Labels are incredibly useful for things like organizing your canned goods, knowing what protein/marinade combo you've got in the freezer, finding the right haircare products - that sort of thing.
Not necessarily so useful or appropriate when it comes to human beings.
Reddit user UltimateDiscordMod asked:
"What do you hate being labeled as?"
So here's the thing - there are some labels people just flat out HATE.
Having no control over the way someone perceives you is irksome, at best. But in these cases it's something more.
Let's take a look.
Shy
"Shy. For the love of god stop labeling me as shy just cause I don't feel like talking to you."
- brisnoctis
"Came here to say this."
"I wouldn't mind being labeled as quiet, which is almost the same thing. But 'shy' often has a slightly infantilizing side to it. Like I'm some kind of scared cute little creature."
"There's really no need to talk to me like I'm a lost child at the supermarket, I'd just rather listen than talk right now."
"I also feel like once people have categorized me as shy, they assume I don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation, and I feel like they're not really paying attention to what I'm saying when I do speak. Which is a shame because I really like to talk and give my opinion on things once I feel comfortable."
- migzard
Shy GIFGiphyUseless
"Useless."
"It's a word I've been labeled as multiple times throughout my childhood by certain family members. Absolutely ruined my self esteem."
- crowdfear
" 'Oh you aren't helping ME out with every little problem I should be dealing with!? You're useless!!!!!!!' "
"I hate that sh*t."
- Solitary_Stars
"Then again, it's not like you are an instrument or a tool to anyone."
" 'Useful' is not a term you'd want to use for humans, let alone 'useless.' "
- TreborNuh
GiphyThat Southern Sound
"When people hear my southern accent and learn I'm from Alabama, I'm automatically labeled as less intelligent."
- boadicea-h5
"I live in Florida and people sorta just invalidate the possibility of me having brain cells just because I'm a 'Florida man.' "
- PsychologicalArm8990
"Man I feel this one."
"I'm from a tiny mountain town in North Carolina and once, when I was describing my hometown, I was asked if I even went to school."
"I was like ???? Girl what! this isn't the 1800s."
- psb811
"I'm from West Virginia and once got a similar reaction from a girl that I was talking to from California. She was asking me if I could read and stuff like that, and had all this pity for me."
"When I explained that I went to school and could read she didn't take it as that just being normal, but that I had broken out of the stereotype and achieved something not many people do where I'm from."
"I was just like holy sh*t how are people this ignorant? lol."
- DevilsNDeepBlueSeas
wwe the wrestling album GIFGiphyAlcohol Issues
"Alcoholic."
"Haven't had a drink in 9 years. I'm a lot of other things beyond just a guy who once had a drinking problem."
"I don't know why for some people that's the centerpiece of my identity."
- boeheim03
"Well, in my opinion it keeps it real. I'm an alcoholic and part of that is knowing I can't drink because of my genetic predisposition, illuminated by my past is a powerful deterrent."
"It's when people forget how bad they got that they do it again. Just like the cycle of economic strife and the subsequent rise of populism nationalism and fascism."
"Revisionist history serves no one."
- ericdevice
"Dude same. My mom and brother are super into AA and the way they talk about me and my sobriety drives me nuts. AA people are actually the worst. And I say that as a former AA guy."
"I actually believe that sticking hard to that label (which is a HUGE part of AA recovery) keeps people sick, in a way, and prevents them from truly healing."
- Sentientdoing
Drunk Drinking Beer GIFGiphyBig Doesn't Mean Violent
"I'm a big person an people automatically assume that I'm aggressive and violent."
"I don't like having to explain that I have no desire to cause anyone pain, I feel like that should be expected of common people. I can't control how big I am, it's not an indicator of my violence level or anything like that."
- Aggravating_Bat1786
"I'm 7 foot 1 and am not a skinny dude. I'm also Black and I have a lot of tattoos."
"People will switch sides of the street when I'm walking down the sidewalk. But really I'm a gentle dude and I've never hurt anybody nor have any desire to."
"Sometimes it hurts my feelings but at the same time I get it."
- umbrella_CO
"There's a guy who works at my local dog shelter who looks like a hairless bear with more defined biceps."
"Nicest guy. Has my preferred breakfast saved for me whenever I'm late. Two small pups at home. Genuinely curious, thoughtful, progressive, insightful, and articulate."
"Looks like a Rocky villain. Or a Mortal Kombat character."
- Lucky-Definition-189
Animated GIFGiphyPants On Fire
"A liar."
"Trust is the most important thing to me, and I make a point of being honest. When someone goes off on me and calls me a liar (either to cover their ass or just because they do not want to admit their data is inaccurate) it is deeply insulting."
- 8dogsinatrenchcoat
"This, this right here."
"It quickly leads to a short fuse for me because I also make a point to be honest. I've stopped talking to many people because they're pathological liars, blatantly."
"I've been told I'm 'too honest' whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. To call me a liar is wild."
- Simpl3Nik
"I once been called a liar/cheater by a high school teacher. The sole argument and evidence was that they believed I couldn't have realistically done that great on the assignment."
"I had to argue with her for 15 minutes that it was, indeed, possible for me to achieve success."
"Made me hate being labeled as a liar as well as a loser."
Kristen Wiig Wow GIF by Where’d You Go BernadetteGiphy- ExWeirdStuffPornstar
"I feel the same, but for a different reason."
"I was a liar. I grew up in a situation that pushed me to lie to protect myself."
"As a teenager and young adult I lied a lot. About anything and everything. To everyone, myself included. I believed some of the lies, I told them so much."
"Toward the beginning of my current relationship, I realized that I wanted to be honest with my partner. I started trying not to lie to her, and coming clean when I did."
"Through this, over the first couple of years of our relationship, I kicked dishonesty. The desire to lie to protect myself is still there sometimes, but I'm conscious of it and I do not lie anymore."
"Being called a liar now irks, because I've put forth (and continue to put forth) so much effort to be honest, something that is genuinely difficult for me sometimes. With one little word, a decade of concentrated effort can feel invalidated."
- Darkhymn
"It's funny because the people who hate being called a liar the most are either honest Abes or mind-numbingly conniving sociopaths."
"I had a close friend who scammed me for thousands of dollars via lies. He had this almost-famous phrase he was always saying:"
" 'I've got thick skin. You can call me a lot of things and I won't care. But if somebody calls me a liar I won't take that. I'm always getting in trouble because I tell it like it is so I won't be accused of being a liar.' "
"Turns out he's a heartless con man so people calling him a liar is bad for business."
- lasertits69
"My ex had a similar stance on this."
"Which would have been fine except for the fact that she was a compulsive liar. It made it incredibly difficult to approach her about something she lied about."
"Crazy right?"
- Classssssic"
People Break Down The Nicest Celebrities They've Ever Met | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
They always say, "don't meet your heroes." But here's the thing, sometimes your celebrities are actually just chill, normal people who are overjoyed to meet ...Casual Racism = Racism
"Different from most Black people or pretty for a Black girl."
"My little sister gets that a lot. She'll say something awful back like 'I got lucky, my mom is light skinned.' "
"What's sad is some people still stay clueless that she is sarcastically pointing out the racism and agree with her!"
- Pscilosopher
"I feel this so f*cking hard. I also get 'one of the good ones' and 'you talk white' a lot too."
- ImJadedAtBest
Thats Racist GIFGiphy"This would describe how everyone always seems to describe me. They always act offended when I tell them I find it insulting and nonsensical."
- mrockracing
"A friend of mine posted about how much he hates it when people refer to him as being the whitest Black guy they know and thinking it's a compliment."
"It clearly implies that there's something wrong with being Black. Things like that are not uncommon and really shows how ignorant people are when it comes to race."
- LobotomistPrime
Physically Small Doesn't Mean Emotionally Small
"I hate being labelled cute when I'm angry and having my feelings completely invalidated because of things I can't control like my stature and appearance."
- milkywaymistress5
"This sh*t irks me."
"It stopped me from getting a few jobs that I really wanted because people didn't take me seriously. You've really gotta prove yourself when people think you're just 'small and cute' and nothing more."
- Own-Researcher-5507
"I felt that. I'm rather small and I have this young looking face that make people think I'm just sooo cute and adorable."
"My sister is taller and has a more adult face. We can have the exact same angry behaviour/reaction to something and we get completely different results."
"She has her concerns considered and addressed whereas I am dismissed or infantilized."
"If I get angry I'm either 'cute' or brushed off because 'How can such a small thing be so angry?' "
"Actually, that's the attitude with every emotion. As if being physically small makes your emotional range smaller."
- Ledifen
tinkerbell GIFGiphyLiving In Japan
"A weeb."
"I've lived in Japan going on 30 years and never had the slightest interest in anime. In the early 90's it hadn't reached US shores yet."
"The real boom happened around 1996 or whenever Pokemon hit North America and the internet fueled a thermanukular asplodey of nerdity after that."
"Until then, it was small quiet enclaves of Studio Ghibli enthusiasts, but now you have entire sections at Barnes & Noble and cable channels dedicated to it, and good Lord did it bring the tourists vaulting over the turnstiles in crazed cultural consumption sprees. And blah blah blah."
"A quarter century later I can casually mention where I've lived for over half my 51 years and nearly always get a response containing some obscure Martian J-pop-culture reference I have no idea how to form a conversation around."
"I came to Japan for a reason and anime ain't it. I was looking for a job in the budding IT industry, not a waifu."
- the2belo
Pokemon Taking GIFGiphy"This one!"
"I have a masters in Japanese history and lived there on an off for years. I do watch some anime but not very much. I specialized in pre-modern history, my nerd specialty is gender performance in Kabuki, not animation."
"I'm not weeb, I'm a historian. I still jokingly call myself one sometimes though…"
- ParadoxInABox
"Picky"
"Picky."
"I am an grey romantic asexual person which means I don't experience sexual attraction and I rarely experience romantic attraction."
"I'm in my late twenties and I've definitely been romantically attracted to one person, not so sure about the other two people. It's a maybe? It's unclear."
"For me being 'picky' is having people you are attracted to and finding faults with them. Whereas I go on dates and meet lovely people but I ultimately feel nothing for them."
- DuckiesBeDamned
Twd Nothing GIF by The Walking DeadGiphyBooked Seats Don't Mean Racism
"I was accused of being racist at work (flight attendant) recently."
"An Indian family had booked the last row and were sat together. The passenger in front had two seats booked for him and his partner and they chose to lay down together on their seats."
"Said family at the back accused me of being racist because I wouldn’t force the couple to move out of their booked seats so the family could lie down instead."
"I completely understand that there is a huge issue with racism, but it’s definitely not something to hide behind to try to get your own way."
- jack172sp
hasan minhaj no GIF by Patriot ActGiphyDon't Throw The Label Around
"OCD."
"Society throws around this label waaay too much. I don’t have OCD because I like to keep my house clean or color-code my clothing."
"A close friend of mine suffers from severe OCD and it’s a LOT different from what society labels it as."
"Someone being neat is one thing, but OCD isn't something to be made light of. It's a serious struggle."
- Curlyhairdontcarex
Clean Up Cleaning GIF by Bear HandsGiphyHomeschooled
"I was homeschooled up until college."
"A lot of people assume I have a disorder (autism downs etc.), that my mom taught me sex Ed the 'intimate way,' or other generally stupid, disgusting, or ridiculous thing about me being weird."
"The only mental issue I have is occasional depression (just like everyone else) and I missed out on some phrases that were popular as jokes for people in middle school."
"I’m introverted but I socialize well do well in my engineering classes and have a normal relationship with both parents. I'm no weirder than the rest of you."
- dalawre
weirdos GIFGiphyCombat Sports
"People assume I think I'm some badass bro or hardo because I do combat sports. I hate that."
"I'm a f*ckin neeeerrrrrd. I can blather on and on about fighting technique the same way I can blather on about Warhammer."
"The sports I like are just one more thing to geek out on."
"Don't think for one second that I'm willing to fist fight someone over liquor induced drama either. I don't wanna get stabbed, shot, arrested or kicked in the head by a friend of the person I'm fighting."
"I hate confrontation. If I get in a situation, I'm dropping to my back."
- liquorlanche617
Muhammad Ali Boxing GIFGiphyI'm Not 5
"An autist or autistic."
"Though not inaccurate as I have high functioning Aspergers, the way people treat autism like a disease that needs to be cured, or make it clear they think I'm completely incompetent by treating me like I'm 5 is flat out insulting."
"Many people often guess that I'm on the spectrum and either treat me like I'm a toddler or try to sell me on bullsh*t 'cures' for all sorts of diseases while painfully emphasizing the part about autism."
"I don't need to be 'cured.' Stop doing this to people."
- Some_Tiny_Dragon
Eyeroll Reaction GIFGiphyI Just Have Bad Eyesight
"A geek or nerd."
"I have a huge respect for geeks and nerds, but I’m not one. Honestly, I’m pretty sure geeks and nerds would be dishonored to have someone like me associated with them."
"I’m only labeled as a geek or nerd because of the fact that I wear glasses. Which I only wear because I have bad eyesight. I’m not even smart."
"But yeah it gets annoying."
- VoiceOfNoOneNNN
Glasses Seinfeld GIFGiphyPersonally, I relate HARD to the cute one. I'm (well) under five feet tall and I'm often dismissed as cute rather than having my concerns actually addressed if I'm dealing with someone in person.
I've been working on the internet since 2009, in part, to avoid dealing with it. And the petting. People would CONSTANTLY pet me like I was the office mascot.
I'm older, wiser, and way less shy about speaking up now, though, so I don't imagine things going down the same way if I ever go back to office work.
But please don't make me go back to an office.
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Just the other evening, I was walking home, and I barely survived.
I tripped on a dead tree branch.
The next thing I knew, I was flying in the air and landing on my back.
My belongings were strewn about.
And my to-go burger was dead.
A simple walk.
A simple dead branch.
And almost lights out.
Redditor Typical_XJW wanted to hear about the times people eluded death, so they asked:
"How did you almost die?"
Don't even get me started on any and every car ride.
We're always moments from the end on highways.
Back in the Day...
Hunger Games Student GIFGiphy"Almost drowned when I was 5 or 6, been hospitalized twice for sepsis between 2016 and 2019, and had a stroke this year. I'm 29."
ChristmasKid88
On the Disk
"MRSA infection in the disk on my lower spine between L5 and S1. Showed up two days after a cortisone shot but the hospital said it was from something else. Was in hospital 25 days multiple emergency surgeries."
EatA**FromBack
"I worked for a doctor who did these in-house and other procedures, and it 100% made me not trust medical facilities, cleanliness, and sterilization procedures. Had about twenty patients all come down with the same gut infection, 'coincidentally,' the same patients who came in for endoscopy procedures the same day."
dimlylit_
Saved
"Saving a younger friend from drowning, he panicked and almost took me out."
loztriforce
"Had that happen with a younger cousin when we were kids. His brother and I went to save him, he climbed on both of us and pushed us under. Lifeguard didn’t even see us until he pulled younger cousin out of the water, then we popped up gasping for air."
coffeejunki
Shucked
"16-year-old farm kid me, stepdad told me to go pick up a load of corn seed for planting. I had gone with him many times before, and driven the truck (full ton dually diesel) and hauled light stuff with it. Nobody told me how different it is to haul 10,000 lbs of seed on a big flatbed trailer on gravel. I had a lot of common sense and was driving slowly and carefully."
"Still… 10,000+ lbs pushed me down a gravel hill skidding, praying to god I stopped before the stop sign at the T intersection to a busy highway. I came to a grinding halt JUST as the front of the truck crossed the plane where the gravel turned to asphalt. A semi was coming from one direction and regular cars from the other. I shudder thinking about what if on that one. Don’t let untrained kids tow potentially deadly, heavy trailers, with zero training."
datnetcoder
Finding Tracks
College Sports Sport GIF by Sealed With A GIFGiphy"Was backwoods camping in Yellowstone and if I hadn’t considered for 30 seconds if I REALLY needed to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I would have walked out of my tent headfirst into a brown bear, which I heard before leaving and found tracks of next to my tent in the morning. Spookiest moment of my life in hindsight."
danvo5
Bears are a no go for me.
Camping is an even bigger HECK NO!!
Several Strikes
Reassuring Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphy"Twice. 1. Woke up to my apartment on fire."
"2. Hit head-on by a drunk driver on a small bus, just after everyone got off bus exploded."
lizard_king0000
Oh Barb
"Lmao okay, so I was getting my teeth cleaned, and I got nitrous oxide because I have so many exposed roots. Well, my hygienist at the time was this lovely lady from Minnesota. Kinda flaky, but super sweet, and talked about her family all the time. So I'm in the chair and she hooks up my mask, and away we go. I actually fell asleep! Except not so much."
"Turns out Barb had forgotten to turn the oxygen on and had been feeding me straight nitrous. She only noticed because I started gasping for air while unconscious. So that's how I almost died at the dentist. I never saw Barb again, but I tell you, that was the best nap of my life!"
CharismaticAlbino
Climb Up
"I was snorkeling. I had my other stuff stored on a rock by the water, about 3 meters high. When I got out, I decided to climb straight up. Almost at the top, the rock I was hoisting myself up on came off and I fell back first onto the coral. If a friendly wave hadn’t come in, I would have broken my back, at least."
Yugan-Dali
Blood Loss
"I was diagnosed with a rare fatal blood disorder from birth, doctors projected I’d live till about 6 and then die from massive blood loss. As this was the mid-90s, they tested the idea of using stem cells from my sibling's umbilical cord; administering the first successful stem cell transplant from a sibling donor and I’m still here to tell the tale!"
Material_Cry1697
These were some tremendously close calls.
Do you have any near-death experiences to share? Let us know in the comment below.
