Top Stories

People Break Down Their Biggest 'Well, Now I Don't Want To Do It' Experiences

People Break Down Their Biggest 'Well, Now I Don't Want To Do It' Experiences
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Growing up, I was usually responsible for cleaning the kitchen and taking out the trash on trash day. Those were my chores. I knew that. So I did them. But few things would demotivate me more than if I was ordered to do something. Telling me to clean the kitchen when I have no way of proving to you that I was about to go to the kitchen is aggravating.

After Redditor ZOOW33M4M4fk asked the online community, "What was your biggest 'Well, now I don't want to do it' moment?" people shared their stories.


"We're no longer friends."

For my 18th birthday my parents bought me 18 lottery tickets. It's a sort of tradition in our family. Didn't win anything except another three tickets. The day after my party, my best friend and I were out shopping and I decided I wanted to exchange them for the other tickets so we stopped at the nearest gas station. I won $500. As we were leaving I was considering splitting the money with my friend. Until we got in the car and she told me to buy her a new phone. I was silent for a moment out of shock and she added "that money is mine too, I drove here"

I gave her $10 for gas. We're no longer friends.

teenytinybearcub

"While I was at a jeweler's shop..."

While I was at a jeweler's shop buying my ex-girlfriend's engagement ring, she called and was screaming at me for having got the wrong kind of pot roast for a dinner we were hosting. I stood there, listening to her scream and cuss me out and decided I didn't want to do this for the rest of my life. Happily married now to a woman that is way chill and never screams at me on the phone.

BawlsMcGrady

We certainly don't blame this person.

It's truly amazing what being treated that way can do for your clarity. I developed significant self-respect the more I understood that such treatment is not okay. I'm a much happier and healthier person now.

This next one is pretty relatable.

"It has become a common thing..."

My mother always tells me something obvious whenever I try to do something, then immediately starts bragging to anybody nearby that I would've never figured out how to change that tire/wash those dishes/vacuum that rug if she hadn't told me how to do it. It has become a common thing recently to just drop whatever I'm doing and leave it unfinished until she does it herself. I hate having anyone hover over me just so they can treat me like a brainless moron who only exists for their personal amusement.

djb2589

"Some of the best advice..."

Some of the best advice I've been given is "Don't discourage the behavior you want to see."

As a parent, I try to apply it every day with my children - which is hard, because I've always been really sarcastic by nature, even with my friends and loved ones.

SinkTube

So I pretty much stopped..."

A big name trainer came to the barn where I kept my horse. Totally different discipline, but I had absolutely no problem with her and her dozens of students being there.

I happen to be pretty good at certain things that this trainer simply could not do. She was very well known, but not necessarily GOOD at her job. So she had me give her students pointers from time to time. I love all aspects of the sport, and I enjoy working with younger riders, so I gave them pointers. You can see where this is going- before long, I was essentially teaching her students. She was getting paid hundreds of dollars for me to teach her students.

One night, she used my horse for one of her lessons, and got mad at me because her student couldn't ride it properly. Imagine a banjo player trying to squeak out a tune on a clarinet. It's not that the student *COULDN'T* ride it properly; she just didn't know how to finesse the situation. Essentially the trainer thought that since I was working with the student, the student should be able to ride my horse perfectly. Hell, I couldn't ride my horse perfectly.

So I pretty much stopped coming out when I knew they would be there, and if they were there, I stayed away. As much as I loved working with the kids, that ruined it.

DustinMcRevvis

"I like reading..."

Reading. I like reading but the moment my mom/a teacher tells me to read I just don't feel like it anymore.

Prestigious_Active57

That's a shame.

Reading is wonderful! I am immensely grateful to everyone who fostered my interest in reading.

This next one left us gobsmacked.

"My mum and I had both been thinking..."

My mum and I had both been thinking that what with the pandemic, and with how our house is situated so that it's quite visible when entering our village, we should decorate the house more than we normally do for Christmas. Nothing fancy, just a few more lights outside.

Then we got a village-wide email from a very well-meaning lady saying that since 'Christmas is going to be a little bit different this year' she was launching Operation: Light Up [Village] and wanted us all to put extra effort into the Christmas decorations.

We both instantly went off the idea. We'd really wanted to potentially cheer people up on their drives home, but not if this woman was going to think she was the sole factor in making this happen.

We eventually did decorate the house, and even brought some new multicoloured lights to do it, but it was later than usual, just so that we could make sure we weren't doing it at the same time as the Operation.

Mighty_Meerkat_27

"One Christmas..."

One Christmas, I was going to invite the family to gather at our house for a change (instead of at our aunt's home).

But some are vegans, others allergic to all kinds of foods, while still others insist on having certain "traditional" dishes and that the house had to be decorated a particular way, or "it wouldn't feel like Christmas."

In the end, I just gave up and we went to our aunt's house instead - let her deal with all their demands and complaints.

Back2Bach

"I'd have to gather my strength..."

When I'd call my parents, but the first 20 minutes of the phone call would be me unable to get a word in edgeways while they berated me for not calling more often.

Not surprisingly, this made me demotivated to call the next time, because I knew it couldn't ever be a quick call (I'd need to have a lot of time free to allow room for an actual conversation after the bollocking) and I'd feel awful. Who'd have thought that telling someone they're terrible every time you speak to them makes them dread speaking to you?

I'd have to gather my strength before a call--it could never be after a long day or anything because that would be so much harder to take--and prepare a list of what I wanted to talk about so I didn't forget from being so miserable by the time they finished their tirade. It took so much planning and emotional work.

How hard is it to say, "It's great to hear from you! How've you been?" Or at least to question whether all your children avoiding speaking to you might not possibly be your own fault, and try to change that?

FrankSonata

"One day in class..."

This might not be a good example, but I had a good friend in high school, who I hung out with a decent amount. We were pretty close, and shared a lot about our personal lives with each other

One day in class I was sitting with him, his girl, and a few other acquaintances. I asked if he would like to hang out the coming weekend. His response was to laugh and ask if I did ANYTHING other than hang out with him, proceeding to (loudly) explain that he knew I hadn't done anything the previous weekend and if it weren't for him I would just sit at home all the time.

I've never wanted to redact an invitation so strongly.

sad_plankton

"The dozens of times..."

The dozens of times I have come up with a YouTube video idea that I thought was cool late at night only to wake up the next day and think, "Meh, I don't really care anymore."

randomguywnoname

"Made me realize..."

I helped out at my kid's school wherever I could. I wasn't working so I was happy to be rostered in the uniform shop, bake for the cake stalls, supervise the disco and hand out flyers.

School sent out a letter saying parents weren't doing enough to support the school and it was "mandatory" that every parent did four hours of volunteering per year.

Made me realise how much I'd over delivered and how unappreciated my efforts were. Calculated I'd done about 30 years of my mandate and didn't give them a second more of my time after that!

(Yes you read that right, mandatory volunteering).

Smiler_Sal

"Well, as can be expected..."

When I had to get glasses, I also wanted to get contacts, so as to not have to deal with the hassle of glasses. Obviously, putting things in your eyes is unnatural and against all instincts your body has, so they have someone help you learn how to put them in, and they make sure you can get them in and out successfully at least three times before you leave. The woman that was showing me was super unhelpful, and had terrible customer service. I think I was 21, so I know how to regulate myself, and can recognize when certain things happen.

Well, as can be expected, as I was bringing this foreign object close to my eye to put it in, my eye didn't like the idea, and I had to fight my instincts to keep it open. I also had to worry about my eye drying out, as I was moving slowly to avoid poking myself in the eye, or dropping the contact lens, or putting it in there folded or something. This woman, though, was very rude and annoying, and felt the need to keep telling me the same things over and over. "Don't blink. Open your eyes. Put it in."

Yes, I know, I'm aware of how this is supposed to work. No matter how many times I told her I got it, she wouldn't shut up and leave me alone. She kept saying "blink" every time I blinked. "Yes, I know I blinked! It's my own eye, I can feel it!" But she kept on, every single time. I was so pissed off at her. I wanted to just throw the contact back at her and tell her to shut up, but I just kept trying, to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Whiteums

"The following semester..."

I was friends with someone who I had several classes with, but they didn't fully grasp the subject. Since I wanted to help I tutored them for about an hour before every class. I didn't mind since I was helping a friend and the review paid off for me a couple of times. At the end of the semester I needed help in a different class because of a disability I have. The task was light for someone physically able, would take around 10 minutes, and was the difference between the project being done or not. So I asked them and they asked for money. Not even mentioning the tutoring, I offered to buy drinks afterward because it felt weird to just pay someone after giving them so much free help, but they insisted on cash. I declined, didn't finish the project, and told myself that I wasn't going to tutor them again. I just didn't tell them that.

The following semester we had multiple classes together and they still struggled. So I kept my word to myself and watched them fail two classes while dropping a third I wasn't in, but was based on the basic skills I had been tutoring them in in the previous semester so could have helped. They kept hinting at wanting help and I just ignored it. The regained free time was nice and seeing how one-sided our "friendship" had been allowed me some schadenfreude at their failure, but they did get revenge by physically attacking me in a way that targeted my disability at the end of the semester so that sucked.

NeonArlechnnio

This pretty much sums up my own experience with contacts.

It was terrible and the woman at the shop made me so uncomfortable the more she yelled at me. It made me nervous. And being nervous certainly wasn't going to help me put this foreign object into my eye. I stuck with glasses until LASIK a while later.

This next one made us think, Why would you do a thing like that?

"When I was a little kid..."

When I was a little kid, I promised myself that when I grew up, I would make a bowl of cake frosting and just eat the whole bowl, without bothering with the cake part.

capilot

There really is something to be said about being made to do things.

In that scenario, even the things you want to do sound like things you're better off avoiding.

But seriously, I just don't have much of a sweet tooth so the idea of eating cake frosting––just cake frosting––kinda grosses me out.

Have some stories of your own? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

People Break Down The Missing Person Cases That Just Don't Add Up

Reddit user yourlastnames asked: 'what missing persons case is the most confusing / doesn’t add up?'

Content warning: suicide.

There are truly some strange unsolved cases out there, but there's nothing quite like hearing of a person who has vanished as if out of thin air.

While some of these cases have been explained away or even solved, there are some that remain a mystery that truly does not add up, no matter how the puzzle pieces fall.

Curious about these cases, in particular, Redditor yourlastnames asked:

"What missing persons case is the most confusing [to you] or just doesn't add up?"

The Last Ride of Terrance Williams

"Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called 'The Last Ride.'"

"The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, Florida, after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again."

"The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing."

"When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies."

- AlanMercer

Paddy Moriarty and Kellie

"Paddy Moriarty and his dog, Kellie. They went missing in an outback town in Australia with a population of 12 people."

"They were last seen leaving the pub riding his quad bike the one-kilometer distance to his house. He or his dog have never been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance."

- Bigred0762

Susan Powell and Family

"Susan Powell went missing from her home in West Valley, Utah, on December 6, 2009."

"She is presumably dead. Her husband, Josh, was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her."

"Sadly in 2012, Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids."

- AlexisVonTrappe

"This case is so frustrating since his brother and father are both dead too. We’ll never know what happened to Susan, but I’m positive she’s in an old mine shaft somewhere. F**k Josh Powell."

- burittosquirrel

​The Last Call from Brandon Swanson

"Brandon Swanson. He drove into a ditch and called his parents for help. They stayed on the phone with him for 47 minutes while they drove around looking for him."

"They heard him say, 'Oh s**t,' and then the phone went silent. They eventually found his car far away from where he said he was but he was never found."

- kittengoesrawr

"Reading this was absolutely chilling. It seems at first glance that it's most likely he drowned, but that really doesn't make sense because the water was only 10 feet deep and they would have found the body."

"He just suddenly said, 'OH S**T!' and the phone went silent, but he did not hang up. The phone call continued with total silence from his end. What the f**k happened to him?"

- angelposts

Babysitter Mar Lou Bostwick

"Mary Lou Bostwick. She disappeared July 18, 1972, from Waverly, New York. She was dropped off by her dad to babysit at a friend's house. This was also her 16th birthday. Her mom stopped by later with a cake and presents."

"The people in the apartment told her that Mary never showed up. However, her bag was in the residence. Nothing else was ever found."

"There was another girl around the same age, Sharon Coston, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town about a year later. October 1983 in Sayre, Pennsylvania."

"There was a man convicted of that, but he always denied doing anything to Mary. One of the people who testified against him and was given immunity was a suspect in Mary's case. Mary's mom thinks there's a connection, but nothing was ever really found."

"I've sadly never seen anyone cover her disappearance on any of the podcasts or YouTube shows."

- Vamp459

Derek Seehausen of San Diego

​"Derek Seehausen. My friend was dating him at the time of his disappearance, and he was actively planning his future in medicine, and was last seen in San Diego."

"I saw him about two months before he disappeared. Please send any tips."

- Hereforit2022Y

The Beaumont Children

"The Beaumont Children. Three kids go to the beach, are seen with a mystery man, and never make it back home."

"Never found out who the man was or where they went. Their parents just recently died without ever getting any closure."

- snguyenx96

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes

"Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. The whole family (parents and four kids) went missing overnight in 2011."

"Employers, schools, and the extended family received weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother, the kids, and the dog hidden behind the house."

"They investigated and retraced the father’s whereabouts in the south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched, but he was never to be found."

- z4zazym

Branson Perry of Skidmore

"Branson Perry, aged 20, disappeared from Skidmore, Missouri in April 2001."

"He was working on his house with a friend, went to the shed to grab some power cords, and was never seen again."

- AdamR91

The Incomplete Story of Marshall Iwassa

"Marshall Iwassa. Good guy."

"He came back to his hometown to visit his family and friends, and everything by all accounts was good. He left to take the two-hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead, it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing."

"A week or maybe more, his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere, no sign of Marshal."

"From what I remember, the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts."

"It's been four years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him, he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day."

- devbot8

Out Shopping Asha Degree

"Asha Degree."

"She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city, and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind."

"Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area."

"In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since."

- EstateWeary5789

The Vanishing Marion Barter

"Marion Barter here in Australia."

"She boarded a plane overseas in 1997 and changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family). She apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared."

"It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called, 'The Lady Vanishes,' featuring her daughter."

"It's so tragically fascinating."

- CuddlySubject

The Grieving Bryce Laspisa

"Bryce Laspisa."

"He was driving to his parents' house (three hours) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication."

"Partway through the drive, he pulled off the highway and just sat there… from 9:00 AM to 3:'00 PM."

"A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine and coherent, and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly."

"Sometime later, his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found. They never found him."

- Just_Raisin1124

News Anchor Jodi Huisentruit

"Jodi Huisentruit was a news anchor who disappeared in the early morning in Mason City, Iowa."

"There were signs that she was abducted and the investigation is still ongoing with new leads nearly 30 years later."

- Have_you_eaten_yet

Three-Year-Old William Tyrrell

"William Tyrrell. In 2014, the three-year-old boy went missing from his foster grandmother's yard whilst playing with his sister. His foster mother and foster grandmother were apparently watching them play outside, and the foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea."

"They then noticed they hadn’t seen or heard him in a while and searched the house and yard."

"In 2021, police began searching national parkland near the grandmother's home for human remains. They also revealed that the foster mother and grandmother were persons of interest in his presumed death."

"Earlier today, the foster mother pled not guilty to assaulting another foster child that was in her care (a 10-year-old girl). She has also been charged with intimidating and stalking a minor. Her husband has also been charged with the same crimes, but plead not guilty to all counts. The foster grandmother is now dead."

"Basically, police believe that William died whilst in the care of the foster family, and they disposed of his body to cover it up. Police are recommending that the foster parents be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse."

"His photos went viral at the time of the 'disappearance,' and he went missing whilst in a Spiderman costume, and the photo that was distributed was taken minutes before."

- Red_bug91

These stories are truly haunting, and it's no wonder that Redditors have worried themselves with what might have happened to these missing people.

We can only hope that answers come for at least some of these cases and that their closest loved ones achieve some sense of closure eventually.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Senior citizen using a camera
Tiago Muraro/Unsplash

The realization you're getting older can smack you in the face at any given time, and boy-howdy is it fun!

It can be in the morning when you get up out of bed, and your body makes crackling noises, or when you can't seem to keep up at the gym and you cut short your running time on the treadmill.

That's just the physical.

When you suddenly have the epiphany that you're suddenly the oldest one in a group setting, it's humbling.

Curious to hear from strangers online who are no longer the young whipper-snappers they imagined themselves to eternally be, Redditor redmambo_no6 asked:

"Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your 'I’m officially old' moment?"

These moments of realization never get old. But people do.

Senior Kitty

"My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students."

– mollusck_magic

Aging In Reverse

"I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?"

– Smart_Alex

The Shook Pediatrician

"My kids pediatrician was also my husband's pediatrician when he was a kid. He was the first kid she had to come back as a parent and she was SHOOK."

– trixtred

Older Together

"See, that's what really kinda drives it home for me."

"I'm not bothered that I'm 48. But that means my school friends are 48, and that's weird for some reason. Like, I went to school with a guy who was wild and crazy. That guy is 48 now, and has a new grandbaby. Somehow, he's old, and I'm just 'getting up there '."

– ThatWeirdTexan

Relics of the past don't just pertain to humans.

Dialing It In

"Had a co-worker ask me, 'Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?' Uh, yeah, pretty much."

– Status-Effort-9380

"Reminds me of having to explain the concept of collect calls to my kids. The whole speed speaking where you were for pick up during the recording so your Mama never accepted the collect call."

– DaraScot

Legendary Aircraft

"Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn’t fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don’t anymore."

"The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers."

– geckos_are_weirdos

Foreign References

"We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn’t even born."

"We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!"

– Itsagabby

Gravity is not our friend, and not just because of its effect on our faces.

The Day It Went Downhill

"When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That’s when I knew."

– day_of_duke

It's About The Recovery

"F'k. That has to be a bummer."

"You fall. You know you're fine. You feel like an idiot. You get ready to wave to the crowd as they laugh and clap. But then... a hand is placed on your arm and you hear 'that was a big fall, are you ok?' You stay in shock for a moment. Of course, you're fine. Everyone is looking at you. They all have concerned faces. Sh*t. Two weeks later, the soreness finally subsides."

– minimalfighting

Ice Slip, You Slip, We All Slip

"This happened to me as well....walking my dog the day after a huge snowstorm. There were some rowdy teenage boys having a snowball fight across the street (schools were closed that day, of course). I slipped on the ice, my feet flew over my head and I landed solidly on my backside. As I struggled to get up I braced myself for the laughter and catcalls, but all I heard was "Are you OK Ma'am??' 'Do you need help??' I was in my early 50s and had never felt 'old' until that moment."

– Ouisch

Conversations with younger coworkers can be fun.

You can quote lines from your favorite TV shows and talk about the latest CD you bought at Target and brag about your new digital camera that takes better pictures than a smartphone.

And then you can watch the blank expressions on your coworkers' faces because they haven't a clue about what you speak.

Yeah. This has never happened to me...

Old.

person getting a tattoo

Collins Lesulie on Unsplash

The art of tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified skin, art and the archaeological artifacts.

The oldest tattooed human skin was found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman from between 3370 and 3100 BC.

Tattooed mummies were recovered in almost 50 archaeological digs across the Earth with locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines and the Andes.

But while advancements in tools and inks have opened up endless possibilities for body art, some designs have garnered a bad reputation.

Keep reading...Show less
surgeons looking down at patient

National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

"I shall do by my patients as I would be done by; shall obtain consultation whenever I or they desire; shall include them to the extent they wish in all important decisions; and shall minimize suffering whenever a cure cannot be obtained, understanding that a dignified death is an important goal in everyone's life."

~ English translation of the modern abridged Hippocratic Oath

It is the hope of those seeking medical help that the medical professionals providing it will be just that—professional.

But no profession is immune to bad days, bad attitudes or bad apples.

Keep reading...Show less