You can't save everybody. Heck, life is a constant battle in saving oneself. And because most of us relish every opportunity life gives us, or at least try to make the most of it all, it's disheartening when we see others squelch all the chances they are given. It's always most sorrowful when it's those who are blind to their own awesome potential.
Redditor u/ghettoterrorist wanted to hear how some have been most disappointed by others by asking.... What is the most stunning way you've seen someone throw their life away?
Oh GURL!
Giphy
Former friend of mine got her master's degree and a great job working for a police department. She married a meth head burglar for some reason and she got into meth herself, and ended up in prison for storing his burgled goods in her house. Orange_Paisley
Drive Safe.
My high school's valedictorian went to Harvard and graduated with a double-major, and was on the road to success when he enrolled in Stanford Business School for his master's.
During his second week of grad school, he got absolutely pooped-faced, got behind the wheel of a car, drove the wrong way down the highway and plowed headfirst into a taxi, killing one of its passengers. He's now serving six years in prison. blueeyesredlipstick
Weeded.
My brother's friend decided to go to college to become a weed dealer. Took out loans, didn't go to class, and ended up dropping out within a semester.
I still have no idea why he thought he had to go to college to sell weed to college kids. It's not like they'd check his student ID. PoliticalScienceGrad
Meth = Death.
Cousin of mine got a full ride basketball scholarship into a small college. He decided not to go.
He made the decision to get into meth instead, became a dealer and got his girlfriend addicted and pregnant, and managed to get his two sisters addicted as well. Guy went to prison twice, the mother of two of his meth babies killed herself recently. His father (who was a relatively decent man) dealt with all of this by stress eating himself to death. Kraelman
Damn.
Giphy
My alcoholic FIL got a double-lung transplant, but he was drinking again within a month. He died within 2 years of the transplant never doing anything but drinking and wallowing in solitude.
Edit: I should add that this was not only a tragic waste of a 2nd chance at life, but also essentially a waste of those donated organs. WeAllHaveOurMoments
Face to Face!
It's not incredibly stunning, just kind of eye opening how bad some people are at running their own lives.
My brother's ex-wife broke up the family in a way that caused a lot of pain and stress. She's terrible at confrontation, so instead of talking to her husband, she decided to just stop coming home and sleeping at her new boyfriend's house. He was left with two toddlers and no clue what his wife was up to until a few weeks later when she finally confessed.
Then the next 18 months was her trying to get back with him, insulting him, hoping they get be separated but stay married for the insurance, saying she was going to be homeless if he didn't take her back, and so many more things.
She makes $60k a year and lives in a big city/suburban area, yet she can't seem to do anything to take care of herself (find housing, get insurance) or her kids. They are finally divorced and my brother couldn't be happier. forman98
Snapped.
One of my best friends, a dude I talked to daily had almost died in his 30's and had to have a kidney transplant. Didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. He had a successful business, two beautiful teenage daughters and was a very chill person, went to every cheer competition and ball game for the kids, etc.
He had marriage problems-his wife was very closed off and was cheating. He would talk to me about it but never acted like it was a big deal more of "if she stays she stays, if she goes that's fine too."
He took the whole family on vacation to Mexico, when they got back he killed her and then himself. To this day I don't know why. I know his daughters and they are doing great but I would never ask them something like that. They found them when neither parent answered the phone. I wonder if he didn't have more medical issues and just "snapped" but I'll probably never know. ben6119
Could Have Had it All!
My wife's brother. He was awarded millions after an industrial accident. Wasted it in record time, married a woman older than his mother and had to flee the country because he had build up a massive debt within an insanely small time frame, and the wife had assaulted a doctor while in the hospital during a routine checkup. By now he has fled two more countries because he builds up new debt to everyone and everything he can.
He could have had it all. Instead he wasted it. INTRUD3R_4L3RT
Broken.
Had a friend who I played football with and he was a great defensive back, had a chance to go to college for free on a football scholarship, one night he was drunk and got into his car drove for about 15 minutes, crashed and broke both of his legs and got addicted to drugs. Never came back to sports. Groviv
Sid's Way!
Giphy
Knew a punk rocker who idolized Sid Vicious. So he quit school, moved to the streets of downtown Toronto and started shooting heroin. needles_in_the_dark
My best friend did the same thing back in '96. Only it was Vancouver and he was a writer with this notion that you "can't be really great writer unless you've done heroin." He lasted 18 months. He was an amazing writer before he started doing drugs. bobo76565657
Service.
This kid I knew joined the Marines, got through boot camp and was decided to be a Recruiting Assistant while he waited for space in his MOS school to open up (I met him briefly after he had just came back from boot camp, dumb kid tbh). That was all fine and dandy though.
Then, for whatever reason, he spent thousands (like all of his money) of dollars on strippers and started doing coke.
That's a dishonorable discharge in the Marines, aka he screwed up his future real bad and is now used as a cautionary tale by the recruiters. itgetsweird_
Party Over.
Friend of mine partied late one day till 6 am and then went home, hung himself up. : He hid his depression and suicidal thoughts from all of us and no one ever even suspected that he would do such a thing. knockthatpsych
Beautiful Soul.
Giphy
My best friend... Late best friend.
He was always troubled. He was half blind, middle school drop out, tons of mental health issues... Substance abuse. But his soul was absolutely beautiful. 10/10 amazing person.
He met and fell in love with a woman who made him better in every way. She got him his first pair of glasses... His good eye overcompensated and he had super vision in it. His bad eye began to work.
She helped him get his GED. He enrolled in college.
She helped him cut back on his drinking and almost all of the substance abuse. He met and connected with a therapist, and unpacked his childhood.
She took him to get his learner's permit and he was actually turning out to be a good driver despite his eye... He was so happy.
Then one night, they had separate plans. He decided to go on a bender.... And hung himself. He rose above all the bull life handed him up until that moment. He called so many people and yet didn't call anyone who would stop him. No note, no outward signs.
It's been 8 years next month. He would have been someone more amazing than he already was. But one night of drinking did him in. 2k_0h_VI
Bankrupt Soul.
My dad and uncle used to own a manufacturing plant alongside my grandfather. After he passed away, however, the two began to have a falling out over who should succeed him.
Then, in 2002/3, my uncle literally barred my dad from entering his own business, as he had taken sole control of the company without even telling him. This led him into a slippery slope of depression, even going so far as to attempt suicide when I was just 4 years old.
However, my uncle made some awful management decisions (just in time for the 2008 recession), and thus bankrupted the company. After that, he had a nasty divorce with his wife, and basically spent the next 8 years drinking away his fortune.
He was found dead in an alleyway 3 years ago by my cousin. What's even worse is that this was when he and my dad were just starting to reconcile after years of little to no contact. Really sad to think that it could've ended on a high note. bballconnor
The Monkey.
I was in a long term rehab with a guy who left the program early. He ended up murdering someone in a state of methamphetamine psychosis, and is now doing life without parole in Texas. He's currently 25 and was 23 when he was sentenced.
He was a bright, talented, and articulate person who just couldn't get the monkey off his back. eternalrefuge86
The Ballerina.
Giphy
Breaking her leg while doing a stunning ballerina dance. She couldn't dance again, so she became a drunk. Saphedak
Just Call In!
A (now former) coworker I had showed up to work blackout drunk at 11 AM. Nobody had any clue where he was until Security found him passed out in the elevator.
Like, dude ... just take a sick day. We've both done backup work for workforce, and we/they don't care if you've got hasahangoveritis or are still smashed from the night before, just call in. Why the hell would you not just call in? Comma-Kazie
Hookah/Meth Menu.
Not super stunning, but something I just couldn't understand at the time. My brilliant freshman roommate on full ride scholarship and with a 3.8+ GPA in an engineering field got addicted to Diablo III our sophomore year and promptly failed out with a sub 1.0 GPA. He moved back to his hometown and now he does meth and works in a hookah bar. I don't know man, just mind boggling. MediocRedditor
Keep Some Friends Far.
Had a former friend who smoked weed who started playing with stronger stuff. He would come to a party and drink whiskey straight from the bottle, steal my insulin syringes or cash left lying around.
One evening he collect-called me from jail and said he wanted me to pay money to a bail bondsman, he'd been caught as a passenger in a car where the driver was transporting heroin.
"It wasn't even my heroin, it was my friends!" he said.
I told him, "Yeah, doesn't it suck when friends drag you into the mess caused by their own bad decisions?"
And I hung up. Bedbouncer
No Oxy. No!
Giphy
Meth. A cousin had a stable job, a child, and lived in a nice rented house with friends. She was going back to school to get a better job. Then she was in a car crash and hurt her leg. The doctor prescribed oxy for the pain. For 6 months weeks she was on oxy then the prescriptions ran out. She made some very bad choices to deal with the withdrawal. Now her child is with relatives, she stays with different relatives and acquaintances, no job, no money. The worse part of her situation is that she has no desire to change it. Meth will do that to you. allthedifference
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
It connects people, ideas, senses or humor, creativity! Yes, we've got our fair share of deviants, murderers, and trashbag people, but we've also got decades of wonder to celebrate.
Newbies like to think using the internet for awesomeness is something they came up with, but the old heads are here to tell you the internet has ALWAYS been a complicated crash course in the coolest stuff ever.
So let's hop in the wayback machine and get our nostalgia on.
Reddit user ransom0374 asked:
"What do you miss from early internet times?"
So let's take that walk down memory lane, or if you're new-ish here on planet Earth, this is going to be a fun little "history" lesson.
If you're uncertain where you fall, here's a test:
"Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger..."
If you finished the song, you're probably going to remember quite a few of these...
Away Messages
"AIM away messages saying stupid stuff like 'BRB going to get some bagel bites.' "
"Don't forget to update your personal profile with Blink 182 lyrics and the initials of your school sweetheart and some ASCII. Browse for a new inappropriate buddy icon and strike up a convo with SmarterChild"
GiphyThe Unknown
"I miss the wild unknown frontier that the internet was."
"It seemed there was so much discovery to be had on the internet, and if you were good at the internet everyone thought of you as 'Hackerman' and you were like a God amongst your peers."
"It seems like there isn't anything 'new' on the internet anymore. No discoveries to be made."
GiphyThe Irony Is Not Lost On Us
"Variety. There's a popular tweet that says something like 'the internet has turned into four websites where on each one people share screenshots of the other three.' "
"I miss when you could search a term and there would be dozens of sites dedicated to it or forums especially for it. Now it's just ads, Wikipedia, and Reddit."
"Oh, and not having ads shoved down your throat every time you search a term or navigate to a page!"
"I know there were pop ups and banners, which weren't any better. But there was a sweet spot."
"There was a few years there where you could Google something and half the first page WASN'T sponsored ads that had nothing to do with what you looked up. And you could go to a website and it DIDN'T block the page with a full screen ad asking for your email to join their mailing list or save 10% on their merchandise."
GiphyFiguring It Out
"That all the webpages were just random people trying to figure out HTML."
"There really wasn't a corporate presence at all. It was just a place for people to experiment."
"You could click on a button and make a cardboard hand wave at someone's cats. You could dispense a coke from a machine in some dorm. It was dumb and fun."
GiphyEndless Learning
"The learning was endless."
"There were almost an infinite source of information from all over the world. If you wanted to find something all you had to do was search for it in Ask Jeeves or whatever and you'd find any website that had ever mentioned that thing."
"There were more than 10 different websites. And at least it didn't feel like I was being forced to sign up for a subscription after every click."
"There were so many fun, cute stores to shop. Now it feels like everyone dresses and decorates the same."
"I miss a lot of things about the early internet. I'm probably wrong, but it just felt safer than it does now?"
GiphyMaking Friends
"I was in my late teens when the internet was becoming accessible to everyone. Our one household computer was in the kitchen & facing in a way so anyone coming in could see your screen."
"I remember looking at someone's website and my Dad passing by to get something to eat, asking me if the person on the website was my friend."
"I miss those old days! The internet seemed endless & friendly."
GiphyA Base Level For Participation
"Most people were smart."
"In the early days (by far) most people on the internet were in college, either as a teacher or student. Beyond that, people had to to be in a lab or make their computer talk to a connected computer which was not so easy in the old days."
"It acted as a sort of intelligence barrier one needed clear to participate in internet things."
- tsoldrin
"Higher barrier to entry."
"I remember the fond days of SLIP and Trumpet Winsock when you had to know at least a little about tech to get on and participate."
"There was still stupidity, but it just wasn't as loud as it is now."
- dramboxf
"In the very very early days, pre-AOL, you needed skill and knowledge to get online."
"Then AOL came onto the scene an d anyone could get online at the push of a button."
GiphyGo Away Now
"I miss when what happened on the internet, stayed on the internet."
"You could turn off the beige box and go about the rest of your day without it affecting you."
"The fact that is only existed on a big computer in the house, as long as no-one was on the phone. It wasn't some all-encompassing thing."
- dienices
"The internet not following me around. When you logged off, you effectively put the internet away."
GiphyIt Used To Be...
"How people used to treat it."
"The internet was not just a novelty, but an amazing piece of technology that let anyone share anything. It was so wholesome and loving, with everyone still being amazed at what we could do now."
"Now? There's so many websites that are designed to make you angry and radicalize your beliefs. It's quantity over quality."
"There was a time when nobody on Reddit shared politics, when Facebook was for socializing, when YouTube was where people uploaded stuff they were passionate about."
GiphyWe Used To Love Yahoo
"Yahoo Answers"
"Yahoo Pool"
- inaclick
"I can't remember what it was called, but Yahoo had this great music video program where it showed popular artists, and some very unknown folks."
"I discovered some of my favorite artists having it play in the background all the time."
"Launchcast/Yahoo Radio. It was revolutionary for music streaming and the 1-5 star system worked really well. I preferred it over Pandora's up/down system."
GiphyOn a personal level, I want to go on record and say MusicMatch was the greatest music program in the history of life.
It just was.
I will die on this hill.
It was dopeness in all forms. MusicMatch Jukebox? Dope. Yahoo MusicMatch? Dope.
So what relics from Ye Olde Internet are you passionate about? Sound off in the comments!
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The dogs owner shared the video along with a post asking professionals to shed some light on why he does what he does.
Owner-obliviousness as they gushed about how adorable it was made the awkward even better.
The owner explained the Frenchie often makes aggressive eye contact and licks his lips while he "plays air guitar"—which is what the family calls it—and how cute & funny they all find the behavior.
GiphyThe video was the dog, casually chilling, using his paw to rub the tip of his penis while staring awkwardly at the camera and licking his lips like a pup possessed.
Three hundred and fifteen laugh-reacts—at the time that I saw it—and only three comments:
1. a vet explaining that the behavior showed in the video was the dog masturbating while making direct eye contact
2. the owner giving a simple "thank you" and
3. the admins of the group closing the comments.
So, why am I sharing this with you?
Because Reddit user Drakmamman asked:
"Dog owners of reddit, what the dog doin?"
... and so now you get this whole article just so I had an excuse to tell y'all about a furiously fapping Frenchie, 'cause somebody else needed to know about him.
I cackled for a good 20 minutes imagining the family getting all giddy about their dog "playing air guitar"—making the little air guitar meedly squeedly noises while he played, maybe even playing along thinking they're enjoying a fun little game—but they're really just been giving a hair metal soundtrack to their dogs stroke sesh.
Something tells me now the owner knows what "air guitar" really is, they're not likely to rush and tell Reddit all about how they've been gathering as a family to watch cause it's just so cute.
That's what I'm here for.
Anyway, here's the stuff other people's dogs are up to. It's not fapping—or if it is, the owners aren't telling Reddit.
Partner Preference
Giphy"Wife just came home with the baby. Dog is acting like she's been abandoned for years running up and down, barking and jumping on everything."
"They'd only been out an hour and I was with her the whole time." - Single_Goose7015
"My dog does this too when my wife comes home. Like what am I, chopped liver?" - jackof47trades
"I feel your pain. My dog started howling mournfully when my partner went back to work last week… I was right there!" - TreatOutside
"Staring at the door waiting for the only human he cares about to come home (obviously not me)" - SnarkyRedhead
Herding Cats
Giphy"Probably trying to herd the cats."
"He's a border collie mix who's afraid of goats and sheep, but even after six years of living with them he still thinks he can control where the cats go."
"He's a good boy, he's very persistent, but not terribly bright sometimes." - TokesNotHigh
"After 8 years our border collie still herds the cats, and the vacuum." - psychologicaluse28
"Big heart, small brain. I have one of those dogs too. They are the sweetest." - Technobucket
Wretched Existence
Giphy"She has flung herself flat across the bed and is playing dead, quiet except for the occasional pitiful whine. Every now and then she lifts her head up and fixes a desperate look upon me, silently begging for release from her wretched existence."
"She's a bit overdramatic about having to wear a cone. The issue is an abrasion on a toe that she won't stop licking, which is making it worse."
"I've been alternating between bandaging it and having her wear a cone. She's been consistently a drama queen." - halfinboxes
One Hour
Giphy"Staring at me because their dinner time is in one hour and they need to start letting me know that, in an hour, they need to eat...in an hour, so I better not forget...cuz they're hungry, which is why they're staring at me...and it's almost dinner time."
"Just one more hour, And they want to make sure I don't forget. Because maybe I will."
"So, they need to remind me. By staring at me. Every day. One hour before dinner." - MotherOfFred
A Little "Light" Exercise
Giphy"Mine loves light reflected off watches or phones. And loves lasers."
"It's sunny and he sees light on the wall so he is bothering me to use my watch or phone so he can chase the light. I've spent the last hour doing it."
"I even got him a cat laser toy that's automatic for him and he runs himself tired as all hell with it. But he is STILL asking for it."
"Used the laser toy also too, so he is panting dripping tongue and still wants to play more..." - boomgoon
Vicious Predators
Giphy"Last night my dogs chased down and killed a rabbit in the backyard. They are usually so gentle; this was weird and unexpected."
"I watched the whole thing helpless because it was so fast. The rabbit screamed, it was insane."
"Now, I'm watching them sleep on my couch and can't help but think they just murdered someone."
"They are just vicious predators, right here, in my house. On my couch."
"But they snuggly as f*ck. This trips me out." - Atheist_Redditor
A Problematic Princess
Giphy"We have two chihuahuas. One is a 15 year old (quite appropriately) named Princess and one is a one year old named Charlie."
"Both have their own dog beds on the couch since they are spoiled."
"When Princess is feeling particularly moody or like asserting her dominance, she will drag Charlie's bed into her bed and lay on top of BOTH of them and snarl at him if he comes close to her personal space bubble/bed mountain."
"And when we tell her she can't have both beds and put his bed back to the side, she just glares at us. Lol." - mslm90
Shoe-nanigans
Giphy"She's currently in her cage resting after her great adventure."
"She managed to get upstairs and grab a hold of one of my shoes. Not just any old shoe, but one of the shoes I am planning to wear this weekend for my wedding."
"After running around, she dropped the shoe to chew on a shirt - at which point she was cornered, and then brought downstairs."
"Pup and shoe are both unharmed and doing well. My nerves, not so much." - still_interesting23
So ... what's YOUR dog been up to lately?
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