Admitting that you're wrong can be a really tough thing for some people. No one likes to admit that they're the bad guy- we're all the heroes in our own story, after all. Though once that realization clicks, there's no going back.
At least you didn't lash out.
"One time I got pissed because I overheard my parents who adopted me talking about going on a trip to the beach. They both knew I had never been. Told my mom how disappointed and pissed I was.
Turns out they were planning a surprise trip for me to go to the beach. I felt so bad."
That sounds weirdly painful.
Giphy"I blew a tic tac through a straw into an old guy's face who was working at a car park booth when I was about 12 and still feel terrible about it a decade and a half later."
Awwww.
"I teach middle school, so I end up having to play the villain a lot. But one time stands out where I actually WAS the bad guy:
Last block of the day, we're working through something that is not terribly interesting. I hear a few whispers and giggles and my teacher sense goes off. Out of the corner of my eye I see that a note is being passed around the class and that's what's causing the distraction. I muster up my best stern teacher face and boom "Put that in your backpack or I'm going to have to take it."
Someone had found out it was my birthday - they made me a lovely card and were all signing it."
It's not easy having a good time.
"I was out of town and I went into a frozen yogurt place I'd never seen before with so many flavors. I kept asking for sample cups until I'd tried like 20 of them and was only halfway. It was amazingly fun!
I heard a parent giving a lecture to their kids who wanted to copy me about 'how we don't act like that man and buy ours' That just ruined it for me, so I dropped a $10 in their tip jar and left."
Don't waste the popcorn.
Giphy"I went to the movies with some friends when I was 13. Instead of US being the typical annoying loud teenagers, there were some loud women sitting in the row ahead. I didn't hear the women, but my friend pointed them out and complained to me. In retaliation, I threw a handful of popcorn at the women and cackled like a madwoman.
Turns out I misread where my friend was pointing, and I didn't hit the annoying loud women. I hit two quiet old ladies.
I felt like such an butthole."
That always seems to happen.
"I was in Tijuana drinking it up and this was in the 90s. I left a bar and when I made it outside, I realized that I left my wallet on the table.
I went back in and saw that different people were there and no wallet. I asked them if they found a wallet and all said no. I got more aggressive with them and started to threaten them if they didn't return the wallet. I was a big guy in those days and I could tell they were scared.
By this time, the bouncer is noticing and I recognize that I'd likely get thrown out soon. So I told them that I'd be waiting for them outside and would beat their butts.
I went outside and was looking in to scare them and plus I was pissed. I then reached in my shirt pocket because I felt something there. Sure enough, my wallet was in there."
A dumbass indeed.
"I was a dumb teenager once.
My sister was telling me that one of our neighbors was gay. Being the dumb guy I was, wanting some cheap attention from rumor-mongering, I tried to spread it to a friend. She went up to him that moment and ratted me out.
Turns out, my sister was mad at him because he refused her advances.
I learned a thing, I guess."
"Crazy" is a relative term.
Giphy"This goes back to my first (real) girlfriend when we were 15.
We were on and off for three years all throughout high school. She'd had a reputation for being "crazy" because she'd punched a boyfriend she had before me. All the "bros" warned me not to date her.
I did anyway. But, in true teenage douchebag fashion, we went through periods where I would hide our relationship because she was "crazy" and I didn't want to have a public relationship with her.
In retrospect, she was an absolute sweetheart. Any "crazy" behavior from her was absolutely a reaction to how douchey guys treated her, 100% including me.
She was a catch. I was an utter peanutbutter-and-butthole sandwich to her. I still feel bad about it.
We're still casual acquaintances today but I really don't know how to apologize for how I acted 20 years ago. I feel like the statute of limitations has expired and it would be super awkward now."
That's what we call karma.
"Once while working as a line cook in a restaurant a coworker said something to me (I don't remember what but I do know it wasn't anything bad) and for pretty much no reason at all I smacked him in the side of the face with a raw, marinated chicken breast. I dunno, I guess I though it would be funny.
Pretty much immediately I realized I did not live in the Monty Python universe and hitting people with raw chicken (especially for no reason) was generally an a-hole thing to do.
It sort of worked out though. Karma came around a couple weeks later when through a series of unlikely events I ended up having an entire chocolate cake fall on my head. Still covered in chunks of cake and icing I immediately sought out coworker and asked him if we were even; he almost pissed himself laughing and we actually became work friends."
They left the incel life behind.
"In middle and high school I was a sort of proto-incel, before that was even really a thing (mid-to-late 1990s). I had never had a GF and I was convinced that there was some kind of conspiracy because girls didn't like me. I was super attracted to this one girl in particular, but in true incel fashion I never actually spoke to her; I simply got more and more frustrated over time. Let's call her "Kara".
Anyway, out of the blue one day her (less attractive) best friend and I struck up a conversation, and I saw it as an opportunity. Let's call her "Tina". Tina and I developed a legitimate relationship, but in my mind I would always end up with Kara eventually. Tina was obviously head over heels for me, but I just used her to stay close to Kara.
At some point in all this, Kara did eventually get a BF and I was crushed. I was so angry. I broke up with Tina (shortly after Valentine's Day, no less). It wasn't until a few months later, when I was cleaning out all the notes Tina had sent me, that I realized what a massive jerk I had been.
Tina went on to find a much better man than myself, and I learned some valuable lessons. I'm grateful too, because that incident made me reevaluate myself and my approach to women. There is an alternate universe where I am single and on reddit, whining about "Stacey" instead of treating women like actual people and not just trophies to be won."
Redditor rockytheboxer asked:
"What common misconception infuriates you?"
I try to be calm. But anything can infuriate me.
So let's chat.
Lies
Cat Zoom In GIF by Paul TrilloGiphy"That you can zoom in on a digital picture and it gets more clear."
skotgil
Not Simple
"The Dunning-Krueger Effect."
"It's not as simple as dumb people overestimating their intelligence while smart people underestimate it. Once you feel 100% certain in your knowledge, all new information looks like misinformation. Once you believe yourself an 'expert,' you're far less receptive to facts that contradict your position. Self-doubt is what keeps your mind open; the nagging sense that what you 'know' might not be true is what motivates intelligent people to keep pursuing knowledge."
"Studies even show the DK Effect actually horseshoes."
"People at the very bottom and the top tend to over-emphasize their own intelligence. When leading scientists are disproven by new discoveries, it's not uncommon them personally reject the new science. The 'Nobel Disease' describes when Nobel Prize-winners go on to become quacks, believing their 'genius' qualifies them as experts in things outside their expertise."
Rowan-Trees
37
"Life expectancy. People think hundreds of years ago you died at 40. Completely false. Infant mortality was extremely high so the average is skewed. If you made it out of infancy you had a pretty good chance of becoming old."
boludo1
"So much this. If half the people born die at age 2 and the other half die at 72, the average life expectancy is 37, but that doesn't mean 'everyone died at 37.'"
bulbaquil
Higher Levels
"'If they give me a raise at work, I'll bump up a tax bracket, and I'll actually make less!!'"
Mymoggievan
"Oh man, I just came here to say this. Had a high-level staff meeting last week to discuss how our company will be changing from weekly checks to bi-weekly."
"The uproar, because they were gonna get 'taxed more' was hilarious. I literally had to draw a crude graph for folks who’ve been on this Earth for decades longer than I have in order to explain how a progressive income tax works. My eyes are still rolling."
Bokuden101
Ruined
Angry Season 3 GIF by Paramount+Giphy"O.C.D. is not some cute obsession with cleanliness and order. It can ruin lives and comes in many forms."
Leeser
"I also hate when people play armchair psychologist."
Leeser
There is such a thing as too clean. Right?
Colors
season 1 friends GIFGiphy"As a colorblind person, I don't see in black and white. I have no problem driving. And I will never play the 'What color is this?' game. Not ever."
Midnight-Ran
'women’s work'
"The quote 'well-behaved women seldom make history' is frequently misquoted. Professor Laurel Ulrich stated this in a 1976 essay that details how women in early America have been lost to history as their stories weren’t considered important by those who wrote history."
"Her quote is not meant to minimize the lives of women who perform stereotypical 'women’s work' such as mothers and wives, but to stress the issue of women’s voices being lost in history."
"I think it’s important to support women who do not live within these archetypes, but not at the expense of women who enjoy being within these roles. Ultimately, having the voices of diverse women and gender-diverse people documented in history is incredibly important - which should include both 'well-behaved' and rebellious women."
littlepinch7
Communication
"Introversion and social anxiety are NOT the same things."
"Not every introvert has social anxiety or is a poor communicator. Stop lumping people together and just calling it introversion."
"I’m introverted. I know how to communicate well. I just don’t want to with you."
bumpty
Evil
"That the symbol of the upside-down cross is satanic, evil, witchcraft, etc. I see so many Catholics and Christians going off on people who have upside-down crosses on clothes and stuff because it’s 'evil.' No, it is not. The upside-down cross comes from Peter, who decided to be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy of dying in the same fashion that Christ did. It is a symbol of honor, love, and respect for Jesus."
Love Dies
In Love Hearts GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"People like to believe 'there's someone out there for everyone' but honestly this just isn't true. Or that we only have 'one true love.'"
awkward-fox-patrol
Everything makes me mad.
But life goes on.
To hear some examples of these, Redditor Marquis_de_Skiatook asked:
"What’s the most disturbing Disney movie theory?"
Identities of certain characters were explored.
The Sales Pitch
"The merchant at the beginning of Aladdin is just making up the story, as he is just trying to sell you a lamp, which is crazy because the Dead Sea Tupperware was a better deal."
– PompeyMagnus1
Who Fired The Shot?
"Bambi's mom wasn't just killed by a hunter. She was killed by a poacher."
"There's a hunting scene right before winter where the whole family escapes. That was hunting season. You don't hear a single gunshot during the winter because it's off season. Bambi's mom was killed in early spring by a poacher."
– lllSnowmanlll
The Little Teacup
"There's a line in Be Our Guest that specifies '10 years we've been rusting...' meaning they've been enchanted for 10 years at that point. Chip is pretty clearly well under 10 when they break the spell and he becomes human. Which means that either the spell also froze their ages in time, or the teapot version of Mrs. Potts both conceived a teacup child (with who/what?!) and gave birth at some point."
"Also, there was a cupboard full of teacup children that weren't given names that also appeared to be under Mrs. Potts's care. What's the deal with those kids?!"
– killebrew_rootbeer
These films may need PG-rated prequels.
Child Was Suspect
"Lilo is responsible for her parents death because she failed to bring pudge the fish a sandwich."
– monorail_pilot
An Egg-cellent Theory
"Gaston was responsible for single-handedly supporting the egg industry of Southern France based on the amount of eggs he consumed, and his death caused a minor economic depression."
– BabaYagaOfKaliYuga
Woody's Original Owner
"Woody is Andy’s fathers old toy and it’s the only thing he has to remember him."
– ptepfenhart
Some Disney films may have war commentaries.
A Duck's Origins
"My favorite is Donald Duck being a WW2 vet. Donald is responsible for single-handedly taking an island from the Japanese, but the experience gave him serious PTSD and that's why he acts the way he does. The Department of Defense officially issued him an honorable discharge in 1984, meaning he retired as well."
– No_Improvement7573
Quacked Up History
"this was canon that Donald duck was a sailor but US naval fleet. But not many people know he was also Airborne or a para-marine."
"thats entirely his gimmick from the disney war propaganda videos."
"being in the marines at the time meaning donald duck would've seen pearl harbor from the hawaiian training videos all the way to the dolittle raids which is why he also knows how to fly a plane in the event if the pilot gets shot dead."
"donald duck was an airman in the pacific theater and took over entire japanese gun nests. Due to the time of the video(Commando Duck), the layout on the map and very much the actual role donald duck was a paratrooper in Guadalcanal."
"Donald duck wasn't a reservist or a volunteer since he was drafted so very much he fought all this mostly against his will. So it questions me why we would be there untl discharged in 1984."
"basically there is proof that everything that the previous person said is 100% true by overlooking two videos. Commando Duck 'Donald Duck vs Japan' and Donald Duck gets drafted as the release timing of both videos would match up the which battled and what unit Donald Duck would've fought in canonly. Based on merit he probably retired as a sergeant or e-5 rank. i did too much research."
"Its safe to say that Donald Duck was a paratrooper serving the 11th Airborne division n the battle of Guadalcanal. No only that he served in Guadalcanal but the timing itself means that Donald Duck served in Midway, Coral Sea, Pearl Harbor, Papa New Guinea, and the Philippines, Palau, Okinawa and based on the timing of the US fleet naval movements and as well as the history of the unit. Donald Duck probably seens some of the worst losses in US history and slept under the constant nightmare of a Japanese Air raid, death camps, jungle combat. It is also possible he saw combat in the Korean war since the same unit was posted for Korea but because he wasn't discharged until 1984 its save to say hes been in combat until Vietnam."
– ghigoli
Post-Apocalyptic World
"Cars takes place long after a war where the sapient machines wiped out their human creators."
– brak-0666
Vehicular Genocide
"Cars has a cars pope. Christianity is canon in the cars universe. This meaning there was also a cars Jesus who suffered a cars crucifixion."
"Furthermore the Jeep character is actually canonized as a WW2 veteran. There was a cars WW2 this meaning there was also a cars Hitler who killed scores of presumably Jewish cars."
– funkyjiveturkey
While many of these examples have not been officially substantiated by Disney, they sure do add another level that heightens the stakes for challenges faced by our favorite characters.
But one thing is certain.
You may never look at some of these classics the same way again.