People pride themselves on having unique interests. It sets them apart from the rest of the herd.
So it makes sense a person would become upset when something they thought they had exclusivity over – like enjoying a niche music artist – suddenly became popular.
Redditor aakkii911 sought input from strangers on the internet by asking:
"What was ruined because too many people started doing it?"
Examples varied from hordes descending upon national parks to the exploitation of Christmas sweaters.
Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar?
Concert Tickets
"Buying concert tickets."
"As soon as any band announces a tour, there are literally legions of people who will buy tickets in bulk just to try and resell them for a higher price. This causes others to watch anxiously at the ticket sell date so they can grab them before theyre gone which only causes more scalpers to anxiously wait for the sell date so they can beat the die hard fans. Last time Tool went on tour in my state, tickets were sold out within minutes."
"EDIT: not just tickets, everything apparently."
National Parks
"Not quite there yet but will be soon: National Parks. Too many people who don't follow the rules, especially the ones on littering."
Gaming
"All small games. When they get popular, they get flooded with hackers. It's kind of sad honestly."
– Daokosi
Storage
"Storage unit auctions. Everyone and their brother/sister/cousin etc thought they could make a killing after watching Storage Wars or one of the others. What used to be 10-20 people went to 100+. Units that used to sell for $250 were now selling for $1000."
"Completely ruined it for me. I just did it as a side thing, mostly looking for tools I wanted, plus I liked looking through peoples sh*t once I owned it."
Social Media
"Instagram and Twitter used to be extremely fun when they were new, but as the years have gone by, I find myself rarely hopping on now."
"Nowadays, everybody wants to be an influencer or someone "important" and it's ruined the platforms."
Conquering Everest
"Everest. People are literally dying because the summit runs are so crowded. You don't need to be skilled or physically fit, just rich enough to afford a sherpa or 2. It's the perfect time to leave your corpse on the tallest peak in the world to be preserved in your foolish endeavor forever."
– sarthurf
Tacky Holiday Sweaters
"ugly Christmas sweaters. Used to have to be legit. Now they out here selling purposely made ugly sweaters at Target. boo."
Season 6 Christmas Sweater GIF by ABC Network
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Subculture
"Basically just about any obscure subculture. It's cool at first because its underground and the people it attracts are very sincere and passionate about their interests. Then it goes mainstream and corporations start to monetize it and it loses its creative edge in order to appeal to the masses."
Small Plates
"Small plates at restaurants. It used to be a novelty, reserved for tapas."
"The last ten years it seems like most 'trendy' restaurants have adopted the exact same formula everywhere:"
"Hello! Welcome to Fig & Driftwood! Have you dined with us before? Our dishes are designed to be shared, we typically recommend 4-6 per person. The kitchen is free flowing and dishes come out as they're prepared. Chef also has a tasting menu tonight, which is a selection of three dishes from each course. The tasting is $75 per person and everyone at the table has to participate."
"It was cool the first few times, kind of. Now I long for ordering an entree for myself and not having to pass plates around a table to share. It's also way more expensive than it should be once the final bill comes."
Calling "Karen"
"Using the phrase 'Karen.'"
"It's very quickly turned into another way to call women bitches without getting called out."
– Lozzif
Influencers
"Becoming an influencer. You know you have a problem when anyone is are getting sponsored for dressing up like Nova girls on instagram and booty popping to WAP on tiktok."
Face Place
"Facebook. It started out as a place for college (and later highschool) kids to socialize, gossip, talk to each other. Then the other generations started joining and the news took notice. It wasn't before long that posts started getting political and people started getting fired over what they said online. A few years later and the college/highschool kids of today prefer other platforms over Facebook while the baby-boomers have embraced it."
Guilty As Charged
"Reddit. Used to be we'd post interesting, conversation worthy material that was upvoted or downvoted based on merit and the ability to generate discussion."
"Now it's mostly the opposite. Post something banal that the hive mind can consume within 5 seconds, forget about, and move on from."
Exploitation Of Animals
"Owning pets."
"Some people are literally not cut out for owning pets; they don't have the physical or mental capacity to properly take care of them."
"Also it has promoted puppy mills to run rampant across the country. (really makes my blood BOIL)"
Mental Health Conditions
"Validating and talking about mental health. Let me preface this by saying I have a mental health background as well as my own issues. But I got so f'king tired of people being like 'oh I'm so OCD lols' or 'God I'm just so depressed today!!' Like no... no you're not. Unless what you have significantly impacts your ability to function in normal every day life you do not have a mental illness."
Anxiety Tools
"Fidget Spinners, they had a purpose for people with specific disabilities, but do to becoming a fad those same people started getting them taken away."
War Face GIF
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Apparently, their sense of humor has no bounds. Curious to hear from drill sergeants online, Redditor darkstalker1000 asked:
"Drill instructors, what is the funniest thing you have seen a Private do?"
The following examples were utterly humiliating, but valuable lessons were learned.
Longheld Punishment
"Had 2 guys get in a fight in our bay during basic. The drill sergeant made them hold hands and pretending to be on a date all week. Only time they could let go of each other's hands was rack time. They ended up becoming pretty good friends."
Confusing Paycheck
"Ex British Army officer here."
"A corporal went on a nine week mortar course and was accommodated (obviously) while he was away. It turned out he knew one of the DS teaching the course and was invited, regularly, to dine and drink in the Sergeant's Mess."
"The month after coming back from the course, he brought his payslip to me with a puzzled look on his face and, embarrassed, explained he didn't understand what it meant and could I help him?"
"It emerged that the Sergeant's Mess had a chitty system - you didn't pay for your drinks at the time, but signed for them and the total bill was deducted from your pay."
"This legend had managed to drink more than his monthly salary both months he'd been away and his payslip was a negative balance."
"I'm sorry Smith, I'm afraid you owe the Army £235 ($327.50) this month."
Asking For An Advance
"Former European Anti-Air Trainee here."
"Recruit spent his first check on alcohol and sex workers, asked his commander for next months check in advance the next day. Instead of having a good excuse prepared to actually succeed in that proposal he blankly told him in front of 80 other recruits why he'd need it."
Eye-Level Reprimand
"I saw a guy post about how he was like 6'3 and his DS was like 5'2, so whenever he messed up the DS would go up to him face to chest and yell 'Elevator!' and the guy would bend down to eye level with the DS and say 'Ding!' and the DS would proceed to look him in the eye while he chewed him out."
Some experiences were downright hilarious.
The Stain
"Not an RDC, but in boot camp I was over the laundry crew. One recruit sh*t himself because he thought he couldn't leave his rack after taps. It was funny at the moment before I realized I had to wash it."
– ScootaFL
Ambush Training
"This was the funniest f'king thing I ever read from u/odomotto"
"Recruit fired all his blank ammo during 'ambush training.' He crawled in ditch opposite where the aggressors were, and started throwing rocks at them. DI came running in middle of the road blowing his whistle and screaming 'what the f'k are you doing?' Recruit screamed back, 'throwing hand grenades drill sergeant!' Without missing a beat, the DI screamed 'out f'king standing.' And walked away."
"My sides hurt and I was wheezing laughing so hard at this when I first heard it!"
These punishments made no sense. And that's why they're memorable.
The Replacement
"When I was in basic, a kid we called 'Albino' shot off a blank round accidentally in the field. The sergeants were pissed and took his weapon away and replaced it with a broomstick for the remainder of the week in the field."
"Man I remember some dude didn't put the sheet on his bunk the right way and had to wear the sheet as a cloak and go to all the other barracks dancing around sing about how he was the 'Catch Edge Fairy' or something. It was pretty silly, he owned it though. He was doing twirls the whole time. This was Navy bootcamp."
– Konebred
Despite how they are depicted on film, drill instructors are people who care.
Like, Beals – a drill sergeant at Fort Knox, Kentucky – who said:
"We provide more than just physical, mental and emotional guidance for them. You are a father, a preacher, a financial advisor, a counselor-you provide so many different services to the Soldier that the regular public doesn't see on day to day basis."
"They see what they see in movies and what they hear about by word of mouth. But you are fulfilling so many roles other than just being a trainer and teaching an individual how to be a Soldier in the Army."
And occasionally, they are having a laugh at the crazy things their trainees do.