Even the most goodhearted people have something dark lurking inside of them. We're only a hairs trigger away from completely losing it most of the time, based on the kind of day or week or year we've had. While it's possible to keep it under control most of the time, it's only a matter of what sets us off, pulling the trigger, and causing the worst of us to arise.
Reddit user, u/666F-CkThEwOrLd666, wanted to shine a light on humanity's darkest traits when they asked:
What brings the worst out in people?
Nice To Keep In Mind
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I always liked the HALT rule.
If you're feeling Hungry, Angry, Late or Tired then it's likely things you say or do will come off worse than you intend.
Splitting Up Is Hard To Do
Divorce proceedings. Especially with kids involved.
It can turn a couple of average people into monsters.
ye but two christmases
Coming from someone who had their parents divorce at 10 I beg to differ on this. Spend the bulk of the day on the road with various people upset that you're not where they think you should be.
Seconds Of Your Life You'll Never Get Back
When you were told to wait 20 minutes and it's now been 21 minutes and you are still waiting
When You Feel Like You Have No Other Options
Desperation
Absolutely this. Especially these days when people are stressed to f-ck and losing their income. Causes people to take drastic measures they wouldn't normally even consider.
The Power Of The Wheel
Traffic
A person who is cut off while driving: "F u!!!"
That same person who is cut off while walking: "Oop! Sorry! After you!"
The Day Needs To Be Perfect
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Weddings.
My father is a minister. He says he would rather help with a funeral over a wedding any day. Weddings leave people with a sense of extreme desperation to achieve perfection.
The worst is when the expectation for perfection is from the mother of the bride and not the engaged couple. Nothing worse than two kids trying to have a nice day and momzilla just f-cking decimates it because she can't stand not being the center of attention for one moment.
Take A Breath, Relax Your Shoulders, Calm Down
Stress.
Most of us are capable of being decent human beings who make a positive contribution to society. You add stress into the mix and people start to crack.
Financial stress, relationship stress, work stress, it doesn't matter. When our focus is pulled into simply surviving and staying afloat, our ability to empathize or provide support to others greatly diminishes.
I think this is tied in with the low morale we are all experiencing right now...we're all unbelievably stressed. I've seen some of the nicest people completely snap and act shockingly because they just can't take the pressure anymore.
Hell, they don't even have to be dead. When my great grandmother moved from her apartment to a nursing home some of her children and grandkids "helped" her pack up her apartment, by which I mean it was a full on feeding frenzy of theft. She was a 87 year old woman who had been widowed for about 50 years at that point so she certainly wasn't wealthy, but some of those people would have ripped down the wallpaper if they thought they could have sold it.
Passing On To Our Bank Account
When a loved one dies. People get really, really weird in a bad way about money and stuff. I know a bunch of people who had relatives who flat out stole money and valuables after the death of a family member. It's crazy. My own family has a permanent rift because when my grandmother died, two of the five siblings cleaned out her accounts.
Leftovers From Pain
Unprocessed trauma from childhood. As someone that is struggling with mental health, I'm only now beginning to understand why I do a lot of what I do. When our needs for love and acceptance aren't met, we seek out soothing behaviors that numb the pain.
It's really easy to end up in midlife with no real idea what it means to be happy and feeling no connection to others. As you begin to work on your issues, you find that the soothing behaviors are no longer as soothing because you know why you're doing it. So, you're stuck with the emptiness that you've always felt and no way to get out of the feeling.
The True Heart Of Darkness
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The word "free" in a retail or restaurant type of setting. People will trample one another, take ALL of the items so there aren't any for others, gorge themselves, try to sneak food out with them. It's disgusting.
I was going to say that.
The first manager who comped product due to poor service really screwed it up for everyone. Now I have to listen to someone who wants something for free because the box has a dent in it.
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I can't definitively say I've come face to face with the spirits. But I have had some unsettling feelings in the dark. Shadows are just shadows sometimes, but who can be sure.
I hear it...
Nbc Wings GIF by HULUGiphy"I was helping my dad clean my grandma's house after she passed and I went in and was trying to find a song in my phone and before I could I heard a cough plain as day come from down the hallway where her room was. She died of lung and throat cancer it was pretty crazy."
Running Past...
"When I was 5 I remember getting home from my grandpa's birthday party. For context my mom was pregnant with my brother at the time, so my parents had already bought his crib. I woke up in the middle of the night to find a women in a white dress and long black hair standing over my brother's crib. I managed to wake up my dad so he could take me to the bathroom. When I got back it was still there. It was only until morning when it disappeared. Every now and then I see a glance of what I assume is that thing running past the backyard."
The Cat
"My best friend and his wife had moved to a new apartment. I came over to visit a few times, and each time I'd see the motion of a cat in my peripheral vision. Not the image of a cat, but a sense of how a cat moves. Anyway, one day I finally cracked some joke about the ghost cat in the place and his wife was instantly saying "See! See! I told you we had a ghost cat!"
"excuse me"
"I worked graveyard shift in a dementia ward for 4 years and it was anything but quiet. I was working with a nurse one night when we both heard a resident say "excuse me." We looked around and no-one was there. I checked on the resident in question and she was fast asleep in her own room. Many of us also experienced someone whistling in the ward late at night and one nurse even managed to catch a video of it happening. It was unnerving to say the least."
Clueless
Skeleton GIFGiphy"I once saw someone short walk by me in my house. They walked into the laundry room which only has one way in. I walked into it behind them and they where gone. I thought it was my little brother but I went to his room and he was asleep. I still have no clue what that was."
- ImBolio
Now was everyone here positive they were sober? Just asking. Those are certainly spooky moments. I'd like some video footage please. Continue...
Reflections
ghost library GIFGiphy"I was up at 3am when I was maybe 7 or 8. I looked out the window and saw a woman in a white dress run across my yard. I could see through her. She was transparent like the reflections on the window."
"you alright?"
"So, my work place is haunted. I was having a really crap day, and as a cleaner, it's normal that me and my co worker will be the only ones left at night. So I was standing on the second floor, leaning on the banister for the stair case, when I heard this male voice say in my ear "you alright?" Clear as day. I turned around so fast and nobody was there and it scared the hell out of me."
- Rex-the-
Watching Me
"I remember as a young kid I usually use to sit in my bed and watch tv with my room door open while the adjacent guest bedroom next to mine would always have the door shut. I always remember seeing that door fully open and close by itself multiple times a day very slowly and gently. Never really bothered me much now that I think about it… but there were other creepier experiences I had in the same house that made me feel uncomfortable like I was being watched."
Betsy
"I went to the Betsy Ross House as a really little kid in the early 90s. Normal house but I was confused why the tour guide never talked about the woman on the chair crying at the edge of the bed in Betsy Ross's bedroom. So I asked about it. No one else saw the woman at the edge of the bed. I figured it was just a wax museum since there was a wax statue of a man in uniform rolling bullets in the basement."
"Years later, I was looking at haunted Philadelphia tours to go on with a friend and the Betsy Ross House was on it. I was like "woah! I was there!" and looked into it some more. Turns out there is a woman at the end of the bed crying and a uniformed man in the basement that people have reported seeing. There is no way that 8 year old me would have known about either of these things."
hello kitty...
hello kitty lol GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphy"I had this hello kitty Balloon In my bed room, it had a string and weight on it. So it was late, I had the lights on just Sitting on my bed. The Balloon turns, faces my door, slowly floats into my hallway and turns and floats into my sister's room. To this day I am scared of balloons."
They are among us and they like Hello Kitty. I'm probably rattling the paranormal cages and they'll come for me next, but I'm ready. I feel like this thread has prepared me.
Boo!
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