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Times Women Were Creepy AF

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These Nightmare Neighbors Make Us Want To Move

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The Creepiest 'Glitches In The Matrix' People Have Ever Experienced

My Best Friend Betrayed Me

My Best Friend Betrayed Me

Unforgettably Creepy Moments

Unforgettably Creepy Moments

These Entitled Jerks Made Us Rage

These Entitled Jerks Made Us Rage

People Share Minor Mysteries From Their Life That Will Likely Go Unsolved

"We may never find the answers...right?"

People Share Minor Mysteries From Their Life That Will Likely Go Unsolved
https://pixabay.com/en/tunnel-silhouette-mysterious-899053/

Bigfoot. Nessie. A film role Nicholas Cage says "No" to. Life is full of mysterious thing we may never find the true reasoning behind. Fortunately, if you pay attention, your day to day life is full of unknown events which will forever remain unsolved.

Reddit user, u/Moonwomb, wanted to know the greatest unknowns when they asked:

What is your life's biggest mystery that will probably go unsolved?

Just Say 'Thank You' To The Universe

A few years ago I got a citation, and when I went to pay it off ($350) they told me it was already paid for.

Asked everyone I know, no one claimed they did. I don't think I'll ever find out who it was.

Imtheman1388

Beware The Peacocks!

My childhood home in Utah was right behind a farm with regular farm things; horses, chickens, goats, etc.

One day a peacock shows up out of nowhere and makes the farm and our backyard his own home. He cries and cries for weeks. Later, a peahen shows up. They have babies, the babies have babies, loads of peafowl all over. They became part of my everyday life. My chores were to feed the peafowl our cat food, and scrape their poop off the deck everyday. This goes on for 8ish years.

Then, just as suddenly as Peter (the peacock) and Petra (the peahen) appeared, they all disappeared.

No one in the neighborhood had any idea where they came from or where they went.

friesandburritos

The Bermuda Library

I worked at the public library. I scanned a guy's library card then went to hand it back to him. He saw me start to hand it to him. Our hands were about a foot apart. Then suddenly the card was gone. It never made it into his hand. We were both totally confused, I looked under the computer, desk in weird cracks but never found it.

I still think about it.

JeremyDHernandez

When Your Daughter C-Blocks You

I got home one day and my daughter told me a guy had turned up on my doorstep asking for me by name with a huge bunch of flowers. She sent him on his way and didn't even ask for his name.

I will never know who my lost love is.

_-Robin-_

Storm? Like, From The X-Men?

When I was little, me and my babysitter were outside and it started to rain.
My babysitter said "watch this" and walked out into the road (no cars)
She lifted her arms to form a T shape, and it started to rain heavier.
She put them down and the rain slowed down.
She put them back up and it poured again.

Im sure there's a valid explaination, but for now Im still baffled.

_LulzCakee_

Officially Can't Trust Anyone Ever

About a year ago I found a playing card in my wallet with a scantily clad woman on it. No matter how much prodding I did, my husband and all our friends SWEAR they didn't do it.

I still have it in my wallet and occasionally ask friends about it but to this day no one has fessed up.

beckybarbaric

Broken Rear Light?

Car followed me home from work late at night, didn't know where the police station was, so I stopped on a dark road near my suburb to make sure he was actually following me, and sure enough he stops behind me. I got out and grabbed the emergency axe out of the truck without even shutting off the car and started walking towards it, and the car sped off.

I was tired and stupid for doing that, but I will never know why or who that was.

BestBakedPotato

It's Returned To The Mushroom Kingdom

When I was like 7 I was playing my gameboy at my grandmas house and I got pissed that I kept dying in Mario so I took the actual game out and threw it at the wall. I saw the game hit the wall and fall behind the dresser, after moving everything in the room and many years of searching I still look for it and still wonder what happened to it occasionally

ttttttodayjr

The Unknown Knock

A few years ago I lived in a flat with my then girlfriend in a major city. I'm a freelancer so I worked from home and she from an office. I kept quite unusual hours due to travelling a lot.

One day there's a knock at the door. It's a shared building with just one other person so it's already odd that someone is at the door without buzzing. I go downstairs and it's a guy in his 50s, harmless enough but something is off. He asks for my girlfriend. I tell him she's not in right now but can I help? He says no hurriedly and starts to back away.

At this point I'm still more confused than suspicious so I ask how he knows her. He says they met in the park and she gave him his address. My girlfriend was a very private person and, to be honest, quite unfriendly with strangers, who would never do this. I look at the guy incredulously and back away myself. He asks, rhetorically, if she is Hungarian. I just say no (she has a Russian surname). At that point I'm suddenly spooked and shut the door, even though he's almost out the front door himself.

Later found out the neighbour had let him in because she assumed he was my girlfriend's father. Called the police to report it but never heard anything or saw him again. Can only guess he was looking to rob the place and had got her name from the recycling bins outside. Either that or my girlfriend had a thing for greying pot bellied men in their 50s and I didn't know about it.

Shred your documents, people.

simplyavest

The Mystery Of The Midwest Toys R' Us

Back in the 90s I remember going to Toys R Us where they had a demo SNES set up. The game that was on it was a Mario style side scroller with all of the textures of the objects and background looking like they were made of upholstery fabric. I believe the protagonist was Yoshi, but I could be mistaken. I don't know what it was called because it was all in Japanese. The first block you hit caused a text box full of Japanese to pop up. I only played for a couple of minutes because I couldn't understand any of it.

Fast forward to the internet era and I can find no trace of this game anywhere. It wasn't Yoshi's Island and it wasn't Yoshi's Wooly World.

The big mystery though, is why a Toys R Us in the midwest USA would have a Japanese demo game for their SNES.

DraconicArcher

When You Just Can't Find Your Protein Blender, Bro

In my first house (I was around 24 at the time) I had this white hand held blender that I would use pretty often at night to make protein shakes. For some reason whenever I would look for it I wouldn't be able to find it for a while and then all of the sudden I would finally see it just sitting there on the counter. I was only looking in a space like 2 feet on each side of the sink.

There was a string of literally 6-7 nights in a row where I would look for it for literally 2-5+ minutes in this tiny area and then I would look up and it would just be sitting on the counter. Keep in mind it's not like the kitchen was cluttered and I was not drinking or on any drugs or anything. By the last few nights after I'd look for 3+ minutes I'd be like there's NO WAY it's going to be on the counter it's got to be in a drawer or something and then lo and behold I would look up and there it was. 4 years later I'm in a new house and don't use it anymore but I'm still confused by that.

Leroyjankins123

Who Helped Dad?

Whether my Father was assisted in being euthanized or actually died of his cancer. Dad lived in Kansas and I live in Denver, I drove back every weekend (after he got his diagnosis he wanted to die at home). I left his house on a Sunday in care of my older brother. Monday he passed.

When I got back my brother was acting nervous - then he told me he flushed all the pain killers down the toilet. (Why just the painkillers?). It's never brought up, but a lot of people think either Dad took the pills by himself or was assisted by my brother. I should add no one asked or accused.

No one's mad either - Dad was in a lot of pain.

But still I wonder...

sunrein

The Dreams And Stars Are Lining Up

To make a long story short, about twice a week my best friends brother and I had the same exact dreams. I mean like down to the details, they weren't just similar.. the exact same.

So weird

e1224

Nothing Involving Your Kitty Is "Minor"

Our missing cat. The whole situation is so weird. We let our cats go in and out of the house as they please. We don't live in a super rural area, but we're on 5 acres where other houses are on their own 5-7 acre plots. This one cat in particular was extremely agile and always "turned on" to things around her. She also rarely left a 20-foot radius around the house, compared to the other slower cats who would venture for hours on end.

Everyone is just dumbfounded by what happened to her. No signs of anything and it must have occurred in a 4 hour window in the afternoon when we were not home. I keep telling my wife that regardless of how many more cats we have in the future, I will never stop thinking about this cat and this situation. I'll be 60 years old sitting on our porch wondering where Nala went. I know it's minor compared to other problems, but it really sucks not knowing.

scarecr0w37

Ask Yourself: Stroke or Seizure?

When I was 19/20 I had a seizure during the night/morning, which actually fractured both my shoulders..Went to ICU for few days, docs put me on some epilepsy meds, which it wasn't. Some doctors mentioned it was a small stroke, which I believe is true. From that day I haven't felt 100% again.

So that;s my story.

Pretburg

Are You, By Chance, Cary Grant?

we call it the helicopter incident.

me and a friend were walking around the golf course near our houses pretty late at night, it was still bright enough to see clearly though. for a few minutes we had been able to hear a helicopter somewhere near and as we were beginning to walk back towards home we saw it coming towards us. it flew over us and into a neighboring field where it just hovered in place, facing directly towards us. after a little bit of watching it i walked out into the field towards it and it flew off again out of view. it had no markings or lights on it and we never knew what it wanted or why it was watching and flying around us.

weirdly, despite being a small town, we get a lot of random helicopters here.

ConcernedPikachu

When No One Is Watching You

I got home one night. The landlord and his family were on holidays in America so it was just me and a housemate at the time. There was only one bathroom. Housemate was showering but I wanted to take a p-ss so bad that I had to p-ss in the backyard.

The moment I stepped out, the light in the backyard just turned on by itself (I didn't want to turn on the light as I was afraid that someone might see me). I looked back and there was no one there. Housemate was still in the bathroom. Keep in mind that bathroom is further away from backyard. There's no way this guy would rush out of the bathroom and I couldn't see him. Anyway I couldn't care less at first.

Once I finished and stepped into the house, I checked the switch. It was definitely hit by someone but who?

P.S. Something strange about this house is, everyone sleeps with their lights on. So I'm wondering if there's something going on.

chattawi

Who Drank The Last Shot?

Ths [sic] one happened one year ago. Me and my 3 friend went to a bar. Anyway we started to drink beer and chat. Later, we ordered 25 tequila shot. After they brought our tequilas we started to drink. So now here is where the mystery comes. We were 4 guys drinking tequila. And there was 25 tequila shots so everyone has to drink at least 4 and there would be 1 more tequila left.

When we finished the 4th tequila shot there was no one more shot left. But i was pretty sure that there were 25 shots. Because the shots came in order as 5x5. So we started argue about it. The guy who drank the fifth one didnt accept it. And we couldnt find who drink the fifth one.

Despite one year we still dont know who get the fifth one. And its still a mystery of my life. Mystery of tequila.

Catchmeright

...But, How? Seriously!

I was traveling in Italy when two American girls came up to me and started talking excitedly about how they couldn't believe they'd run into me in Rome and wanted to know how my trip had been going, but I had no idea who either of them were. And if you're thinking "it's a prank, bro" they knew specific things about my life and my travels that only someone who knew me would have known. I still have no idea who the hell they were.

schnit123

Brandy...You're A Fine Girl.

Fiancé and I come back to our apartment after being away all day. Get in, drop bags off, etc and I walk in the kitchen and there on my counter was a picture of a black girl. It was like a senior portrait with the name "Brandy" on it. My fiancé and I are white and we don't know anyone named Brandy. I remember unlocking the door, so I know the door was locked and nothing else seemed out of sorts. Just a wallet sized photo. So naturally. I framed it and now Brandy is an unofficial member of our family.

Brandy, if you are out there, we love you. Come visit.

Edit: HOLY HELL THIS BLEW UP! I've been trying to respond but it's too much. But to the ones that are asking for the picture, I will find it. We just moved and she's safe in my box of framed photos. But Reddit requests, who am I to say no? And to everyone that said landlord/maintenance: we lived there 4 years, had a great relationship with the front office and maintenance staff, took it down to show them and asked if anyone was in our apartment that day. No one knows who she is and no one was in the apartment for any reason (they gave us 24 hour notice.) I'm sure it's something like it was stuck to a grocery bag or something but who knows. A little mystery in life never hurt anyone.

Edit #2: Return of the Mack: I FOUND BRANDY! And I thought it said Brandy on the front but it was on the back and she graduated in 2002, so a year after me! And it's Brandi with an I. I'm so sorry girl.

sunshinepupperz

H/T: Reddit

People Reveal What Their Significant Other Did That Made Them Think 'F**k This, We're Done'

Reddit user The_King_Of_Spades_ asked: 'What is something that an S/O has done that made you go, 'F**k this, we're done?'

Young man looking defeated with face to palms
Christian Erfurt/Unsplash
Maintaining romantic relationships takes work, and if the people are invested enough in them, they will be willing to do everything they can to stay together.

After all, the honeymoon phase is not forever.

Eventually, reality sets in for those who want to be in it for the long haul as the lovebirds gradually start discovering weird idiosyncrasies that can either be perceived as cute quirks or aggravating annoyances.

Is it worth it?

That depends.

Curious to hear of make-it-or-break-it moments in relationships, Redditor The_King_Of_Spades_ asked:

"What is something that an S/O has done that made you go, 'F'k this, we're done'?"

These exes had no regard for the lives of others, some literally.

Serpent Murderer

"She unplugged the heater on my red tail boa's tank. Since the tank was in the spare room I only checked it every couple days. It was winter and I had just fed it so I would always leave it alone for a few days after so it wouldn't stress and have issues digesting. She went in right behind me an unplugged it after arguing with me for weeks to rehome it, which I refused to do."

"I went to check on it a few days later and noticed it froze to death. I asked her if she knew anything about it and her response was 'oh bummer, now I guess you can throw all that sh*t out.'"

"The next day when she was at work I packed all her sh*t and threw it all over her sister's front yard, since her sister was always the one telling her to just do things if I don't give her her way and had told me numerous times to get rid of my snake or else."

"RIP Doobie. I'm sorry buddy."

– burkechrs1

Funeral Brawl

"She started a fight with someone at my gran's funeral."

– LapOfHonour

"That's odd. Nobody is looking at ME for some reason..."

– VAShumpmaker

"Ummm...ex-CUSE me! I'M the ALIVE one here!"

– PicaDiet

Family Comes First

"Gave me sh*t for skipping a minor league ballgame with her family so I could go visit my grandfather in the hospital."

"It was the last time i saw him alive."

"Edit - ok i get it, the last sentence is confusing. I’m referring to gramps."

– chickentimesfive

You never know about a person's true colors.

Dodging A Bullet

"Physically barricaded me in the bedroom and forced me to change into the exact outfit he wanted me to wear before we could go out to meet his friends. I put it on just so he would let me leave and then ran a couple blocks away while he was locking up and called an Uber to my friend's house."

– Particular-Natural12

The Freeloader

"My ex drove my truck and returned it with a drop of gas in the tank. Then she took my bank card from my wallet and filled up her SUV and went to work. I started my truck and got to the gas station, opened my wallet and my card was missing. This was back when I was kind of poor and didn't have any credit cards, just a debit card. I had no cash in my wallet, so no gas. I tried to make it back home but I ran out of gas. I called her asking for help, she refused."

"My buddy picked me up on the side of the road. I went home and packed up my stuff and immediately moved out. I stayed on my friends sofa for a couple weeks while I worked out new living arrangements."

– macmac360

The kids will always be priority number one.

Scared Child

"My 12 year old son was struggling emotionally and it was causing issues with his grades. Boyfriend told him he could go live with his dad if he was going to be a loser. My son called me scared because he thought he was going to have to move to his dad’s. I was out of town at the time. I broke up with him the moment I got back and my son and I moved out."

"F'k you Chris."

– Fickle_Freckle

You Don't Go After The Children

"Called my daughter (not hers) a 'f'king b*tch that ruined our relationship'. Hard no from me."

– javawong

"Thank you for prioritizing your daughter. So many single parents don’t."

– CowboyLaw

Those who abuse animals are not relationship material.

The Last Straw

"Kicked my (our) cat."

"He pushed and pushed to get a cat. I wanted one but didn't really want to spend the next 10 years cleaning litter boxes every day. I eventually gave in because he was so persistent."

"After a few months, he came home from work in a mood one day and the cat got under his feet - as cats tend to do. He kicked her and screamed at her, and she ran and hid under the bed for hours."

"Things had been pretty sh*t between us anyway, but this was the last straw. I told him that if he can't watch where he's f'king going, he shouldn't live with a cat. He responded with something along the lines of 'well f'king get rid of her then!', and I told him I'd rather get rid of him."

"I told him to pack a bag and find somewhere else to stay. He went to stay with his mum, and I only saw him once after that day when he had to sign some paperwork to confirm that he'd moved out of our flat."

"P.S. Still got the cat. She's perfect and I love her so much. She still trips me up almost every day."

"Edit: I do feel like I should clarify (even though ex doesn't deserve it) - he didn't like, kick the cat across the room or something, but he did kick her a lot more aggressively than just tapping her out of the way with his foot. She wasn't hurt at all, but was scared. Had it been any worse, I probably would have flipped out on him even more."

– aerialpoler

Always listen to your gut when it comes to being in a bad situation.

Vulnerable individuals who are deep in love have the tendency of ignoring warning signs and realize until too late that they are with someone they never should've been with in the first place.

That's the tricky thing about pursuing love.

You don't really know a person until you spend more time with them, which is all the more reason to not rush into things.

relationships

Wait, What?: Foreigners Explain Which American Customs Make No Sense To Them

Man on bke wearing an American flag with a woman running behind him holding an American flag.
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

When studying or learning about different countries and cultures, many Americans find themselves fascinated and/or perplexed by some of their customs and traditions.

Up to and including Canada having their Thanksgiving celebrations in October, Guy Fawkes night in England, or spitting on the bride for good luck at Greek weddings.

Many of these same Americans who scoff at the very idea of these customs might not stop to think that the tables can be easily turned, and visitors from abroad often find themselves in an equal state of confusion at some of our customs and traditions.

Redditor thunderpower1999 was eager to hear which American customs foreigners found to be the most baffling, leading them to ask:

"Non- Americans, what is an American custom that you find unusual or odd?"

The Only Thing More Ridiculous, Are Most Of The Candidats

"I find the length of your election campaigns so crazy."- Olivia123321

Presidential elections seem to be some sort of two year affair. It's out of control.

Most Meteorologists Would Agree

"My friend from India once asked me (an American) to explain Groundhog Day to her."

"I had no explanation- it’s just weird."- marmosetohmarmoset

Groundhog Day Winter GIFGiphy

Slowly Becoming Extinct Though...

"The waiter taking your card away to pay."- Vlakob

Trick Or Treat!

"I’ll never forget when a college schoolmate from China asked me 'is it true that you have a holiday where children dress up and go around asking for candy?'"

"I had never thought about it before but all I could say was 'yes, I guess we do…'"- EverLong0

They Think That's Strange, Ask Them What They Think About Our Health Care System...

"The Canadians I worked with in the oilfield were blown away by all of the television commercials for medicines."- rufneck-420

Happy Mental Health GIF by Jimmy ArcaGiphy

Gobble Gobble!

"Pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving."

"Cracks me up every time, and I've lived here 20 years now!"- sandithepirate

Strange Isn't Always Bad

"Let me pull the Uno reverse card on this."

"I am an immigrant, living in the US for a very long time."

"Getting your leftovers to go at the restaurants was a surprise to me."

"But my reaction was, 'yeah, why is that not the norm?'"

"Rather than “Americans are strange'."- BobTheInept

When You Think You Have Exact Change...

"Not including tax in the price tag."- klc81

The Simpsons Animation GIF by FOX TVGiphy

So Much For Camaraderie...

"The obsession with college sports…and in some places even high school or middle school!"

"I just came back from a work trip to Texas and one of my colleagues told me the football stadium for his daughter’s middle school held 20,000 people!"- Speedbird223

Valuing Children? The Very Thought!

"That new parents, especially fathers, are expected to show up to work within days of having a newborn."- kellygrrrl328

How Long Have You Got?

"Some things I found strange in America:"

"Lack of recycling bins everywhere."

"That homeless people have tents everywhere like streets (Washington really surprised me)."

"Ice filled to the brim of the cup."

"Anything and everything having a tipping option."

"Tipping in general."

"Tax not included in the price."

"Massive lawyer billboards on every highway."- effypom

The Office Yes GIFGiphy

Civic Duty, But No Civic Holiday.

You have holidays for everything but a day off for election is too much

Just Plain Gross

"Child beauty pageants."

"Just stop it."- LoadedGull

It should be said that most Americans are equally confused, if not downright horrified, by many of the abovementioned customs.

Which begs the question, what keeps us living here?

Perhaps Americans desire to stay put, in spite of a heavily flawed electoral process, a convoluted healthcare system, and winter being dictated by a groundhog's shadow is the strangest American custom of them all...

america

People Break Down What The Wealthiest Person They Know Does For A Living

A young man with orange tinted sunglasses fans out a large amount of one hundred dollar bills
Photo by Shane

Who among us hasn't wondered about how our rich buddies have made their fortunes?

Some people work really hard actually.

They're in an office or in the field all day and night.

They have their noses to the grind.

And yes some people just collect an inheritance.

That's ok too, but how do you make it bigger?

Redditor h3llofaRide wanted to hear about how the rich make a living, so they asked:

"What does the wealthiest person you know do for work?"

My rich friends are all investment people.

They know when to buy and sell.

It's a gift.

Fancy Services

Coding Looney Tunes GIF by Looney Tunes World of MayhemGiphy

"The wealthiest person I know (and hang out with regularly) built a company (IT services) and then sold it for several hundred million dollars."

"He now runs a company that does the same kind of IT services in a different field. (He figured out a winning business formula and is just repeating it in a different market)."

omniumoptimus

Name It

"A family friend retired after being a COBOL programmer for 30 years. About 2 years after his retirement, a company came to him and said 'Name your salary' and he requested around $1.5 million/year. He was hired on the spot and still works there."

bbbbbthatsfivebees

"A family member worked at various companies, he told me this is very common. It's not obscure programming languages, just that they know what's going on. And don't let anyone else near it or something."

chabybaloo

Oink Oink

"Pig farmer. I kid you not. He's my father's old friend. I visited him once when my father and I were passing through the state. He lives in a modest classic farmhouse with his wife, both in their seventies. I mentioned I was starting a school in West Africa as we were catching up."

"A few weeks later I got a text asking how much it would cost. I told him 40k, thinking it was really nice of him if he wanted to send a few dollars."

"I got a check for 40k. I thought it would take me years to raise that. I'm typing this from Sierra Leone because he also paid for the house I thought would take years to raise funds for."

LadyCordeliaStuart

That Dude

"It's a guy I work with. He started with one Jimmy John's franchise and turned it into 10 franchises. Ran them for 10 years then sold them all and dumped the money into the stock market and real estate. He did this all while working as an airline pilot, currently still working at the airline. This dude owns and flies his own private jet on top of all that."

OT-35

Every day...

Proliferate Charlie Chaplin GIF by nounish ⌐◨-◨Giphy

"Inherited a small factory from his father. Developed it into a huge nationwide company. Still goes to work there everyday despite being worth hundreds of millions."

ShipJust

Factory work. That is where so much greatness begins.

On the Road

Happy Go Crazy GIF by DAF Trucks NVGiphy

"Truck driver. Starting his own trucking company."

Apprehensive-Crow-96

"Tons of money in the trucking business. An owner of one in my city drives a Porsche 918."

ForgottenPercentage

In the End

"Own their own conveyor belt business. Makes almost 2 mil a year after it’s all said and done."

TakeMe_To_Eisengard

"I was a control systems engineer who started contracting on the side. Now I build out crazy manufacturing systems like this. All it takes is getting one project to build a conveyor system and if you end up good at it then boom, you build conveyor systems for the rest of your life. Conveyor systems are actually really expensive and complex in the manufacturing world."

PleasantProgram7572

Life-Changing

"Both in tech. A friend is in a company about to IPO and is VP level so will do well there. Her husband just sold his company (gaming company) to the biggest gaming company in China for, as she put it 'life-changing money.' Both are very intelligent, super nice, and crazy hard-working. They worked for it, and it couldn't happen to nicer people."

​BonePGH

The Little Things

"I was a fly fishing guide for many years, and one of my regular clients year after year owned a factory on the East Coast that is one of the top suppliers of O-rings and small plastic machine parts in the world. I never asked how much they made obviously out of respect. But they always tipped absurd amounts ($1500 was my biggest tip for 3 days) they flew private and drank and shared $600 bottles of wine like they were nothing."

​The_Kinetic_Esthetic

Let's Play

gamer GIF by TotorialGiphy

"He's the founder and CEO of a very successful games company. I met him over a decade ago when the company was successful but nowhere near what it is now. He's also one of the most approachable and friendly people I've ever met, to the extent that it sometimes feels like an act."

Lauantaina

Games and gaming.

Who knew?

Can I count all of my hours of Nintendo for tax exemptions?

making money

Once Popular TV Tropes That Are No Longer Acceptable Today

Person scrolling through streaming options
Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Content Warning: alcoholism, sexual assault, harassment, and violence against women in entertainment

The entertainment industry is constantly changing and generally reflects what the public finds interesting and believes in.

Fortunately, this means that some problematic tropes, storylines, and messages are being retired from the writers' room, and viewers are embracing the more inclusive characters and stories they're seeing on screen.

Redditor midnightsonofab***h asked:

"What TV trope was common in the not-so-distant past but is completely unacceptable today?"

Connected At All Times

"Misunderstandings that can now be cleared up by a text or cell phone call. Entire episodes used to be built around people not being able to find or communicate with each other and just having to figure stuff out."

- OccasionallyWright

"I read a story from a horror writer and he said cell phones changed how they have to write because 99% of the stuck-in-a-murder town or house situations would be solved by phones now."

- Cleets11

"Oh yeah, for sure! I write thrillers for a living, and the idea of a 'MacGuffin' that is hidden is a lot harder to pull off when the now-dead character hiding it could've just called the right people and told them, or sent them the data in an email, etc."

"I have a very good editor (he's BAFTA nominated) and had this exact one in my latest story outline, with them 'finding' a report he's hidden. But... he could've just sent it to his daughter by email."

"As I'm older, I have to adjust my mindset constantly to deal with stuff like that."

- jloome

Security Before Love

"Running through the airport to confess one's love for the protagonist. Or the 'Home Alone' premises. These wouldn't happen today with current security measures."

- flawedmentalist69_

Women's Panic Attacks

"Not really TV trope but slapping women that were supposedly having a panic attack was almost a trope in westerns and noire movies."

- Sufficient-Eye-8883

Unresolved Amnesia

"People walking around with amnesia."

"Every freaking show, someone hit their head and had amnesia and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Like, hello, brain injury?"

- darkmatternot

Stalking Love

"Stalking a woman long enough and constantly will eventually make her fall for you."

- SuvenPan

"This was probably the most confusing thing growing up in the late 80s and early 90s."

"This odd thing was sold to both genders: the guy was supposed to keep on going after being told to be uninteresting. This led to guys thinking 'no means ask again' and girls saying 'no' to guys that they were interested in, but thought this is how the game was played in real life."

"Even in my early 20s, I saw girls in my party crew doing this, quite often harshly rejecting a drop-dead handsome guy, then being all p**sy about it when the guy just f**ked off as being told to and didn't instead start the rom-com mating ritual."

- aamurusko79

Voyeurism Was Not Okay

​"Spying on naked women or women changing clothes as an innocent boy or teen rite of passage."

- coagulatedfat

"'It’s Always Sunny' does a great episode called 'The Gang Hits the Slopes' or something. They go to a ski resort and live out 80s tropes from their childhood before realizing how f**ked up it all was, including spying on women and skiing without helmets."

- tman291

Homophobia "Humor"

​"Gay panic. I love 'Friends,' but how often the joke was AT any of the guys doing anything feminine?"

- HazeAbove

"The flamboyant gay character whose sexuality is either intended for the audience to laugh and make fun of or becomes a joke with other characters."

- DimesyEvans92

"Or in the case of 'Friends,' the straight character who everybody thinks is gay and is the butt (pun intended) of the joke."

- Friesenplatz

The Dark Side of the Town Drunk

"Comedic town drunk. Think Otis from 'The Andy Griffith Show.'"

- dominationnation

"I think part of the problem is the 'comedic town drunk' is something so many people can relate to because every small town seems to have one."

"My town growing up certainly did. His name was Silas. He drove a lawnmower everywhere because he lost his license, and would shout, 'Yee-Haw!' when it reached max speed. The man could consume an impossible quantity of alcohol and just as quickly piss it all out."

"He was homeless and on a first-name basis with every police officer in the county. He could tell the funniest, dirtiest jokes, and in late autumn would commit some minor harmless crime to spend the winter in jail (where he'd put on a lot of weight) instead of spending it in his tent."

"He was also a very reliable handyman, our family hired him a few times to remove massive trees, and he'd drop them right where he said he would."

"But that's where the comedy and trope end. I've referred to him in the past tense because he died of liver failure."

"He was ill with an addiction and desperately needed help to get past it, and that's what the TV tropes fail to discuss. Consequently, it's funny to the audience because it conveniently ignores the harsh reality of the situation."

- Kent_Knifen

Smoking Bans

"'Mind if I smoke?' in places where people would instantly object today, like cars, airplanes, spaceships, the baby's nursery, etc."

- crooked-v

​Anti-Tomboy and Androgyny 

"'Fixing' the 'tomboy' who likes to wear boys' clothes, no makeup, and do boy things."

"There's an 'Andy Griffith Show' episode that would be considered an over-the-top parody if it came out now."

- Visible_Scallion_489

No Locked Doors

"People living in NYC and L.A. who never lock the front door."

- KAG25

"Pretty sure 'Friends' lampshade this with an episode where they all get locked out and Monica even asks, 'Who locked the door? That door is never locked!'"

- rhapsody98

Questionable Family Dynamics

"An overweight, lazy husband with a smoking hot, nagging wife. Add in one rebellious teen and one nerdy kid and boom. The family sitcom recipe."

- chewedupshoes

The Hate for Wives

"The running joke in sitcoms is that every average American man hates their wife and is always complaining about her 'nagging' and just wants to hang with the boys and dreams about the single life or having more freedom but he’s a dad now."

"I think too many are sick of seeing that. It wasn’t really funny in the first place. And now society is trying to push many to see marriage as the ultimate goal anyway and vilifies people for wanting to be single."

- BellaBlue06

Minorities As Targets

"Black dude dies first. It's basically never done nowadays and the trope is almost always pointed out if there's even the possibility of it happening."

- CoolGuy69MLG

When we look through this thread, we can all think of examples of these old tropes, from smoking to consent, and fortunately, most of these shows are older.

As terrible as it might be that these tropes were once popular, it's at least refreshing to see that we are learning, that the entertainment industry is reflecting that, and some of these tropes are fading away.

tv shows