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People Break Down The Most Unexplainable Thing They've Ever Experienced

Life is full of little moments of WTF. We have them daily - finding a lost something in a place you know you checked a bunch of times before, that awareness that you've done this before, thinking an intense thought and having the person next to you respond to it as if you spoke it aloud.


I like to call them "mundane mysteries" - the stuff that probably has an explanation, isn't anything too unusual like being abducted by aliens or sharing a McShake with Bigfoot because the ice cream machine was actually working.

One Reddit user asked:

What's something unexplainable that you've experienced?

And yeah ... mundane mysteries, fam. Just because there weren't any aliens, cryptids, or a working ice cream machine involved doesn't mke these moments any less mysterious.

Keep your eyes peeled for one where Reddit users suggested a potential explanation - I'm honestly not sure if the idea that all that could be caused by something so simple makes it better or worse.


Tap, Tap, Tap

I was stopped for the night at a truck stop in the desert, 60 miles east of El Paso,TX. This truck stop only has lights around the store and fuel pumps, the truck parking area is only lit by any headlights that are left on. I get to bed at about 2200 thinking it'll be a nice quiet night.

At around 0230 I wake up to a tapping on my truck like someone was trying to wake me up. I ignore it and try to go back to sleep, but the tapping gets louder and louder and eventually turns into the sound similar to someone beating their hand on my door and cab.

I get out of bed and open the curtains to the side I heard the sound coming from and there was nothing there. I open the curtains on the other side, and nothing there either. There was no trucks on either side of me. So I throw my shoes on, grab my machete and flashlight and go outside to see what the hell was going on.


There was nothing, no foot prints, no paw prints, absolutely nothing there.

I get back in my truck and turn on my side markers, so I'm somewhat illuminated. Close the doors, lock them, and run my seat belts through the door handle and buckle them in, to add essentially another lock to both doors.

I go back to bed, and wake up at 0630. The sun is starting to come out, so I go inside for some coffee, and breakfast before heading out. Other truck drivers were in there, and experienced the same thing i did that night. With no answers as to what it was, I finish my breakfast and nope the f*ck outta there.

Sh*t gets crazy at night in the desert.

- Bearded_Trucker

Black Cat

When I was around 9 years old I found two plush toys that looked like black cats. They were 2nd hand and were the only two in the shop. I am a cat freak and adored them. But so did my younger siblings (twins).

My mum just gave them to my siblings, and told me to stop whining. I was livid. I had bought them for my self with change I had busked for. So unfair. Then, out of nowhere a third cat appeared. Exact match.

My and my older sister even went back to the shop and the owner just thought we were crazy. There definitely never was a third cat.

To this day, I have no idea how that happened.

My mum isn't the thoughtful kind and she kind of always acted like a d!ck when I was upset, so I am 100% sure she didn't try and get one for me to cheer me up or whatever.

I just think that some guardian angel got me the cat. Or well, I want to believe :)

- ovviocontousaegetta

The Uniform Policy

engaged brown sugar GIF Giphy

A few weeks before my grandad died in April, I started wearing 2 rings I had inherited from a family member on a chain around my neck. I've had them for years and always wear them when I feel like I need a bit of luck or support. Makes me feel as if someone is looking out for me even though I don't really believe in the afterlife or the supernatural.

I knew he was sick so I'd not long started wearing them again, only I'd had to put them on a chain this time because the uniform policy in work meant I couldn't wear them as I usually did on my finger. The clasp on the chain can be quite stiff to open, so I'd just throw it over my head with the rings attached because it's long enough to not have to open, so the rings and the chain had been together for a few weeks at this point without me ever opening the clasp, because there was no need.

So I was in work with another colleague about 2 feet away from me. I had the rings tucked well down my shirt (hanging right around heart level), my uniform zipped up over them, a plastic apron and my gloves on (I'm a nurse). I was busy doing something so my hands weren't anywhere near the rings, and I wasn't even thinking about them. There wasn't any way I could've touched them or got them caught on anything.

Then I felt something cold touch my stomach and the next thing I knew one of the rings had dropped onto the floor. I was confused at how it'd happened and thought maybe the chain had broken (even though it's quite sturdy) and didn't want to lose it, so I took my apron and gloves off and pulled the chain out of my shirt.

The chain was intact and still clasped tightly together. And the other ring was still on it. So somehow, one ring had come cleanly off the chain without the other one falling off, and with the chain still clasped together.

My colleague was just staring at me like WTF, and I'm not really a believer in the supernatural, like I said, so I just cracked a joke saying "I hope that wasn't a sign or someone trying to tell me something!" and laughed it off.

Not 5 mins later I got the call to say my grandad had deteriorated and I needed to come home. I left work that day to care for him and 2 weeks later he died.

I know there's got to be an explanation for it, but part of me doesn't want to know it because the mystery makes me feel like maybe I was actually being looked out for.

I wear the rings on my finger now because I can't shake the feeling that there was something more to that little mystery than the logical side of my brain wants to believe. And f*ck the uniform policy. If anyone calls me out on it I'll tell them a ghost told me to wear them.

- surelyunimportant

The Rattlesnake Prophecy

I was 9 years old and I had a dream that I got home from a friends house, and as I opened the side door, out of the corner of my eye I see a grey rat scamper along the side of my house. Dream me stands there a second just watching it. Then I look down and a rattlesnake was right next to my leg.

Of course I panic and step back, but the snake strikes and bites my leg. I scream and roll around and my leg BURNS, even in the dream it burned. My father comes out and sees me on the ground and I tell him I was bit by a rattlesnake. He rushes me to the hospital.

Time gets real malleable. I don't remember traveling to the hospital or checking in, but I end up on a bed and very distinctly remember getting a couple doses of anti-venom but it is too late. I die, and I see my mother crying while holding my hand. I watch for a few minutes, then I wake up.

Weird nightmare, right? But nothing to freak about.

So I go about my day, play with my friends, and whatnot. When I was walking home that evening, I just randomly though about my dream, so I stopped a bit away from the door and actually looked around where the snake was in the dream.

Motherf*cker was EXACTLY where I dreamt he was and basically staring at me! It never does rattle. Then a f*cking rat goes darting down the side of my house, just like in the dream. I change course and go to the front door instead. I tell my dad about the snake, he goes out and kills it with a shovel.

I haven't had another dream THAT vivid of the future since. Sh!t still freaks me out though.

- damdingashrubbery

McBicycle In The Sky

One time me, my brother and mom were in a McDonalds drive thru getting McFlurrys, and my brother pointed to the sky through the car windshield.

There was a bike in the sky with a man just riding on it, it had balloons floating above it like in Up. All three of us saw it, it wasn't imaginary, although my brother forgot this happened (he was pretty young at the time), me and my mom have not forgot.

- TheChemicalSophie

Bill

When I was 9 or 10, we had a big family reunion at my great aunt's big Victorian house that her family grew up in, which she inherited. I got bored though because there weren't other kids there my age, so I went exploring through the house and found a check writing machine in the upstairs office or library kind of room. I remember the machine was black and gold and had lots of little levers where you'd select the individual numbers then pull down on another lever to stamp the check. I'd put in pieces of paper that were on the desk and look at the numbers stamped on it.

I was playing with that when I very clearly heard another kid in the hallway say "you're not supposed to play with guns, Bill."


My name wasn't Bill, and I wasn't playing with guns. I remember saying "I'm not." Then some moments passed and I got curious about another kid maybe my age being there, so I hopped up and looked into the hallway to find him, but there was nobody there. And nobody around my age downstairs or outside where everybody else was either. I figured at the time it was maybe some neighbor kid who ran out.

I didn't really think about it again until I was 18 or 19 and my mother told me her father (Grandpa Bill, my great aunt's brother who grew up there too) had accidentally shot his friend in that house when he was a kid, when playing with his father's pistol. Then when I was in my 40's, I was driving my great Aunt somewhere (now in her 90's), and I asked where in the house Bill had that accident, and she said in that upstairs office.

I'm not religious, but that just seems too specific. Maybe it's a wild coincidence. I still can't explain it all these years later, and it's the only thing that keeps bugging me in my life.

- kabekew

She Has My Face

I was on public transit one time, and saw someone that was just about the same height as me and looked to have my body type. I just shrugged it off in the moment. As a taller girl with a slightly bigger frame, it's not that rare.

The only seat available was the one directly across from her, so I sat down and put my headphones in. I tend to people watch while I ride to school, so I started to do exactly that. I took a closer look at the girl in front of me, same shade, cut and color hair.

Huh. Weird.

Her head is down so I can't see her face, but when the bell dings to tell that it's the next stop, she looks up. Oh. My. Lord. She has my face!

She looks up at me and blinks twice. Same color eyes. I have very odd eyes, so brown they look black. Her eyes are so brown they look black. She stands up and walks off the bus. I turn to see her go, sure my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Aaand she's gone. it's like she walked off the bus and just fell into a worm hole. I look at the spot we stopped. No girl there. I was creeped out for the entire week.

- Not_your_Average_Rat

Swearing Is A Sin

old lady wtf GIF Giphy

My grandmother was a deeply religious person. Catholic, so she had the fear of God in her. She was nearing the end of her life and was terrified of going to hell. So terrified, she'd have fits of anxiety where she'd cry and pray and shake. I told her of course she'd make it to heaven, God loves her (I'm not religious at all and absolutely abhor the Catholic faith, but for her sake I thought the sentiment would be nice).

She refused to believe me.

But I remembered my mom telling me about a story where this dying woman who told her son she would send him a sign in the form of phrase when she made it to heaven. And when she died, the son eventually got the sign. So I made a deal with grandma: when she made it to heaven, she would send me a sign with the phrase "hot damn, she was right!" Of course she absolutely refused, saying "I can't swear! Swearing is a sin!"

Well, grandma died. I don't know if she ever became less terrified, or if she found peace in her final moments, but she left many heavy hearts behind.

Weeks later, I was walking into a restaurant, and on the door there was a promotional ad for something unsubstantial, and it read "hot darn, she was right!"

- KitKatPattyWhacks

I'm Not Checking

Recently, I was on the couch watching something and I heard a crash from my washer and dryer room. My cat also shot up and looked in the direction of the door. It sounded like a broom fell over, or maybe one of the plastic tubs. Freaked me out as I already don't really like that room in the first place, plus it was very late at night and I live alone. Also because of the pull string door that leads to the creepy ass attic.

Decided I was not going to be like every idiot in a horror movie and investigate what the noise was. I literally sat there on my couch for hours.

The next day, I decided I had enough courage to take a peak and literally saw nothing touched. Both brooms were still propped up against the wall. All the plastic tubs were sitting perfectly. I have no idea what that noise was and I don't really care to find out.

- LoopZoop2

Joshua

As a kid, I had an imaginary friend who I would play with a lot. I had few "real" friends but I was also more of an outcast in daycare and kindergarten so sometimes, that imaginary friend was all I had.

My mother said I'd always describe him as very similar looking. When I was around pre-school age, my mother said we needed to talk about my friend and I said that I'm fine with keeping Joshua around because I was scared of starting school alone.

Her face just froze in shock and she never brought it up again. I didn't realize why until my grandma explained years later that I had a twin brother who didn't make it and my parents were planning on naming him Joshua.

The only logical explanation I have is that I picked it up when I was very little but my grandma said that my parents literally never talked about it because they didn't cope well with the loss at all. It's still very strange.

- CichaelMlifford

Say Thank You

About 9 years ago, I was searching our file cabinet for a document I needed. I had piles of papers all over the bed, searched for an hour, meticulously. Could not find it.

Suddenly, the tv across the room (which is NOT on) makes a clicking noise. I stop what I'm doing, look up and over at the tv. I see nothing out of the ordinary, so I turn back to the pile of papers....and the document I had been searching for is right on top, like it was placed there.

I looked up, said thank you, and put away the papers I didn't need.

- MyLifeIsAZoo14895

The Bathroom Was Breathing

When I was 10-ish my mother, sister and I moved into an apartment. Two bed two bath, but from the start I couldn't handle using the bathroom in the room my sister and I shared. Something just felt wrong in there, like the bathroom was breathing and I was being watched, so I used my mom's. Eventually my sister refused to sleep in our room at all and moved her mattress into the living room.

I got sick a lot during the year we lived there. At night I sometimes woke to the sound of footsteps approaching my bed from the bathroom, and when I would sit up to look the sound always stopped. I begged my sister and her friends to keep the bathroom door closed after coming in to use it, but they'd often forget and I'd wake late at night to a black hole of an open door and that breathing sensation.

Eventually my sister's boyfriend, who often spent the night, told her he sometimes saw shadows looming over my bed at night. My religious grandma visited once, stepped into my room and started speaking tongues. I don't know, it all sounds superstitious and hoaky, but that place messed with me until we moved.

- tillywhacks

Speaking in tongues aside, this sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning.

- brunchwithpoodles

Or mold. That sh*t can be psychoactive. Breathing in mold to the point of hallucinating takes time, like sleeping in a room next to mold.

- aneggshellwhite

100% there was a carbon monoxide/gas leak/mold issue in that room.

- sylverbound

This has some information about what mold can do. Nothing about hallucinations or tongues.. But this source says it can make you hallucinate. Given the bathroom was the creepy room, water damage would be more likely, therefore mold growth isn't out of the question.

- mute-owl

Psst

I stay up late at night very often..usually I just chill, draw and listen to music, etc.

One night I decided to do dishes to make cleaning up eaiser for mum and halfway through, somebody whispered "PSSST!!" in my ear.

I felt my hair fcking move when it happened. I noped out of the kitchen and wouldn't go in it by myself for along time.

- GhostmaneBlackmage

Haunted Housekeeping

I was 12 got into a fight with my mom and her, my sister and my grandmother all left for the store. The living room was a mess and my mom said if I didn't clean it by the time she got back I was getting punished.

Being stubborn I waited until I heard the front door close and left my room to watch TV. No one else was in the house besides me and I wasn't going to clean. I got bored and locked myself back in my room.

I can hear dishes clanking together and or falling onto each other in the drying rack. I heard the front door unlock and was terrified of the beating I was about to receive but my mom came in knocked on my door and gave me a hug and thanked me for cleaning up. I never did I don't know who did.

We had a 3 bedroom apartment everyone who was there left with my mom leaving me completely alone. I don't know who cleaned up, but they saved me from a beating!

- 11220611

Ghost Spiders

I have a friend who is a witch and psychic, the real deal. Not a lot of 'power' but what is there is legitimate and I've seen a few things from her. I'm an agnostic of the supernatural but it's usually something fun to witness. Not this time.

We're having dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant next to a hospice charity drop off center. In the middle of our conversation something grabs her shoulder HARD, pulls her sideways in the booth. She turns white, gets this big fake smile on over her poorly masked freak out.

I'm like WTF was that?

She says they really want to be acknowledged and they know she knows they're there.

I know she's seen stuff before, but was always excited by the experience. Not this time.

I asked "Did you know about the hospice shop next door?"

She's says we need to leave. Now.

I look at her shoulder and finger-shaped welts are rising up like if someone strong grabbed her. I saw it happen and there was nothing that could have done that. We noped the fck outta there like there were ghost spiders.

- JaneAustenKicksAss

McLight Show

While driving home from McDonald's at 2 am with my girlfriend, we were driving down the freeway when I experienced a blinding green light. We weren't near any light sources or near any homes if it was some kind of laser pointer.. we both freaked out in the car.

Later, my girlfriend told me that to her it wasn't a blinding green laser light at all. She saw a giant blue light slowly floating through the car.

- cup_of_diabetes

The Headphones

When I first started playing video games my mom bought my a used turtle beach headset for me. When I used it I heard this guy talking like he was in a war or something. I can't quite explain it but I have no clue why i was able to hear this guy and it was really scary considering I was only like 8.

- albinodj

A Connection With Death

My mother, brother and I all lives with my very elderly, late stage dementia grandpa. My mom was his caretaker and was certified etc. But when my grandfather died, it was just me and my mom that still lived with him.

I distinctly remember waking up at like 4:30-5am randomly, something I very rarely do. I also felt weird, and felt sad. But I felt like a force leading my eyes towards the window. It felt familiar, like it was my grandpa. But I shrugged it off and went back to bed. I woke up a few hours later for school and my mom came in my room and closed my door and told me that my grandfather had died that morning at the same time I had woken up.

My grandpa who loved us all, but was very old school let me know he was leaving when he died, but also put me back to sleep so I didn't have to deal with his passing in the moment.

Apparently, the ambulance, my uncle, and mom were all there through the night, my mom and uncle grieving and my grandfather made sure I didn't see.

I was in highschool at the time. I've never been able to explain it. Its almost like I have a weird connection with death. A similar experience with my dad's passing happened just a couple years later.

I visited my dad with my cousin, she wanted to come with her because my dad had been dealing with his shortcomings poorly, drinking himself into a stupor more often then not doing so. I visit him, I tell him that after my first year of college I was gonna come back and visit him and that I wanted him to be there when I did. However I knew he was going to die. So when I left his house I texted my brother and told him exactly this

"Hey, I don't think dad is gonna be around much longer, come visit him."

Which is out of character for me. My brother visited him that next morning, also out of character for him, and found him dead in his living room. He had died the previous night. Not more than a few hours after I left his house.

Plus he texted my other brother who was a few hours away at the time and told him and he left immediately to come home and my mom told me that something was wrong with my dad and I knew he had died.

- lawlermon

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Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

Keep reading... Show less
Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?