Good friendships are hard to come by.
Have you ever scrolled through your Facebook feed and really looked at who your "friends were?" Do they all deserve that distinction over being called acquaintances?
While it's perfectly fine to add whomever you want to your friends list on your multiple social media platforms, it is interesting to think about which one of them would go the extra mile for you and have your back.
Strangers online revealed they found out the hard way who their so-called friends were when Redditor mediastoosocial asked:
"What's the sh*ttiest way a friend has shown you they weren't really your friend?"
Silent Treatment
These Redditors were ignored by people who were too cowardly to have honest conversations.
Death Of A Friendship
"Ghosted me after 20+ years of friendship. He was my best friend for as long as I can remember but at some point he just stopped saying yes when I suggested getting together. We could have a conversation about anything but the second I brought up doing something it was radio silence. He finally agreed to something then blew me off like an hour beforehand. No raincheck or suggestion we try again. I was depressed for days but that was the day I gave up."
"He was the best man at my wedding. I loved him like a brother and still hope he's doing well and happy. But the rejection hurts so much that I just don't try anymore. I've mourned the death of our relationship and am done with it. And I still don't know why."
You're On Your Own
"After 25 years of friendship...I announced to my best friend that I was moving to the city she was in. I had a great job opportunity and felt like it was an awesome time to make a big life change. I was so excited to tell her, I could hardly wait. She flatly replied with, 'cool'...and when I asked her what parts of town I should look at to live she stated 'I can't help you, you should just figure it out when you get here'. We never had a fight, had been close for our entire adult lives and I had continually helped her in all aspects of her life without hesitation. To this day, I cannot tell you why she started treating me this way. Long story short, we live in the same city and haven't seen each other in 6 years. And I'm quite sure we live minutes away from each other. I will prob never know what happened."
Repeat Offender
"I gave her a birthday present and she just said she didn't like it and found it in the thrash when I visited."
"She would always be late to everything."
"She got tickets to an Incubus concert and a meet and greet, it wasn't in our city so I saved all of my money to be able to afford the trip and a week before she texted me saying she was going to Disneyland so she sold the tickets."
"I painted a whole big beautiful mural in her room and two months later just painted over it with purple cause she got bored."
"Invited me for coffee and I got really excited because I hadn't seen her for a while and had a lot going on, I was almost homeless at the time so I took the little money I had to pay for my coffee, I got there and it was a MLM with like six other people (just as disappointed as me)."
"Then she did it again, I don't know why I thought it would be different, that's the last time I saw her."
– Kovvacs
The Worthy Replacement
"I had 12 hours before I deployed to Afghanistan. I lived about 6 hours from my point of departure (airport from which I would fly into theater) and my friend/ex-girlfriend had committed to driving me there on that day. Packed, dressed, goodbyes said, I take an Uber to her house with all my gear and baggage ready to go. I knock on the door and she answers in her robe. I ask her if she was about ready and she proceeds to tell me that she forgot (after we had talked 2 days prior) and that she really wasn't feeling like driving that distance. Utterly shocked and confused, I explain to her that if I miss my flight, it's considered a 'failure to report for duty' and I could be considered a deserter or AWOL.
Heavy consequences for it either way. She told me to figure it out and closed the door. At that point I had no idea what to do so I called my first sergeant. We worked in a very remote location and he was the closest person to me at that point. That man drove the 3 hours from his home to get me and then the other 6 hours to the airport. Bought me dinner and got me tipsy before I had to get on my flight. I had the stunning realization that day that you really can't trust anyone, but I gained a lifelong friend as a result. We still talk regularly 'til this day!"
Ditched On Graduation
"They all bailed on my college graduation and graduation party. And then accidentally included me on an email thread about all of them coming up with different excuses for missing my big day. It made me feel incredibly alone and I had no idea that they viewed me in such a negative light. As an adult I realize they were jealous...but back then, just assumed I had a major character flaw and started isolating myself from people."
Reddit Users Share Their Best 'It's A Small World After All' Experience
Deceptions
Lies and infidelity are not what define friendships.
After The Affair
"My best friend got with my first husband while I was pregnant, helped destroy our marriage, supported him so he could quit his job and avoid paying child support, joined him in abusing my kids while they were with him, and then tried to cry on my shoulder when he ended up screwing her over when they split after 14 years of jointly making my life a living hell."
When Lending A Hand Backfires
"Let a guy stay on the couch in my one-bedroom apartment so he wouldn't be living in his car. A few weeks later, he was sleeping with my girlfriend. I found out and kicked them both to the curb. 6 or 8 months later he calls me out of the blue and apologizes, then tells me she cheated on him and asks if he can move back in! Gave him a hard no and hung up on him. Last I heard from or of him."
Abandoned
"Promised to invite me to a group outing, only to text me one day out of the blue that they already left and 'oh well.' From mutual friends who went on the outing, they told me that this friend never told them that I was invited."
– Ahstia
Unnecessary Lie
"In 8th grade, after I switched schools, a friend of mine called me one night and told me a kid I wanted to be friends with killed himself. 3 months later I visit their graduation ceremony and find out he lied to me and that the kid was still alive."
Getting Beat Up
These Redditors recalled being involved in physical altercations.
Unpleasant Surprise
"Long time ago, but my tenth birthday party. The first time I'd actually tried to have a big group, it was around thirty kids at a park with a t-ball set up, normal picnic stuff, the like. My best friend at the time said he had a surprise for me in one of the fenced walkways leading to the park, where he sucker punched me and his other friend and he took turns jumping on and kicking me. After a few minutes another kid from the party saw, ran them off, and took me back to my ma away from the other kids so I didn't have to be too embarrassed."
The Confrontation
"My best friend since middle school got me knocked unconscious after starting a confrontation with a large group of guys. Proceeded to tell everyone we worked with that I had started it. Few weeks later I had returned from a holiday to my home country and he had moved one of his friends into my room at the place we were renting. Never talked to him again."
The Big Push
"This guy pushed me into the ground for no reason mid-sentence when he knew I was still injured from a car accident (which he knew I was hospitalized for). He then immediately turned his back and walked away without a word. I was too shocked to say anything immediately and he was gone. I wasn't saying anything bad or mean to him either, it was something casual akin to the weather. After that I had to slowly and carefully get up front my crouching position by myself and sat myself on a nearby fence to gather myself... When I later confronted him about it, he got super defensive saying it was just a light shove and a prank :/
Super not okay, I had to strain my back muscles really uncomfortably just so I wouldn't hit the ground and I don't think anyone should live in constant fear that their 'friend'" might at any minute risk paralyzing them for life just to get a cheap laugh.
"This same guy also kept parroting something my abuser said which I told the group in confidence. I told him to stop but he said he wouldn't and that I was being too 'PC' as if my personal story is something to be politically correct about???? I trust some people less now. No one seemed to care or stand up for me or anything and I felt utterly alone..."
"I do not talk to this guy anymore..."
The Potential Murderer
"They tried to drown me."
"For proper context we were doing a swim class in school, I did talk to a few teachers and the principal but none of them did anything so I at the time just figured nothing would come out of it if I kept on trying, though I do wish I did get something done about it legally."
– Saellios
Many of the Redditors in the thread expressed disappointment after someone whom they thought was a friend inexplicably ignored them.
People change and friendships evolve over time; however, that is no reason to deny a person of any sort of communication if one reaches out to the other.
Moving on from friendships happens, and it's fine.
It would be wise not to gain an enemy by disrespecting someone with whom you used to call a friend.
"What’s your wildest story that sounds too far-fetched to be true?"
Redditors' interactions with animals were either empowering or terrifying.
A Chihuahua's Hero
"Mine is when I was in high school I lived out in the countryside of Central Texas. I was just kind of bumbling around on the property and my mom's little chihuahua was tagging along. I heard a bird, saw a fast moving shadow, and threw my arm out, slapping a hawk out of the sky as it tried to get my mom's chihuahua."
"Cut my arm pretty good, but saved that little rat of a dog. The chihuahua went on to pass away at a smooth 19 years old."
– itsthattedguy
Brush With An Owl
"I worked nights in college. I'd always take my two dogs out to pee when I got home and one late night an owl tried to snatch my Chihuahua but thankfully missed. My golden retriever ran back inside like the owl was going to somehow take his 60lb a** but my chi stood his ground like he could take it on. I got him inside and was much more careful after that. He, too, passed at 19. I miss him."
– jacyerickson
"I was almost drowned by a pod of dolphins while surfing at Salt Creek, Orange County, CA. I got up on a wave and one of them knocked me over, 2 wave pin down on a 5-7 ft day."
– jppope
These could be plot points in a movie.
Reunited Leash
"I was surfing in Santa Barbara County when I was a kid, maybe 14 or 15. When I would come in from a surf, I had the habit of undoing my leash from my leg while I was walking in the shallow water. Unbeknownst to me, the other side of the leash that connects to the board had come off. I lost my leash. I searched around the tidal zone but no luck. I was bummed but I just moved on."
"Three weeks later, I was surfing in Ventura county, and as I was walking in from the surf, a piece of kelp wrapped around my leg. I reached down to pull it off. It wasn’t kelp, it was my leash I’d lost a dozen miles north a few weeks back. It had algae and stuff growing on it, but no mistaking it was absolutely my leash."
– shah357
The Origin Of Love
"When my dad and step-mom met, my dad swore he’d met her before, but couldn’t remember when or where. Eventually, he decided he’d seen her in Cody, Wyoming, the town where he grew up. She swore she’d never even been to Wyoming (she’s from Oregon and that’s where they met)."
"Several years later, after they’d been married a while, step-mom mentions to her mom that my dad swears he met her in Cody, but she’s never been there. Her mom says 'Yes, you have,' and pulls out a photograph from 1956 of her, age 9, riding on a mechanical horse (a kid one) and in the background, standing around in the crowd, is my dad and his two brothers, ages 8, 10, and 11."
"She submitted the story to a local magazine for a Valentine’s Day contest one year and won a trip to a resort."
"Some honorable mentions: By the time I was 20, I was 1 degree of separation away from 5 different people who’d been murdered by 3 different serial killers (gotta love the PNW), and I almost hit Bob Dylan with my car once."
– JessicaGriffin
Getting Lit
"First time I ever smoked pot a police helicopter hovered above me and my friend and hit us with the spotlight. They were looking for someone else apparently because they immediately moved on. Nonetheless…"
– igottathinkofaname
VIP Client
"I took my VW to the dealer to get some work done. The service rep at the counter was so hung over (possibly still intoxicated) that he couldn’t handle completing the paper work. He told the tech that I was a VIP, specifically 'Britni Spears’s brother' and that he owed me a favor, so the work was on the house and they just never did any paperwork, didn’t charge me a dime, did the work, handed me the keys, and away I drove."
– peteschirmer
These Redditors couldn't believe their luck.
Contest Winner
"I won a two week cruise vacation for two in a contest."
"I never entered the contest."
"I was convinced I was being scammed."
"Even from the beaches of the Caribbean, I still wasn't convinced."
– Tokiw4
The Generous Friend
"Was in Vegas for a work thing. I was not happy about being there because it was a tough time in my life, money was really tight and Vegas is the last place you want to be when money is tight."
"I was telling my buddy about it and he says, 'Im going to pay pal you $150. Go play the poker tournament at the Venetian at night. You can drink for free and hopefully you last long. If you win anything, pay me back, if not, no worries.'"
"So I did. Won the tournament! $3200."
"The second night, I went off to play some craps alone one night because I did not like the work people and did not want to hang with them."
"Started with $200. 45 minuted later I 7’d out and had $37,000. Cashed out and told no one!"
"On the drive back (I lived in Phoenix) I called my buddy and told him (only) about it. I sent him $2500."
– Raspberries-Are-Evil
Beginner's Luck
"The one time I went to Vegas at the proper age of 21, I won $2000 on my first spin on the 25c slot machine. I didn't gamble the rest of the time and enjoyed the fact that my trip paid for itself. Came home with all the money I left with and an extra $800. Didn't tell my bf I was with at the time either; he would have tried to spend my money."
– KnowItOrBlowIt
Given A Second Chance
"I went jogging one night and came across a lady laid out face first. No heart beat. Started doing cpr. Never saw another person was able to call 911 while doing cpr. Kept at it twenty Minutes till FD got there. She made a full recovery. They said cpr that long has a 95% fail rate."
– DullAd2253
A friend back in high school told me he was a vampire when he dropped me off from band practice.
This was at a time when Anne Rice was super popular and everyone was reading the Lestat books.
Being an impressionable 15-year-old at the time, I believed him, because he warned me that if I ever revealed his identity to anyone, "I will find you."
A couple of years ago, I reunited with a mutual friend and I joked about how I believed so-and-so was a creature of the night. We nervously laughed.
Whether my blood-thirsty friend was weighing on my conscience or not, I've been visited by him in COUNTLESS dreams ever since I told my friend about him.
Call it what you want–paranoia or self-fulfilling prophecy–but there are some things in this realm I will never be able to explain.
I'm just glad I'm still here to talk about it now that I let the proverbial cat out of the bag.
