People Share The Worst Things That Have Happened To Them That Actually Made Life Better
Sometimes, the worst moments in your life can actually be setting the stage for something just a little bit magical. Take it from me - losing my eyeball lead to a really cool job, a stint in a band, and the best romantic relationship I've ever been in.
It took time, obviously. It's not like I was rolled out of the surgical suite and life just handed me a gift basket of awesomeness as a consolation prize. But I can say with 100% certainty that losing the eye started the whole "ball" (yeah, eyeball puns are a thing now) rolling.
Reddit user DirtySyko asked:
What's something horrible that happened to you that ended up making your life better?
It turns out I'm not the only one who can pinpoint their positive life turns on one seemingly-negative moment. Check out all of these other people who, much like me and Queen Bey, made lemonade when life handed them lemons.
Go Home. Start Over.
Within a span of a couple months, the girl I thought I was going to marry left me for my friend, my sister was diagnosed with a life changing disease, my 11 year old cousin was diagnosed with Stage 2 brain cancer and my father walked out on his family.
Instead of self medicating and being depressed, my hardest decision in my life was calling my mom to tell her I was leaving college to come home to help get my situation better and help her with her own battles. And now, I'm the healthiest I've been mentally and physically and my family (excluding my father) is trending towards the right direction.
- GoEERs18
The Lost Scholarship
I lost a full ride scholarship and had to drop out of college. Afterwards, while working at a grocery store, I met my wife. Then she helped put me through school to get my masters degree.
Now she is finishing up her degree and when she gets a job I'll work from home and be a stay at home dad for our daughter.
Looking back now, it was a blessing. But it certainly didn't feel that way at the time. That was the darkest year of my life, and I owe a lot to the friends that helped me through. If you are going through a rough time, it may help to know it may be a positive overall in the end, and I hope you have people close to you that can help you work through it.
Thanks, Hurricane Katrina
GiphyI was going to college down in Louisiana. The school got hit pretty bad by Katrina an they had to cancel school for a semester.
I ended up going home and going to a local school for a semester, planning to return to my school in January. Then they announced in November they were on track to open... but were phasing out my major. I needed to find a new school and get accepted in the matter of a few weeks.
While dealing with all this I was driving to go get a hair cut. A woman going the other direction on a road decided to take a sudden left turn across my lane and I broadsided her. My car was totaled.
The last piece was my girlfriend dumping me for a friend. She was still in Louisiana and because I wasn't there she ended up with him.
As you can imagine, it was a pretty depressing time. I had been working my butt off, I thought I was doing everything right, and stuff still went all wrong.
Here's where things started getting better...
Because I was affected by Katrina, schools were amazingly helpful letting me apply and get accepted. My previous school couldn't get my information so they basically took my word that I was in good academic standing. I was accepted to another school in about a week. And it was in a part of the country that didn't get hurricanes (that was actually one of my selection criteria). The school was near a company that hired me right after graduation in the field that I wanted to be in. This got me in the door literally a month or two before the bottom fell out of the market in 2008 and new graduates were struggling to find a job.
The lady that totaled my car admitted to her and my insurance that it was all her fault. Her insurance paid out more than my car really was worth. I got a better one.
The school was far away from home but my brother had a friend from high school that went there. I met her before I went there and she said she'd show me around when I got there. This was all about 14 years ago... she's sitting on the other end of the couch reading a story to our two kids.
So yeah, stuff sucked. I wish I could have avoided getting emotionally beat up like that but I ended up in a much better place. It was totally worth it in the long run.
A Stranger From Reddit
I made the mistake of moving to LA for an internship. Absolutely hated it, had no friends, mild depression, and moved back to my college town as soon as I could afford to rent a vehicle (my only ride at the time was my motorcycle). Day after I moved back a stranger from Reddit helped me unload my motorcycle out of the dodge grand caravan I rented and now that man is my husband.
We have two gorgeous golden retrievers, a baby on the way, and my life is better than I ever imagined it would be.
7 Years Wasted?
Realized my grad school "mentor" that you needed to have in order to graduate was completely unstable and vindictive. Realized my chances of advancing in my chosen field was impossible without said degree and fell into a depression...couldn't leave my room or bed for a month. I basically wasted 7 years of my life with debt to pay off now. My landlady was amazing and being concerned would bring food everyday.
After a long counseling session with my dad, I chose a brand new direction and through a string of luck and hard work I now have a higher paying job the previous degree would have ever gotten me and am truly happy. I've always been interested in psychology but also business. Discovered a thing called market research and found an internship as I was technically still a student.
I had set hours but as I had no idea what I was doing I volunteered to stay extra hours so I can learn skills from current employees without pay. Work ethic + skills = job offer. Continued learning new things on YouTube, webinars, and other resources. Changed to other companies and made my way upward. To be clear it's not my own company. I work in social media strategy for a major movie and TV company.
The thing I learned when talking with my dad was that higher education doesn't necessarily only teach you your major. It teaches you a new way of approaching problems and expands the way you think. I applied that to my new chosen career. Be curious, learn random related stuff, try harder than the others and do more than required.
- C2BSR
Happy Thanksgiving
My wife of 12 years told me she was engaged to someone else and wanted a divorce - a week before Thanksgiving!
My older brother, whom I had never really gotten along with, found out I was living in my S-10 truck came from 3 states away, put me up in a hotel, and helped me find an apartment. I reconnected with him and his family due to that major low point.
February the divorce was finalized.
March I met my new wife and married her in October. We have been married for 14 years now and I am over the moon in love with her. Never would have met her if the ex hadn't been so selfish. My brother and I text at least 2 times a week and talk every other week. He said that hearing about my problems made him decide to be a big brother. Seeing what I went through made his marriage better, and my little sister said it has changed her marriage for the better as well.
Don't Need To
GiphyI was thrown out of my house on my 18th birthday with just the clothes on my back and a few bucks in my pocket. I decided I was not going to put myself in a position to have to rely on anyone ever again.
I worked my a** off. I put myself through college. I saved my money. I bought a business. I used the profits to buy a second business.
I still work, but I don't need to.
- Jdoe74
Undiagnosed
Quitting a job after only two weeks because I was so anxious about going in every day that I couldn't sleep.
This caused me to reach out to a counselor for help. Got diagnosed initially with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, but after a year of therapy was told by therapist that it seemed likely that the source of my anxiety and problems in life seemed to stem from undiagnosed ADHD. Got an appointment with a psychiatrist and ended being diagnosed as "a classic case of ADHD".
Quite possibly might have gone my entire life undiagnosed if it hasn't been for how bad that job went for me.
- DJBlok
Death Was The First Step Towards A Better Life
My grandma dying at age 16.
It sucked that she passed but it was the first step towards a better life.
I would have worked in a going-nowhere position at a gas station until my dying breath taking care of her because I loved my grandma she gave me a safe home. When she died I had no friends and after her death I saw what my family was greedy and selfish.
I had to go live with my mom, which was worse but I now lived in a town and had ways to build myself away from my family and towards a future.
My life isn't perfect but at least I'm not dealing with them or physical isolation and there is some potential.
Credit Cards And Birth Control
I was an insurance agent, and I helped a customer make a change to her policy that required her to make a payment. She gave me her credit card details and I ran them through our payment system, as I'd done thousands of times before. Then I went on with my life.
The customer later found unauthorized charges on her card, and since cases of big companies losing customer data were all over the news, she contacted our company, somehow ended up speaking to my boss's boss, and told him her concerns.
Since my boss's boss knew that our company had not had a data breach (or at least, he was not aware of one) he decided that I had likely stolen her credit card details. The next day I arrived for work and was swiftly pulled aside and told that I could not be in the building because I was under investigation for credit card fraud. My boss apologized and told me that he knew I hadn't done it, but that I had to go home and I couldn't come back until they'd concluded their investigation.
It took them two weeks to clear me, most of which I spent either gripped with terror, drunk, or both. I knew that I hadn't stolen her credit card details, but I also knew that, if they decided that I had, I would definitely lose my license to practice insurance and would very possibly go to prison. I was an insurance agent not because I particularly enjoyed practicing insurance, but because a college degree was not a prerequisite for it. I did not have a college degree and therefore did not have a backup career.
During those two weeks, which I spent as a neurotic drunken chihuahua who started crying every time the doorbell rang, I didn't remember to take all my birth control pills. However, I did have sex with my husband. Shortly after being allowed back at work, I discovered that I was pregnant. Suddenly, insurance was not just my shitty day job for right now, but what I was going to have to do for at least the next 18 years. It was horrifying. Sufficiently horrifying to have me enrolling in trade school at three months pregnant. Now I have an awesome preschooler and a job which doesn't drain my soul.
Dear Ol' Dad
My biological dad was a liar and bragger. He lived a couple thousand miles away and wasn't really in my life, but visited enough to mess with me. He constantly lied about supporting me while my mom struggled and eventually I had to support myself if I wanted to be more normal with what I did and had. Eventually he remarried and started being around less and less (which is saying something for someone whom I saw 2 or 3 times a year) and even stopping telling me when he was in my home state (30 mins from me) to see my step mom's family. I just became a back burner and maybe saw him once a year for a few years.
After a few years of forgetting birthdays and holidays he managed to call on my 21st birthday and he said something that left me unhinged and I laid into him on the phone. It's been 6 years since we've spoke almost and I've never felt better in my life.
Being lied to my whole life about everything has given me an insane skill set with detecting BS and I'm pretty grateful for that. I also learned a serious work ethic so that I didn't have to burden my mom for anything financially. I'm a stronger person for it and pretty happy and thankful for the whole situation.
Of course I may be a bit dramatic because it's nowhere near as bad as other people's stories with bad parents. Honestly I never tell people anything about it because I was so fortunate to have my mom and her parents that it just doesn't seem right to complain about one bad character.
Getting Laid Off Paid Off
GiphyI got laid off from a 9-5 min wage job at a hardware store. I was a single mom with 2 kids. I seriously thought we might die. I had no idea what to do. I started looking at ways to make money and have my kids with me so I could cut the daycare bill out of my life. I got my school bus license and started cleaning businesses and houses (I had permission to bring my extremely well behaved kids ). I found various other things to do and was making $3000-$4000 a month. Plus I had the freedom to take days off to do stuff with my kids/travel when ever I wanted.
This was 9 years ago and I never worked 9-5 again. Now I'm in a position where I only drive a school bus. Working 5 hours a day and only 180 days a year is a dream come true.
The Weirdest Reasons Guys Suddenly Lost Interest In A Crush
Reddit user Romeothanh asked: 'Men who suddenly lost your interest in someone but for a weird reason, what was it?'
Infatuation is a curious thing.
One moment, you can be swept up in major adoration for someone to such a degree that you can't stop thinking about them.
But the next moment, you may suddenly find yourself moving on.
What is it that drives someone to lose their lust for their former object of affection?
Curious to hear from strangers who experienced going from hot to cold in casual dating, Redditor Romeothanh asked:
"Men who suddenly lost your interest in someone but for a weird reason, what was it??"
Questionable behaviors were seen as major turn-offs.
Poor Parenting
"The way she treated her children, her boy was permitted everything and her daughter had to follow very strict rules."
"I didn't have to ask to know what was going on, the boy's real father wasn't her ex-husband but a guy she had an affair with at work, her daughter was really from her ex-husband. She was always resentful of her upbringing and then her marriage for impeding some kind of dreamed life she thought she was entitled to. So the boy was seen as a piece of that dream and the girl was a piece of her boring life but she was also reliving her childhood through her and pushing her to excel in sports, school and manners and reveling in her daughter's accomplishments as if they were hers."
– Telesto1087
Past Grievances
"She accused me of cheating on her in a past life."
"I told her 'I don’t remember that.'”
– Breloren
"Sounds like something someone who cheated in a past life would say!"
– thefirecrest
At Least She Washes Her Hands...
"She spat in her hands and rubbed them together because she 'needed to wash them.' I cannot describe the colossal speed at which that switch turned off."
– whitesebastian
"Was she some sort of 1930’s farm hand or construction worker?"
– valueduser
There were some serious red flags.
Schadenfreude
"A elderly gentlemen fell in front of us, he took a nasty fall."
"She found it hilarious, instead of helping she just stood there laughing. I helped that person out and I felt so embarrassed for her behavior."
"Also that was the last time I saw her. It was a major turn off for me."
– oxide-NL
Good Guy Vs. Bad Guy
"I invited the girl from my psych course I'd been vibing with to a party. Her car rolled up and I came out to greet her, but it was a dude's car, and she was drunkenly making out with him as I walked up. I didn't flip out or anything, but she slurred her way through some weird attempt at reassuring me that I shouldn't worry, 'cause she was only sleeping with him to punish him because he was a bad guy (apparently that's a thing she does), and that I was a good guy. I didn't ask what happened to good guys. I felt bad for her date, whom she completely ignored the rest of the night. As for the girl, she ended up totally engrossed with the party host's gerbil, tapping on the glass of its cage whispering how she wanted to kill it. I found somewhere new to sit in psych class for the rest of the semester."
– MissionofQorma
I'm Generous And You're Gonna Like It
"She kept buying me stuff. It was nice at first but she kept doing it weekly and demanded I give gifts in return. I asked her to stop and she said "nope this is what I do." Felt like she didn't even care about what I wanted."
– Dry-Enthusiasm3515
Easiest Breakup Ever
"It was a really horrible relationship even this aside but my 'wow i think i actually hate this person' moment was when we were at Badlands National Park. We were just walking out of the gift shop with some other woman when she just let go of the door and it like slammed into that womans face. I said to her 'omg im so sorry' then when we got to the car i said to my gf in like a joking tone 'i cant beliehe you didnt hold the door for her haha' and because she was a very very miserable person all the time this makes her mad and she goes 'well YOURE the man youre supposed to hold the door. I dont NEED to hold the door for anybody' and yeah that one statement alone was very... eye opening for me."
"Seriously the easiest least heartbreaking break up ive ever gone through."
– ILoveTikkaMasala
The Cat Recognized Evil
"My cat didn't like her."
"Brought her home to introduce her to my parents, she meets my childhood cat and. It. Goes. Psychotic. Just for her reaching down to pat him, he panicked, attached himself to her arm, and wouldn't let go, just clawing at her like he found a demon to fight or something. When he eventually detached himself (they were both running around the room screaming as she tried to wave him off her arm) I checked her over and he did some damage. He's never reacted like that to anyone before or since. We broke it off shortly later."
"I found out a few years ago she was in the court system. Why? She tried to kill her own kid. I didn't dodge a bullet because of my cat, I dodged an artillery shell."
– GryphonicOwl
It's not me, it's you.
So Rude
"She didn’t hold the door open to people just meeting her at the door, would let it slam on people behind her, didn’t do the little thank you wave to other cars that let her out, didn’t say please and thank you to serving staff. She wasn’t overtly rude, she just had a bit of a me,me,me vibe."
– Hellenicparadise
Norwegian Love
"She told me she was pregnant and it was mine, 2 days after sleeping with me for the first (and only) time. Then proceeded to tell me she had a boyfriend."
"I should have twigged earlier really. She flew from Norway to sleep with me and flew back the next day."
– Perseus73
Face Reveal
"I’d been talking to this girl in class I thought was really cool. We ended up going for a bite after class one day and she suggested we go hang out in my dorm room. Hell yeah."
"Then she took off her glasses and she looked exactly like my mom. It was so jarring I excused myself to the bathroom to regroup, but when I came back I couldn’t unsee my mom’s face on her."
"I made some lame excuse and went back alone. I felt bad about bailing on her but I also how the hell would I tell her the real reason? Either she thinks I’m a weirdo or thinks I’m saying she looks like she’s in her fifties."
– OneSmoothCactus
Don't Speak
"My mate ghosted a girl simply because he didn't like her cadence when she spoke."
– Random-chick-98
My shallowest moment was years ago when I ghosted a hot tennis player I was dating because he had a particularly annoying gait.
Anytime we would walk around the city (in New York), he would gradually lean into me and prevent us from walking a straight path.
I thought he was deliberately trying to get close but it turned out that one of his legs was shorter than the other resulting in him taking uneven steps.
When he explained his situation, it weirded me out.
I didn't have the heart to tell him why I could no longer see him, so I just stopped responding to his incessant messages about when we were meeting next.
I remain regretful to this day about my immature behavior, and I wish him the best wherever he is.
People Break Down The Worst Double Standards They've Ever Heard
A double standard is defined as:
"a code or policy that favors one group or person over another"
However not all double standards are formalized. Most of the double standards individuals face daily are based on customs, stereotypes, traditions or other less formal societal codes of conduct.
Double standards are inherently unfair to one or sometimes both parties.
They may exert control or compliance with gender or socioeconomic stereotypes on everyone or serve to repress one group while favoring the other. But they shouldn't be confused with all unequal rules.
The sign at the amusement park that says "you must be this tall to ride" is there for a very good reason.
Double standards fail to pass any logic test, with some being more ridiculous than others.
Reddit user No-Challenge-3305 asked:
"What's the stupidest double standard you ever heard from someone?"
My Time Vs. Your Time
"I had a production manager who would come in late and leave early most days and then make problems for anyone who needed a half day for anything."
~ TheGreatGrappaApe
Giphy"My first manager at my current job was a harda** about hours. Would basically say 'There's the door' if you asked to leave early or come in late, no matter how rare or needed the occurrence was."
"Always talked about how dedicated he was."
"Dude would roll in at 9:30 leave at 11:00 for lunch. Get back at 1:00 and go home at 3:00."
"He constantly talked about how he just LIVES at work... even though we were all there, and he had been seen at the golf course every day."
"One of the funniest moments was when our client was parked behind him, and needed my manager to move his truck to be able to leave, but said 'I'm not gonna ask him to move his truck, because I'm afraid he'll just leave'."
~ bcos4life
"Stealing" What He Gave Them?
"My uncle used to hire undocumented immigrants while complaining that illegal aliens were stealing people's jobs."
"He liked to hire them because they worked hard and were cheap."
~ ScrubIrrelevance
"So he himself was stealing other people’s jobs because it’s not like the illegal immigrants were able to make the decision to employ them instead of a US citizen or person with a visa."
~ CaptainObviousBear
Just For Me, Not For Thee
"'I want an open relationship to explore my sexuality, but I don't want you sleeping with anyone else'."
~ MamaPagan
"I didn't realize people actually said stuff like this until my most recent ex said it to me."
"I was baffled, to say the least."
~ Vetzero
GiphyThey Are "Those People"
"My mom had a problem with welfare recipients until my sibling went on it."
"Then, back to nasty welfare recipients when they got off welfare."
~ Eringobraugh2021
"My cousin is on multiple government programs, and counts the seconds until her 3 separate child support payments come in... then sh*ts on 'Deadbeats' all the time."
"She even bragged about using her EBT to get tattoos."
~ bcos4life
Boys Will Be Boys
"My ex believed that teen girls who fall pregnant while still in school should be expelled and not allowed to finish school at all."
"Sounded like he thought they were contagious or something."
"After a heavy argument I said 'OK fine then boys must also be expelled', but no apparently it's not the same thing."
~ boekieblaker21
Piety Not In Practice
"My aunt calls me a sl*t for wearing short skirts."
"She doesn't know who the father of two of her three children is."
~ Perfect_Patience1109
Giphy"When I was young, a relative used to constantly call me a 'whore' and accuse me of being pregnant, when I had never even had a boyfriend."
"Meanwhile, she was sleeping with someone else's husband."
~ haloarh
"Isn't that usually the way?"
"The one calling people names and pointing fingers is probably the most guilty."
"Hypocrites."
~ NoThanksJustLooking1
It's Only An Entitlement If Someone Else Gets It
"My FIL served in Vietnam. When he came home, he used the G.I. Bill to get a free college degree (in social work)."
"He didn't like being a social worker, so he spent much of his adult life working as an appliance salesman, an electrical supply salesman, or (for significant chunks of time) was unemployed."
"He owned a house and raised two kids."
"When he retired, his sole source of income was Social Security."
"He never paid a dime for medical care because of his VA benefits."
"He sold his house (that he paid like $65k for in the 70's) for a healthy profit, moved to Nevada, and settled into a retirement community."
"If you ask him, he'd happily tell you that 'the problem with this country is all the people and their damned entitlements. I don't know why people don't just get a job'."
~ Redditor
Cheat Codes
"My friend’s mom said Men cheating and women cheating are different because men only care about the physical and not the emotional."
"Come to find out, she was being cheated on by her current husband, and I am assuming this is how she coped."
~ Head-Roll6309
"The responses I got to being cheated on from coworkers were different. I was blamed by other people for not giving her what she needed so obviously she should go out and cheat to get those things."
"And I responded with 'Do you think the same about men cheating?'."
"'Of course not. Men cheat because they can't be trusted and will f'k anything they can. Women cheat because they are being mistreated by men and it's his fault she has to go out and do that'."
"Was a great comment to me, the panic attack filled person whose life was falling apart and entire world was destroyed by her cheating."
"I left that workplace pretty soon after those comments."
~ polorat12
TMI, Dude
"Dude I worked with felt I needed to know that he'd have to have a wife and a mistress because he didn't want someone who sucked his d*ck kissing the kids."
"And I was like 'have you considered maybe washing your d*ck better?'."
~ VinnyVincinny
"Really they can’t reconcile respecting someone they have sex with."
~ Zer_0
Consent Is For Everyone
"'He can't refuse sex. He's the man. The woman always decides when and where we have sex. Everybody knows that'."
"In marriage counseling, my ex-wife (while we were still married). She was serious, too."
~ Azzizzi
"My ex-wife would get visibly angry when I wasn't in the mood but she was."
"More than once I'd ask her like 'you know how messed up it would be if these roles were reversed, right? If I got mad at you for not being in the mood?'."
"And her response was just 'well, you're a guy'."
~ AutoDefenestrator273
"Ugh, it sucks that you went through that, and I'm sorry. The idea that men want sex all the time no matter what is so damaging."
"Everyone is allowed to not want sex, and I wish people would stop acting entitled to other people's bodies."
"Even when people aren't reacting with anger if a male partner turns down sex, this myth still causes real damage in relationships. I know both men and women who've expressed fears that they're broken or their relationship is somehow dying if the woman has a higher libido or even if the male partner turns down sex once."
"It's awful and I really wish people would stop buying into this idea."
~ VinnyVinnieVee
And Now For Something A Little Lighter...
After these serious topics, let's end on a lighter note.
Unless you're a cat.
Feline Fatitude
"I call my cat chubby all the time but as soon as someone else does it, I get so offended."
~ Green_Bench7560
"I also call my cat fat. He is not. I asked the vet."
"But I'd be super offended if he developed the ability to talk in English and then called me fat."
~ Dmahf0806
Giphy"Growing up, we had a cat who was a grand lady but she was kind of a chonk. Pleasingly chonky."
"We took her to the vet for a regular checkup and got a different than usual vet, who came in and said, 'Whoa, well let's look at this little porker!'."
"My parents and I all got mad instantly. We were allowed to joke about her weight. No one else was."
"That's the rule. Also 'porker' sounds so rude."
~ SageThistle
GiphyDouble standards are all around us.
Which ones do you find particularly foolish?
When picking a career, it's a good idea to talk to people who have been in the professions you're considering for quite some time.
My parents wanted me to become a doctor, but I was ambivalent to the idea.
My discussions with veteran doctors convinced me there was no way I wanted to go into medicine.
So what are some other not so great jobs?
Reddit user NocturnalMemeLord asked:
"What are the ...worst professions to have?"
Thanks, Ron
"The worst job to have is being a teacher and the worst company to work for is the Florida Department of Education."
~ Phycopathic
"My poor wife trying to battle school admin for an ounce of support. Such a stressful place to live."
~ Firebird117
Ring, Ring
"Call center employee."
"I only did the job for a couple places and for a mercifully short time, but oh my holy God that gig is soul-crushing."
~ gogojack
"I worked in a call center for Cox Communications. All the upselling, pressure from supervisors, demand on stats, it made me depressed."
"I worked there 2 and half years and it was not until I left I realized majority of my time there I was depressed. I just did not care hardly about life."
"I'm much better now, much happier. I kept journals from that time, and I've reread them. I would not recognize myself from that person then."
~ UnusualLight0
Com On
"I won’t name the company I worked for (it rhymes with Bomcast), but call center was the most draining experience ever."
"Limited tools to help very (and justifiably) angry customers, coworkers that mess up then pass the problem to you, and AI tools testing job performance that feel BEYOND rigged against you."
~ Antiumbra
"I worked for Comcast in their retention call center. Most depressing job I've ever had."
"Getting cursed at every single day and they expected us to hit sales. My friend from there has a call recorded of a dude telling her to kill herself."
"Every change they made to the TV packages was sh*tty for the customer and I knew it'd just be months of getting yelled at for the same thing."
"Nothing like the God awful phone tree to really prime people up getting pissed before they finally manage to talk to a live person."
~ DomoInMySoup
Beaten By the Beat
"I am a journalist. My son just got his first job at the convenience store around the corner."
"He makes more than I do. I love my work but don't go into journalism for the money."
"Yeah, I definitely don't make enough for the therapy all those courtroom photos have put me in, for sure."
"My publication (print) is a small one, in a small town."
"That means when tragedy strikes and I have to cover it, it is, very often, someone I know."
~ LizardPossum
Live at Five
"Came to say local TV News Producer/Reporter. Low pay, high stress and toxic work environments."
~ zhitsngigglez
"Which is a real shame since local news was always so important but is now disappearing in many places, and that tends to have many negative consequences at the city/municipal/community level."
"Local news acts as something of a public service at the community level, educating and shining lights on important issues facing communities while seeking to provide the information necessary for citizens to solve those problems (or making informed votes for people who can/will solve them)."
"Unfortunately, local news rarely has the audience or reach to pay for itself, then they get gobbled up by larger regional/national chains, start focusing less on local issues and more on pushing provincial/state or national narratives of the big chain, then dismantled and shuttered as cost-saving measures by the struggling national chain."
~ Infamous-Mixture-605
*cough*
"Shisha/ hookah lounge worker."
"Late hours, usually minimum wage and you might as well smoke 20 packs of cigarettes a day because you have to start up the hookah for your customers and constantly be around fumes."
"You're basically burning up your lungs for barely a living."
~ homehermitaliv
Helping Those Who Don't Want Help
"Therapist in a skilled nursing facility."
"Pressure to give therapy to residents who don’t want it or need it; pressure to bill 90% of your day with NO excuses; no paid holidays; no over time, no raises unless you change jobs starting over with 1 week vacation/year."
"And of course giving customer service to people who are sick/not feeling their best."
~ Help_I_am_a_bug
"My wife is a therapist. She has done therapy in treatment centers a lot and dealt with a lot of people who didn't want to be there but were court ordered."
"Given therapy to people who are there sometimes because it is that or prison."
"Talk about people who don't want to do therapy. And it was for a non profit, so wages were low."
"Also she was on a team that worked only with chronically homeless people at a different time."
"It was hard but very important work. She would often go to places most people are afraid of."
"But now she runs her own private practice. She still has a tendency to take on too many clients that take a large toll on her, she refuses to take 'boring' clients, but she is much happier."
~ VulfSki
Have You Tried Turning It Off
"Never do general tech support, 100% of the clientele are old people who don't know how to use computers and basically get scammed into signing up for your tech support services."
"Legally it's not a scam because they make the customer sign all these waivers to protect the company from getting in trouble for scamming them."
~ Redditor
Now We're Cooking
"Chef."
"Life is unfortunately as bad as the rumors says."
"Nothing lives long in that world."
~ ThePinkyArmy
"And it seems to suck on every level from frying burgers in a bar to three Michelin stars, there is no cushy position at all."
~ OldMork
Like a Puzzle
"Working for my self installing tile. The worst career. Glad I am retired from that profession."
~ Lucky4you21
"My father installed floors for a living and would occasionally install ceramic tile. The pay, as well as the standards, varied widely throughout the country."
"Arizona was probably the worst, he made less than half what he made in the northeast (New York and Pennsylvania)."
"I worked with him a lot during my childhood and as young adult, but I never wanted to do it as a career."
"The work is just too physically demanding and every day was a new adventure in stress as you encountered inevitable problems and challenges on the job."
~ HeartyDogStew
At Risk
"Any kind of residential facility for 'at risk kids'."
"It's like being a teacher, but 3/4 of your group is that kid and you don't have a lesson plan, and you're with them all day, and you get paid less."
"Only upside is my facility was quasi-military, and the first few weeks is like a boot camp, and if you establish yourself right away as someone not to be messed with and maintain it, your days are a bit easier."
~ endless-reproachment
Fresh Air Doesn't Pay the Bills
"Forestry technician is an awful career path."
"You are required a post secondary education, and you get paid about as much as a McDonalds worker often to risk your life and safety in deep bush.
"However, you do get to drive quads and shoot guns on the clock."
~ osamabeenpoopin
"Hiking around the forest is damn fun though."
"Running into cougars and moose, taking your lunch on a mountaintop...
"I miss it. I made way more sitting at a desk but I was bored to oblivion."
"I have permanent scars and about a dozen pairs of trashed jeans from those damned jackstraw piles."
"Still, I'd rather be ripped up by downed trees and stalked by cougars all day than sit at a computer for the rest of my life."
~ Competitive-Air-6531
Not a Rx for Happiness
"Pharmacy tech. Lunch breaks were just approved due to a mass exodus during Covid. We didn’t use to get them in retail. We still don’t on my night shift."
"Every single second of my 12 hr shift was on my feet, never sitting down, never looking at my phone, never taking a break, never getting a lunch. Doctors yelling, nurses yelling, patients dieing and having to carefully use a needle and drugs to spike a bag."
"We couldn’t wear any makeup or have nails done (IV pharmacy). Constant turnover. For $20/hr."
"I got denied asking for a vacation I put in for 3 months prior because they couldn’t find anyone to cover me and told me to find it myself."
"Pharmacy techs and pharmacists are severely underpaid nowadays for the stress that they endure. And many are quitting."
"It was hard as heck to get a job as a pharmacy tech in the 2000s—you had to network! That’s why so many retail pharmacies are cutting hours and closing."
"Getting berated by customers because their insurance companies suck (not the customers fault though!), worrying about being held at gun point because that has happened to me in retail, and not trying to accidentally kill someone with the wrong dose."
"There are many people who have zero college experience or an associates/bachelors degree that make more than pharmacists!"
"Meanwhile pharmacists have $100k student loan debt for a doctorate degree barely making $100k in some places for a DOCTORATE degree. Insane to me!"
~ vanillaroseeee
Well, Actually...
"The guy that pumped my septic. That looked like a sh*tty job."
~ Ok_Accountant1529
"That's what I thought about septic installers too but then I had mine redone and I actually think that installing (not pumping) systems would be a good gig."
~ H34thcliff
"I live in an area where most people are on septic and have dealt with a lot of these guys."
"I can tell you to a man, they own the vac truck, make you see the before and after, and then fix your sh*t. Always good honest guys."
"Also, I think they make a pretty decent living."
~ Badfish1060
Well, you read it here.
Septic installation and pumping is the profession of choice.
What do you think?
When I started college, I had every intention of cooking all my meals. It became very apparent very quickly that I simply didn't have the time to accomplish this, and I became the Takeout Queen.
I ordered food constantly. Between getting a monthly "allowance" from my dad (intended to go towards groceries), finding coupons taped to my apartment door everyday, and essentially being "allowed" to tip less than handsomely since I was a college student, I was able to afford this.
When I graduated and moved into my own place, things changed. I was too old to not tip properly, I didn't get any supplementary money from my family, and I had more expenses, such as rent. Still, I continued to order food, and it became my main expense.
My friends tell me the way I order food is only meant for "rich people." I have to skimp on everything else in order to have enough saved to support this. It's definitely true, but I don't think this habit will ever change.
I'm not the only one that does "rich people stuff." Redditors do lots of things that is classified that way, despite not being rich, and they are ready to share their stories.
It all started when Redditor Abbas_Noorani 16 asked:
"What is some rich sh*t you do even though you are not rich?"
Ravenous
"Food. I buy what I want and I try new stuff. I like cooking."
– 34i79s
"Grocery shopping without concern for budget is what made me realize I had made it back in the day. Good times."
"Now I have hard budgets again and it truly sucks. You question every damn decision and convince yourself to do without or downgrade to the lowest priced quality."
– txmail
"On the same boat. The other day I looked at expensive butter that I used to stock up on without even thinking twice and sighed."
– cat101786
Monthly
"Forget to cancel my free trial."
– Adept_Insurance5550
"Damn. Thanks for the reminder."
– -Bk7
"I'm still a member of AOL."
– __SpeedRacer__
Too Hot
"I leave the fridge door open when getting the butter out even though my dad said it would cost billions and send us to the streets."
– frank-sarno
"I leave the front door open when I pop out to grab my mail. Took me years of living on my own to realize the AC bill doesn’t shoot up by hundreds of dollars if I do that."
– MelodramaticQuarter
Necessities
"Buy the good toilet paper."
– FrankGehryNuman
"Absolutely!"
"Good toilet paper. Can't stand cheapo toilet paper, you give yourself a surprise when your finger goes through the paper when wiping your chuff. Don't get me started on that stuff they used to have in hospitals! It was awful - sandpaper that didn't soak up but rather moved stuff 🤐"
– helensmelon
Clean And Sweep
"I have a maid that comes weekly. I've found that my sanity is worth the cost."
– Eringobraugh2021
"Weekly? Oo la la!"
– a**ypantz72
Comfort Matters
"My thermostat stays at the temperature setting of what is most comfortable to me and nothing will change that."
– Cyb3rTruk
"Lol this really outlined how different climates can be. My thought was "Yeah, I'm going to be as cozy and warm as I want and not freeze in the comfort of my own home.""
– McCoyIsFun
Double
"Some days I have two sandwiches at lunch. I smile as I watch all my fellow proletariat eating their single sandwich."
– ShambolicPaul
"Brotip: Cut your sandwich an infinite number of times and rearrange the pieces into two full sandwiches. Don't give your money away to Big Sandwich!"
– NotInherentAfterAll
Sparkling
"Paying for car cleaning."
– angydevil
"Justified, tho my dad would kill me."
– Abbas_Noorani
The Big Cheese
"I sometimes buy name brand cheese instead of the store brand."
– NeuroguyNC
"Tillamook or nothing for me! I’ll buy store brand beans and paper towels and other stuff. But not for my cheese!"
– VariegatedThumb
Replenish
"We have a garage fridge that is full of all different kinds of beverages."
– SixStinkyFingers
"It's not the fridge itself, it's keeping it stocked!"
– 4x32Studio
A House Is A Home
"I own a house...."
– 1d0m1n4t3
"Oh damn rich people sh*t."
– Abbas_Noorani
"We shouldn't be able to joke about owning a modest home being rich people sh*t. Anyone who works full time should be able to afford a home."
– 1d0m1n4t3
Write Better
"I buy the gel comfort pens. Makes me feel I'm a higher class when writing at work. Smooth crisp consistent ink."
– UltraCoolPimpDaddy
"I have gotten into arguments over people stealing my G2 .07."
– savvyspoon2
Me Too!
"I buy small trash bags for the bathroom trash bins. My whole family uses grocery bags, but I don’t like how they always rip at the bottom."
– Deleted User
It's Required!
"No Margarine in my house, Butter Only, and lots of it. My arteries think I'm rich."
– weisblattsnut
Unused
"I have HBO but I don’t watch it."
– MillionToOneShotDoc
"I have Netflix, Prime, Hulu, and Disney Plus. Don’t watch any of it. Watch YouTube all the time and I’m too stupid to get Premium."
– AngryDerf
Now, that's the definition of having money to burn!
Of course, I wouldn't know. I need to save money for my food!