People are who they are... but some can change. Those troubled youths who made life miserable for many in the adolescent years can take a turn for the better.. or the worse. Not all "problem children" stay problem children, some go on to find inner peace and meaning and others become stars on episodes of "Dateline NBC." Its all a gamble. Fr everybody. No one is perfect.
Redditor 11simon18 wanted to hear about the growth or disaster of the students who caused the most chaos by asking....
What happened to your school "bad boy/girl"?
"bad boy"
GiphyHe wasn't the quintessential "bad boy" but did drugs, drank, got arrested for drugs, total partier.
Always nice to me and we were friendly but that whole scene just wasn't my thing.
That was 1981 and up until 2013 wondered whatever happened to him.
Found out my daughter's new boyfriend was his son!!
I was very relieved to find out that shortly after high school he realized he was going nowhere fast, cleaned himself up and started a successful business.
Thrilled to say that my husband and I share 2 beautiful grandchildren with he and his wife and I couldn't be more happy about it! uuendyjo
At 30....
School "bad boy" when I was there was my older brother. (Drug dealer, played in a metal band, general smarty pants and moron.) He flunked out of college after two semesters and has been waiting tables since then. He turns 30 this year, and the girl he's dating now is the first one who's stayed with him for more than six months.
She's super cool, actually, but like 5 years younger than him. They have a couple dogs, smoke a lot of weed, and play a lot of DND.
Last I heard from him, he was escalating a feud with his neighbor by putting a plate and a half worth of loose, cooked spaghetti in her mailbox. Sethrial
At Gun Point....
The one that comes to mind forced his ex at gun point into his car and then drove to another state. Cops eventually caught up with them and then he shot himself in the car. I feel really bad for the girl. CuppaSunPls
Will?
GiphyThat was me. I went to live with my uncle, he spent about 5 years intensively working with me and now I'm good. Nice guy. I still live near him and call him 'dad'. Will buy him beer. throwawaysmetoo
Gothed.
She was a bit of a goth. Smoked in front of the school. Smoked pot behind the gym. Graduated valedictorian, went to Stanford on a full ride scholarship. sternje
I don't think being goth and smoking cigarettes and pot make her a bad girl, that just seems like an awkward teenager trying to find their style while doing the same things that most teenagers experiment with.
By the way, our school also had a goth girl, all black everyday except the neon green streak in her hair, smoked a lot of cigarettes and graduated with a 4.0+ GPA. wkndgolfer
God has a Way....
GiphyNot sure how this happened, but there were 3 "bad boys" on our football team, all players and all very good looking. They cussed, drank, smoked all the time, and were constantly getting laid (or at least telling everyone they were).
Right around senior year/college they each went through some change and are all now born again Christians. No partying, less cussing, and none of them talk about women in an objectifying way. It's great but kinda unnerving in a way. slothbarns7
Roundabouts only go one way.
Two died of opioid overdoses and the third died in a front end collision while doing donuts in a roundabout. MrCoffeeNerves
A front end collision into what? Roundabouts only go one way. And getting into a lethal accident with any vehicle entering it or attempting to enter it is kind of extremely difficult to do. Private_Colceri
Better Now....
I was the bad girl, I was very academically gifted, but had a bad home life, so I smoked (cigarettes & weed), drank a fair bit of vodka, basically did everything I could to rebel against authority, I once threw a jar of blood on the principal (animal blood, long story).
Ended up getting kicked out, spent two years on the streets with a bad drug habit & surviving through sex work. Had a massive OD turned my life around, worked in transport/ logistics.
Now at 30 I'm at university, studying computer science/ engineering. I'll be 34 when I graduate. Dyingforsomelove
Fires Everywhere.....
GiphyNot quite the bad boy, actually everyone thought he was "Goody Two-Shoes..." Turns out he had some of the worst grades in school, was a serial arsonist, and when he was caught attempted suicide. Haven't heard from him since but he made the news with one of his fires. :/ kerouacdesbois
Which one?
Which one? One became a serial killer. My wife dated him before all that. One's doing life for a contract killing. Three are dead, they were bangers. Two are in mental wards. I was a hood, banger back in the late 80's early 90's. Grew up in New Mexico.
There were very few of us that became productive members of society. I got caught for B&E. Judge gave me a choice. Jail or Job Corps. I took the latter. Met my wife shortly after. And she taught me what it means to be a real man, father, human being. IAmTeaBag4
Egg it...
GiphyHe's an eggplant farmer. Literally. AbsurdBird_
Definitely a quiet lifestyle, I can respect it. Quibilia
Taco Bell Sorry...
My biggest bully in middle/high school ended up going to prison. Funny thing though, my mom worked in that prison, and they got to know each other. When he got out, he found me and apologized. He later got a job at a local Taco Bell, and whenever I came in he would always add a bunch of free stuff to my order.
I haven't seen him in almost 2 decades, but I know he became a dad. I actually hope he's doing well.
Edit: Just looked him up. Had 3 kids, a wife, and is a contractor now. I'm glad he turned it around.
Edit 2: wow. Just checked in on this a day later, and my comment blew up. Glad this made some days. chroniclesofthenerds
Bad 2 the Bone.....
Bad girl - 3 kids, 2 of which happened in school... seems happy, never left the hometown.
Bad boy, appears he now works constructions and is on the fairly straight and narrow nowhere near where we grew up. jaycutlersattitude
Not So Sexy.....
GiphyLots of meth.
She posts photos of her newborn boy & calls him her 'sexy little man." cassycakesokc
When people call babies "sexy" it makes me want to barf on them. It's so gross. archivesgrrl
Sad Tales.
Drugs, drugs and brain damage.
In middle school there were these twins who were both really cool. They had a band (one did drums while the other sang and played guitar), skated, occasionally got in trouble with the law but for really small things.
A few months ago I was taking a bus when I saw them get on. They were clearly homeless and one of them kept whining to the other that he needed his fix. He passed out and his brother half heartedly puked into his hand. Eventually the bus driver saw one of them (I shit you not) strip down to his boxers to get some non puke stained clothes on and told them to get the off the bus. Told my folks about seeing the twins, apparently they've been in and out of jail for years.
Other guy I did karate with in middle and high school and was a sweet guy who had a bit of a temper and was a bit of a troublemaker. I saw him on the streets, we were both in our mid 20s but he looked like he was pushing 40. He talked slow, one side of his face trooped even when he smiled and he walked with a limp. I later found out that he was an on and off heroin addict and had been in enough fights that he was permanently brain damaged. komnenos
"massages"
I'm fairly certain one of the prominent and popular bad girls at my school ended up as a prostitute. A few years after graduation she kept posting about how people should come get "massages" at this sketchy spa she worked at downtown. She also kept posting about her modeling career, but all the photos were behind a pretty steep paywall, so I'm pretty sure that was porn. Anyway, I read in the news one day that this spa she worked at was raided by the cops and the owner was arrested for running a prostitution ring. She suddenly stopped posting after that. ApatheticAasimar
Get Help...
Alcoholic, missing most (all?) his teeth, usually in between jobs in either lawn service or pest control, has custody of his kids cause he's the "good" parent.
She's dead. OD right out of high school. nrfx
The Odds are bad.....
It's funny, in some aspect just about every classmate of mine was a "bad" kid. Many went on to college or have kids, but many others have struggled. Out of 55, 12 have died. We graduated high school 6 years ago. IndiaSixty
2 Bad Boys...
Two bad boys, both brothers, a few years apart.
The younger one started some sort of legitimate business (think Roy from the Office) and seems to be doing extremely well.
The oldest is literally homeless and constantly begging for money on Facebook. It's really sad. TaterTotCasseroll
Dreams Come True.
GiphyHe moved to California and became an ad film director. His Instagram stream regularly contains pics of him posing with topless models, celebs and fancy cars and bikes. He also has a boat.
So, he's living up to his childhood image, I say. RamnathCovid-19
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.