the weight, I've still got a "fat girls personality" and he wouldn't date someone with "saggy weight-loss-tits" and they all laughed and nodded in agreement - that hurt
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
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"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
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"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
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"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.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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...