Nostalgic People Who Stayed In Their Childhood Homes Again Reveal What It Was Like
Nostalgic People Who Stayed In Their Childhood Homes Reveal What It Was Like
[rebelmouse-image 18353162 is_animated_gif=When you've lived in a place for a long time, it gets kind of hard to imagine it any other way. For most of us, when we move out of a place, we don't get to go back and see what it's like years later. One Reddit user asked:
Has anyone used AirBnB to stay in a house they used to live in, and how weird was it?
Most hadn't gone the AirBnB route, but tons of people shared their stories of going back to places they used to live. Some went for hookups, plenty of people cried and one person even found a beer they'd hidden years before! Click next to read through some of our favorite stories of people going back to the places they lived before.
Surreal
[rebelmouse-image 18350159 is_animated_gif=Dunno if it counts but i was dating this one girl. First time we go over to her place... It's the exact same apartment i went to to see this other girl 15 years ago. I had even stayed for a couple of months there in the past it was so surreal walking in.
The Epic Party
[rebelmouse-image 18353202 is_animated_gif=I once had an epic day/night of eating, drinking and being merry at various places with various people. There were many highlights of that day, but the relevant part is: around sundown, got a phone call from my sister. She got drunk and was adopted by a friendly group. They invited her back to theirs to keep partying after the main event finished. When she arrived, she realised the house in question was a house I had moved out of a few months earlier. So of course she called to invite me to party at my old house. Who was I to turn down such an invitation?
It ended up being an awesome night. I was stoked to find the new owners had done the very renovations I had planned in my head, only I had been renting so couldn't do them. They were stoked that I taught them the secret to working the fireplace without burning the house down, thus saving them from replacing the fireplace. The new owners were a gay couple, one half of which was a very expensive hairdresser, who gave me a free (drunken) trim and some invaluable hair related advice. Booze was drunk, pizza was ordered, drunken promises of lifelong friendship were made.
My sister and I eventually crashed in their spare room (which had previously been my spare room!) The next morning they made us pancakes. We didn't do numbers though - that night was too perfect, any attempt to continue the relationship would only pale in comparison.
That Place Was Tiny
[rebelmouse-image 18353203 is_animated_gif=We were visiting the Ukrainian village my bro and I grew up in. When we moved, we sold the apartment to some family friends, so when we went back to visit, they let us hang out there.
Damn the place was tiny! I was 10 when we left, and I remember it as "huge" to my childhood mind.
Hidden Beer In The Bathroom
[rebelmouse-image 18353204 is_animated_gif=I hooked up with a girl who lived in an apartment unit I used to. That was cool/weird.
I'd hid a beer in the bathroom fan and found it still there.
Striking Difference
[rebelmouse-image 18353205 is_animated_gif=After my grandma retired, she lived in an expensive vacation place in a cabin for 30 years until she passed away. Like many older folks, she resisted remodeling anything and we really had to pull teeth to get her to even replace the 1970's (orange) shag carpeting in the 00's. So anyway, after she died, my dad and his sibling decided to sell the place because the remodeling would be expensive, and none of the kids/grand kids wanted to maintain the place or live in Vacation Spot.
Fast forward and my cousin is getting married at Vacation Spot and rents Grandma's house for the wedding weekend. The new owner seriously updated the place, and the difference was really striking - it used to be dark woods, small rooms, basic 70s stuff, now the entire top floor had all the walls knocked down so it is one great room with a full wall of sliding glass doors to the massive wraparound deck.
On the other hand, some things had not changed, and it was a trip. The master bedroom patio door still had claw marks from my grandma's dog that died in 2002. The old bedroom where I used to stay when I visited still had the old bedframes. The floor still creaked where there used to be a hallway between the kitchen and living room (now just a weak spot in the open floor plan).
My family agreed, it was nice to visit, but none of us wanted to actually do the work to make it this nice. So, hooray for the new owners! They did a great job with the place.
High School
[rebelmouse-image 18348773 is_animated_gif=My high school building was sold off when they built a new building. The developer that bought it turned it into apartments. When i was in town for a class reunion one of the women I graduated with said she lived in the building so a bunch of us went over there to check it out with her.
The exterior looked mostly the same except for replaced windows and the school name was replaced with the apartment complex name.
The apartments are a few classrooms in a line with the hallway doors removed except for one an apartment.
They took out the bleachers in the gym and put in one of those rubberized tracks aroung the outside edge of the gym.
They left the auditorium intact and actually get local musicians to come play there and will play movies and sporting events in there
The cafeteria is a tiny food court with a Subway and a pizza place.
They redid the weight room and expanded it to have more machines.
The library is laundry room /lounge/business center/management office.
Painting The Room
[rebelmouse-image 18353206 is_animated_gif=I made an online friend and agreed to hang out with and his roommate and help paint a room with them. It turns out he lived in my sister's childhood best friend's house. His roommate had known me since I was about 10.
I had been there to paint that same room the original time.
The Bad Luck House
[rebelmouse-image 18353207 is_animated_gif=I once lived in a house that brought only bad luck to my family. I think it's because my parents used to use an old ouiji board. They both had affairs, got divorced. Sister left home, brother also left; left too. We were all too young really, I was only 16 and homeless.
They sold the house. Not long after, my dad turned mental had to be put into a mental institution and died a few years later of cancer. My brother died, my mom died, my whole family is pretty f^cked up.
I escaped, got married, had 2 kids and tried to move on with my life. I got tooth ache and my wife found me a local dentist. Their office happens to be in that old house. I haven't been back in 40 years and I'm not about to tempt fate and go back now.
I turn down the appointment, had to find another dentist.
Got Busted
[rebelmouse-image 18353209 is_animated_gif=My mom lived next door to her best friend for nearly 18 years before she moved to her college apartment and eventually in with my dad. Mom's parents passed away a few years ago, but her best friends parents still live in that same house. She was over there lately and peeked over the fence out of curiosity. The people who lived there now saw her looking over their fence and she quickly explained herself.
They thought it was so sweet, so they let her walk through and she said it was bizarre. She hasn't lived there in almost 30 years and it has been remodeled 3-4 times since. She said she wouldn't have known it was her house.
The whole thing left her sort of bittersweet.
Half Of My Old Living Room
[rebelmouse-image 18353210 is_animated_gif=I used to live in a very big apartment until I was about fifteen. My parents bought a house in the outskirts of the city, so we moved out and left the place. When I turned 20, I needed a place to rent near to the city and found out the same apartment was divided into 3 smaller apartments and was up for rent. So now I'm living in half of my old living room and my parents bedroom.
It's kind weird, the kitchen is where my old room used to be.
"Boy, Did She Mature Well"
[rebelmouse-image 18348846 is_animated_gif=Story time!
Years ago I got really close to these two girls. We used to do everything together. We would book restaurants and cafes and it was like a mini party every time since there were about 20 of us in this group of friends.
If we were too drunk to drive, we would just crash at someone's place. At some point, I got closer with one of the two girls and I started hanging out more with her but strictly in a friendly capacity. I couldn't see her as anything more.
First it was just crashing on her couch, then i started staying over for coffee and breakfast when i woke up, then for food, then to study and all of a sudden i was kind of staying there. Then she started getting closer and closer until we started sleeping together. Sleeping. Not having sex.
And then she started getting closer and closer until one night she kissed me and tried to turn it into sex. I stopped her saying i didn't want sex to ruin our friendship.
After this happened we drifted apart; I didn't see her for years after. Three or four years ago I saw her at a funeral. Boy did she mature well. She hit the gym hard and everything wrong about her somehow disappeared. She turned into one of those women you see on Snapchat or in the gym and think **"Wow imagine if a woman like this ever came close to me." ** Of course she now had a boyfriend and was travelling the world.
I remember that I had always found it funny that the building her flat was in had her name. Well... Her father, I found out at the funeral, is one of the biggest developers in my country and that building was actually hers as a gift from daddy. Daddy owned another 40-50 buildings in that city and another like 50 in the country.
Fast forward to last year. I have this f^ck buddy and the first time I go to her place, the road seems very familiar but I can't quite figure out why until i see the name of the building.
Out of all the buildings, of course the lived in that one. I call and ask which apartment shes staying in. I go up... And it's the exact same apartment i used to stay in with the girl who owned the building.
Campus Tour
[rebelmouse-image 18353211 is_animated_gif=I lived in a campus house, a BIG campus house. It had four huge bedrooms, two stories, full basement... it was a party house. We are sitting around getting high, drinking and playing guitar hero and we get a knock at the door. I was in the other room, and for some reason my good friends extremely dense brother answers the door (??) while holding a bong (???????).
The knocker was this really amped older guy with like TEN F^CKING KIDS. I think he was giving them a tour of campus, they looked high school age and were all wearing similar colors. He says something along the lines of "Hey! I'm Dan! I used to live here back when I was in college in the 80's! I was hoping I could show these kids what it was like!" and before anyone can stop idiot brother he just blurts out "YA SURE COME ON IN MAN!"
I walked in in the middle of this and didn't have time to stop him, but it ended up being fine aside from a little awkward. This guy (who seemed like a bit of a fuddy duddy at first glance) comes in, doesn't seem to notice any of the drugs or alcohol, the kids shuffle in and stand there awkwardly as he tells them stories like "Oh yeah that's where we set the couch on fire..." and what not. The whole thing was over pretty quickly.
And a house rule was made that no one besides a roommate answers the fucking door.
Naked In Her House
[rebelmouse-image 18353212 is_animated_gif=My ex lived in the house that my family rented when we first moved to the area. The first time she came out to eat with the family, i just haaaaad to mention that we had all been naked in her house. We dated for over a year.
Current Boyfriend
[rebelmouse-image 18348568 is_animated_gif=My current boyfriend lives in the house my childhood best friend lived in. He gave me his address and i knew the street, obviously, but the house number didn't ring any bells. It wasn't until i got outside that I realized he lived in that house. I didn't mention it to him. We had just started seeing each other and I didn't want him to be weirded out. Then I asked to use the bathroom, but didn't ask for where it was just sort of went. When I came back he was confused and asked if I found the bathroom ok. I just went:
"Oh... yeah I used to be in this house a lot as a kid."
Dad Loved Coming To Visit
[rebelmouse-image 18353213 is_animated_gif=This kind of happened to me. I went to the same university as my parents did. They were there in the mid-late 60's while I was there in the early 2000's. I was looking for a place to rent and my dad's old house was listed, so I actually moved in. He LOVED coming to my rental when him and my mom visited because it was still kind of the same set up he knew.
Reduced My Mom To Tears
[rebelmouse-image 18353214 is_animated_gif=My mother grew up on a farm outside of our town. It was a nice place, from her memories, with a lot of land.
I saw a friend who's a realtor now, whose family had bought the place from my grandpa and grandma, listing the property for sale and providing lots of pics and drone footage. The state of the house, which had obviously fallen into severe disrepair over the years since HIS family had left it, reduced my mom to tears.
Heartbreaking
[rebelmouse-image 18353216 is_animated_gif=I toured a house I grew up in. It was a very nice Victorian with beautiful wood features and a grand chandelier. Well they tore all that out, ripped out the secret passage in the back, busted the 10 ft by 7ft window to replace it with cheap Home Depot ones, replaced the grand staircase with a cheapo kit one, and tons of other stuff. Was very heartbreaking.
Experiencing The Remodel
[rebelmouse-image 18353217 is_animated_gif=About 3 years ago, we upgraded out of our apartment. We moved to our home, but maintained ownership of the apartment. So we remodeled the whole thing, and set it up for airBnB.
So about 2 months ago, we decided to try living in the apartment again, just for a week to experience the "new" remodeled apartment...
It felt meh. Kind of nostalgic at first. We quickly remembered all the little nooks and crannies and settled pretty fast. Honestly, we disliked having to be mindful of making noise again. We were glad when we left again.
The Pizza Oven
[rebelmouse-image 18353218 is_animated_gif=A friend of mine moved in to her childhood home about ten years after they left. Her parents had rented the place for 15 years, but the owners were selling it off so they had to move out. Cut to 10 years later. She's now an adult looking for a new place to move into. It showed up on the market for rent. She applied, thinking it would be funny and she got it!
Some renovations had been done and it had been repainted. The pizza oven her dad built was still in the backyard, along with all the graffiti that had been done in the garage over the years they were living there.
Sneaking Was Easy
[rebelmouse-image 18353219 is_animated_gif=I met a girl who lived in my old childhood house, didn't realize why the address was so familiar until I got there. Made sneaking around the house from her parents way easier because I already knew the layout and what parts of the floors make noise????????
H/T: Reddit
We all have those friends who do extremely well for themselves. They're rich, and they know it... and everyone else knows it too.
They go on expensive vacations and buy the latest and greatest in technology. They want for nothing and always seem to have the means to go out or buy something on a whim.
However, we may also know someone who can do all of those things but doesn't. These are the people who are just as wealthy as those who flaunt their money (maybe even wealthier) but are subtle about it.
They live modest lives, rarely, if ever, talk about money, and never make it obvious they have money.
Sometimes, they even try to do the opposite -- make it seem like they are middle class.
However, no matter how hard they try, there are few subtle, but tell-tale, signs that they are rich.
Redditors are revealing what those signs are.
It all started when Redditor ues1bredevasked:
"What's a non-obvious sign someone is rich?"
Travel Light
"They don’t have luggage when taking a flight."
"So many wealthy people have multiple homes with separate wardrobes at each. To just jump on a plane with no carry on bags must be a dream lol"
– Just-My-Pinion
This Is Off The Rack, I Promise
"They wear very nice clothing without any brand identification."
– BobbyB90220
"this is kind of funny. I knew someone whose family was new rich and he would go to lengths to buy brands that he could remove the brand tags because he didn’t want people to know what brands he wore."
– Pochusaurus
Money Talks, People Don't
"Most of the time, they will stay quiet about money, but never balk when presented with a bill"
"They will be very selective in those they choose to be friends with, for various legal reasons."
– veleriphon
"I had a close friend and I never realized he was from a wealthy family until he died. He told me that his father and brother lived in another state and ran a moving company, so I pictured a two guys and a truck type of company. When I looked up his father to send condolences after my friend's death, I learned that the company operated out of multiple states and is worth millions."
– haloarh
In A Rich Kid's World
"I went to high school with the offspring of millionaires and billionaires and something that I always noticed was how close sibling groups are. It's because they exist in the same space in life, they understand what that means, and they don't have to worry about each others intentions (unless they plan to Macbeth each other)."
"But then also, if you manage to become friends with someone then you kind of get absorbed by the whole sibling group. They're all kinda like "well ok, clearly he's ok.""
– throwawaysmetoo
Basic Human Kindness
"In my experience as a waiter in a fine dining establishment, they treat you like a normal f*cking human."
"Not sure if my boss coined the term, but a "100k millionaire" will treat you like you're just "the help" and make you feel like less of a person..."
– ImNotAFatKid
Ivy League Brain?
"Went to a good university but is kind of dumb"
– BjornBeetleBorg
"I went to private prep schools all my life. I'm doing this just to see what people say. But in reality, first hand, this is so unbelievably accurate I can't even tell you. I did a paper for my economics class in college about how wealth plays into elite university admissions."
"And first hand, I've seen many friends go Ivy who wouldn't even get into state schools based on test scores"
– ues1bredev
Stuff Or No Stuff?
"Minimalist homes. I don't know why...but rich people like the simple aesthetic which honestly doesn't feel homey. They'd rather live with very few things."
– Inevitable_snow_gal
"It is because they can go buy anything they need, so no need to have anything on hand in the home."
– Helicopter0
"I don't get this, if I was rich I'd have so many fun things in my house like fancy lamps and sh*t"
– ism659
"When you have several houses and probably a house sized yacht you have to spread your stuff around"
– SigmaBallsLol
"Part of this is just a lack of clutter because they have ample hidden storage."
– AltaDK
Only On TV
"If they wear a monocle and a top hat?"
– More-Escape3704
"And when shocked they drop their monocle and say "well I never!""
– Chromattix
That's The Dream
"They're too young to be retired, yet they don't seem to go to work"
– Mental_Task9156
"That is telltale."
"Retired early. So, you are correct, don’t work. But truthfully we just work at different things now. We work on the house. We actually DO a lot of it ourselves. We work on growing the money for our children and grandchildren. We think of it as “family money” and treat it as such. We have helped our adult children when they truly need it. We don’t squander. We worked too hard for it."
– Alarming_Honey5015
Stealth Mode
"Real generational wealth keeps an extremely low profile."
"They have no digital footprint. They actually pay people to keep information about them off the internet, and out of any publications."
"They will keep a low profile, driving cars that blend in. Nice, reliable vehicles, but nothing too flashy."
– fifercurator
I Won't Talk About It
"They are quiet when the discussion is about cost of living pressures, and will deflect the questions from themselves and/or nudge the conversation into a different direction"
– hdhdhdhdzjursx
"This works both sides, depending on "who's in the circle"... Poorer/Richer than the group sign"
– Cautious_Bicycle_494
"I do this for the exact opposite reason though"
– Domhausen
Opening Nuts
"Doesn't bother with the pistachios that are hard to open."
– altheasman
"That’s where the true wealth shines."
"Pre-shelled pistachios."
– FILTER_OUT_T_D
Experience The World
"Casually having expensive hobbies. Stuff like sailing, skiing, and golfing. Especially in areas where those activities aren’t as accessible and if they’ve been doing it for a long time. You live in the Midwest but you’ve been surfing since you were 10? Probably rich."
– belowthemask42
Don't Touch The Readable Artwork!
"I used to have a running buddy who was very rich. For me, the non-obvious sign were the books on his bookcase. They weren't books to be read. They were investments. He told me once that if somebody tried to rob his place, they might go for the big TV, but they should go for the bookshelf."
– rueguard
Honestly, those would be what I'd buy if I was rich!
Do you have any telltale signs we should be on the lookout for? Let us know in the comment below.
Often, best friends can be the most important people in your life. They are the person you can call if you need someone to talk to at 2 AM; the ones that will keep your secrets, support even your most convoluted aspirations, and help you with whatever you need, even if they think it's crazy.
However, not all friendships, even those with your best friends, last forever.
Sometimes, friendships end naturally, as the two people grow apart. Other times, the friendship ends because one party did something malicious or made an irreparable mistake.
Redditors have plenty of stories of those kinds of friendship enders, and are ready to share.
It all started when Redditor salad_knife asked:
"What ended your friendship with a former best friend?"
A Lender Bee
"Asked to borrow money (~$3000) and told me not to ask for what, not because they needed help and trusted me but because I “had a decent job and could spare some”. Badgered me that I needed to send this money within 24 hours and kept repetitively asking when the money was ready. I was worried it was a medical emergency so I insisted they tell me why. No response except for “hurry up with the money.” Turns out they got scammed but that ended our friendship really quickly…money ruins relationships…fast."
"Edit: wow I’m sorry to hear all of you having similar experiences. Thanks for hearing me out."
– icanmakeyoufamous
"Never lend money to a friend, unless you're willing to lose the money or the friend, possibly both."
– shayanrc
The Truth Hurts
"His wife cheated on him. I was the bad guy for trying to let him know."
– Wyrdbro
"This is actually fairly standard. If you're a true friend you have to tell your friend that he/she is being cheated on. But you have to go into it knowing that it might be you being kicked to the curb."
– DancesWithTrout
Be Kind
"Bullying, basically."
"I realized that all that "good-natured ribbing" over time was really more malicious than good natured, and that I was the outlet for his own insecurities."
– travismc51
"He wasn't a "best friend" because my actual best friend would never do this to someone. But we were in a friend group in high school where the psychopath alpha threw a rock at me and broke my front tooth."
"We've had a few run ins since and each time it has ended with physical altercations."
"I was 25 in 2016 and this guy was like, "Hey Travis, does anyone here even like you?" and I was shocked that the teen dynamic was still happening."
– travismc51
Mama Bear
"Went on a mini-vaca (was supposed to be 4 days) with my best friend in 2021 to NJ, she brought her (then) 8yr old son, I brought my (then) 4 yr old daughter. Her son was so disrespectful, swearing, nasty attitude and so mean to my daughter the entire trip. The last straw was on the morning of the 3rd day when he ripped a box of cereal out of my daughter's hand, she started crying and he slapped her across her head. I tried disciplining him and my friend blew up at me and proceeded to DEFEND her son, as she called my daughter a "whiny baby". We started arguing, I packed our bags and said we're leaving. I drove 4 hours home without saying a single word to her or her son. Got to her house, threw her bags on her front lawn and peeled out of her driveway."
– Leesh_26
"You’re a better person than me. I would have left her and her little monster to find their own way home."
– Lorie614
"Sounds like how my Mom ended things with her friend. She had a son that was 3-4 years younger than me so we became friends by default. Honestly, I just tolerated him because was a foul mouthed little instigator whose Mom let him get away with everything and never disciplined him."
"One summer day we had all just gotten back from going somewhere, I had gotten myself in trouble with Mom and was given a time out (which back in the ‘80s was “sit your a** right there and don’t move”) on the front porch while our moms went inside."
"He proceeded to get my toy cars out, and while I’m sitting there he starts throwing them at me and is calling me “a**hole” with every throw. I’d had enough with being pelted and threw one back. And he screamed his head off and started bawling. His mom came out of the house, scooped him up, yelled at me and took off in her car."
"My mom asked me what happened and I told her. She didn’t blame me for not taking it, and called up his mom to explain everything. She wouldn’t hear it, hung up on my mom and that was it."
– Storyteller678
Little Things
"Lots of little sh*t that eventually just pissed me off enough to where I told him to F off."
"For example, 7-8 years ago, he bought 15 tickets for a midnight premier of Jurassic World for our entire friends group to attend."
"The day of the show, he texted me to tell me that he forgot to buy "my" ticket, so I couldn't go. Of the 15 he bought, how did he decide it was "my" ticket that he didn't buy? Turns out, he gave my ticket to a girl he met the week prior so he could take her with instead."
"That was just one of many things where he f*cked me."
"It's all truly minor stuff like that, but when you have 100 minor things, it becomes clear that they aren't actually your friend anymore."
– alwaysmyfault
Betrayed
"It was my last year in a country I previously lived in and at the time it was during summer vacation where we normally spend it in our home country. We had to cut our vacation short because we got a phone call telling us that our house had gotten broken into and robbed. We came back and on that day and he was talking to me telling me he saw cops by our house and he hopes everything is OK. It was horrible with everything stolen, furniture destroyed, closets torn down and fully emptied. My family decided to accelerate the transfer from that country and there was that. A year later he messages me a long e-mail explaining how sorry he was and that he was responsible for it and that his friends were the perpetrators and that he knew who did it but didn’t want to expose them. When we showed the police the e-mail and they questioned him it turned out he was part of that group as well."
– JustSayGGBro
She's In, You're Out
"Renting an apartment together."
"NEVER live with friends, folks. BECOME friends with people you live with."
– spooli
"Ugggh. Perhaps you can’t win"
"I live with two former-strangers who seemed cool when I moved in. We all got along fairly well, not BFFs but well enough to call them friends. We would go on hiking trips and occasionally do stuff around town together. It was nice. One of them had planned to move out to find a place with his girlfriend, but they could not find a place they liked so instead of him moving out she is moving in and he is “forcing me” to move out so they have more space."
"I put forcing in quotes because I have every legal right to stay in my home but apparently that does not matter to him, so I just “have to leave”. I don’t, of course, but who wants to live with someone who will betray your friendship as soon as it benefits him. So… now I am looking to move in with a friend. Not a long-time best friend, but someone I already know and like. I figured it’s better than meeting someone totally new and judging if they are good people in the 20 minutes you tour the place… but really I’ve lost a lot of trust in people from this experience."
"I generally assume people who are nice, cool, rational - will continue to act that way in the future. Well..."
– generic-work-account
Dropping Out
"Choosing men over her family and close friends, disappearing to another state at the drop of a hat with no way to be contacted, oh and meth."
– Baggle-Me-Fingies
"My former best friend also chose men, especially toxic men over her friends and family’s relationships."
– DontpunchDonkeys
Ghosted
"My best friend (kinda my only friend) stopped talking to me from one day to another. Never was able to get in contact with him again. Didn't respond to calls or texts, wasn't home when I showed up, nothing."
"I still don't know if I did something wrong or what his motivation was."
"It's been just over 4 years now. Still sucks at times."
– Captain_Meekus
"I had a really good friend that I met in Grade 8 and we started Grade 9 and she gave me the cold shoulder, one word answers to questions, and wouldn’t look at me. I ended up phoning her one day after school and asking her what I had done wrong and she told me “nothing”. The friendship ended and it always bugged me that someone could just turn cold and like a stranger. It really sucks and leaves an everlasting impression. She never reached out to me again except to try and add me on Facebook way after high school had ended. I never accepted the request."
– hill-top
"Sometimes people want to move on and leave their past and it's their right. I had a 20 year friend do this to me. But thinking back....signs were all there. I mean way way back. I was the loyal one, he was the pr*ck, but I was a pr*ck too. We weren't friends I don't think. Friends don't compete; friends uplift each other."
– Tarrolis
It's always hard when a friendship ends, even if you're the one who wanted to end it.
However, every relationship teaches you something, and bad friendships can open you up for a great one!
Every town has a secret.
Secrets, lies, and darkness run rampant everywhere... if you look closely enough.
The only thing worse than the secret is the cover-up.
The way people scramble to hide facts and keep truths hidden is masterful and scary.
Redditor j_breezy_ wanted to discuss what sinister tales cities and towns have to tell, so they asked:
"What’s your small town trying to cover up?"
Secrets, secrets, secrets... all towns have them.
All people have them.
The Land
Fox Death GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphy"There's a lively discussion about whether or not to repurpose land from an abandoned cemetery by exhuming those interred there and reburying them elsewhere. A commercial developer wants to build condos on land currently occupied by the cemetery."
Back2Bach
Do It Right The First Time...
"The city attempted to seize land to lay piping down without paying for it or permission, force homeowners to maintain it, and then force the homeowners to pay for the work and a large hook-up fee. It caused a huge ruckus, and the city was forced to go through the proper procedures to buy the land, lay the pipes, and fix and pay for any damages caused by the pipe laying."
"You see most folks in that area of town had septic tanks. The city wanted to charge more people for utilities so basically went around the voters to force the pipes through, claiming the people on the back of the properties wanted to be connected to the city. This wasn’t true and they faced a few dozen lawsuits because they fraudulently condemned septic tanks to force people onto the city line."
"My family ended up helping force the city to negotiate and do things properly. The stupid part of all of this, if they had just done it right the first time, they would have saved millions in labor, experts, and lawsuits and next to nobody would have cared."
Rachel1578
'Red Flagged'
"Not trying to necessarily 'cover it up' but the fire department doesn’t have an engine and the township board has not approved any of the ones that have been submitted to get a 'new' engine (not brand new cause those are expensive but ones that are useable). The board also thinks that the department doesn’t need to have safe gear."
"They’ve also said that the trucks do not need repairs and this has been going on for awhile, which has cause the issue of the engine being 'red flagged' (meaning it had to be taken out of commission). My father in law is the fire chief and my other half is on the department."
Next-Rutabaga-5060
The Mystery
"That the water in an area is clearly causing 'mysterious brain disease' where people just like... suddenly can't walk. I put 'mysterious brain disease' in quotes because a google search will tell you it's cyanobacteria, and the area has a giant plant that is clearly dumping stuff in the water to cause these issues."
"But the entire province's government just shrugged their shoulders and said 'wow that's weird, too bad all the cases have nothing in common!' (They all are from this one area of the world reporting this) and moved on with our lives. Here's the WIKI PAGE because it's big enough news that it gets it's own wiki page I guess: Mysterious Brain Disease"
River_tamm
Wasted
half life tech GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphy"Radioactive waste. Port Hope, Ontario. Cameco AKA Eldorado Nuclear (The people who processed the uranium used for the nuclear bombs in WW2) used to bury the waste all over town or send it straight into lake Ontario. Years/billions of dollars later and the problem still isn't solved."
Ro7ard
How many towns are toxic wastelands? It's a disgrace.
Marshed
"I’ve got a few…"
"The Quakers leased a large piece of land to glass makers for centuries. The land is basically in a marsh. As the Industrial Revolution took off, the manufacturing methods caused significant pollution. The large corporations that manufactured there never really updated the methods to comply with EPA."
"The site has been seeping chemicals into the watershed for a very long time. Just up the river is one of the first chemical production sites for DuPont. They dumped directly into the river. The old guys in the area talk about trucking thousands of barrels out of the site and dumping them into lakes, gravel pits, and quarries."
Jamescovey
Eminent Domain...
"Not a small town by any stretch of the imagination, but I live in a poor midsized city bordering a larger city, which has the full spectrum. They keep building stadiums, amusement parks, etc here. The city pulls eminent domain on several square blocks, runs everyone who lives there out, and gives the land to a developer for almost nothing."
"Then they waive all property and sales tax for several decades, longer than the facility will be in use. Almost nobody here votes, the few that do are unaware of the tax waivers, so it keeps going on despite the fact that there's literally no benefit to the city or the city government."
"We have higher taxes than our neighbor, but no public transit, way worse roads, and regular problems with power and water. But the city council and mayor are rich as f**k. I'm sure that's got nothing to do with it."
PM_ME_YOUR_FERNET
True Crime
"This is a sad one to me. There was an older couple here who ran a halfway house for troubled kids who’d recently gotten out of juvie, they fostered a few as well. They were loved in the community, wonderful people."
"One of them had an older brother who was a gangbanger in the nearest big city. During a visit, he snuck his 15 year old younger bro a handgun. Younger bro ended up holding up a local gas station and killed three people."
"One of them was my friend’s cousin."
"The foster parents lost whatever credentials they needed to do what they did, the kids went back into the system, and the giant house has been abandoned since around 2009."
KimBass2
A Dead End
"The fact that it's slowly dying, and has been for the last 10+ years. No amount of downtown renovation on the mom and pop craft shops or new fast food and cheap retail stores can change the fact that all the big industrial companies left town and there has been no attempt to replace them and no job opportunities other than... the fast food, cheap retail stores and mom and pop craft shops."
"This town (the whole county, really) is a dead end. Also, the tap water has WAY too much chlorine and other garbage in it and 9 times out of 10 your laundry will end up getting bleach stains. That's been a complaint for 20 years or more."
ZormkidFrobozz
Good Lord
"About 10 years ago a lot of homeless people disappeared and when the police did the investigation they found out a guy was kidnapping and eating those people. Police found his hideout and found a half eaten body and bones from another person. People don't like to talk about it but everyone knows what happened."
Deb_Mack
Some places have just too many secrets.
Do you have any some town secrets to share? Let us know in the comments below.
What people deem appropriate to say in public these days can be shocking.
I know that we all have to vent and share, but you may want to reign in a few thoughts before speaking.
I'm not entirely sure that confessing to crimes and plotting deaths is basic chit chat.
But what do I know?
Everyone is loose with their thoughts today, others be damned.
But don't be shocked if someone calls the police just from chatter over an espresso.
Redditor Phantom_Balls wanted to hear about all the horrible things they've been told in conversation, so they asked:
"What’s the most disturbing thing someone has told you casually?"
Disturbing conversation is just part of dating.
That's why I'm single.
The Criminal
"Dude who ran the local pizza shop had a few drinks one night and mentioned that the reason they immigrated to the US was that his dad, an older dude who was always sitting in the corner of the restaurant reading, had strangled a dude to death in a bar fight and they had to GTFO of their home country to avoid prosecution/retribution."
mejok
No Chance
"16 year old kid on meth at a youth homeless shelter I was at talked about how his dad beat his mom to death. He spoke like he was talking about any other old thing. I’ve not felt so bad for someone before then. He was given no chance at life and he was just a kid."
skippymcflippy2
The Weather
"I am a hairdresser so I hear lots of crazy sh*t but the one that sticks out to me is from a woman, I had been doing her hair for years and who was in her 70s. I hadn’t seen her in a few months which I found weird since she came in weekly but then she shows up one day with long wild hair. I told her I had missed her and it was great to see her again."
"She looks me straight in the face and casually says 'Oh my son drown at the beach a few months ago when we were on vacation and then I had a mental breakdown so they sent me to a mental institute for a while.'"
"Then she just started talking about the the weather like it was the most normal thing ever to say. I also still did her hair for a few years after that until she passed away and she never said anything about that again or acted off. Just so disturbing but I guess losing a child can make you a bit crazy."
Poctah
Cadavers
"My parents divorced when I was a toddler. Afterwards, my mother had a string of boyfriends. Most of them were decent guys, but the last guy she dated before she walked out of my life entirely was clearly a psychopath. He was a Vietnam vet, an army medic. He would tell us how he and his fellow students in med school would get drunk then sneak into where they kept the cadavers after hours and do things with them, like electro shock them, put on music and dance with them, etc."
"He was cracking up laughing reminiscing about it. Keep in mind, too, that he told me this the first time I met him. I was 10. He mentioned this while we having dinner together one night."
TheBoomExpress
The Family
"I knew a woman in college who’s brother was murdered (he was having an affair with a married woman), then her parents were driving to the town where the funeral was to be held and they were killed in a car accident. The woman lost an entire family in a matter of days in two separate incidents."
wyoflyboy68
"I had dinner last night with my bf’s friend and his gf. His gf is super sweet and we bonded over a lot of similarities. She casually dropped last night that her mom died 6 years ago, her dad died 360 days after that, and her brother died shortly after. I had NO idea how to respond."
isweedglutenfree
Losing everyone can drive anyone off the rails.
The Rabbit
"A friend of mine was pet-sitting my rabbit (she had foster rabbits and two guinea pigs of her own). When I went to pick up my rabbit, I noticed one of the guinea pigs was missing. When I asked where he was, she casually proceeded to tell me that he was sick, but she didn't really feel like taking him to the vet, so she put him in her freezer and left him there to die. She said she knew he was dead when he stopped running around and making noise in there. Suffice to say, she never watched my rabbit again."
L00kAlive25
The 12th Hole
"Playing golf (it was a golf outing) with one of my younger commercial lenders (I was regional president at the time) when he admitted to fabricating financial statements to get loans approved. He did this while we were walking to the green on the 12th hole. As we continued to play golf I explained to him that he will be terminated and will likely go to jail. His network credentials and building access was cut before we finished golf. I terminated him in the parking lot. He eventually went to jail."
-Economist-
These are some harrowing things to overhear! We might need some secondhand therapy.
Have you ever overheard something truly unbelievable? Let us know in the comments below.