
Those moments where your stomach drops and you immediately know you're in a bad situation. Hopefully those are moments that are rare in your life, but when they happen, what do you do?
Do you listen? Do you try to wait it out and see that you are hopefully wrong? What happens in your brain and in your body as the situation deepens around you?
u/Dankmemes2347 asked:
When did you realise "I have to get out of this place"?
Here were some of those answers.
Ah, The Midwest
I used to live on the third floor of an apartment building. One summer day it was storming pretty bad. I was watching the news and they said a tornado might happen in my area. Suddenly the wind stopped, the sky got way darker than before, and the power cut off.
I immediately ran out the door, flew down the outside steps, got underneath the concrete slab at the ground floor of the steps, and then BOOM! The tornado hit. It was the scariest moment in my life (and I've had a gun in my face before). The rushing wind was so loud, and several squirrels ran under the concrete with me. Trees were uprooted, the cars in the lot were moved around, but I made it out alive.
Learning The Hard Way
When I came to my hoarding, bed ridden grandma who I was living with at the time, with some concerns.
I was working a full time job, dealing with my abusing ex, dealing with my depressed mom during her divorce, AND cooking and cleaning for my grandma. We were all under the same roof and I was the only one with any income. She was VERY picky about her food.
I would make her something healthy and delicious but she would say it's too spicy or the greens would upset her stomach. So she only ate white bread, mayo, white pasta with canned mushroom soup, and other specific items. She was also 400 lbs. I cared for her and I wanted to help. she really needed a full time care aid but must've figured I'd make a great substitute.
I came to her and asked if we could do anything about her food so that I didn't have to make her seperate food from everyone else, or so that I wasn't the one making it every day, or ANYTHING because I was feeling really depressed and it was making me bitter towards her.
She got upset, we argued. I had been nothing but respectful before this point. But I was at my limit and wasn't having any of it. I was also 19f and moved to her home at my mom's request to help them de-hoard. I didn't HAVE to be there at all.
She kicked me out. She said I could come back after 2 days so that I could learn my lesson.
Never went back. Was homeless for 2 weeks in a strange town but I felt free. Definitely learned my lesson thanks grandma.
BYEEEEEE
When in a meeting my boss says "If your main client leaves, you may be without a job". I asked her to clarify and my other boss repeated the words exactly.
They were SHOCKED when I took a job offer for more money and less stress. My main client left 3 months later.
It becomes a sign so glaring that you can't ignore it even if you wanted to.
We Love Abusive/Reductive Family (We Don't)
As a PC gamer who bought his own PC, it was when my mother cut all my computer cords after I wouldn't let my 10 year old brother use it to play Minecraft. My parents had already bought him a $1200 best buy computer when I changed my computer password.
For some background, I was working full time and living at home to save money. I got home at 5pm and my brother who got home earlier from school would be on my computer and I would always ask him nicely to GTFO. He would then go b*tch to my mother or fight with my even younger sister. This eventually escalated until I left/got kicked out.
He went so far that he lied about having homework to skip out on my grandfathers last Fathers Day dinner we had with him. I knew what was up so I changed my PC password before we left. That was the day he got his new PC. The whole thing went on for months and 10 years later my mother still says I am in the wrong.
People Explain The Worst Thing That's Ever Happened To Them On Their Birthday
Once Again, With The Parents
I lived with my mom on and off in my early 20's. She was an alcoholic and was emotionally and sometimes financially codependent on me so I felt kinda trapped. One night she was drinking and I came home and she had thrown all of my clothes in a box and told me I had to move out.
Nothing happened to provoke that and her demanding I move out when she was drunk was a very frequent occurrence. We split rent so it always really pissed me off like I was literally only there because when she'd sober up she'd apologize and tell me not to leave.
We got in a fight and she hit me pretty hard in the face. She had hit me before but in that moment I was just thinking I'm done with this sh*t. And I was so much more done than I'd ever been before. Moved to a new city within the next 5 days.
No More Exploitation
Got a job as a production assistant. Found out the primary production team was in their mid 50's and pushed for a younger, independent dev team - "New Media Development Team".
Spent FOUR YEARS, pushing, hinting, steering in new hires. Finally they announce the purchase of building two, just down the street - the home offices of "New Media Development". I volunteer to work on the building in my spare time to expedite the creation of my new office. When it's down to the wire, take a week of vacation to paint, clean, run CAT5, assemble desks and get it ready.
Go to my office on the first day to grab my gear and head over and the lead producer stops me to say "Your department is going over to the new building - you are staying here. You're the best editor we have and I can't afford to lose you."
It broke me. After a week of vacay I immediately took 3 sick days. I had been loyal - too loyal. I met with my boss and asked for my pay to be doubled. When he said no, I said he needed to start shopping NOW for my replacement.
About four months later, I got a new job. At double my previous pay rate.
When it comes to us to finally know our self-worth, we must make the choice to choose ourselves over everybody else.
A Job Ain't Worth It
When one of my bosses spent hours explaining to me how absolutely crucial it was that I finished a project asap, and then the other boss came in and said he needed to 'borrow me' for the whole week, for urgent work on a different project.
When I got back to the first project, I did some work on the weekend to catch up, and put everything into an excel document, knowing that's the first boss' preferred file format.
'Hey, I got your file and I have some questions' he said. 'Do you mind going through it'? '
Of course I didn't mind. Until he opened the file. My 3 tabs had turned into 12, filled with codes and equations, and the tab named Data was now named something like' Chumbawumbafinaledit69'.
He was very angry at me for not being able to explain it.
I wish these people death. I wish I was joking about that. I am not.
Ironically, I really like the actual job, and I'm pretty good at it. I absolutely hate these people though, and I'd rather work as a toilet cleaner than even see the brand of car my boss drives again.
Steve Jobs, Get Wrecked
When working for Apple, they tried to force promote me to a senior advisor. Telling me I'd be fired if I didn't accept. I called their bluff and declined. Nothing happened.
Then suddenly they want me to handle two more lines of business with no extra pay, and if I don't do it I'll be fired. Got tired of the games and quit. Worst company I've ever worked for.
This Ain't The Outback Mate
I was backpacking in rural Australia, waiting at a bus stop. I'd just missed my bus, and the next one wasn't coming for nearly an hour. Just then an old car pulled up and the guy rolled down his window and asked where I was going, he said he was going the same way and to hop in, which I did.
It was dark when I was talking to him outside, and when I got in the car I realised the seats had been ripped out and there were empty beer cans everywhere. The guy was clearly off his head, and the place I was in had a pretty bad meth problem. He told me his name was motherf*cker and that he'd just got out of jail.
He told me before we went to my original destination he needed to see a friend, so we pull up outside this house and he makes me go in with him. When we were inside everyone was smoking meth, and the mood was very sketchy, and I don't think either of us were particularly welcome. He got me an ice cream out of the guys freezer even though I said I didn't want it he was pretty insistent.
I realised it was time to leave when he pulled out a knife and told me he was gonna cut my ears off, I kinda laughed it off and told him I needed to go back to the car to get something, and he said to make sure I came back. When I got out the house I ran, it was difficult to explain to my g/f how I'd managed to miss two buses, and when I told her about my night with him she didn't believe a word of it.
Tldr: Accepted a lift from a random, taken to a crack den, force-fed ice cream, and threatened with a knife.
We have to know to start listening to our intuition as soon as that feeling becomes available. It can hold valuable information for us that could possibly save our lives.
And the sooner we learn to follow what our gut is telling us, the sooner we can learn to really trust and love ourselves and embrace what we are worth. Because darling, you ARE worth it.
Age is just a number.
We all hope to stay sexy until the end.
And even when we don't feel sexy, maybe there will be people who still think we are.
Redditor Debonair-Redditor21wanted to hear about famous crushes that enter into the "Harold & Maude" territory. They asked:
"Who is the oldest celebrity that you still find attractive?"
All Hail Dame Helen Mirren. Is there anything else to say?
How Old?
"Viggo Mortensen. Very handsome at 63."
Sidewalk_Tomato
"Damn, he is 63? Time flies."
2020UsernamesBeLike
Personas
"Elvira. Cassandra Peterson. Just turned 70 and still breaks out that amazing personality at every appearance."'
darkoath
"Omg. I saw the BEST suggestion for a movie ever. Elvira & Dolly Parton playing their stage personas as estranged sisters who must team up to fight evil."
ClothDiaperAddicts
Fatale
"Jane Seymour. 71 and still stunning."
MrWiggy89
"Live and Let Die. Incredible, and she'll always be in my mind as Elise McKenna, the woman so beautiful that Christopher Reeve's character went back to be with her in Somewhere in Time. I totally get the desire."
pcserenity
Hey Su...
"Susanna Hoffs (63)."
analogtapes
"Plot twist: She sang 'Walk Like an Egyptian' because she's immortal and actually lived in Ancient Egypt."
RealisticDelusions77
"She was my first crush. As a child, I used to watch MTV for hours just for that moment when she cut her eyes in the 'Walk Like an Egyptian' video."
3lon_Mu5k
I am loving this list. I didn't think I would.
Maddy
"Mads Mikkelsen."
Valuable-Mango368
"You mean my daddy issues? Damn I love that guy. Death Stranding really nailed how he can come through a medium without much hassle."
This_User_Said
My Biological Clock
"Marisa Tomei."
LiveShowOneNightOnly
"Jesus, I was so confused watching the new Spider-Man movies with Marisa as Aunt May. Marisa Tomei is perpetually the hot 80s chick in my head, also Jennifer Connelly. I was watching Morbius and seeing Requiem for a Dream and Career Opportunities. I AM OLD, I GUESS."
Forge64
Oh Captain
"Christopher Plummer, right up until the day he died at 92."
amodernjunecleaver
"I first saw ‘The Sound of Music’ as a child, watched in many times, know if off by heart etc. I didn’t watch for many years."
"Then as an adult I wanted to introduce a friend’s kid to it, put it on, and spent the next couple of hours absolutely dumbstruck by how hot Christopher Plummer was. It had never struck me before that time but go**amn have I never forgotten. No wonder Maria chose the Captain, if I had to choose between him and God I know who my pick would be."
niconiconeko
Hey Tim!
"Timothy Olyphant. Idk what it is about him. He's so funny, charming, and handsome that I don't care how much older than me he is."
throwaway-getaway122
"I do NOT get tired of watching him; he is so expressive. In Catch and Release there's a scene where he and Jennifer Garner are having a conversation that consists entirely of gestures and facial expressions. Hilarious!"
BugsRatty
"He is amazing in Justified and Deadwood... hell, pretty much everything. I think I just found out I may have a man-crush on the dude lol."
Captain-Hornblower
Yeoh
"Michelle Yeoh."
ThinkIGotHacked
"Ugh she was a vision in Everything Everywhere All at Once. And if she doesn't win all the awards then there is something really wrong with the voting system."
HoaryPuffleg
YUM YUM
"Oof that's kind of a hard one. Without looking up a bunch of older actors I think I'd have to go with Ken Watanabe. I think he's in his early 60s now and the last time I saw a recent pic of him he was still looking fine AF. And an honorable mention is Steve Carell... I don't know what it is but he keeps getting hotter with age. I was never attracted to him until he did that silver fox photo shoot with the paint brush 'n shi*t."
total class act...
"Stanley Tucci. As my mom says about handsome men, he just looks like he smells good."
vonye25
"He visited our hotel a few weeks ago. As the Restaurant Manager I was specifically told that my team and I were not to treat him any different to other guests, which we don't."
"The guy was a total class act polite, courteous, and always keen for a chat. Never mentioned his movies, his career, but was there to enjoy time with his family, and they themselves were also a joy to be around. Can confirm he always had a slight aroma of warm cinnamon."
valdezverdun
Well that is a long list of sexy. Cheers to growing sexy with age.
We all have our likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
While some people might not be able to stop eating certain foods, the very thought of that same food is enough to make others gag.
Then there are the foods which are universally considered to be delicious delicacies, the foods so revered that it is assumed that everyone must find them delicious.
Only, not everyone does.
Redditor jamboamericano was curious to hear which foods the Reddit community couldn't quite grasp the appeal of, leading them to ask:
"What a food in your opinion that quite simply sucks and you don’t understand the hype behind it?"
How do you make a bland food even more bland?
"As someone from the UK I don't get why so many people here love mushy peas."
"I find peas relatively tasteless and gross as they are, mushing them just makes the texture gross as well."- MHC1905
More healthy, less tasty...
"Zucchini pasta."-- dannyboyhou
Who knew fish eggs would be so popular?
"Caviar."
"I feel like whoever buys that sh*t doesn't actually like it and uses it to flaunt their money."- WapplesAreDelish
Hold the guac!
"The early 2010s was a difficult time for me."
'"I f*cking hate avocado."- drunky_crowette
No matter where it came from...
"Liver."
"Just......no."- Efficient-Bee-1855
You mean it's supposed to burn my tongue?!?
"I don't get the appeal of chili that is made to be as hot and spicy as humanly possible, to the point that it hurts to eat it."
"'I make my chili with the five hottest peppers known to man and a dash of snake venom to kick it up a notch'."
"Why?"
"That, and tofu."- MiddleAgedGamer71
Brand names can never beat homemade!
"Industrial ice cream."
"The taste is WAAAY worse than the handmade one."- pensodiforse
Disgusting AND dirty...
"Beets."
"My wife tried to convince me to like them by saying 'they taste like dirt!'"
"Needless to say, this was an ineffective approach."- Neilpuck
Just because it's healthy, doesn't mean it's good...
"Kale."
"I don’t care how it’s prepared, there’s just no point to it."- protogens
Butter makes everything taste better... or does it?
"Lobster."
"I uh, I don't get it.'
"It always tastes a bit flavorless and just alright to me."
"Then I see people dip it in butter and yea thats fine and all and it tastes great, but then I get the feeling I'm just tasting the butter and what the f*ck is the point of this $30 dish exactly?"- Sonder332
Some might accuse those who dislike the above-mentioned foods of not having a distinguished palette.
But maybe their palette's are so distinguished, that they know when they're tasting a fraud?
Either way, to each their own.
Happiness is one of those abstract and amorphous things that nobody can quite pinpoint, but everyone knows when they feel it.
It can be triggered by lots of things - a great meal, an old friend, your favorite episode of your favorite show...
Happy looks different for us all, but maybe that's whyReddit user MyForever_NameNow asked:
"What’s the happiest you’ve ever felt?"
The same situation might make one person miserable while making another elated ... so let's see where Reddit finds their joy.
Time Traveling
"Once I was driving from Philly to Las Vegas. On one leg of the trip, I got a bit of a late start and I really wanted McDonalds breakfast (this was before they served it all day)."
"My clock said 10:22, and I was about 15 miles from the next exit, so I knew I would never make it. Then I crossed over a time zone and my clock changed."
- lump77777
"incredible"
- BennyJO_
"Not gonna lie, best story I've read in awhile. I'm now happy for you."
- McAvoy4Potus
"It’s like the world willed you into having breakfast that morning , like the earth moved in order to give you what you needed … kind of epic"
- Avatorn01
A Poetic Mishap
"This might be weird but I keep thinking back to this and how I will never have this experience again: I was 13, nerdy, loved to draw, grew up rural. My Grandma lived close to a big city."
"Went to visit her in the Summer and then went to an Japanese culture fest in said city. I was overwhelmed by the experience. Bought two super sweet Neon Genisis Evangelion artbooks."
"When I went back to Grandma's place by train, I missed the stop and got off one stop later. It was quite late already, but a warm summer night. Next train back would come in 2hrs. These two hours, alone during a summer night with two artbooks at a tiny, rural train stop surrounded by trees and absolutely nobody else around were pure bliss. A weird feeling of peaceful, 'liminal' joy that I can't properly explain. Different happiness than love, etc."
"I haven't really told this story to many people because I know nobody would truly understand the feeling, and that would kinda ruin my memory."
- SkyPirateVyse
"That’s dope. Sometimes we forget to just stop and really enjoy the moment"
- PalaSS9
Endless Young Love
"I remember being in 8th grade watching a movie at my girlfriends house and we were giggling and commentating on the movie the whole time and just remember thinking I would marry her someday."
"I’m now 29 and we still giggle and commentate on every movie just like we did when we were kids, but that “young love” feeling is a very happy feeling for the first time, I’m just so lucky to still have those feelings 15+ years later"
- Lets_Huff_Paint
"Ok, but seriously, my spouse and I are also several years into our honeymoon and it's quite nice."
- HugeMisfit
"Marriage goals."
- bjcm5891
It Was A Good Day
"Oh gosh"
"Most recently,"
"Trying to keep up with my dog and boyfriend as they ran along the beach chasing the dolphins that were in the water. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. It was a sunny March day so nobody up and down for miles, just us. The bright blue sky and glimmer coming off the ocean - the salty mist while the waves crashed and the cold ocean at our feet."
"God I haven’t ever felt so alive in my whole life. It was one of those moments where I wished I could have it burned into my memory. Like I could tuck it away and live in it forever."
"That was a good f*cking day."
- Paisleymypup
"That’s so wholesome, it sounds like a scene right out of a movie"
- modestmandrakeman
"I feel happy reading this"
- Barcelona539
Mutual Crushes
"Me and my crush were hanging out one time, and all I could say was. “I like you… a lot.” And she just smiled and said “Me too.” Has to be the happiest day of my life so far."
- Mrcoolguy900
"I live near a popular district in Kansas City and I once bumped into a young man who'd just professed his love for someone, and he was so overjoyed I couldn't help but ask him what had happened."
"It made me really happy to see how happy he was."
- FearGunner
"Same thing happened to me, she told me she liked me and it took me about 3 minutes to fully process what she had said and how to respond. I ended up saying "same bro". Well we're together now but that was a pretty stupid response."
- Sir_Thiccness_69
" 'So far' I like your attitude"
- Homerpaintbucket
Sobriety
"now"
"5 years sober"
- Feels2old
"Mad respect, I'm very proud of you internet stranger!"
- therealfakechips
"I'm right behind you with 4 years. Congrats Feels great to be me again"
- m3x_aries
"Respect"
- MyForever_NameNow
That First Cry
"When my youngest was born, she really wanted out and my wife made it to the bathtub, and she came out with my help, she had the umbilical cord around her neck and I managed to get my finger under that and free her, that first cry made me so happy."
"She's eleven now and sitting on the couch right now eating chocolate and watching TV..."
- agent_fuzzyboots
"Kid's first cry was mine was well."
- vsmack
"Wow that's insane! Great job! When the umbilical cord wraps around the neck it's called a nucal. It can be pretty dangerous, especially in an emergency labor setting."
"I always thought I would never want to deliver a baby. And then we learned about emergency labor situations in the EMT course I took and I fell in love. Once again, great job! That must've been scary."
- boo_boo_technician
Being Present
"I was taking a walk in December last year when everything around me in my personal life was hell. A feeling of calm washed over me, and I started to look at how beautiful the sky was. I was crystalline in that perfect moment, and cried a few happy tears."
"I realized that being "present" is the only way to truly live... The past and the future are illusions and robbers of life. Ever since then I am extremely committed to finding beauty in every day things. I frequently feel very happy now, because I never run out of things to marvel at."
- cobraCL
"Dude I feel that. I lost my mom and several other family members in the last few years, went through a major breakup, had to move a bunch, plus all the COVID stress. I'm stressed a lot, mostly tired, but sometimes a moment washes over me and I'm just so grateful to be alive, looking at a sunset or a tree or the Christmas lights in my living room. Something about going through hell really makes you appreciate life."
- crunchypnwtrash
Vacay
"Grew up kind of poor, didn't go on my first vacation until I met the woman who'd become my wife. We went to Tennessee and got a cabin with a hot tub and some good muscadine wine."
"It was night time, gently thundering and raining, little bit of a mist coming in to the high rise porch we were on where the hot tub was, just relaxing, buzzing. To me it felt like the perfect setting, perfect feeling."
"Tied with that, she's the first person I saw the ocean with. Took over 6 hours to drive there, we unpacked, walked out to the ocean about knee deep, holding hands. The sound of the waves and the seagulls. The look of happiness on her face as she stared out."
- IROBotNeverDies
Frogging Around
"My ex, who loves frogs to death, asked me to go frogging with her early unto our relationship, not to kill them, just to catch and identify them. Its one of my happiest memories and without a doubt the most attracted I've ever been to someone."
"Its actually when I started to realize how strong and how smart of a person she was which combined with everything else made be fall head over heels."
- SplitttySplat
"Thats awesome man. I'd be happy to have had a unique experience like that too. No dinner and a movie, Frogging!"
- EmseMCE
Y'all ... that got unexpectedly emotional, didn't it?
Turns out that for most of us, the thing that makes us happiest is one another.
Humans are adorable sometimes.
People who aren't necessarily daredevils like to say they like to live life by throwing caution to the wind.
"What is a very easy mistake that can get you injured or killed?"

Not only are your endangering your life by doing, or not doing these things, you're putting others you at risk.
Dangerous Distraction
"Messing/texting on your phone while driving."
– azakd
Gauging Fatigue
"Underestimating how tired you are and then getting behind the wheel."
– ---Spitfire----
Beware Of A Delayed Response
"The risk here isn't just that you might fall asleep at the wheel, by the way. When you're drowsy, your reaction time is impaired, very much as it is if you've had a few drinks. Drowsy driving is bad for the very same reasons drunk driving is bad; while one of these is that you might become unconscious and completely unresponsive, another is that your reactions are impaired even while you're still awake."
– fubo
Assess The Situation
"There would have to be certain extreme circumstances, but I've heard that after a serious car accident, people have died by turning their heads too quickly. When the adrenaline takes over and you can't really feel the pain, some people don't realize that they have serious injuries in their necks and they break them quite easily after trauma like that."
– domoronnoc1
Even the most innocent circumstances can be subject to great harm.
Remove Loose Articles And Accessories
"Wearing jewelry while working with heavy machinery. My Dad saw a guy get his arm ripped off because he wore a wedding ring that cause his hand to get caught in the machine."
– Nacho_eating_Zombie
Don't Underestimate Slipping
"Especially elderly people. My grandmother's legs are paralyzed and she has to use an electric scooter to get around. She fell one day and broke her wrist, doing much better now though."
– gabesnightmare
Taking time for inspection can potentially save your life.
Final Checks Before Operating Heavy Machinery
"Long hair or loose clothes around rotating tools or machinery. Second, not making sure you have the breakers turned off before doing electrical work."
– ShortPlains
Rinse For Your Life
"Not washing food properly."
"Food poisoning is really dangerous."
– Rule34ofAntartica
Having common sense is extremely beneficial.
Exercise Awareness
"It's a bit of a general thing, but not being mindful of your physical limitations. A few particular variants that come to mind is people who get stuck in narrow spaces, or who fuck around at water parks. Just... don't. Especially if alone. If you're going to have to maneuver yourself to grab something from a tight, enclosed space, go get a broom or something. Etc."
"It's a complicated and general thing, but young people especially tend to overestimate their immortality and dexterity. Stop and think."
– xatrue
There's No Competition
"Trying to beat a train."
– lightonahill
Bad Chemistry
"Trying to put out a grease fire with water."
– lovelynutz
When theme park operators tell you to keep your hands and arms inside the moving vehicle at all times, it's for a reason, and probably because a tragic incident in the past led to the warning.
I don't have to be reminded to keep my arms and legs inside my rocket whenever I ride Space Mountain at Disneyland.
With all those metal beams seemingly inches from my head as I whizz by, I dare not even think about raising my hands in the air as most people on roller coasters do.
If you don't want your hands severed, I strongly advise you heed the warning.