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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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