Parents Break Down The Exact Moment They Realized Their Kids Were Spoiled
Image by Mote Oo Education from Pixabay |
There really are some outrageously entitled people out in the world. It feels like everyone is obsessed with living the life of a Kardashian, and that obsession, is rotting a lot of humanity.
I use to wait tables in a high end restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, very close to the fashion district. Can you imagine the the type of spoiled nonsense I've witnessed? I've seen behavior that would shock Miranda Priestly herself.
When I see people acting in such ways I'm always curious about how in the world these people became this way. Like, who raised you? Did no one ever slap you around? I'll volunteer.
And what do your parents think about their parenting skills? Because I have a few thoughts.
Redditoru/pleasantvalleyroadwanted parents out there to fess up about the "humans" they've unleashed on the world, by asking:
Parents of reddit, when did you realize you had spoiled your child(ren) to the point that they would need serious help to not grow up an entitled jerk? And did you make changes to how you parent from that point forward?
Rule number one in life...
"You are entitled to nothing!"
Money does not make you better and this isn't your world that the rest of us are merely guests in. Just some mantras to begin with.
$$$
kim kardashian school GIFGiphy"Stopped giving money so they had to get a job to have the things they wanted. Helped a lot."
Breaking the Cycle
"Having been abused and neglected as a child, I vowed not to make the same mistake with my own kid. I made a bunch of different ones instead! I didn't discipline here enough, because the only kind of discipline I knew was physical abuse and I refused to do that. In trying to do better I went in the opposite direction, and by the time she was about four years old she was a spoiled, tyrannical brat."
"My husband had worked long hours and wasn't home a lot, and she usually behaved well for him so he was largely ignorant of what was going on. He eventually got permission to work from home a couple days a week and that's when he realized how bad things were. He gently took me aside and pointed out that a four year old should not be screaming at their parents after having been asked to perform a simple task."
"I got therapy to help work through my own issues, and together my husband and I came up with a strategy that allowed me to discipline our daughter without physical punishment. (It took a few tries before we found a strategy that worked.) Then covid happened and now my husband works from home four days a week, which has helped immensely. Our daughter is still spoiled, but her behavior has improved a lot over the last few years to the point that she's usually pleasant to be around, lol. She and I are both a work in progress, but so far the whole family is doing better."
Wonder Woman
"I started a relationship with a wonderful woman who puts everyone else first. She has a heart of gold and is the sweetest person I have met. However, this desire to make everyone happy is not how you parent children. She has a moderately autistic child who is 15 and another child who is 13. She created an environment where they rely on her for everything. The 13 yo can't even make himself toast."
"The 15 yo did whatever he wanted because she was more concerned about him being happy than being independent. So far, I've gotten the child with autism to wear underwear, stop peeing anywhere he wants, stop abusing his mom, to begin feeding himself finger foods, and in general, to listen if we ask him to do something. I need to work on the youngest one to start making himself food and to eat something other than just frozen chicken strips and french fries."
The Oldest
"My husband had this realization a couple of weeks ago about his oldest. He was shocked when we were at the store and I said no to our toddler, he said ok and didn't whine, I praised him for listening and at that moment my husband was like Holy crap, I think he's more confident and independent than his teen sister, I done effed up with her, haven't I? I just shrugged."
"I told him it's not too late, he just need to keep working on it and not feel guilty about the past. Most people didn't expect a 20 some year old guy to step up and take care of a kid by himself, now that he's older he knows better and going forward can work on building a more positive relationship with his oldest kid which I believe will be helpful to her and might even encourage the confidence and independence she'll need one day. But I'm no expert our kid is very young and most days behaves like all toddlers do 😅."
The Son
Fathers Day Dad GIF by GIPHY Studios OriginalsGiphy"I realised that, because my daughter was so difficult (I have since found out she has ADHD and Autism, like me her Mum), I was letting my Son away with so much more than I would her."
"It was my fiancé that pointed out to me that I was letting him walk all over me for an easy life so I could focus on my youngest and we have made huge changes in the way we discipline him and as a result he is back to the delightful young man he was in the earlier days. I owe a lot to my fiancé actually!"
Rule number 2...
Parents, don't be afraid to parent. Don't try to heal your wounds by allowing a new generation to just do whatever comes into their minds. Raise decent humans, not make-up versions of you.
Tapped Out
sad scream queens GIFGiphy"My daughter was throwing a fit that her bottle of water was not the brand she wanted so someone asked her why she didn't just drink tap water. Her response was, "what's tap water?" She's 10."
The Limit
"Would have to be when my daughter was 15. I set up credit card account for her, set the limit to $500 and told her the card was only for emergencies, such as if she was out somewhere and needed an Uber home. Got the bill the first month, the card had been run to it's limit, $125 at a beauty salon, $200 at various clothing stores and multiple fast food runs."
"So I sit her down and say "Didn't I tell you this card was for emergencies?" She looked me in the eye and calmly said, "Yes, and that's all I used it for." I reply, "And getting your hair done and a sale at Hot Topic are emergencies?!?" She replies, "Yes for someone my age, they are." Needless to say her credit card was quickly revoked."
- Dervrak
Oh Mama...
"Not one of those parents. But my mom never learned. She has spoiled my younger sister since she was a toddler. Sister is now in her mid 40's, and is still an entitled b*tch. To make things even better; my mother has been the child care provider (free childcare) for all three of my sister's kids from the time each was born. So now. Not only are my nieces and nephew being raised by a narcissistic mom. But by their grandmother, that made their mom that way in the first place."
"The last Christmas we went to their house, which was years ago now since it was THAT BAD. All three kids were in various stages of meltdowns because they didn't get what they wanted. And that was the year the kids got brand new iPhones. The oldest was 9. The middle was 7. And the youngest was 5. It's funny listening to our mom be confused about how they are all spoiled brats."
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Potty
"I wouldn't say I spoiled her myself, I traveled a lot and just wasn't there for my daughter as much as I should've been. My ex wife, my mom, my MiL all spoiled the hell out of my daughter. I came to the realization after my divorce. I had my daughter for the weekend. She was 4.5 at this point. Not potty trained yet because god forbid she did something that was different."
"I remember sitting on the floor, trying to get her to use the potty and she's just yelling at me that she wants her diapers back. When she went back to her mother's house I get a phone call from my ex, yelling at me for trying to make her use the potty when she wasn't ready."
"My daughter was 4.5 years old! At that point I knew. Did some research, called a behavior specialist and started to get her on the right track. I love her and she's a pretty amazing child. She's still spoiled as hell. I can only do so much with the time I have with her."
Product Placement
Billy Porter Reaction GIF by MOODMANGiphy"She bullied kids for not having Gucci, supreme, other designer brands, and the latest apple products."
Bad Cousins
"I am so thankful that I grew up watching my auntie mess up so much with my cousins. They were so vile because she allowed them to be. She would ask them what they wanted for breakfast lunch or dinner and they would each choose something different from each other, then when she had cooked it and served them they decided they wanted something else, this would go on and on until about 4 meals had been dumped."
"My kids help me choose the weekly meals but there is no faffing, they eat or they don't but if they don't finish at least the vedge and 1 other thing then they don't get anything else or pudding. My cousins used to scream that they wanted stuff from every shop we went in, full on paddy in the middle of the store until she gave in. The first time my oldest tried this I calmly dragged him round the shop screaming whilst I put everything in the basket back then picked him up and walked home without getting anything my other two boys learnt off their brother's mistake. My cousins would run riot anytime we were out of the house running into roads, my auntie screaming like a banshee."
"My boys were on reins from the start, then once they proved they could hold hands without darting the reins were taken off then eventually they could walk next to me without holding hands, we used the traffic lights game so they could run ahead and the moment I said stop they calmly waited until I caught up. Everything I did when they were small has made them absolutely amazing kids/teenagers now. I have had people commenting on how well behaved and how helpful and polite my babies are and I must admit I do look at them every now and then amazed at how I could be so blessed to have 3 absolutely amazing beautiful boys that I absolutely adore."
"Before anyone says that I don't know what it's like with a child with a disability (the normal response I get when I blame the parents for bad behaviour) my middle boy is autistic and dyspraxic with a mental delay and health problems, my youngest is also autistic but undiagnosed because he doesn't need extra help like my middle boy does. They are now 14, 13 and 11 and we have a fantastic relationship, all 3 are happy and healthy to me that's a win as a parent."
Screams
"Not a parent but a sibling. I'm the oldest of 3. My youngest sibling is 4 and he will walk around demanding everything from both of his parents. His dad will give him whatever he wants and our mom will either ignore my brother or yell at him. The middle kid, my sister who is 13 btw, will throw a screaming fit whenever she doesn't get what she wants."
"And my mom retaliates by screaming back at her, grounding her for a certain amount of time, and then just forgets about it. Meaning my sister just continues to do whatever she wants. When I go to tell my mom that my sister is still grounded she will just get frustrated with me and ignore me."
"Neither my mom or my brothers did do anything to try and change how either of my siblings act. They think I'm the spoiled one bc I've got severe mental problems and have no motivation for anything, so when I sleep in late bc I can't get up they yell at me for being lazy. My mom yelled at me the other day for asking to go to therapy once a week instead of every other week."
Siblings
"I'm not a parent, but rather the oldest sibling. I have to do a lot of the stuff around the house because my mother is a single mother who works nights and sleeps during the day and my 2 siblings don't help at all and they make big messes and my sister, which is the youngest and has microcephaly, gets pretty much whatever she wants and gives me an attitude and my brother is a snob, but he's getting better."
"My mom and dad are split and they cannot come to terms with anything but I tell my mom it's probably best for them to go live with him because his wife is more strict and they would get on track, plus there they have more siblings that aren't as "mean" as me."
"baby"
excited bad seed GIF by Kim's ConvenienceGiphy"My first was an only child for over a decade. Whatever he wanted he got"
"I had no problem with this since he was my only "baby." I did not realize the damage until I got pregnant again and he had a hard time accepting the new reality of his life. He fought hard to go against it. It took lots of patience, love and therapy for him to understand having a sibling could be great as he is loved as much as his new sibling. Today he is the most loving, caring big brother ever."
The 9 Year Old
"When I realized I was an 'enabler' to my 9 yr old son. He was always difficult and would refuse to go to school, clean up, shower or do anything I would ask of him. All he did was ask me for toys and I would give in, using it as a bribe for him to go to school or start listening etc."
"This went on his whole life. It was getting worse till I realized that my buying him toys was just a patch on a deeper issue, which was him suffering from anxiety and depression. I just hated seeing him so sad or angry, and loved his happy face when he got a new toy."
"A year ago I took him to a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with anxiety and depression. He's been on meds ever since, and has barely asked for toys, is happy, goes to school and is a pleasure to be around. I swear to God, if I didn't get him diagnosed and carried on as his enabler, I don't know where he would be as a teen or adult."
The Younger One
"Not my kid, but my youngest brother my parents never spoiled me and my older brother because they weren't very financially stable until they had their third kid and me and the oldest spent majority of our childhood at our grandparents while our parents worked."
"After my mam had the third she stopped working because my dad owned his own business and we became really well off (british middle class) and then they had the fourth kid my youngest brother who is 4 now and my mam spends all her time with him and #3 they only noticed how spoiled he was about Christmas last year."
"He gets everything he wants and kicks off whenever he gets punished even if its so much as "you cant play on your xbox for the rest of the day" and now they need to take him to camhs (kids mental health service in the uk) because although he's only four he's become so destructive and stuck up already and its an actual issue."
Motor Issues
"I got a new car at the end of last year when my daughter was almost 15. I kept my old one (2011 Buick Enclave) for several months thinking it would probably make a good first car for her. When I mentioned it to her, she literally said "Nope, I'm not going to drive that thing" in the most embarrassingly entitled way. So I sold it."
"And now rather than a free old car, she's going to have to buy her very own old car (and pay for the insurance). Thankfully she has a job and some time to save her pennies, but she's learning the hard way that my offer was pretty generous and her snotty attitude was all it took for me to rescind it."
NO!
snl spraying GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"With the pandemia, and having to be at home all the time, we bought a lot of things to our 4 year old (books, a trampoline, some toys). One day he got super upset because he wanted something and we said no. We decided we'll give him gifts only on his birthday, children's day and Christmas."
- Lis_9
Nasty Little Fool
"Not a parent (not that old) but a family friend's kid. The little fool is like 9 and is generally more of an a**hole than I am at 17 and am very pissed. He regularly talks crap to people who are more than twice as old, physically harms other kids his age (not seriously but come on) and acts very spoiled the drop of a hat. And his parents complain "idk how he got so spoiled," duh dummy its kinda your fault."
- Maanavdv
#nevergonnastopme
Cute GIFGiphy"I bought mine what ever toy she wanted, let her pretty much own the back yard, pampered her with her with treats. She's also a dog sooooo... yeah going to continue spoiling her. #nevergonnastopme."
See there, a whole lot of people need a good role model to set them straight. Again, I happily volunteer. I'm not saying parenting is easy, but a ton of you can certainly do better. For the world's sake.
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Employees At Fancy Hotels Divulge Their Best Secrets
Reddit user akumamatata8080 asked: 'People who work at super fancy hotels, what kind of stuff happens that management doesn’t want people to know about?'
Most of us who have not worked in hospitality have dreamed of having a nice getaway for a weekend, or staying in a top-rated hotel, and relaxing in one of its best suites.
But those who have worked in hospitality are ready to point out some of the unexpected features and oddities that circulate around these fancier accommodations.
Redditor akumamatata8080 asked:
"People who work at super fancy hotels, what kind of stuff happens that management doesn't want people to know about?"
Cross-Contamination
"During housekeeping, hotels use different colored cloths to wipe your drinking glasses, cutlery, toilets, and sinks to avoid contamination. They just didn’t bother separating these cloths after wiping and moving to the next room."
- curry-sauce
The Secret Lives of Guests
"I did valet at an upscale hotel in Southern Florida, and the number of times I parked luxury vehicles with drugs haphazardly or precariously stowed in obvious places always blew me away."
"Not surprisingly, those guests were great tippers as they learned who to trust."
- lazerayfraser
Attention to Detail
"We take notes on your reservation profile. Everything from anniversary information to favorite cocktails and foods. We add notes to pass along to other staff."
- dez_navi
Four-Legged Stowaways
"$2k per night and this place has a serious rat problem."
- prof_dynamite
"Could be worse. My hotel has silly rats."
- snapwillow
What in the Mortuary
"It's pretty common to have a dead guest. There's a standard procedure for it and we take care of it quietly."
- Why_am_I_here033
Casino Funds
"I have a pretty interesting one. We know criminal enterprises have funded casinos in the past. I worked at Revel Casino (now Ocean) in Atlantic City before and after its opening."
"One thing they kept mentioning in our onboarding was that the triads were funding the casino. I thought it was super strange that these execs were just openly telling brand new hires."
- hornet_Critical
Like-New Beds
"I only work as a housekeeper at a regular four-star Hotel, but probably about 25% of people either bleed or leave s**t stains on the beds. It's truly atrocious how disgusting people are, especially when they know someone else is cleaning it up. Even the wealthier guests."
"And the best tippers are the cleanest people."
"If someone fully s**t on the bed and used towels to wipe, drank heavily and puked on the carpet in multiple places, and clogged the toilet, that person will not tip at all."
"But the person who barely used the full bed and didn't use the shower at all and was super clean and polite, now that's a good tipper."
- kpo987
Endless Supply of Gossip
"We turn a blind eye to drug dealers more often than you think. They hardly complain and usually pre-pay huge bonds happily. Also, we don't give a s**t if you're having an affair."
- NotTheGary_JustGary
Odd Celebrity Stories
"I worked cooking at an ultra-exclusive resort in Utah ($3k-$12k/night)."
"Nothing that exciting happened in my year there. I found a bottle in the tallboy (large fridge) labeled 'Kristen Belle's Breastmilk. DO NOT USE.'"
"I had put in my two weeks' notice and was really drunk on a day off, and made a post on Facebook about how Gordon Ramsay was coming and I hoped he wasn't filming 'Kitchen Nightmares' with us. I was fired within 24 hours, lol (laughing out loud). I did get to cook fish tacos for him and his family, though, and I heard he complimented the dinner kitchen crew directly (partially open kitchen), which is cool."
- OM3N1R
Poor Cruise Care
"A good friend of mine is a pilot. It's his first professional job. He flies an air ambulance. It's not typically picking up unstable patients in need of urgent care. More like repositioning stable patients."
"The vast majority of people he flies come from the cruise ship industry. If you get sick or injured on a cruise ship, they will dump you at the next port. It doesn't matter if the port doesn't have the kind of medical help you need. They just need you off the ship."
"It very well is up to you to arrange a private flight with medical crew to reposition you from Tobago to Tampa to get the medical help you really need."
- DoctFaustus
Collecting Stories
"We had an entire wing of the hotel infested with bedbugs. They just move through the walls from one room to the next. We waged a war of attrition that took years, and cost a lot of money, but we never stopped renting the rooms."
"We had one old guy though who was rich, divorced several times over, he just retired in the hotel. He had a room on the ground level right around the corner from the hotel bar. I don't know what he paid for it, but it wasn't cheap, and he furnished his own room."
"Everyone on staff knew his habits, knew his drink, knew when to leave him alone or when he wanted to chat. The funniest thing was, after he passed, he'd pre-booked his memorial at a totally different hotel. He liked his privacy, I guess. RIP, Hal."
- machuitzil
Bed Bug Horror Stories
"I worked cheap hotels and this is super common; even heat treating rooms professionally and quarantining nearby rooms they would always pop up somewhere weeks later through an air duct."
"When I check in to any motel or hotel, the first thing I do before bringing my bag in is lift the mattress and check the seams for bed bugs or blood spots. You can learn how from Youtube if you don't get first-hand experience."
"The crazy thing is if they spent a few thousand to bag every mattress they'd cut down on it significantly."
- galkasmash
Wild Stories
"I worked in room service at a very chic hotel in Miami. One guest requested that a specific waitress (not a room service worker) always deliver him food. Not exactly sure what went on in there, but he tipped her with a big bag of weed each time, which she would promptly bring back to share with the room service staff."
"I can confirm that the concierge will get you WHATEVER you want..."
"We had a local couple, who were staying with us to avoid being served for a lawsuit. We weren't allowed to say that they were staying there. The police eventually showed up for them."
"There were several times when guests would come to the front desk claiming the maids had stolen something from their room. They would be irate, demanding we call the police. Every. Single. Time. They found the item either in their luggage or car or their travel companions had moved/packed the item."
"One gentleman claimed that he forgot his very expensive camera in his room. My manager pulled up a video that showed him packing up his car, placing the camera on top of the car, and driving off without realizing it."
- SnarkyVamp
Questionable Christmas Bonus
"I used to work in accounts receivable for a couple of luxury hotels that were owned by the same LLC. We would open blocks of rooms for GENERIC SPORTS SEASON about eight months in advance."
"Due to high demand, these reservations had to be a two-day FRI, SAT stay. The payment was made in full (450-800 depending on room type). Refunds were available only if you canceled a month before the arrival date."
"When I first started in the position, I discovered $63,000 worth of reservations that had been canceled on time but were never refunded."
"I showed it to my manager, an absolutely incompetent woman who couldn't check in a guest if she needed to, she got back to me after discussing it with one of the owners."
"I can't remember how exactly she put it but I was told to just forget the matter and not to mention it to anyone. I got a $500 dollar cash Christmas bonus that year."
- Weirda**mustache
Secret Security
"Not a hotel employee, but associated with a popular convention that everyone would recognize."
"The convention attendees get so out of control that the hotel will only host the convention if they have a private security force."
"Since the private security isn't law enforcement or licensed, they do pretty much whatever it takes to keep trouble out of the public eye. Mostly it's locking people up in rooms or escorting them out of town, but they can get rough at times."
"But none of the convention attendees know they are there and the hotel staff pretends they don't see them. Even those who run afoul of them don't know exactly who it was that grabbed them."
- rusty0123
While everyone might think that staying at a fancy hotel would be great fun, it may not be such an enjoyable experience for those who work there. With all kinds of questionable behaviors performed by guests, not to mention the messes that need to be cleaned up, that fancy hotel may not feel so fancy for very long.
While we may not all enjoy studying history, we all have certain types of stories that interest us, and one that seems to catch everyone's attention are the hard-to-believe, almost far-fetched tales.
Interestingly enough, history is full of these stories, leaving many to believe that reality is truly stranger than fiction.
Redditor ThrowAwayMyLife2341 asked:
"What are some events in recorded history that are extremely hard to believe, but without a doubt actually happened?"
Second Chance Flight
"My colleague was on the plane to Hawaii where the entire top of the plane ripped off… they flew the rest of the way without any overhead."
"They landed and everyone walked off. It's absolutely insane to see the pictures. Talk about being given a second chance."
- SkydivingSquid
Running Late for the Olympics
"In 1908, Russia showed up 12 days late to the Olympics because the world switched calendars while they did not."
- drailCA
"To accommodate the Russian team, some events were rescheduled so that the Russian athletes could participate. This led to a longer duration for those Olympics, which lasted from April 27 to October 31, making it the longest Olympic Games in history."
- parkerjh
An Inescapable War
"The Battle of Bull Run, one of the first battles of the US Civil War, occurred on and around Wilmer McClean's farm in Northern Virginia. Not wanting to live surrounded by war, McClean and his family moved to Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia."
"The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was the last significant battle between Union and Confederate forces. The Confederates signed the surrender order in Wilmer's sitting room."
"It is said that the Civil War started on Wilmer's farm and ended in his sitting room."
- csudebate
History of Bombings
"There was a Japanese man called Tsutomu Yamaguchi who was on his way to work in Hiroshima in 1945, when he saw falling through the sky, two miles from where he stood, what ultimately turned out to be the atomic bomb."
"He had just enough time to take cover in a ditch as the bomb detonated and miraculously he survived. Somehow the Hiroshima train station was still operational and so Yamaguchi, battered, bombed and bruised, decided to board a train to his family home so he could recover... in Nagasaki."
"Three days later, Yamaguchi was called into work to explain what he saw, which he did. At work, as he began to tell the story of what happened, the second bomb dropped."
"It was the reinforced concrete walls around him that saved him this time, and Yamaguchi quickly ran to find his wife and son. Ground temperatures in the city reached 4,000°C and radioactive rain poured down."
"The family's home was destroyed, but Yamaguchi's wife and son had thankfully been out shopping - looking for burn ointment for Yamaguchi, when the bomb fell, and they'd survived."
"Despite this ordeal of having survived two nuclear explosions and subsequent radiation exposure, Yamaguchi went on to live till 93 yrs of age. He died in 2010 after being recognized by the Japanese government as a 'nijyuu hibakusha,' or 'twice-bombed person.'"
- Voodizzy_
A Monumental Fall
"Nicholas Alkemade fell 18,000 feet without a parachute from a burning plane in 1944 and suffered no serious injury."
- hazps
"I see how the snow cover helped but how he didn’t get skewered by pine trees or break a single bone is shocking."
- switchbladeeatworld
"Imagine what he was thinking when he got up from that fall. What kind of crazy thoughts were running through his head."
- Lankey_Craig
"'Yeah, no one is gonna believe this one.'"
- Pennywise626
"Germans almost didn't, after finding him in just a flight suit but no parachute. They initially pegged him as a spy who'd been dropped behind their lines and had stashed his chute and gear. As such, he was likely to be executed."
"Except Alkemade was so insistent his captors went and found the wreckage of his aircraft, with the burnt remains of his chute stashed behind his gun position. Germans told him the news and shared vodka with him to celebrate."
- JohnnyJohnCowboyMan
Mass Dance in France
"That time everyone died of a dancing sickness where they danced themselves to death in France. Mass hysteria."
- DavinaCole
"St. Vitus’ Dance, as it is called, still doesn’t have a definitely known cause."
"New research as of 2021 shows Sydenham chorea as the most likely cause."
- ENFJPLinguaphile
The Return of the Sun
"The Battle of Halys."
"In roughly 6th century BC, the Medes and the Lydians were at war. The war had lasted for six years and climaxed at the Battle of Halys."
"During the battle, a solar eclipse began. Both sides believed that the Gods were angry at their long and bloody war, and were taking the sun away from them."
"They declared peace that day, and the sun was returned. But yeah, a war ended because of a solar eclipse."
- TheRogueBear
A Spicy Battle
"The Nutmeg Wars. The Dutch and the English went to war THREE times over nutmeg, which at the time was only known to grow on one South Pacific island."
- missoularedhead
Entertaining Prisoners
"Theodore Roosevelt found his boat was stolen. So he built a new boat, tracked the thieves down, and arrested them."
"He then proceeded to walk them multiple days, without sleeping, so they could receive a trial instead of just shooting them on the spot."
"It was in the middle of a harsh winter so he didn’t handcuff them (for fear they’d get frostbite), so instead, he just kept himself awake by reading Tolstoy with a gun trained on them the whole trek."
- Another_Road
"That's only the twenty-second most Teddy thing I've ever read, but a new one, which makes me love it."
- Beard_of_Valor
"I am always half convinced that Teddy Roosevelt was not a real person. No one could have been that absolutely wild and done that many things, but there is just too much overwhelming proof."
- LeSilverKitsune
Christmas Day 1914
"Christmas day 1914. The truce on the WW1 battlefields."
"It shows the humanity inside everyone, but they were able to wake up the next day and go straight back to war, kill the men that they’d spent a sincere day with."
- PotterWhoLock01
Honoring Everyone's Dead
"I can't remember where I saw/heard the story of Christmas Day 1914 (I think from the BBC), but I believe from one of the last-living Tommys, who said that whilst they were forced to start shooting at each other, the majority of shots intentionally missed, from both sides of no man's land."
"I believe it was also the same man who said, in reference to Remembrance Day, to also remember the Germans. That stuck with me. They were like our lads; sent out to fight a war for war's sake, forced to do unspeakable things to other men because some higher-up told them they had to."
- The_Gene_Genie
"Australia is a bit like this with regard to the Turks on ANZAC Day."
"One of the main ceremonies is reading the letter from Turkish commander and later founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk:"
"'Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours...'"
"'You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons, as well.'"
- Zebidee
The Medical Church
"In 1944, during the allied invasion of France, 2 American paramedics, Ken Moore and Robert Wright, 101st Airborne, saved around 80 soldiers of both sides, allied and axis. They set themselves up in a church, had only what was in their first aid kits and medic bags, and had a strict no-gun policy."
"The church was almost destroyed by a mortar shell, but it didn’t go off. It was almost destroyed again, due to friendly fire. Ken Moore would risk his life by venturing out of the church and finding injured soldiers, and both medics stayed behind at the church, even though the rest of their forces had to retreat. Wright took on the responsibility of looking after the soldiers."
"The church still stands in Angoville-au-Plain, France, the blood-stained pews are still there, and a broken tile from the mortar shell was never fixed, to honor the legacy of these men."
"This is very simplified, and probably inaccurate in a few ways, but it is still an incredible story."
- JustACanadianGuy07
A Lack of Perspective
"In 1903, The New York Times published an article about flying machines. They stated that it would take the combined efforts of all Mathematicians and mechanics 1-to-10 million years for powered flight to be achieved."
"Anyway, about nine weeks later, the Wright brothers achieved powered flight for the first time."
"They were also overly cynical after. In 1910 they said that flight would only ever be for billionaires, of course, we had commercial flights by around the 60s achievable for many."
- Joe_PM2804
The Year Without Summer
"1816, The Year Without Summer."
- theassassintherapist
"I'm a big classic horror fan, so I'm kinda glad this happened. Indirectly lead to Mary Shelley writing 'Frankenstein.'"
- UniversalHammer71
An Astronomical Life Cycle
"Halley's Comet appeared in the sky when Mark Twain was born in 1835."
"The comet moves in a seventy-five or seventy-six-year orbit, and, as it neared Earth once again, Twain said, 'I came in with Halley’s Comet and I expect to go out with it.'"
"Sure enough, he died on April 21, 1910, just as the comet made its next pass within sight of Earth."
- SuvenPan
While history may not be everyone's favorite subject, it'd be really hard to believe if someone didn't find at least one of these hard-to-believe occurrences interesting.
Anyone raising children can attest to the difficult challenges involved with being a parent.
And despite every intention of getting it right by doing the best job they can, not everyone is a perfect at being mom or dad.
Hopefully, people will be able to look back on their childhood and recognize that everything their folks did for them was all out of love.
If only that was the case.
Unfortunately, there are those who were never meant to be parents and have scarred their children with bad memories.
Curious to hear from strangers about their experiences growing up, Redditor Deviant55 asked:
"What is something that your parents did that you will never forgive them for?"
Emotional scars run deep for the Redditors here sharing their horrific stories.
Staged Christmas Robbery
"Close to Christmas when I was around 10/11 years old, I was home alone when there was a knock on the door. I answered and it was one of my mum's acquaintances."
"He told me that he'd spoken to my mum and needed to come in to pick some stuff up, so off he went upstairs and proceeded to steal all of the Christmas presents that were destined to be placed under the tree for my brother, sister and I on Christmas morning."
"I was oblivious to what the stuff that needed to be picked up was."
"Mum comes home 30 minutes later, asks if anybody came round whilst she was out."
"Proud as punch I say 'yup, Craig came round and picked the stuff up you told him about.'"
"YOU LET HIM IN THE HOUSE?!?"
'oh crap'
"Mum runs upstairs...."
'he's stolen all of your Christmas presents, you'll have nothing for Christmas now!'
"High drama, anger and profound guilt filled the entire house for the remainder of the night and a while after."
"About 6 months later I overheard a conversation I shouldn't have and figured out that there were no Christmas presents to start with, the whole thing was a setup."
"The household budget didn't stretch to maintaining existence, sating a rampaging heroin addiction AND Christmas presents."
"So yeah, my mum concocted a perfect plan to hide the lack of Christmas presents, remove herself from any perceived blame and let a 10 year old boy think that he had ruined Christmas."
"Those were the days!"
– greenear_1
Losing A Pet
"My mum sold my dog while I was at work. When I came home and was looking for them she told me that someone came to see him today and that they loved and took him. He went to a good home, but I never got to even say goodbye."
– Fenrizian
A Recurring Ailmemt
"My mom left my bro and I behind to go be a methhead while lying to people about having cancer. I've confronted her, told her to show proof of the cancer. Nothing. She gets cancer every five to ten years without going to the doctors."
– ShazBishop
Forced To Referee
"Probably that I ended up being the mediator between my mom and dad as they went through a divorce and one side was being frustrating to communicate with than the other."
"So I in part had to act as a go between information and nagging them to communicate for stuff like medical bills and insurance and school payment stuff from 7-15 or so."
– Hellsoul0
Warning: These involve stories of abuse.
Step-parent get a bad rap because of these unfit parental figures.
Fake Public Persona
"Similar situation. Mom remarried a verbally and physically abusive DBag. The real kicker is him being a teacher at the local High School and loved by the community. He would choke us and throw us around and tell us we would amount to nothing. Even his own children."
"My mom wouldn’t really do anything about it and we complained to my dad. It really messed me and my brother up mentally. Drove us both into deep depression and anxiety as we got into high school. I ended up being a lot bigger than my step dad and he eventually stopped acting that way because I started standing up to him. Now he is pretty chill but I’ll never forgive him for that, or my Mom. My Mom denies denies denies that it was her fault."
– yaboymilky
These examples only reflect a small number of traumatic experiences contributed by Redditors who were brave enough to share their stories.
There were several hundred more examples, showing that it was not uncommon for people to grow up in unloving households.
Hopefully, they have each found a way to find peace and recognize their courage as they realized they were not alone in their trauma based on this emotional thread.
Be it for clothes, household appliances, or food, sometimes you know you can be one hundred percent confident with certain brands or companies when shopping that you will be getting a quality product.
Unfortunately, this goes both ways.
Some companies have a reputation for exclusively selling and manufacturing low-quality products.
One would think that these companies might reflect on poor sales and bad customer feedback, and attempt to improve their brand with each passing year.
Unfortunately, even if they still get items on the shelf, reviews on Amazon and elsewhere still seem to remain at two stars or less.
"What companies shamelessly make sh*t products, year after year?"
False Advertising
"Holiday gift basket companies."
"I once felt obliged to buy one from a lady I worked with and it cost around fifty dollars."
"She had a brochure with various baskets and I chose one that was assorted candies and had a decorative wooden rocking horse."
"When it arrived it was just a bag of candy that I could have paid 35 cents for at a gas station."- Artai55a
30 rock gift basket GIFGiphySave A Few Cents For Inferior Quality
"It’s a throwback, but rose art for sure."
"They just decided their destiny was to sit on the shelf next to Crayola and get purchased by folks who are balling on a budget or cheap."
"No goals for product improvement at all."
"Just 'hey, wanna save three bucks?'"- Lucetti
Improvements Unlikely In This Digital Age
"Any printer manufacturer."- gbeegz
"HP printers."
"I have a $600 fancy laser HP printer we got six or seven years ago, and they have succeeded in updating the software to the point that nothing works anymore."
"I used to be able to print over Wi-Fi easily, scan over Wi-Fi, etc and now none of it works."
"I haven't changed any of my network hardware, things are hardwired."
"Also, I used to be able to use aftermarket ink cartridges and the printer has started giving me sh*t about it."
"I really like HP's computers, but their printers are a bunch of bullsh*t."
"Oh and their auto-update software won't go away even though I keep disabling/ removing it, and it installs software updates that breaks the current functions."- Bazirker
It's The Customer Service You Pay For...
"Oracle."
"Products intentionally sh*tty so they can make most of their money selling consulting just to make it, sort of, work."- s-starr
One Reason Sports Should Always Be Played Outside
"EA sports titles."- Stitches_Ito
Even Carrie Bradshaw Doesn't Like Shoe Shopping THAT Much...
"Doc Martens."
"My old pair from 20 years ago are still going strong, any new pair I get craps out after a year."- korar67
Doc Martens Shoes GIF by SORANGiphyScreaming For Ice Cream... And Not In A Good Way...
"Breyers and their 'Frozen Dairy Dessert' nonsense."
"Before 2006, Breyers ice cream was really good!"
"I loved their coffee ice cream!"
"And then they changed their formula and made the mess they have now to the point that they can't even legally call it ice cream anymore."
"Does anyone remember those old Breyers commercials where the kid tries to read the ingredients on an inferior product and struggles to pronounce things like 'mono & diglycerides' and then easily reads Breyers ingredients as 'milk, sugar, and cream?'"
"What a joke."
"Unilever loves to buy brands people trust for quality products and use that trusted brand name to get people to buy lower quality for higher prices."
"It seriously has the same consistency as Cool Whip now."
"And Unilever has the audacity to say that this is what customers asked for!"- akittyafterus
Who Exactly Is His Audience?
"If lockpickinglawyer is anything to go on its lock-companies."- knatten555
Literally Selling Sh*t...
"Home Depot has been selling manure since its founding in 1978."
"In fact, a quick search of the website found they proudly sell over 178 manure products."- atomicscateboard
The Original "Catfishers"...
"Mad Catz got away with murder for years."- Einar_47
Apple Is Listening...
"Samsung appliances."
"F*CK YOUR FIRMWARE UPDATE ON THE FRIDGE!"
"Also those plastic trays keep breaking and are sh*t quality."
"My 1987 Maytag is still cranking the coldest brews on earth and hasn't been serviced ever in its life and sits in a dark room in my basement since he was demoted from the kitchen for being out of fashion by my wife."- zendor666
Customers Weren't Looking For An Authentic "Frontier" Experience...
"Frontier Airlines."
"Sh*t experience, customer service, quality, reliability, comfort, convenience and fees."- Micklikesmonkeys
There are those who always like to give second chances whenever possible.
When it comes to spending a little more money for a more reliable product, however, customers should rightfully be one and done.