Guys, I was an awkward kid. Shocking, I know. I was the kid who crushed way too hard and had no poker face about it. When I say I had no poker face I mean I made it weird with the constant staring, the swooning, etc. It was bad enough that the first (and only) song ever dedicated to me was a song telling the other person to go away.
Um ... ouch.
Yeah... so that's what happened when I caught by biggest crush. Reddit user SwiperNoSwiping42 asked
What was the biggest crush you had?
And yeah, some of these stories are just as awkward as mine. Some are heartbreaking. Overall, it's pretty clear that major crushes have huge impacts on people's lives... and awkwardness levels. I don't know where you are, Jason ... but my bad. I made it weird. 7th grade was intense.
A Golden Child
Oh man, this question breaks my heart. My biggest crush was a close family friend all through junior high and high school. He was a golden child. Good looking, charismatic, very intelligent (ended up getting a doctorate), and good person to boot. He was way out of my social circle and never interested in me, but he was always kind and considerate, when others weren't. Our families were out at the lake once, and I got stuck on a raft fair enough away from shore I didn't think I could make it back in as I was a weak swimmer, and was nearly in tears. He swam back with me, encouraging me all the way and helping me find the shallows where I could wade back.
He died of brain cancer when we were in our 30's. It just kills me to think about it.
Still Gives Me Butterflies
Giphy
My husband. We first met when we were about 15 and liked each other a lot but he moved away before we could ever act on it. Over the years I would run into him occasionally when he came to visit friends in the city. It was always electric, and I was SO into him, but I was too shy to make a move.
Finally, eleven years after we first met I found him on Facebook, we started talking and fell in love. We've been together almost ten years now, have two kids together and he still gives me butterflies.
It Literally Hurt
I had a crush on a girl for two years from when I was 11-12 and never acted on it (because i was a kid) it was a very strange two years. I haven't had a crush in over 6 years and that crush was easily the strongest. I remember it literally hurting because I liked her that much. Kid me was weird.
Not Me
Does a crush entirely made up of memories of the past count?
In third grade, I had a crush on a girl in my class. We had a great time playing soccer at recess every day, we even held hands once! Then after that year I moved away, but I never forgot, and the crush probably grew even bigger over the years.
Long story short, I found her on Facebook, and sent her a message. She did not remember me at all. Even remembered the class and the school, but not me. So yeah, there was that.
Win Win
I had a crush on a girl that I was friends with for about a year when I was 15 but I didn't say anything. Turns out she was gay and we became really close friends and I didn't have to say anything. So win win!
Crushing Pretty Hard
I've had a few crushes in my teens, but right now at 28 I'm crushing pretty hard on this new girl at the office. She's gorgeous and kind and sweet and funny and outgoing and always has time to talk to me. Her smile lights up the room, and when she laughs at one of my jokes I feel lighter than air.
Even if she wasn't way out of my league (which she is), she has a boyfriend who she loves very much, and I'm a big believer in love so I'd never get in the way of it. Sometimes it hurts, but I'm mostly just happy to have her as a friend and I'm happy that she's in a loving relationship
Life As A Preteen
I'm in the midst of one right now. I haven't had a full-on "crush" since 5th grade. It's oddly thrilling and disturbing as an adult. The maddening omnipresence of his smile in my head is no different than life as a preteen.
- rkgk13
Trophy Of Shame
Giphy
I'm crushing pretty hard right now. I'm 31 and IT at a medical school. She is a 24 year old dental student. When she smiles her eyes turn into little moons. Her eyes sparkle. I don't know if they naturally sparkle for everybody or only towards me (god i hope!), but they sparkle. I bought a tooth plushie for her for Christmas with a cheese ass note that says something like you're the reason smiles are merry and white. It's so cheesy I don't even want to read it again. I never gave it to her and it still sits on my desk right here. It is my trophy of shame. A reminder to not be a fool. I don't need to be harassing and distracting hard working students.
That Ending, Though...
In junior high I had a huge crush on this one blonde girl who I'll call Liz. She had just transferred to the school in seventh grade and was one of a handful of new girls that year (it was a relatively small, co-ed private school).
Pretty much every class had assigned seating, determined by the teachers. We had a few classes together and just so happened to have our assigned seats right next to each other in those classes, so we'd either be sitting across from each other or right in front of/behind each other. We got along great and occasionally got called out by teachers for talking/joking/laughing in the middle of class. This was back when AIM was all the rage in the early 2000s, so we'd often chat in the evenings because we liked a lot of the same bands, etc.
Never really confessed my crush to her that first year. The next year, eighth grade, I got a big boost of confidence when another lady friend I often goofed around with in class spontaneously told me, "you got really hot over the summer," and started asking me if I was into one of a few girls she listed off, indicating they thought I was cute and they were interested. Unfortunately, that list didn't include Liz.
Still, I "dated" some other girls (as much as a 13-14 year old "dates") from other schools in the area and I guess about halfway through the year I finally told Liz that I had a crush on her. She hadn't dated anyone in the entire time I had known her, so I thought hey, maybe I have a shot.
Unfortunately, the feeling wasn't mutual. I was pretty disappointed, but we remained good friends and nothing about our friendship ended up changing. We still talked a lot and would sometimes be the class clowns on a given day, which often ended with our teachers separating us in the classroom. One instance that got me kicked out of class was when we were passing notes back and forth to each other (she was sitting at the desk behind me) with stupid/silly shit on them with the sole purpose of annoying our teacher, who was a middle-aged woman. At one point the teacher calls me out for handing the note but doesn't say anything about Liz. After a couple minutes when the teacher turned her back, Liz hands me a note that says something like, "Why is she singling you out? Am I invisible?" And I handed a note back to her that said, "I think she's into me. You got some competition."
Of course, right when I handed that note to Liz and right as she was reading it, the teacher called me out again, walked over to Liz, grabbed the note and was about to do the usual thing where the teacher reads it aloud to the class to embarrass the guilty students and put a stop to it. Knowing what the note said, though, Liz immediately started bursting out laughing, the teacher stopped herself from reading it and then sent me to the principal's office.
After junior high, Liz ended up going to an all-girls high school and we pretty much fell out of contact about halfway through freshman year. Even though I did all the usual high school social events, like football games and dances and stuff, I never saw her at any of them. I dated quite a few girls over the course of my high school years, lost my virginity, etc.
Fast forward to my senior year. I go to a football game with a group of my friends and end up running into her randomly. We immediately get so distracted talking and catching up that we don't realize our groups of friends had left us and moved on somewhere else. We exchange numbers and agree to hang out some time soon and went our separate ways for the evening. At the time, I honestly wasn't actively hoping we'd date or hook up. I mean, I was certainly fond of the idea, but truthfully I was just kind of happy to reconnect with a friend I hadn't seen or spoken to in so long.
The next week, we agree to hang out and go to the football game that weekend and then to the inevitable party afterwards at whoever's house it'd be that night. Only problem is, she didn't have a car yet so I told her it'd be no problem and I'd pick her up.
I picked her up and we drove to the game but ended up spending most of the time kind of on our own in the much less crowded areas just talking and laughing. We weren't into the game at all so I suggested we just go to my car and wait for everyone to leave and then drive to the party. As soon as we leave and round a corner completely out of sight from everyone, she pulls on my jacket and starts making out with me.
I was honestly surprised but was obviously quite happy with it. She smiled and laughed shyly after the kiss and I said something like, "13 and 14 year old me would've done anything to kiss you like that when we were in junior high." She thought that was cute and said she had no idea why she turned me down back then. We got to my car and she said she wasn't really interested in going to the party, so I suggested we go to a nearby park and hang out, just the two of us.
We had sex that night. Easily one of the happiest and most fun evenings I've ever had, even to this day, given the context and history between us. We never dated but eh, I was just happy something came of it.
- TheWaker
Tough School Year
My eighth grade English teacher. Raging teenage hormones and a hot teacher made for a very tough school year.
Intruder
"I was 14, alone at my grandmas house around midnight."
"She was across the street at the bar she owned."
"I was playing games on her computer, about 15 feet from one of the windows facing the backyard."
"All of a sudden the glass from that window shatters, and I ran to one of the bedrooms."
"I can hear my name being called."
"Eventually I see my grandma's ex-boyfriend enter the living room where the computer is."
"He keeps saying my name."
"I’m scared sh*tless, but I walk out and confront him."
"He says my grandma stole his ID and that’s what he came for, as he’s taking money from my grandmas purse."
"He looks f*cked up on something."
"I forget how he leaves but when he does I call the bar and people come over looking for him."
"They didn’t find him."
"About a year later he did it again, and I was once again alone there."
"Except this time instead of breaking a window he decides to try to kick the side door in."
"I’m just there chilling when out of nowhere I hear the loudest bangs coming from the side of the house and I instantly knew what was happening."
"I immediately called the bar and they sent a bunch of people over before he could make it in."
"He apparently tried to jump from one of her sheds into the alley next to her house and broke his leg."
"He went to prison."- nfreshn
They're coming right for us!
"Two bison charging right toward me down a narrow wooded path in Yellowstone when I was 12."- pcc2
Open Range Running GIF by Reconnecting RootsGiphyUncomfortable in new surroundings.
"My sister has mental health issues."
"We were in a foreign country, driving across mountains on a one lane dirt road with no guardrails."
"She had a complete mental breakdown and threatened many times to drive off the edge."
"To this day, my mom swears my sister wouldn't have done it."
"All I say is, 'you weren't in the car'."
"'You have no idea'."- BlorengeJulius
Lost in the woods.
"Getting lost on 350 acres of woods in southeast Georgia."
"Was found about 6 hours later."
The dog found me hours before the people did.- No_Regrats_42
Scared Woods GIF by Brat TVGiphyA near death experience.
"Was working as a linemen tasked to replace a 16m wooden power pole which requires climbing up to untie the lines from the isolators."
"I checked if the pole had any rot beforehand, climbed up, untied the lines, climbed down, as I was packing my tools up , the pole fell from its own."- LimaRadek
He wasn't who he claimed to be.
"A man claiming to be a meter reader was in our yard and tried the back door AFTER trying the front."
"It was unlocked because there was a field behind us and our gate had a lock, that he somehow got by."
"The meter reader man was nearly eaten by our Great Dane who was dumb and peaceful, except for when she laid eyes on him."
"Our other dog also wanted to kill him and he was up on our trampoline begging us to call the dogs off, which we, my then 11 year old sister and I, refused to do and went to get our dad, who worked from home."
"The guy escaped while we got our dad and my dad let the police know what happened."
"The real meter reader man came the next week."- Applesintheorchard
Dog Bouncing GIF by AFV PetsGiphyHad no idea what they were witnessing.
"I guess watching a loved one have a seizure when I didn’t understand what it was."
"Legit thought I witnessed a death."
"Scary stuff."- Peppapigisgodly
Always look both ways.
"I got hit by a car while in a crosswalk a few months back."
"Had a split second where I saw him coming and realized what was about to happen."
"I thought I was going to die."- jolalolalulu
Big Sister to the Rescue.
"Saved my sisters life."
"We were boating and my parents just kinda assumed we’d be ok with them only out a couple hundred feet."
"I was about 17 and she was about 7."
"I’m laying there chilling and see her slip and fall into the water and just straight up sink."
"Ran over, dove in and pulled her to shore."
"She spit up a bunch of water and was fine but that experience rocked me to my core."
"Not a super crazy story but almost seeing a sibling die has always stuck with me."
"I’ve broken almost every bone in my body, I died one time and was in a coma for a little bit but for some reason this one stuck with me."- Present-Trip5231
Often, an experience that left us scared does make for a good story down the line.
Though whether it was a good enough story to make having gone through the experience worth it, is debatable.
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Waiting tables was always the bane of my existence. Customers are rude. Staff is rude. It never ends.
Filthy Hours
Fail Just For Laughs GIFGiphy"Trash men. They’re looked down on as dirty and uneducated, but they do a hard job that is absolutely critical to our public health."
kirkl3s
You're Out!
"Youth sports officials. I umpire baseball as a hobby and the way parents act is deplorable."
kennsing75
"The parents on the other hand deserve loads of hate sometimes. I was a coach for soccer and volleyball while I was in the Air Force. You would have loved to be a sports official for our leagues at our base. If a parent got sh**ty they are immediately ejected, no questions, and reported to whoever is their higher authority. It almost never happened."
DaniTheLovebug
Behind the Counter
"Any customer (client/patient) facing job. They get the abuse that stems from managements decisions, mistakes and incompetence."
HighlyOffensive10
"I did customer service for automotive companies at a call center for years. People get so unhinged, between dealerships, management, people calling into the wrong department, angry customers who were itching for a fight over a rental car. The job paid for five free therapy sessions a year, but honestly, it would take every ounce of restraint not to break some days."
"You aren't allowed to defend yourself or hang up, you can't transfer them to supervisors for a call, you technically work for a third party company that exists to keep the customer from ever actually speaking to the corporation. It was the worst job I've ever had, and that's coming from someone who used to work at a seafood processing plant."
Bromelia_and_Bismuth
I'm Hungry
"Food service. The workers have to eat too, you know."
stinky_cheese33
"Working fast food sucked. Not because the job was hard. But because people were *icks. For like, no reason. Working in an actual kitchen also sucked. Not because the work was hard, but because you never did it quick enough and your boss was a *ick for like no reason. But at least you didn't deal with customers."
thedankbank1021
Too much stress...
Jim Carrey Omg GIFGiphy"Defense attorneys. People hate them because they defend violent criminals. However, as one lawyer put it, their job is not just to defend these people; their job is also to make sure that the cops did their job correctly."
TomoyoHoshijiro
I've always wondered about defense attorneys. How do they reconcile their morals?
They're Smart Too
will birth control GIFGiphy"I live in Germany and currently in my (hopefully) last semester of university to become a pharmacist (4 years of university, one practical year and three exams of state required). A lot of people here think pharmacists are only cashiers and don’t know we get a scientific education. And God help me if I question a doctor's decision."
this_is_lune
Hard Hours
"I usually just lurk as a guest, but I made a Reddit account just for this. Cooks for public schools. They are constantly overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. Most schools have only a few ovens and microwaves, so school chefs have to either jam unsafe amounts of frozen food into ovens and microwaves, which is a giant fire hazard, or work non-stop from early morning."
Clingitty
Green Thumbed
"Plant breeders and plant geneticists. Imagine you're a plant nerd and you spend your life studying genetics so you can figure out how to improve food crops. Like, to make them yield more, taste better, be healthier, survive drought, etc. But on the internet, you're apparently trying to poison the world and control the food supply."
kjhvm
Heartless
"Veterinarians. My doctors CONSTANTLY get yelled at or called heartless when, for instance, we refer them to a hospital more suited to care for the animal than us. Like bro we didn't just tell you know we are giving you options and trying to ensure you seek the proper care. Don't call me a heartless b**tard for that crap."
Zfullz
No Fun Involved
Angry Neil Flynn GIFGiphy"Janitors. Trash-related work. Sewage workers. Plumbing."'
SubiWhale
I feel for everyone in these jobs. They deserve better.
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In other states, you and your ladies can live a more peaceful life. Here in Florida, it's A Song of Sweat And Fire Ants.
Ever get tiny little jellyfish stuck under your side-boob? Happens here all the time.
Bikinis should come with a "Sand Lice, Your Titty Crease, And You" informational pamphlet.
Wanna jog? Hope you accounted for the fact that the air is soup and will chafe and cauterize your nipples.
Know what limits your field of vision, making you more likely to accidentally step on a snake and/or gator? Boobs.
Know what slows you down as you try to escape the angry reptile from the above paragraph? Also boobs.
Reddit user Saibotnl1 asked:
"What's the most negative thing about having boobs?"
Now take all this stuff they said sucked, and then put it inside of a steam oven filled with mosquitos. That's Florida.
And Florida is incompatibile with breasts.
Cardio Is Hardio
GIF by VIASWEATGiphy"I love them but running can be a nuisance even in a good sports bra."
- [Reddit]
"When I go to work, there is a woman that usually runs on the shoulder of the road. I gasp at how much her boobs bounce. Isn't that doing damage to tissue? Painful?"
- notanotherbreach
"Yes! I literally always hold mine when going up/down stairs so they dont bounce. Running is uncomfortable even with a good bra :/ "
- k_g94
"If it's a sports bra that holds you, it's so tight that it's impossible to get into or out of without a whole team of people like a pit crew."
"If you can comfortably get into it, it won't hold the girls for long."
"Cardio is just not worth all this."
-[Reddit]
"As a kid I wasn't fit enough for jump rope, but now that I'm older and have the big boobies it feels even more impossible to ever indulge in."
- PoiLethe
Literally In The Way
"They get in the way!!"
"Lately I've been getting frustrated with exercise. My personal trainer will say to hold something a certain way and I'll try but it's so uncomfortable because my boobs are completely in the way."
"She has small boobs so she doesn't account for them being in that space right in front of your chest."
- J09Lynn
"My English teacher in 10th grade was drinking water one day when a few drops landed on his shirt. He then complained about getting older and how he never stuck out far enough to get his shirt wet."
"I just sighed."
"4th grade. 4th grade is when I stuck out too much to avoid drips."
- wheredMyArmourGo
"So very much this."
"I refuse to do mountain climbers when my trainer suggests it, she started to get mad saying it's a great exercise. My retort was that I'd really rather not knee myself in the breasts as part of my workout."
"The lady has small boobs and replied that she had never thought of that!"
- Pauliester
Growing Pains
"Probably growing them."
"It hurts, and if you get big boobs young and quickly, it’s both physical and social agony."
"It hurts to grow them, first of all, your chest aches and bumping them against anything really hurts - and since they’re a sudden, large addition to your body, you’re ALWAYS bumping them on stuff."
"But the social aspect is worse."
"Your female family members comment on them slyly and smirk at your response."
"Your male friends look at you weird and you have to realize they see you as more sexual than girls with smaller chests, even though you literally cannot control this."
"Other girls can be nasty and jealous."
"Eventually I learned to manage all this and I like having breasts now; but from like 11-16 I was so frustrated and upset that I had developed them at all."
- Individual_Ad_7523
Two Volcanos
rachael ray boob sweat GIF by First We Feast: Hot OnesGiphy"The sweat and itch!"
"Also that they're like two volcanos, which isn't especially practical during summers or when you're a constantly hot temperatured person anyway."
- Queen-of-meme
"No matter what I try, the skin under my boobs never cools down!"
- Local_Masterpiece_
"Boob sweat is the bane of my existence when it's even a little bit hot outside - and sometimes even when it's not lol..."
- PleasuredMeatStick
"I hate the feeling of sweat on my boobs. I just put tissue between and underneath my boobs to hopefully absorb the sweat so it won’t start to itch and drip."
- LuckyBugHarley
Technological Advancements
"I STILL am not able to remove them after a long day. Why?!"
"Why can't I just set em aside for the night, all done. Why hasn't technology advanced to this possibility yet??"
- IAmNotLookingatYou
"Absolutely they would. The relief we would get ... oh my god it sounds divine."
"Maybe I wouldn’t be so b*tchy."
- Object_Prize
"I’d honestly probably only wear them for ren faire, and leave them at home the rest of the year."
- AbbyNormalKnits
Double Trouble
"The double standard of girls with small chests and big chests."
"If you have a big chest no matter what you wear or do it's sexual. But for girls with smaller chests they can get away with crop tops or v necks or even swim suits."
- BigBunsLittleBunbun
"Lol the bigger girls who spent their entire grade school years getting sent to the principal's office for breaking dress code will agree with you."
"Loose shirts will tent and billow up in the wind as you walk-- dress coded."
"Tight shirts that don't tent but cling to your chest-- dress coded."
"And don't even think about anything but a crew neckline, or you'll be dress coded again."
- cryptic-coyote
"Exactly!"
"I always got in trouble for wearing dresses in school, but skinny Minnie wearing something even worse gets by no problem just because she doesn't fill it out the way I do."
- APD2269
Expensive
Happy Music Video GIF by DJ MustardGiphy"They're expensive."
"Bras are expensive and you need regular bras, sports bras, probably something special like a strapless or low back if you have a special occasion or something."
"And don't even get me started on women's healthcare ..."
- SailorSpoon11
"Stage 4 breast cancer patient here, and it costs me about an extra $5000/yr to stay alive if everything goes well."
- insertcaffeine
"I just stopped breastfeeding and none of my bras fit anymore."
"I’ve just been wearing sports bras every day because I don’t even know what cup size I am anymore and I don’t want to spend a fortune replacing all of my bras."
- kaytay3000
"Plus if you choose not to wear bras for any number of reasons, you’re treated as deviant or an acceptable target of inappropriate attentions."
- letsjumpintheocean
Getting Comfortable
"Laying on your stomach can be tricky."
- ChadweenaThundervag
"Laying on your back can be tricky as well."
"And on your side."
"Just laying in general with big boobs is a hassle."
- Skkaj225
"Am guy."
"However women in my life have found it difficult to get a decent back massage because of this. I've seen plenty of massage tables with head holes, but none with boob support..."
- DeluxeWafer
"Semi-suffocating yourself on the beach while trying to get some sun on your back is fun."
- Miikami
Either Or
"The fact that I look like a walking refrigerator if I wear a loose fitting top, as it billows shapelessly around my body in an odd fabric rectangle."
"But if I wear something form fitting, I look like a lady of the night and am treated as such."
- batchofbetterbutter
"OMG this !!"
"I feel like all my girlfriends around me have such a fashion sense and can wear things with such grace but I always look as you’ve described. Like either I look like a couch pillow or Jessica Rabbit."
"Sometimes I just want to cut them off honestly."
- octokisu
"Yeah I’ve been wanting a reduction since a was a teen because of the back pain and catcalling, and many people I know with a bigger chest feel the same way."
- didithedragon
"I had no idea women hated their boobs so much! It honestly is shining a light on an idea I have never thought of."
- Peter_the_pear
Attempted Murder
Black Woman Breast Cancer Awareness GIF by Know Your GirlsGiphy"They might try to kill me."
"Breast cancer runs in my family and I have to have my first mammogram this year at 36."
"My mom was negative for both BRCA genes but there are 6 others they’ve discovered since she had cancer that we haven’t been tested for."
"Insurance won’t cover me to test unless she tests positive for one."
- Outrageous-Proof4630
"Fun fun fun."
"My mom died from breast cancer at 46. I started getting mammograms at 34."
"Luckily, I took the BRCA test and was negative."
- lil_ho_on_da_prairie
It's Constant
"Constantly being sexualized."
"I’m the least sexual person but people assume I’m super sexual because of my body. And I hate it"
- Plus_Bison_7091
"Yup, I'm ace and I honestly just want them chopped off to be rid of the constant sexualization of my body."
"It makes me really uncomfortable."
- zapsquad
"My friend in elementary school had a condition where she went into puberty super early and had large breasts by 3rd grade."
"We would walk together to elementary school every morning and get cat called a lot, but we were too afraid to tell our parents because we thought they wouldn't let us walk together anymore."
"She would have teachers make comments about them."
"When we were older she talked about how insanely awful and alienating it made her feel growing up. Her younger sister had the same condition, but went on puberty blockers for it."
- gentlybeepingheart
Destroyed
"These pendulous bags of hell have destroyed my back."
"Even a decade after a reduction surgery, I remain in daily pain. And now as an added bonus they get to be misshapen, scarred horribly, and completely useless for raising a baby."
- Originalluff
"I didn’t realize how heavy they are until I got together with girl with big boobs and woooooow they are heavy!"
- I_love_pillows
"I got C cups in fifth grade and those f*ckers went all the way to G by senior year."
"My posture was/is awful and I've felt like an old woman since I was a teenager. I don't even want babies, so they're never actually gonna be useful either."
- Rozeline
See what I mean?
They're kind of awful once they hit a certain size, and that size is pretty much ANY size if you're in Florida.
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