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People Break Down The Most Inoffensive Thing They've Seen Someone Get Offended By

People Break Down The Most Inoffensive Thing They've Seen Someone Get Offended By
Image by chezbeate from Pixabay

Sometimes the things people get offended by really stun me. You’d think some of people are simply out looking for trouble. And for what? Are their lives really so joyless that they need to get their kicks out of annoying people with their imaginary problems? Unfortunately, not everyone is as laid back as we’d like. Do we feel sorry for them? What do we do?

After Redditor Judesa69 asked the online community, “What is the most inoffensive thing that someone got offended by?” people shared stories about some of the people they’ve run into.


“I once got written up...”

I once got written up because a eavesdropping co-worker overheard me talking about my drug use. I'm an insulin dependent diabetic and I was giving another co-worker advice to pass on to her recently diagnosed father.

II_confused

“When I was a kid...”

When I was a kid, a neighbor reported my mother to the authorities because she saw a pack of single-use insulin syringes in the medicine cabinet.

MustacheSmokeScreen

“I told my friend...”

I told my friend that her hair looked cute and she turned toward me and snapped, "So it doesn't look cute all the other days?!"

YouKnowHowIBe

“I used to work...”

I used to work at a clothing store. We had a buy one, get one free sale. An old lady was pissed at me because she didn't understand she had to have 2 items in order to get one free.

Melted

“A woman once...”

A woman once got really, seriously angry with me for pronouncing the 'h' in Amherst.

Headcasenahalf

“Someone found out...”

Someone found out that I'm on the autistic spectrum and was deeply offended that I was not needing basically 24/7 care and supervision like Rain Man. Some days, the greatest challenge of the autism spectrum is condescension.

WARPMIND

“I’ve known people who got angry...”

Back before caller ID was popular, people got a fair bit of wrong numbers.

I've known people who got angry and verbally abused the wrong number caller when the mistake was made clear. I never made sense to me why this was. To be fair, some people would claim 'wrong number' in order to divine some information or for other reasons. But, come on.

AudibleNod

“A substitute teacher...”

A substitute teacher once tried to suspend a Pakistani kid's friends because she thought they were bullying him by calling him a stereotypical name. It was his real, actual, legal name.

Kokodrop

“I told a guy...”

I told a guy I didn't think we would work out because I couldn't match his activity level. When I reminded him I sometimes use a wheelchair he got SUPER offended and actually called me a cripple. I'm just glad he showed his true colors from the beginning so I didn't waste more than a couple weeks on him.

My disability isn't something that should offend anyone.

NerdyLife

“My friend almost got into a fight...”

My friend almost got into a fight because some guy refused to believe that kielbasa is the same as Polish sausage.

Saltnsugar

"I was sitting there reading a book..."

I was sitting there reading a book while a couple of short classmates next to me were trying to get something from a high shelf. I got yelled at by my teacher for not helping them.

So doing nothing was offensive. Great.

supman10100

"Years after I got out of college..."

Years after I got out of college, my younger sister said she was offended that I didn't Snapchat her while I was in school. I had to remind her that Snapchat wasn't invented until a few years after I graduated.

mrfastfinger

"When I was 15..."

When I was 15 I told my mom maybe she would want a better job (she worked in the streets) because we never had any money, we were eating garbage, she was unhappy, etc. I said "I think we'd be better off if you had an stable job, one that you'd like, to have some security" in the softest way I could.

Long story short, I have anxiety now.

r_sugarPlum

"My teacher got mad..."

My teacher got mad that I wore a black shirt to class. She said I looked like a "punk" and I needed to dress more "lady-like."

BisexualSnail

"I casually asked someone..."

I casually asked someone what the tattoo on his arm was, and he got offended and said something along the lines of, "This is a very personal tattoo, I can't believe you just asked that." And didn't give me a response, then stopped talking to me.

ElleLena

"So I moved to a new town..."

So I moved to a new town and worked extra as a mailman. The neighborhood I had my route in were it's own suburb/town about two generations ago, but urban sprawl is a thing so here we are.

One day I got told off by an old lady because someone had written the name of the metropolitan city in the address of her mail instead of the name of their town/neighborhood. The next day I was furiously corrected when I didn't use the proper preposition when referring to the neighborhood.

I don't know if it translates all the way, but it's like being told off because you said someone lived in Manhattan instead of on Manhattan.

hypedstoic

"I had people trying to argue..."

I once got banned from a multitude of subreddits and a moderate amount of hate mail for stating that women are people and people are imperfect. I had people trying to argue that both of those statements were untrue or misleading.

TheNaziSpacePope

"She didn't talk to me..."

Once I simply asked my friend, "Hey you have a little piece of hair sticking up, do you want to borrow my hairbrush before class?"

She didn't talk to me for the rest of the day and was apparently talking trash about me to my other friends.

Top-Indication8416

"I literally brought in a donut..."

I literally brought in a donut for myself and my teacher got offended because it didnt have chocolate sprinkles on it.

bayleefzacki

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Two identical goats stare into the camera while standing in a field.
Photo by Jørgen Håland

When discussing love and relationships, the motto is usually less is more.

But what if there is more of one partner?

Being involved with identical twins can be quite the experience.

Can you really tell them apart?

Is everything identical?

If you're attracted to one, aren't you automatically attracted to the other?

So many questions.

Now we need some answers.

Redditor nicknamesofdaveryder wanted to hear about love and the twin experience, so they asked:

"Redditors who married someone with an identical twin sibling, why are you glad you're not with the other twin instead?"

I've never met a lot of twins, let alone gotten involved with a pair.

I have questions.

Hopefully I get some answers.

Saved

Comedy Central Wink GIF by Drunk HistoryGiphy

"My late husband's twin was a non-functioning alcoholic and my husband wasn’t. My husband says joining the navy was what saved him from going down that road."

iteachag5

Falling Asleep

"Story time! I am an identical twin (we still look so much alike!) and one night I spent the night at her house. She and I fell asleep in the same bed because we were up late talking, etc. Her husband slept on the couch. The next morning my twin went to take a shower and her husband laid down on the bed with me (thinking it was her of course). I jokingly said 'Hey sailor, looking for a little variety?' He shot off the bed and said 'If I was looking for variety, do you think I'd choose you??'"

tanyagal2

The Good Guy And The Other One

"I didn't marry him but I dated an identical twin. His twin's girlfriend and I used to joke around that she got the evil twin. He was just a selfish, messed-up person. One of the benefits of breaking up with my boyfriend was no longer having his twin in my life. Plus, his ex gf and I are still great friends! The good guy was just the lesser evil. She wanted to get as far away from that family as I did. The best thing to come out of those relationships was our friendship."

super-ro

Love Wins

"My dad's an identical twin. People have a hard time distinguishing them, but to my mom and me, they look like two completely different people because of the way they walk/talk/etc. Obviously, my mom only fell in love with this one person. When you love someone it's actually pretty easy to tell identical twins apart."

michaelsgavin

Issues

Threaten Ashley Olsen GIFGiphy

"The other twin has the same personality as I do. We argue readily and are super competitive with each other. We butt heads on a lot of issues."

why_not_send_a_nude

Personality clashes aren't just a twin thing.

It's a human thing.

We can't help ourselves.

Different People

Triplets GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy

"I work with a guy who married an identical triplet, one of the triplets also works with us. I asked him one day if it was weird working with someone who looked just like his wife. He got a little pissed and basically said they are all very different people and he doesn't see much of his wife in her."

LeafMeAlone_99

He's Evil

"We’re not married but known each other since we were 12 and have been together 3 and a half years. His twin is a massive di**head who tried to break us up multiple times, was madly in love with me in his own words, and after 2 years of pursuing me declared I was a terrible person and put him through hell. Because I didn’t break up with his TWIN BROTHER to date him."

xMollyP

Life Choices

"My husband and his twin brother look very different to me, although they are identical and get mistaken for one another all the time. They couldn’t be more different in terms of personality. They have different values and life goals, hobbies, one is introverted and the other is extroverted. If they were two people who didn’t look alike, I would automatically not be attracted to my brother-in-law simply because we are not remotely compatible personality-wise."

"Also they have very different styles. I do not find the way my husband’s twin dresses/grooms his hair attractive. It’s so wild to me when people can’t tell them apart because they couldn’t be more different in my eyes."

lanieeeeeeee

Opposites

"Well, my wife and I have been together for 30 years. She has a 'mirror' twin. Even now, if you don’t know them well or interact frequently you will not be able to tell them apart. They are complete opposites. I married the extrovert, she has never met a stranger, will try anything at least once, and can find a positive aspect in almost everything she encounters, they are also best friends, my wife drags her sister along all the time."

"Once she’s out she enjoys our activities. I love my SIL, all three of them, but so glad I married the one like me. The mirror part even goes for looks, when I see my wife’s reflection I see my SIL, it’s weird sometimes. Also, attitude and personality are everything, I have never been 'attracted' to her twin."

redbonecouchhound

The Look

Sexy Damon Wayans Jr GIF by Global TVGiphy

"I used to date an identical twin. Although I found his brother objectively handsome, I wasn't attracted to him at all. It was cool to directly experience how attraction goes far beyond just the looks."

Liatessa

I've never been intrigued by twins, and now I never will be.

confused man in blue t-shirt

Sander Sammy on Unsplash

My Father was considered a genius.

At 16 he graduated high school as Valedictorian, joined the United States Navy as soon as he turned 17 then was promptly recruited by Admiral Hyman Rickover's team converting the Navy from diesel to nuclear power.

He served as a nuclear and electrical engineer on naval vessels after the conversion project ended, then as a reactor inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after retiring from the Navy.

He also needed a full time babysitter in order to survive. Things like paying bills, buying groceries, feeding himself all escaped him. He lacked any semblance of common sense.

Really smart people doing very unsmart things isn't uncommon.

And sometimes a person is labeled a genius who's really an idiot with good brand marketing.

Keep reading...Show less

Corporations don't get big overnight.

A lot of tough decisions, big wins, and sometimes even bigger losses, go into their growth.

But sometimes companies make mistakes that the public simply cannot let slide, and it can be hard to imagine how the company could stay afloat after the backlash.

Redditor Astro_Shogun asked:

"What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?"

Dang It, Photobucket

"When Photobucket decided to take the whole internet hostage by asking for 400 dollars a year for what was previously a free image storage solution. The move broke years of forum posting and erased a significant portion of the web collective knowledge."

- denpo

"Yup. And now they're holding almost all of my son's childhood photos (some of which I managed to save in other places) hostage."

- KnockMeYourLobes

"Browse any forum thread from the early 2000s and practically all the images are gone because everyone used Photobucket back then. It will be the same way with Reddit whenever Imgur goes under."

- NothingOld7527

So Salesy

"JCPenny doing away with sales and trying to present itself as a more upscale store. Sales immediately plummeted, and they reversed course quickly."

- flyingcircusdog

Cheap Jewelry

"Gerald Ratner said the reason his jewelry company could sell stuff so cheap was because the products were crap. It destroyed the company overnight."

- simplemtbman

Front Wheel Drive

"Ford, in the '80s, tried to replace the aging Fox body Mustang with a front-wheel drive, Mazda-based car. This was pre-internet, but car people got UPSET and deluged Ford with a letter expressing their anger."

"Ford backtracked, kept the Fox body around, and released the vehicle that was going to be the new Mustang as the Probe. It lasted two generations, but the Mustang soldiers on."

- StillN0tATony

Online Only

"Microsoft got roasted when they announced Kinect and always-online were required for the Xbox One. Took all the momentum they had from the 360 era and put them miles behind Sony."

- Jerry_Williams89

Childhood: Destroyed

"Sonic having human teeth."

- LightDash

"I just immediately pictured teeth in a Sonic milkshake and had a horrified reaction before my brain caught up to you meaning the character."

- Rolizas

Questionable Upgrades

"Very recently, T-Mobile. A company that 10 years ago called itself the Uncarrier by making a series of pro-consumer changes to its plans and the previous CEO built almost a sort of cult of fans of the company. Then T-Mobile acquired Sprint and got a new CEO."

"A couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile internal documentation revealed it was going to automatically upgrade customers on old grandfathered plans up to new plans, which were more expensive. Customers would have to call in to opt out of the change. 'They weren’t raising customers’ rates, they were moving them to better plans.'"

"Well, major tech news got ahold of that, and then even some local news stations, and T-Mobile quietly 'clarified' a week later via internal communications that only one percent of their customers would be affected."

- artimaticus8

Coming Together in Hate

"Anyone remember the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad when she solved police brutality?"

- vernon3

"Those moments are precious. There are a few things these days that bring everyone on the Internet together. That was one of those things. We all hated the Pepsi ad that solved police brutality."

"That ad had it all. Pandering, ignorance, arrogance, and talking down to their audience."

- notwoutmyprob

"And a Kardashian."

- Kitchen_action

With Every Purchase

"I couple of years back a local Detroit area car dealership decided the best way to celebrate MLK day was to give away free car alarms with every purchase."

"Nobody liked that."

- graveybrains

A Sale Gone Too Well

"Hoover UK offering two free flights to America if you spend £100 on their products. They anticipated that people would spend a lot more than the minimum required which would cover the approximately £600 value of the tickets."

"When the company was deluged with purchases around the £100 mark, they reneged on the offer, which prompted a very expensive lawsuit. The fallout was so bad that the UK division of the firm was sold to a rival company."

- Live-Dance-2641

New Drink, Who Dis?

"New Coke."

- PeggyWithPhatA**

"After the relations disaster, the public clamored for the decision to be reversed, and Coca-Cola released 'Coke Classic.'"

"Coke Classic soon had an even higher market share than Coke did before the public relations fiasco, and a new theory made the rounds: that Coca-Cola deliberately made these decisions, simply to gain publicity, and increase market share."

"The reaction from Coca-Cola’s executives was, 'We aren’t that smart, and we aren’t that stupid.'"

- Malthus1

A Tweet Turned Sexist

"Burger King stating that 'Women Belong in the Kitchen.' What they were TRYING to say was that they wanted more diversity. People didn't see it that way, and in the end, they had to issue an apology."

- zerbey

The Downfall of an Incredible Publication

"Here’s one there should be a public outcry about."

"Disney bought National Geographic and controls everything it does. This is the last year the iconic magazine will be available. I’m incensed."

- redheadMInerd2

(The writer of this article is equally incensed.)

Predicting the Future

"I feel like whatever YouTube is cooking up lately will be the next one."

- Just_Aioli_1233

"Tech companies sure know how to kill off highly popular and profitable apps, super quick. It’s interesting to watch it happen in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, all losing tons of followers and destroying their own stock."

- Eleanor_of_Accutane

It's easy to see how all of these mistakes resulted in huge backlash, sometimes at the total expense and downfall of the business.

But some of these mistakes were made by companies that are still huge today, and to a certain extent, that's kind of surprising.