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People Explain Why They Broke Up With Their Best Friend

People Explain Why They Broke Up With Their Best Friend
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Keeping a best friend into adulthood is one of the hardest tasks. Your own responsibilitie interfere more frequently, thus preventing you from spending time together as often as you did in, say, school. With practice, and a little bit of time, you might be able to solidify that friendship to weather the rocky waters of adulthood.

Then, there are these stories, where almost out of nowhere friendships needed to die.


Reddit useraurallisun wanted friends to be frank when they asked:

Why did you stop being friends with your best friend?

You Open Up, And They Turn Away

"I opened up to him about my mental health issues, and after a day or two he messaged me saying he couldn't have that kind of negativity in his life."

"This was literally the first and only time I told anyone about it."- ESPete2018

Gone Without A Word

"He moved house in the middle of the night."

"We were kids and it was the 90s, he didn't leave a forwarding address and I don't think he knew he was about to move."- ktfan67

Giphy

You Can Only Give Your Best Advice

"She got mad because I told her it wasn't a good idea to move to a new state with a guy she met online for less than three months."

"It's been over a year and I haven't heard from her."
"At this point I don't care to find her (I know she's still alive) because our relationship was toxic as hell."-
demoncafe

Expecting The Wingman Treatment But Getting Nothing

"When I was a teenager, I couldn't talk to girls."

"I'd just lock up around any girl that I thought was remotely cool, and not say anything until the situation had passed."

"One of my best friends at the time had started hanging out with a group of people from a local college."

"He told me that there was a girl in that group that I would hit it off with."

"He said he had talked to her about me, and she wanted to meet me and hang out."

"I agree to meet him and this group of friends at a restaurant."

"I get there, he introduces me to her, and it is immediately apparent that he never said a word to her about me."

"This is the first time she has ever heard my name, and the look she gives me is one I would at best describe as disinterest."

"We sit there for an hour, I of course say absolutely nothing, she leaves, and everyone proceeds to laugh about it; that went well, great job, etc."

"It really felt like he set me up just so his new friends could get a laugh at my expense."

"I've never wanted to beat the crap out of someone more in my entire life."

"That was about 20 years ago."

"I haven't spoken to him since, and I never intend to again."- theonethatwas5

Hurts At First, But Then You Move On

"She slept with my, then, boyfriend."

"I eventually forgave her years later."- zodiacorsomething

Five Minutes And Infinite Away

"We had been friends from high school and she met some people that saw her sexually for the first time."

"She got into a relationship with a really sh-tty person who cut her off from her friends."

"I tried to hang on but he didn't like any of her friends."

"Eventually she got heavy into alcohol, and her boyfriend was abusive, emotional, mental and physical, which made her even more dependent on alcohol and that became her life."

"She would always say she wanted to change but she never followed through."

"I truly believe she said those things because she felt that's what she was SUPPOSED to say not what she really felt."

"We drifted apart and I only heard from her when she thought her online boyfriend was cheating on her with me because we had similar phone numbers."

"We live literally five minutes away from each other and we don't talk anymore."- domi_sade

Calling You Out On Your Birthday

"On my birthday, while I was celebrating it with my family, after two really stressful weeks at university studying for the most important exam of my career, my friend decided that was a good moment to send me a couple of DMs on Twitter b*tching about the fact that I hadn't paid enough attention to her and the game we were playing with at that moment,."

"We used to roleplay a lot with some characters we created before."

"To this day I don't know what got into her to have such a stupid ourbust."

"And even though a friend that we had in common and myself tried to explain to her about my exam she didn't seem to get it and actually I've never got an apology from her."

"That was all that took for me to end our friendship of years and I don't regret it, she was a selfish person after all."- redluscinia

Uteruses Before Dude-eruses

"He took the 'bros before hoes' phrase and flipped it."- M-o-e

I Keep Changing, They Stay The Same

"I went into the Army.'

"We had Christmas Exodus - leave during Christmas and New Year's - and in the days leading up to that, our 1SG told us the following:'

"'When you go home, you're going to meet up with your old friends, and it won't take long before you think to yourself, "huh, they really changed."'"

"'Wrong.'"

"'You changed, they stayed the same.'"

"And he was right! "

"My friends, hey, they're great guys, but I wasn't super close to them before, I definitely wasn't close after just a couple months of basic training."

"I think everyone in my platoon felt the same, even if they kept it to themselves."

"Everyone was just a little wonky that first week back, and it wasn't just because everyone got dog-sick on vacation, too."- Wasnbo

As Long As The Thread Lasts

"Was a cop wife for twenty years."

"When you divorce you not only lose your cop family, you evidently lose your best friend who is married to a cop."

"I learned a valuable lesson."

"Friendships built on a common thread last only as long as that thread remains."

"Heartbreaking."- TrustMeIaLawyer

Help From An Absent Friend

"It slowly fell apart."

"She moved to live with her partner and we slowly stopped talking as often until rarely talking at all."

"I knew I was done when she asked me to help find someone to film her wedding-that I was not invited to."

"But she's happy with how her life is and who am I to judge for that?"- MaineSoxGuy93

It's Never Worth The Time Of Getting Nothing In Return

"He got busy with his own life and I got busy with mine, and as much as I tried to keep in touch, he never did the same."

"I hear from him once in a blue moon, but whenever I try to make plans, he dodges me."

"I just finally came to the realization that a friendship isn't worth my time if I'm putting in all the effort and getting absolutely nothing back."

"It's sad, this is a guy I spent most of my young and teenage years with, practically lived at his house."

"We spent every waking minute together and had so many awesome times."

"I guess life just had different paths for us both."

"I don't begrudge him for anything, I don't think he has intentionally cut me out, I think he's just caught up in his own journey."

"Maybe one day life will bring us back to the same place and we will spend time together again, but maybe not."- JohnOctober

"If you don't grow together, you grow apart."

"We lived together during our early university years."

"I was not in a good place when we became friends."

"A couple years later, I picked myself up, got into really good shape, was accepted into the degree program I wanted and found an extremely awesome job."

"She said she couldn't continue being friends with me because I didn't need her."

"If you don't grow together, you grow apart."

"Years later we were still Facebook 'friends'."

"She deleted me when I got engaged."

"I noticed and asked her why, she said she didn't care anymore about anything in my life."

"It took me a long time to get over that last part"

". No one needs that in their life."- Nursewholovedyou

They Move On To Other Things

"When I was young, it was because my best friend grew out of playing with dolls before I did."

"All she wanted to do was wear make up, and so she got new friends who all wore make up."

"It's been twenty years since I saw her last, but I'll never forget that."

"Young me was heartbroken."- badgersinatrenchcoat

A Misunderstanding From Nothing

"My husband and I went on vacation with her and her husband."

"My husband and I did some gambling and won a decent amount of money."

"They did not gamble at all."

"When we got back I found out they had told everyone how much of a b-tch I was because I had not offered to pay for their half of the vacation with my gambling winnings."

"When I confronted her she did not deny it."

"I didn't want to be friends with someone that thought money played into our friendship or that talked like that behind my back."- amelia_egghart217

Giphy

And Sometimes, There's No Explanation...

"We were friends for almost 10 years."

"Every once in a while, we'd have small arguments, but always come around and told each other everything."

"Over a year ago, we went to a party."

"I didn't drink, but he did."

"He got extremely moody, wouldn't talk to me and kept disappearing to a room to be alone."

"Kept brushing me off every time I asked if he was okay."

"He left the party early without telling me, and I sent him a pissed off text because we had agreed earlier to cab home together."

"The next day I call and text."

"No answer."

"A week passes."

"More texts, still no answer."

"I go to his house."

"His roommate says he won't speak to me."

"He deletes and blocks me on all social media."

"I call and text him more, saying I'm sorry for whatever it is I must have done, still no answer."

"I message his friends, asking what I could have done and they have no idea, all he's saying is he doesn't want to see me."

"At one point I fell into a depression."

"Am I such an uncaring person that I couldn't even know that I did something wrong?"

"Or was our friendship even that great if he was willing to drop me so suddenly without explanation or goodbye? "

"It's a weird, scary thought when someone who knows more about you than anyone refuses to even speak to you ever again."

"It's been over a year and still no word."

"I went to a party the other day that I heard he'd be at."

"The host told me that as soon as he heard I was coming, he decided not to come."

"It's probably one of the biggest heartbreaks of my life."-surejan94

Ghosting

"I was going to watch a concert with a best friend (A)."

"Another best friend (B) that usually joins us is still debating whether to come or not."

"Me and A, which can attend the concert, decides to just go to the concert no matter if B can make it or not."

"B throws a tantrum for supposedly 'leaving her behind'."

"I tell B she is childish if she thinks me and A cant hangout with just the two of us, besides we're just waiting for her to decide whether she will attend or not."

"A thinks B is childish too."


"I leave B alone for a couple of days and not try to initiate convo to give her space, while still maintaining good relationship with A."

"Suddenly one day A cancels all future hangouts with me, including the concert."

"Then I realize, me and my BF has been blocked and ghosted by both A and B."

"My mind says good riddance because I don't need friends that ghost me but my BPD has been making it hard to cope with."

"Sigh."- melonlupi

​Brok a cardinal rule of friendship, without realizing it.

"I accidentally received a blowjob from his sister."

"I know how bad it sounds so I'll just tell my story."

"So it was summer of 2018, school ended 2 weeks then, my close friend who I'll name Mani to keep him anonymous, had a younger sister by a year, 19, and he never told me much about her except for that she's his sister."

"Take note that I have never been over at his house despite being his best friend for 2 years."

"I ask Mani about his gym that he goes to, LA Fitness, so we could workout together and I signed up to workout with him every 2 days of the week, Tuesday and Thursday."

"Sometimes he would cancel out since his work schedule was random."

"So around the end of July, he cancels out on me last minute so I go alone and then I meet this cute girl and we sorta exchange eye contact several times and then I would finish and go home, do the exact same thing next time."

"We kept this going for say like 1.5 to 2-ish weeks, at this point, Mani gave up on Gym and I didn't really want to bother him since he seemed very tired to come to gym after work,"

" I started going to the gym more because of her and one day I decided to go up and strike up a conversation with her while she was working out."

"We hit it off pretty well and have been hanging out outside of the gym not soon after."

"This should be around Mid-August, she invites me to go clubbing with her downtown."

"I accept and we go there with her friends and we just chilled and danced for like an hour or 2 before leaving."

"As we were leaving, I decided to take this girl home, but she said that she 'has a very special reward for her'."

"Bingo, it's game time."

"We got into my car and she started to suck me off right then and there."

"We continue but end it off there and I take her back to her house and she kissed me goodnight."

"Then not a week goes by, Mani invites me over to his house to finish the summer off with a bang."

"So he give me directions to his house, right when I saw the address, I froze up, quickly called him to say that i had a family event i had to go to, and I avoided his calls, texts and all that cause I was too distraught by the fact that I was with his sister and didn't know."

"I deleted my insta, snap and pretty much slowly, but surely, I disappeared from his life, as for his sister, she has tried to text me and I told her that we just can't be together and called it off."

"I deeply hate how things have turned out."

"I still wonder what would have happened if I kept going, if I didn't do his sister, but just a random girl."- MileaukeeBucktees

Not who they appear to be

"She had an affair with my manipulative boyfriend at the time and later revealed to me that her friendly and encouraging text she'd sent me during that time were all meant to mock me."

"Two years later I have her a chance and we became a part of each other's lives again."

"The friendship ended the second time when she got jealous at my education."

"Like literally forced me to pick between my future or her and generally acted like I had been the biggest bitch on the planet for having other priorities than her."

"I still miss her."

"I only talked about the reasons why the friendship ended here so of course she's gonna look like a horrible person, but there was a lot of great things about her too and I still love her in spite of her selfish and cruel actions toward me."

"I'm glad she was my friend and I'm glad that she isn't anymore."

"She's one of the biggest heart breaks of my life because it was all so unnecessary but I believe we are better apart."- rhsbdkt

It just wasn't meant to be.

"Not my best friend, but a close one."

"Former friend (FF) of mine used me as their agony aunt and kept telling me what bad friends two of our mutual friends were."

"FF constantly put me in an uncomfortable situation because I knew she had some serious issues going on and I tried to be understanding and supportive."

"But when she said that one of my best friends, who often gets to go on concerts for free because her dad has connections, was an awful friend because she didn't take FF to any concerts, she did take some other friends of hers, and how she deserved that because she was such a good friend, I felt that there was something really wrong with her perception of friendship."

"Then FF started complaining that she didn't get a surprise birthday party thrown when she turned 18, and told me that she broke up with her boyfriend of 1 week or so for snatching the blanket, out of fun, when he was staying over."

"At that point it had become really uncomfortable listening to her and spending time with her alone, but as i was trying to see the positive parts of our friendship, like hanging out at her place with some other friends was fun and if she was in a good mood you could really enjoy spending time or partying with her."

"I didn't want to cut ties."

"But then she did something that made me 'break up' with her."

"We had a trip of five days planned."


"We were going to attend a camp with about 1500 people, and as there were many people there I didn't know, I was glad to have her as my companion and thought maybe we could sort things out there."

"But at the day of our departure she canceled on me, 2 hours before we wanted to catch our train, because we got into a fight over the departure time."

"I wanted to go early, she wanted to go late when the program there would have started already because she 'wanted to sleep in" that day'."

"she texted me something like 'you got me that far that i'm staying home now, I don't deserve to be treated like this and that way i can leave for vacation earlier, my other friends are waiting for me there anyway'."

"I was devastated because i get really anxious around strangers when i'm alone but i ended up going alone anyway and had a great time!"

"I told her I didn't want contact to her anymore, but she didn't take it serious and acted like everything was normal."

"But when i texted her about how i felt, all I received back from her was a notification that she screen shotted my text so i think i'm better off without her now."- pr0fessionalfailure

You've got to know when to hold 'em, fold 'em and when to walk away!

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.