"What is the most wholesome thing you have seen?" –– That was today's burning question from Redditor lyrebird, who definitely gave us the pick-me-up our hearts so desperately needed.
"My mom..."
My mom is a piano teacher and was shopping in a music store. A ~10 y/o kid came in wanting to buy his first musical instrument, particularly a ukulele so the clerk showed him some where the entry level was about $65. He ran back outside to his mom waiting in the car, then came back in and asked "What is the cheapest musical instrument you have?" and the clerk started showing him a $3 kazoo. Overhearing this made my mom sad, so she went over and asked the kid if he really wanted a ukulele and would promise to practice and learn it. Hooked him up with the instrument, a beginner book, picks, etc. When she left the store the kid and his mom both waited to give her a hug.
"When my youngest brother..."
When my youngest brother was about 8 or 9 (he's 12 now), he came home with a "student of the month" paper in his folder. He heard that the school custodian recently had come back from having back surgery, so after lunch he gathered a few of his buddies and they swept the cafeteria to give the custodian a break. He was so humble about it too, he didn't care that he got noticed.
I just remember being so proud and crying a bit because although I knew he is a good nugget, I just didn't expect him to go out of his way at such a young age- and to get his buddies to follow. Makes my heart happy.
"A few years ago..."
A few years ago, I was on my way to catch the bus when a middle-aged woman called me from behind a newspaper stand. She pointed to the bus stop, one block down, where a guy was standing holding something. She said he was her son, who just got out of jail after serving time for dealing drugs, and today was his first day trying to make an honest life. He had baked some traditional pastries himself and was trying to sell it on the bus stop, and she wanted to make sure things went right for him on his first day so he would not feel tempted to go back on selling drugs.
Then she put some money on my hand, asked me if I could buy some pastry and obviously not tell him she was there. At the stop, I saw the guy, probably in his mid-30s, with this little table of pastries. I bought three, we chatted a little bit and one minute later my bus arrived and I left.
It always makes me emotional and warm inside to think how pure a mother's love can be.
At a concert..."
At a concert I saw a buddy walking with his friend who was blind and also somewhat physically disabled. I overheard him telling his blind friend "oh man I was so smashed last night! I couldn't walk or see nothin. Thank god for you and your cane. You were steering us everywhere like a champ I would have been helpless without you!". It was really so heart warming and you could see how much it meant to his friend to be told how he was the helper, not the person being helped. I'm assuming he was being a little hyperbolic, but the amount of joy I saw brought to his friends face from his kind words was so heartwarming.
"I was sitting..."
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I was sitting in a bar having a beer after work when this guy comes in and orders some shots. After the first couple, he starts low key crying. A semi-regular old man sitting near him asked what was up, turns out his girlfriend split up with him and he wasn't taking it well. Old man asks to join him for a drink, new guy agrees.
This old man, named Keith, always drank two beers, paid, and left.
Anyways, they sat there and got absolutely hammered drunk. They tried every liquor in the place and really tied one on. Keith was going on and on about how he hasn't let loose since he was stationed on Okinawa. By this point, new guy has completely forgotten about his ex girlfriend. They both made each other's evening.
Next time I saw Keith, I asked him how the night went. He said he hadn't had a hangover like that since Okinawa.
The new guy become a semi regular and joined our little bar family. He eventually hooked up with a new girl, and I believe they're still seeing each other. Unfortunately he moved, so I haven't seen him in like 6 months.
"I have two nieces."
I have two nieces. At little ones birthday her friend gave her two unicorn toys. She immediately looks at big sis with a huge smile " look big sis! This one for you! We can both play!" She was genuinely so excited to play unicorns with her sister and it never even occurred to her that did t didn't need to give one to her. My heart grew three sizes that day.
"Once we wrapped..."
I'm a record producer. On a particular song the client wanted a child's voice to open it, so the bassist's 10 year-old son came and recorded a vocal part.
Once we wrapped, the singer said to the kid: "Musicians get paid." And he handed the kid a £20 note. The bassist then did the same.
A small gesture maybe, but in our world making a living is hard and it was amazing to see professionals showing how it ought to be.
"One Christmas season..."
One Christmas season I saw a young woman (late teens or early 20s) walking through an IKEA picking up things in the huge marketplace area, taking a picture of them, putting them back, and moving on. She was obviously thinking intently about gifts but I was confused- was she making a wish list or something? An employee saw this and asked if they could help her find something. She says "Oh, no thank you. I'm helping my Dad Christmas shop. He works really hard and has very little time, plus when he gets off work his brain is just fried. So every year when I'm on break I go around to a bunch of stores and take pictures of things I think my Mom would really like. Then I'll show them to him at home, we talk about them and he picks some out. Then I go back and get them. It's the least I can do for him, plus it's kinda become our little secret Christmas tradition. Mom has no idea."
"There's a couple..."
There's a couple who look like they have to be in their eighties I see almost every Saturday morning when I go to the mall to run my errands. They walk around together holding hands.
"My last week..."
My last week of high school, our lunch lady gave out small gifts to some of the seniors. Just the kids that took the time to chat with her that she got to know more personally. I received a sketchbook with a sweet good luck note in it. I was always in art club and was going to school for fine arts. So she took the time to get all of us a gift that was specific to US.... this lady saw hundreds of kids a day and still took the effort to get to know us.
"When I was a preschool..."
When I was a preschool teacher, we had one kid who was our certified cheer upper. If someone was crying, she'd get a tissue, walk over, carefully blot their eyes and make them blow their nose. All while saying, 'It's okay, You're okay'. Eventually they'd stop crying, she'd take their hand and they'd go play. She was a lil angel.
"I was playing..."
I was playing with my 6-year-old nephew and pretending to cry really dramatically, and suddenly his 2-year-old brother yells "OH NO!" from the other room, comes running in repeating "oh no!" as he runs, and starts patting my cheeks and dabbing at my eyes with his shirt saying "you okay." Such a sweet kiddo.
"My daughter..."
My daughter is on the spectrum, but she is very loving and likes to give hugs. She just has a sixth sense about her when someone really needs that hug. One of her daycare workers had just found out her cancer had returned. She hadn't told a sole at the school yet. My daughter just walked up to her and said, "I think you need a hug" and gave her one. She still does that to this day. The child is clueless on so much, can't pick up sarcasm at all, but boy she is in tune emotionally to people!
"One of the kids..."
One of the kids in my class was talking to one of our new kids. It came up in conversation that the new kids shoes didn't fit and made his feet hurt. The boys also realized that they wear the same size shoes. The next day the OG kiddo comes in with a pair of Jordans he never wears for the new kid to have and a note from his mom saying it was ok. It was one of the most precious things I've ever seen.
"I was on..."
I was on what I call a rumpled suit flight. One of those flights on a Friday at 6 from NY to DC where most of the flight consists of business people in suits drinking $14 double whiskeys. A fellow rumpled suit sat across the aisle from me next to a mother and her kid. When she could the kid brought down her tray table and a coloring book and started coloring. I didn't hear what was said but at some point the kid handed the rumpled suit a coloring book and they spent the remainder of the flight coloring and chatting. I was kinda like, "I want to color too."
"I was on a flight..."
I was on a flight about a month ago and there was a kid next to me with a bunch of Pokemon cards. This was after sword and shield was announced so I asked him if he was excited for the new game. His eyes lit up immediately and he started geeking out and showing me all his favorite Pokemon. I told him my favorite game was Emerald and he said he never got to play it. I have a GBA emulator on my phone with a rom of it so I let him play it the rest of the flight.
The joy of a child is absolutely beautiful.
"A little boy..."
A little boy at the airport kept trying to climb over a concrete divider that had active traffic on the other side. His mom was loaded with luggage and kept trying to stop him, but didn't have free hands.
My brother in law walked up and said "Hey kid. There's a rule here. You have to keep one foot on the ground at all times. Look around. Everyone has at least one foot on the ground."
The kid kept trying to climb, but with one foot firmly glued to the ground he wasn't in danger anymore. Such a creative and wholesome way to let the kid keep playing while keeping him safe!
"I gifted..."
I gifted a used electric wheelchair to a family who couldn't afford one. The kid, maybe 14 years old, was kinda grumpy looking when he arrived, didn't say much. Once we got him in the chair and he was zooming around he was all smiles; his mother was also super happy. I heard the next day he told his sister to clear off the driveway so he could practice with it, and by the weekend he had gone to a fair.
"When my youngest..."
When my youngest was 2/3 he slept in bed with me. I woke up one night to him not there. I panicked and looked around. He was laying and sleeping cuddled next to my oldest son.
"So we go..."
When I was, like, 11, Dad was driving us to a gathering at my grandma's.
There was a woman pulled over on the side of the road. Dad asked if they needed help. She said she'd run out of gas. Dad told her he would get some.
So we go into a gas station. Dad explains the situation to the cashier and is prepared to buy a can of gas. There's this other customer that looks like a biker - big dude with tattoos and piercings - who tells Dad he has gas at his house and tells us to get in our cars and follow him.
His wife and young son were in the front yard. Turned out this was his sister's house; the guy had fled a hurricane with his family. Nevertheless he insisted on giving us the gas for free.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.