People Divulge The Exact Moment They Knew They Were Going To End A Friendship
This article is an ode to the "friend-dump" and the power of growth. Boundaries are awesome, dear readers. Growth and development are awesome.
Some of these friendships, though... not awesome.
They say friendships form for a reason, a season, or a time. If we're lucky, that time gets to be a really long one - but more often than not things are going to go sideways.
Sometimes friendships fizzle out, people drift apart, maybe someone moves or gets a new job... but every now and then there's one defining moment where you look at someone and think "yeah... I'm gonna have to friend-dump you."
Reddit user FeelThePower999 asked:
"What was the moment you looked at your friend and realized they were no longer a friend and you were going to cut ties?"
Sooooo yeah... boundaries. Let's watch people plow right on through them, shall we?
We're Too Old For Shunning
rachel mcadams blow kiss GIFGiphy"She threw a big 30th birthday party for all her friends. She purposefully invited one girl she'd had a falling out with to come two hours later than the party started."
"Before the girl showed up, she told everyone that the girl was a b*tch and we should all shun her. The poor girl came in with a big expensive present, so happy that her & her where mending things, just to be ignored and belittled by over 30 people."
"The girl left crying. I left not long after and ghosted the sh*t out of my ex-friend."
"She was a minor celebrity in my country. I already saw people take a lot of bad behaviour from her before this happened, but this just pushed me over the edge. People get weird around celebrities, no matter how minor." - fluffyfluffycake
Rooting Against Me
The Princess Bride Boo GIF by filmeditorGiphy"I was waiting for news of a big career opportunity for a few months, and the sound of relief and satisfaction in her voice when I told my friend it fell through made me realize how hard she had been internally rooting against me."
"Feeling jealous of a friend who has a good thing happen is just part of what it means to be human. But, in that moment, the fact that her response didn't seem mixed with any sympathy for my sadness made me look differently at the dynamics of that friendship."
"I think she genuinely liked me, but not being the "star" in our friendship was too much for her."
Different With An Audience
Awkward Dj Pauly D GIF by Jersey Shore Family VacationGiphy"When they started treating me different around other people."
"Together just the two of us, everything was great. In a crowd I became ignored except for when I was the butt of jokes. I'm not thin skinned, I'm not talking about not being able to take a joke."
"It's more that they act embarrassed to know me or want to distance themselves."
"You feel played, betrayed, let down and over all like a fool. I've come to realize it's 100% the other persons insecurity, though. Hurt people hurt people - and I don't have time for that insecure bull." - slugvegas
How Little Interest
Go Away Reaction GIFGiphy"I tried to talk to a guy who I thought was my friend about something going on between me and my Dad for a few minutes during a drive."
"He flat out silently stared at his phone - until I said something semi related about him. That is when he perked up and started telling me about how much money he'd made recently, and how he got all of this free weed from someone and boy was his life sweet."
"I sorta just 'mhm'ed' my way through it because it was obvious he had been ignoring me, and when he got to the end of his brag session he in all serious told me he was pretty offended at how little interest I showed in what he'd been saying." - CommercializedPan
Losing My Religion
music video 90s GIFGiphy"When I told them that I left my high demand religion. They said we no longer had anything in common."
"What?? 30 years of friendship over in 1 conversation?! Plus, I had been out of the religion for years, but they never knew. Our friendship was fine."
"Once official, I was 'no longer trustworthy, sinful and lost.' That was the end for me."
"It's their loss, not mine." - Gotagoodkidney
"This happened to me. My husband and I left Mormonism and our best friends (so close we were like family) ghosted us over it."
"When my husband confronted his friend about it, the guy said a bunch of vicious stuff about us and claimed they'd never really liked us. It broke my f*cking heart."
"That was more than three years ago and I still have dreams where I'm trying to reconcile with them." - Confident_Basket8694
His Alibi
Season 1 Nbc GIF by The Good PlaceGiphy"We kind of fell out a while ago and haven't spoken much, but today I learned that he seems to have been using me as an alibi to cheat on his wife."
"She texted me about us having drinks the other night & we haven't done anything socially outside of work since before COVID. Without going into detail I'm certain my confused reaction blew up whatever bull he's been telling her."
"I am not in the habit of lying to people & wouldn't cover for someone in this situation unless it involved a psycho abusive spouse, a "we went on one date" stalker - that kind of thing... Even then I'd need some kind of heads up beforehand!"
"So I don't know what he's been trying to pull, but any hope of rekindling any friendship is now 100% gone. I'm not his alibi." - 3dogsinatrenchcoat
The "Backup Wife"
Dean Winchester Facepalm GIFGiphy"I had a close friend from childhood who was very into the traditional lifestyle, with wife, kids, house with a picket fence, part of the PTA and church. Even in high school."
"He would date anyone that would have him, and ignore us until they broke up and he'd come crawling back. We were best of friends so we always were glad to have him back involved in our group. He went to college literally because he was looking for a girl to marry."
"He ended up dropping out after 2 yrs, and getting a job delivering auto parts where he started dating and married his boss's daughter. They popped out 3 kids right in a row, and every time I talked to him things were "great" but he just would stop responding to me more and more often."
"He was 110% devoted to his little family which was great, but he just stopped being my friend. I'd invite him to get together and he would always just say 'oh why don't you come over here, you can see the kids.' "
"That was fine, but his wife and he would just be on me the whole time about how I'm not really an adult because I dont have a family, my job was putting my ability to have kids at risk (firefighter) and that I basically only had value if I was breeding."
"So part of the distancing was me honestly. I didn't like having to put up with that just to see my friend."
"Long story short, his wife cheats on him, they divorced and she's instantly pregnant with another guy's baby. He comes to me broken over this and we get close again. Really close."
"I drove him to therapy, watched his kids while he was laying in bed all day, unable to get up and brought food for his family."
"I opened up about why I felt we drifted apart in the first place. He actually apologized and admitted he suspected that was why. I thought I had my best friend again."
"Until he met another girl and I started seeing less of him."
"He started flaking on me to hang out. When I did come over, the remarks about 'doing the adult thing' would come out again. His new girlfriend had 3 kids too, so he started joking about being the Brady Bunch."
"I hung on trying to keep the friendship together because I felt bad for not trying enough last time, but he was sliding back into the old him. I was sitting looking at a text he sent after ignoring me for a week that said 'lol, yes, well maybe you'll find a good woman like I did and finally grow up' "
"I suddenly realized I was the only one trying to be a friend, and I just didn't give a sh*T anymore. I deleted his number and haven't heard from him in 2 years. Last thing I heard from him was that text."
"I realized he didn't want to be my friend so much as I was his 'backup wife.' I was easy to fall back on when he found himself single, that's it."
"I'm thinking he may reach out again when he finds himself single again. I won't be there to answer." - The_Great_Blumpkin
Childhood Beauty
Toddlers And Tiaras Beauty GIFGiphy"Friend invited me to see her 4 yo daughter perform in a beauty pageant. Ugh, I know, but whatever I wanted to support the kid."
"The little girl sang a sob song about some kid praying to Jesus about their dead mommy. My friend whispered to me that the song 'always won brownie points with the judges'. Again, ugh."
"After the girl performed she came to stand by us in the audience and my friend SMACKED the child's tummy and scolded 'suck it in, no one likes a fat kid.' "
"Yep, I was DONE. I walked out." - noseymimi
Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Teachers have heard every excuse in the book from students who were trying to pull a fast one. We all know the classics: 'dog ate my homework,' 'my car burst...Sounded Like An Incel
Cuff Him Season 2 GIF by American GodsGiphy"He started saying some pretty gross stuff about this girl who was his friend. She wasn't interested in anything more than friendship and he was pissed about it."
"I told him he sounded like an incel. That's when I started pulling away."
"The last time I saw him was after he got out of prison on bail and wanted to discuss why he was in there and why it was pretty definite he was going back after his trial." - ultravioletblueberry
Google Calendar
Interested Kim Kardashian GIFGiphy"A former friend was going through a divorce that she had instigated by cheating on her ex. She was very, very upset that most people in her circle had sided with her ex."
"I did not pick a side, in part because I was very aware of the sad state of their relationship when she decided to end it. However, she began demanding that I pick a side."
"That led to a slow cooling in our friendship, which blew up one day when I met up with the ex for a beer. Right before we met up, the former friend started frantically texting, wanting to meet up."
"Turned out she had access to my Google Calendar and was following my motions through there."
"She was pissed that I met up with her ex (who was also a friend) and tried to sabotage it. After that I decided I was done with her."
"Too weird, too creepy and controlling. Still friends with the ex, though." - bonbonnibles
They Still Haven't Apologized
black and white beyonce GIFGiphy"We were like glue for years. They got me through some of the toughest times, and I was always there right back."
"Then the final 3 years it began to be more and more about them. Would only want to talk if it was their hobby, their problem, their needs.'
"I still gave my all, and burnt myself out being there without a single boundary. I assumed we were operating at an unspoken 'if the roles were reversed, you'd do the same for me' "
"Then a few months back they changed completely. Got a horrible partner. Rude, bigoted, classist, all-round a-hole."
"And it was like I never existed. I was heartbroken. I did everything I could to fix that friendship."
"The day where I realized it wouldn't, couldn't, and I didn't want it to go back to how it was, was when we had a big, tearful heart to heart. They didn't care at all."
"They were upset because they'd lost me, but not because of ME. They were upset over losing what was, essentially, their free on-call therapist."
"Their a-hole boyfriend left them. Their life was becoming miserable and stagnated. Their other friends were also showing their true bad colors."
"I moved cities the next day."
"We agreed to be amicable. I've noticed I only get messages when they want attention. I don't rise to it anymore. We don't talk."
"Side by side, glued together for almost a decade, genuinely inseparable. And after a couple months of mourning… I don't miss them anymore."
"They still haven't apologized."
- mmgkayla
Gathering Intel
"No loyalty to our friendship."
"She made a lot of poor choices. Talked about me behind my back and then tried to play it off like she was 'gathering info' to tell me."
"She continued to like photos, and stay friends on social media with my ex boyfriend who assaulted me, and much more."
"I haven't cut it off, but I'm slowly distancing myself because I know she won't think she really did anything that big of a deal. Some people just don't care about you but are really good are telling you what you want to hear."
- zilazav
Ghosted
Dance Dancing GIF by HeadexplodieGiphy"When we graduated high school, a friend of 5 years ghosted my boyfriend and me. This was the guy my boyfriend considered his best friend and was planning to ask to be his best man if he ever gets married."
"We would reach out when we knew he was coming to town through other friends. He always said he was too busy this time but maybe next time."
"According to a friend who went to the same university as him, he apparently wanted to have a restart. That meant erasing everyone from his life who didn't go to his college that was 2 hours away from our hometown."
"A year later he comments on a social media post, asking me how we are doing and saying that we should hang out. I'd like to say I had forgotten about him but actually I was still salty about the silent treatment."
"I unfriended him, deleted his number, and never heard from him again."
You Don't Traumatize A Child
What Is Wrong With You Season 4 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Basically, my 'friend' and his partner are codependent. Like- on school nights, they'd sleep over at each other's houses and stay there for weeks on end."
"This dude practically couldn't live without his partner and the relationship is toxic and abusive as hell. One time, the partner was being practically disowned by their mom for being trans and had their phone taken away for a few hours while they 'thought about their decision.' "
"To be clear, I don't like this person's mother."
"Anyway, the younger brother was in the living room at the time when the mother walked in and started ranting about the partner, and the brother nodded along out of fear of getting into trouble as well."
"The partner, once they'd gotten their phone back, started telling everyone about this and claimed that their brother had talked sh*t about them and was transphobic, etc."
"This man tried to text this ELEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD about his 'relapse' (WITH PICTURES!) And it would've happened if one of our mutual friends hadn't stepped in and told him off."
"That's where I draw the line. You don't traumatize kids who just try to stay out of trouble."
"I pretend to be all Buddy-Buddy with this guy because his mom works at our school (he could seriously f*ck up my future if he tried) but I despise him."
The Common Denominator
Olivia Munn What GIFGiphy"She kept trash talking every one of her coworkers at every job she's ever held. Not that she had time to get to really know anyone since any job she had she would be at for only a few months (and no they weren't seasonal)."
"There would be looong periods of unemployment in between."
"Also- every place she's ever lived she's had problems with the landlords. So yeah. She was clearly the common denominator."
"The Look"
i see you GIF by Face The TruthGiphy"Another girl had just barely walked away from a conversation with our group when these two 'friends' started talking trash about her."
"I jokingly said: 'wow I hope you don't talk about me like that!' "
"The look they gave each other said it all."
Now that we've read Reddits stories, it's your turn. Tell us about the times you knew a friendship had run it's course. I can't wait to read these comments...
- People Explain Why They Cut All Ties With Their Group Of Friends - George Takei ›
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- People Divulge How Their Last Relationship Actually Ended - George Takei ›
- People Share The Real Reason They Cut All Ties With A Friend - George Takei ›
- People Share The Exact Moment They Realized Their Relationship Was Over - George Takei ›
- People Share The Real Reason They Cut Someone Out Of Their Lives - George Takei ›
- People Explain How They've Lost Their Best Friend - George Takei ›
People Share Unspoken First Date Rules Everyone Should Follow
Reddit user Quotedkarma asked: 'What's an unspoken rule on a first date?'
Countless emotions arise when going on a first date.
Making this all the more difficult is that a first date is one of the few things that absolutely must be done solo, so bringing friends as backup simply isn't an option.
Leaving one to wish there was a handbook for navigating a first date successfully.
Of course, while there is no official guide, everyone has rules and beliefs about what to do and what to avoid on a first date.
From how to effortlessly bring out your best qualities, to a foolproof escape plan if your date is anything but the one you've dreamed your whole life of meeting.
"What's an unspoken rule on a first date?"
EyeContact, And Not With Your Screen...
"Your phone is not part of the date."- Wonderful-Note9289
"Don't be on your phone the whole time."
"And don't talk about your ex."- HoW-LoNg-DoCtOR-YES
Think Very Carefully Before That Second Round
"Don’t drink too much."- drivethruhell
"Had a date like this."
"Within the first 90 minutes they had taken like three shots, and were on their third drink."
"I understand wanting to calm your nerves, but damn."
"The whole 'you need to play catch up LOL' isn't as cute as you think it is."
"We did not go on any other dates."- mothershipq
Drink GIFGiphyThere Is no Scent More Intoxicating Than Your Own...
"Have a shower beforehand."- Porriz
"And take it easy with the perfume/cologne."
Your date shouldn't smell you before they see you."- imnotlouise
No One Likes A Moocher...
"Don't order any extras plates to eat at home with your mom when the other is paying."- lil_wavey999
Always Be On The Same Page...
"Both should know it is a date."- mosquitohater2023
"I met a woman at an out of town festival through a friend of mine that she was hooking up with."
"She ended up taking too many shrooms and I spent an hour with her helping her to feel calmer."
"She is a traveling nurse and was going to be in my city in a few weeks so we exchange numbers and when she gets in town she asked if I want to get some sushi."
"Happy to make a new friend, we meet up, talk a lot about my friend that she’s hooking up with telling funny stories about him."
"Eventually it comes up that I’m leaving the next day for a 3 week trip to Europe with my girlfriend and she screams, 'I thought this was a f*cking date!'"
"Reeeeaaallly awkward."- redmoskeeto
Dating Wtf GIF by MaxGiphyBe Open And Transparent...
"Not a rule but never make the other person carry the conversation."
"You're both here to make an effort and give each other the respect."
"If you both want different things then let it be said after."
"No need to hurt someone's self-respect for your ego."- Arkjump
"Be there with honest intentions and nothing else."- S-Vagus
Or At Least Be Willing To Share
"Don’t order 3 full meals."- WinkMartindale
"AND expecting him to pay for all of it."
"I mean sure if you want to take some home for your mom, you pay for that yourself."- Widowhawk·
GiphyBe Prepared For A Lack Of Shared Interests...
"Leave the coin collection at home, wow her with that on the second date."- IronLion11·
Choose Your Activities Carefully
"Don't go to the movies or a fancy dinner on your first date if you don't already know this person."
"The movies is a place where you sit in silence for 2 hours staring straight ahead."
"That does not give you any opportunity to get to know the other person."
"A sit down dinner can be perfectly fine, but if you know within the first 10 minutes that you have no desire to spend any more time in this person's presence, you're stuck through the rest of the meal."
"First dates should always be intentionally short with an option to extend."
"Coffee, froyo, drinks, things that can turn into an hour of talking or 'would you like to grab a bite to eat?'"- baltinerdist
Get Your Emotions Under Control
"Don't excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and then accidentally think about your ex while in there, have to fight back tears, and then come back to the table after way too long, with puffy red eyes."
"Whoops." - Reddit
Sad That 70S Show GIF by LaffGiphyJust Be Open And Honest... To an Extent...
"Don't: Unload on your date about your trauma."
"Gotta keep that sh*t under wraps until at least date 5."
"Do: Be yourself, unless your whole personality teeters on your traumatic history--in that case, self-deprecating humor will suffice until you can successfully abandon all hope and sit in your car for an hour to cry afterward."-Deep-Essay-4829
A Conversation Is A Two-Way Street
"Usually when asked a question I’d answer it and then hit her with a 'what about you?'"
"To ensure that I wasn’t dominating the convo."
"Let the other person speak."- bumboclawt
... NOPE...
"Bring an egg, uncooked, in your pocket."
"Casually let it fall out at the end of the date."
"This establishes you as a breadwinner, who else has the money to just carry eggs around in their pockets?"
"When your date, inevitably, wants to know more about the egg just shrug it off."
"You're not here to brag, your egg does that for you."- wearywarrior
Broken Heart Love GIF by Share It AgainGiphyIf there is one rule absolutely everyone should follow when going on a first date, it's not being beholden to rules, spoken or unspoken.
After all, the best romances are often the ones which happen organically.
Love cannot be forced.
People Divulge Things Their Coworkers Have Done That Should've Gotten Them Fired But Didn't
My second college internship led me to a small content creation company. It was so small that the two editors were the only paid employees. Everyone else was an intern.
I was excited to start so I could add more to my portfolio only to realize that one of the editors replaced my name with hers every time she edited one of my articles. Not much of the content was changed, but I was too shy to question it.
I eventually found out that she did this to all the interns, and most of the interns had learned to private message their draft articles to the other editor, who did not take the bylines.
I asked one of my fellow interns if the founder of the company knew the editor took bylines. Turns out, the founder knew, but for some reason no one else could figure out, the editor never got fired.
It turns out this story isn't unique. There are lots of instances when someone does something at work that should get them fired, but they manage to hold on to their job. Redditors have plenty of stories like that and are eager to share.
It all started when Redditor Shelendrea asked:
"Have you ever witnessed something that should've gotten someone fired at work? If so, what happened?"
Needs More Than A Demotion
"Coworker jokingly threw a box at my chest and knocked the wind out of me and I collapsed. He begged me not to tell anyone and I didn't. The guy was a weirdo. He'd talk about how he'd burn insects and starts fires. Weird sh*t. He ended up getting in more trouble later on for some reason or another...crass jokes, sexual comments....either way, he eventually transferred stores and I never saw him again. This all happened back in 2013-14."
"Fast forward to earlier this year 2023, my store was getting a major remodel, and he was one of the managers that came from afar with a team of workers to do the remodel. I was surprised he was still with the company, let alone in a leadership position. I said hi to him a time or two, but he was busy with the remodel project on the other side of the store so I eventually stopped seeing him."
"This whole time things were tense between the remodel crew and our store crew. Pallet Jack's getting stolen, supplies going missing, etc. Both sides hated each other."
"I hadn't seen (we'll call him John) in a few weeks and noticed there was a new manager on the remodel crew. Either way, things were finally cooling down between us."
"Out of curiosity I asked one of the remodel crew what had happened to John, and they told me, "Oh you didn't hear? He got demoted for trying to start problems between our teams. He'd tell us to steal your pallet Jack's and tried getting a few people to fight.""
"Unreal."
– AdamR91
Got Milk?
"I worked in a milk factory. I was working with a man that was a bit off. We had to take the milk cartons on a conveyor belt and place them on a pallet. While we were working he said "time for a break" and slammed a blade used to open boxes into the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt got absolutely destroyed and the machine was in maintenance of two days after that."
– LyricalJerrycal
"Hey, when it's time for a break, it's time for a break."
– MyOpinyunIsRight
"How dairy?!"
– StrongestAvenger2211
Money, Money, Money
"The supervisor left the safe open."
"At this job, he should have absolutely gotten fired but his blunder got overshadowed because one of the douchier employees stole 50k and went on the run for over half a day."
– BW_Bird
"...doesn't that just highlight why the supervisor should keep the safe shut?"
– akaioi
"You'd think."
"Honestly, I wasn't too upset. Sups was a nice guy."
– BW_Bird
A DQ Thing
"When I was in high school, I worked at Dairy Queen. I was on the opening crew one Saturday and the assistant manager unlocks the doors, lets us in, and tells us "Guys, I'm really hungover right now so I'm gonna sleep in the back. Wake me up if you need me." She goes back and curls up on top of the laundry machines (we washed all the uniforms on site because they get covered in ice cream). It was a slow day so and she was the cool manager, so we all let her sleep and never told the owner."
"Another night, one of our cook's buddies parked their car in our lot and he just hung out there with them smoking weed for a couple hours. If someone ordered food, we'd go out and get him. He'd come back inside, cook it, and go right back out. The rest of us had the decency to smoke after work, but nobody ratted him out either."
– SeveralAngryBears
"Must be a Dairy Queen thing. When I was seventeen I was the grill cook at Dairy Queen and the employees had a pact with each other that if one of us came in after 4 pm when we weren’t working and made food and walked out with it, nobody would see the person doing it. We only had a shift leader, no managers after 4pm. So, my friends and I would smoke weed, drive to Dairy Queen, and I would walk back to the kitchen and cook a bunch of fried food and burgers, then take it out to my stoner friends waiting in the car. As you can imagine, I was pretty popular with my weed smoking friends."
– Horror-School-6713
Going, Going, Gone
"At my last job we had this guy who seemed normal, I knew he did some club drugs outside of work but I don’t have a problem with that. Anyways, he shows up to work one day COMPLETELY f*cking blasted. Like couldn’t walk right, couldn’t talk. This motherf*cker gets mad at me when I send him home, the next day I get to work and our boss is like "hey man what did you say to Tyler last night? He said you’re a huge a**hole and he’s never working with you again”. I told him and my boss goes “oh. Okay. Well I think he quit, he said if I don’t fire you he’s done here""
"Bold f*cking move to make after showing up in a k hole during your third week of work at our company lmfao"
– _clydebruckman
A New Kind Of Sneeze Burgers
"Was working at McDonald’s. Watched a female crew member sneeze into her hands, and proceed to make a wrap and sent it out. I threw it in the bin before front staff got it."
"Edit* I should mention - I was genuinely shocked to see it happen. McDonald’s are extremely strict on hygiene. I reported her to a manager, but she denied it and said she sneezed into her arm. We were too busy for anyone to check cameras."
– RewardNew5810
Nepotism At Its Finest
"Work in a residential setting for teens with behavioral issues. There’s 1 staff in particular who should not be working with kids and it was clear on my 2nd day. He’s almost 50 and behaves like a 15-year-old. He’s always going back and forth and gets mad about everything with them."
"One day, things got heated between him and a kid for the 100th time and he ends up choking the kid. The kid was actually being more mature about it and he wanted to continue to fight the kid. We separated them and I was holding the staff back when he started to get mad at me for not letting him beat up a 14 year old."
"I’ve only been at this job for 3 months and was told by other staff that this has happened multiple times now with different kids."
"He still has a job because he’s best friends with the 2 bosses."
– i-piss-excellence32
Wrong Accountability
"I worked at a special needs day program many years ago. Wednesdays were classic film day at the local theater and we’d take the clients. I was a 1:1 meaning I had only one client. My direct superior had 3, and a substitute had 4. The substitute lost one of her guys and didn’t realize it until after the film when we were counting clients."
"Long story short, I got fired & the superior got fired. But the one whose responsibility it was to watch him kept her job. The client was fine, though, he was found a mile down the road asking for a police officer to help him find his way home."
– iateacakeonce
It Is The Night Shift
"I work overnights at a hotel. They hired a guy to be the security/valet and in the first two weeks he was found sleeping on the job. The first time he was found by a third coworker. We told the manager and nothing happened. The second time the manager found him sleeping in the bell closet in a wheelchair. He got sent home but didn’t get fired."
– aolewahine808
"I'm overnight too, sometimes it feels like they just want a living body and don't care about much else."
"One of the guys I've had over the years would fall asleep constantly and sounded like he was drowning he snored so horribly, no consequence."
– wickedblight
Santa is Real!
"I worked at a small map company. Our first task when we started was to add rivers and lakes over satellite imagery/topographic maps. It was a summer job when I was in college. Both me and the guy who worked next to me were 19-20ish. It was very dry, repetitive, tedious work. We weren’t really allowed to talk while working so for the most part just plugged away at our own computer stations. Occasionally we would write notes to each other. Towards the end of the summer when he was about to go back to school my coworker went off the deep end. He just started drawing line art with the GIS software and naming them things. He drew Santa and his reindeer. Made up like half a dozen lakes with a bunch of whacky names like “Lake Milk Was a Poor Choice.” I didn’t tell anyone what he did and I wonder what the quality control people thought of it. He definitely would have been fired had they known."
– JMaple
Just One More Zero
"Yep."
"Few weeks ago one of my sales rep comes in to drop off paperwork for a sale he had just completed."
"The whole time he's bragging about how the customer couldn't believe his great deal even though he was paying MSRP."
"I take the paperwork, and start looking through it to verify the same amount to put the commission in for payroll."
"I come up on the price, and in the box it says: $2,100. I look at him in complete disbelief. I show him where he put the price, and his face went white as a ghost."
"$2,100 when it should've been $21,000. By misplacing the comma, and not adding an extra 0, the dumb S.O.B let a BRAND NEW UTV GO FOR $18.9K BELOW MSRP!!!!!!!"
"I had to tell the owner who told sales rep that 1% of the price would come out of all future paychecks until the price was paid back."
– amethyst_haired_emo
Yikes!
"I worked in a pizza restaurant from age 15 to 23. My answer is almost everything. Just a tip, when people say be kind to your servers, this is for your own benefit, not theirs."
– Silver-B-NotGold
I used to be a server. This is very true!
Not to startle any of you, but death stalks us.
We all have nightmares about diseases and murderers.
But what if, in the end, we just choke on a pickle we inhaled too fast?
Maybe instead of a pickle, a little coleslaw would have been the wiser choice.
We'll never know.
The most minute things can send us packing.
Redditor SuffocatedByThighs wanted to discuss the things that can extinguish our lives in the most basic ways, so they asked:
"What simple mistake has ended lives?"
Tripping over untied shoelaces.
It can break your neck.
TIE YOUR SHOES!!!
Off the Rocks
On No Falling GIF by Outside TVGiphy"There have been too many instances of rock climbers rappelling off of the ends of their ropes, which could have been easily avoided by tying stopper knots at the ends of their ropes."
LZRDLZRD
Seconds
"I worked at a tire place for a summer and the first thing they told me was 'See that torque wrench? One mistake with this and you can kill a whole family in a matter of seconds.' I thought well, better take this thing seriously."
FrenchMicrowave
"Man for a second I was thinking 'F**k you'd have to swing that thing around fast to take out an entire family' and just bluescreened on the idea of changing a tire."
lurking_my_a**_off
How Vexing...
"THERAC-25. The world’s deadliest software error. Cost several radiation patients their lives by administering lethal amounts of radiation, and for a while, the doctors didn’t even know."
Longjumping_Event_59
"THERAC-25 suffered a particularly vexing sort of error known as a race condition. Essentially, the circuit required multiple inputs in a particular sequence, but sometimes the timing of that sequence could get thrown out of whack and it would lead to all sorts of nonsensical output."
"This is less than ideal when all you're doing is manipulating pixels, but when your software is handling radiation beams you really don't want this to happen."
"Even more vexing is that race conditions are frequently heisenbugs, which can vanish altogether when one attempts to study them. If you don't have a good idea of what's causing the error, you may never cotton on to what sort of bad input is required to test it. Under those circumstances, it's easy to write them off as imaginary, only to then find."
dancingmadkoschei
Heavy Drifting
"Leaving the stranded vehicle on the road in winter and trying to walk to get help. It happens in rural parts of our province once or twice a year and they find the body a few days later. They get disoriented and freeze."
Regina_Runner
"I got blown off a road in high winds. Heavy drifting. Less than a mile from a friend's house after I had turned around. Drifts made it impossible to complete the trip. Trying to run a mile in full blizzard conditions was a fight for my life as an in-shape 24-year-old male athlete.
"rotyag
Simple Slips
Uh Oh Omg GIF by BounceGiphy"Almost any simple mistake can end a life if you're an anesthesiologist, that's how my grandpa died in his early 60s."
dwserps
Any second. Any moment.
Stay vigilant people.
Celibacy could be better...
Oh My Wow GIFGiphy"Not being honest with doctors about Viagra. It has many dangerous drug interactions and can cause a lot of problems from what I’ve heard. Trust me the doctor ain’t gonna judge you guys, they have seen many more embarrassing things. And it would suck to die because you wanted to hide something just for it to be later stated in your death certificate."
The_upsetti_spagetti
Check the Numbers
"As a healthcare worker, giving the wrong amount of insulin."
UzumakiHorror
"During the first shift of my first clinical rotation in nursing school, I watched a nurse draw up insulin out of an auto-injector pen that was CLEARLY marked to specifically not do that AND she was drastically wrong about the dosage and almost killed a guy by giving him essentially like a hundred times the intended dose."
someguynamedg
Stay In
"Pulling the knife out of someone."
rcadephantom
"Yeah, I did that but it was a broken tree branch that had impaled my leg. Without even thinking I pulled it out. Blood started gushing so I pulled off my shirt and tied it into a pressure bandage. I was lucky I didn’t bleed to death."
Olddog_Newtricks2001
"Shock is an IQ reducer. I once sliced a bit off the side of my hand with a broken glass, and sort of dazedly picked off the piece of me and tried to stick it back on. It did not work."
UncannyTarotSpread
Stay Dirty
"Mixing cleaning ingredients."
Jonnysource
"My dad was trying to unclog his kitchen drain and mixed drain cleaners by adding one then adding another a few minutes later. It started bubbling and he began coughing intensely. I heard him coughing from the other room, saw what happened, and opened the nearby window to get rid of the chlorine gas he just produced."
"I forgot there was a large hive of wasps that had moved into that window and they did not appreciate this unexpected interruption. I took him to the emergency room for the gas exposure and it was tough explaining that the wasp stings were not why we were there."
CharmingTuber
Dear God
Jeff Goldblum What GIF by The Late Late Show with James CordenGiphy"A friend’s husband locked himself out of their home. He tried to get in through a window that had security bars. While squeezing through his foot slipped and he essentially hung himself on the window sill."
Cokej01
Life is fleeting. Here is proof.
LIVE!! But live smart.
We all have foods that we like or don't like, and depending on how passionately we feel, it may be pretty hard to understand why someone likes a food that otherwise grosses us out.
But if that food is also expensive, we'll also be left wondering why they'd spend so much money on that dish.
Redditor 123456789_00 asked:
"What expensive foods do you genuinely not understand how someone could actually enjoy eating?"
Escargot
"Escargot. It’s gross."
- Heysandygirl
"Escargross."
- dukeofbun
Amusement Park Food
"Amusement park food."
- flacidsword
"A small bottle of Coke for $18 because it comes in a novelty bottle from a novelty booth in a theme park."
- GeebusNZ
Live Geoduck
"Live Geoduck. Just no."
"Watching someone eat clams has never felt so inappropriate."
- Unicornucopia23
Gold Leaf
"Anything with gold leaf."
- toxic_fumes23
"Gold is the dumbest f**king trend I have ever seen in food. Any restaurant that uses gold in their food is not worth visiting unless you want to post on social media telling everyone you have money to waste on sub par food."
- TacoShopRS
A5 Wagyu
"A5 Japanese Wagyu, it’s too godd**n rich, a few bites is more than enough. Maybe Australian or American is a little tamer"
"If you didn’t know dry age has a “funk” to it that might catch you off guard, still good, just not might be what you think."
- ScorchFalcon
Salt Bae's Menu
"I don't understand how any of the people eating at Salt Bae's restaurant can enjoy what he is giving them at those prices. Paying thousands of extra dollars just because this guy was in a viral video? Give me a f**king break."
- rity5yender
Truffles
"Truffles. To each to their own, but truffles and truffle oil completely overwhelm the flavor of whatever they’re in, and it’s not a taste I care for."
- calvinball81
Questionable
"Anything that's come out the a** of an animal. Like those expensive coffees (I know it's a drink, but still)."
- JackHyper
Sea Cucumber
"Sea Cucumber. It's a caterpillar/worm from the ocean that looks like snot on the plate. It tastes like processed American cheese that was left in the sun for the day and then wrapped around soggy tofu. It was served at my wedding and was maybe the worst dish of my life. Super popular in Asia, though."
- dangerwillrogers
Caviar
"Caviar. that expensive egg of fish hays."
- Client_Direct9613
Rocky Mountain Oysters
"They're not really expensive, but rocky mountain oysters. They're fried bull testicles and they basically taste like a beef chicken nugget. Not worth the hype, and a strange part to eat."
- vonshook
Foie Gras
"Foie gras. I was nauseated after seeing how the geese are force-fed. Should be outlawed everywhere. And I’m no vegan; I’m a pescatarian."
- Asparagussie
"There is ethically produced foie gras from just regular wild or free-range ducks/geese, but yeah, I agree that force-feeding foie gras production should absolutely be outlawed."
- SPEEDANDMOMENTUM
Shark Fin Soup
"Shark fin soup."
"I don't care how tasty it is, it's absolutely cruel to cut off a shark's fin and drop it back in the ocean."
- Impossible_Try76
Ortolan
"Ortolan. It is a small songbird that's drowned in cognac then cooked whole and eaten whole. The eating is done by placing a napkin over the face, they say to hide the diner from the eyes of God because it's such a sinful food, but in reality, it's because watching someone shove a whole bird into their mouth and chew it, including beak and bones, is not a pretty sight."
- SwordTaster
Expensive Burgers
"Any burger on any menu over the price of $14, especially if it doesn’t even come with fries."
"When did $18 single patty burgers become normal?"
- Expensive Burgers
Everyone is going to have different tastes when it comes to food, and some are going to be more tolerant to high prices than others.
But for those who don't even enjoy high-priced foods, it may be confusing why someone would be willing to spend so much money in the first place.