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People Share Their Weirdest "Didn't See That Coming" Dating Experiences

People Share Their Weirdest "Didn't See That Coming" Dating Experiences
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Dating can be awkward, especially for the first few dates. Sometimes things can get downright weird though.


Reddit user u/Hammer-905 asked:

"What's the biggest, "Whoa, didn't see that coming" dating moment that you've had?"

Some responses have been edited for content, clarity, or profanity.

50.

I was having an amazing time talking to a guy I'd just met on tinder. He was sweet, funny, and lived about 5 minutes from me. He asked me out on a date, and I was ecstatic. The day comes, and he offers to come pick me up. I politely decline, and I decided to be honest with him and say I wasn't totally comfortable being picked up by someone I hadn't met quite yet, and that I'd rather meet him there myself. He seemed nice enough to take it well, I even told him it was based on a prior bad experience.

He absoultely freaked

I have never been called more names/things in my entire life. Distrusting, rude, nasty, ungrateful, the list went on. I didn't even fight him. Dude literally tried to evaluate my entire psyche, ranting and "explaining" what was wrong with me for not allowing him to pick me up, then blocked me. I've never seen someone take such a hard left turn into crazy town in my life.

-Janzey

49.

Went to a party with a guy. When I got there, he basically ignored me and flirted with some other chick most of the night. Later at night, they followed me to my car when I was getting something out of my trunk for the party. Guy shoves and locks me in my own goddam car trunk once I opened it. Can't find the latch, super drunk and terrified.

He's laughing hysterically outside the car, trying to use it as flirting fodder with the now horrified other girl. She's not a psychopath like him and helped me call someone with spare keys... I got out eventually, super embarrassing though.

-CrankyCookies

48.

I dated a 22 year old who took her teeth out to eat an ice cream. Totally didn't see that coming and tried to make her feel comfortable.

I didn't keep seeing her for other reasons, but yes, I experienced the missing teeth that night.

-saburling

47.

In college, my roommate and I moved a mutual friend into our place because his roommate had some mental health issues and was stalking him, and doing some really messed up stuff (like threatening to hurt himself unless friend hung out with him). I never met nor saw the roommate.

About a month later, I get asked out by this random guy on a dating website and it seemed fine, so we go out for pizza. As the date unfurls, it slowly becomes more and more awkward as the guy asks about my living situation, friends...roommates. The whole thing just feels awkward. We say our goodbyes and I go home, to tell my roommate about it...and then the lightbulb goes off - it was the stalker guy, trying to get info about him. There's actually a fair bit more to this story, but that's the basic scenario.

Edit: So, I had a couple of requests for additional details. To clarify, all of the characters in this story are guys (I'm gay, stalker is also, roommate/stalkee are straight). I'll parse them in as they happened:

-Probably part of the reason stalker got so infatuated with stalkee is that he was the first person stalker came out of the closet to and he reacted well (as stalker came from a very Catholic family). This was all about 15 years ago and attitudes towards LGBT people still weren't great, particularly in the red state in which we all lived.

-The night we moved him in to our house (under cover of darkness while stalker was away), the stalker had called him and told us he was attempting to commit suicide as a result...very slowly, by drinking salt water until he died of dehydration. Prior to that, stalker had spent a few hours driving around town trying to find stalkee's car. We were able to get some professional help for him that night.

-I have no idea how the guy found me, but sexuality probably plays a role - I'm a gay guy in a fairly small town and stalker knew that he had gay friends, so going through the online dating profiles/Facebook/Myspace at the time was probably not too hard for him.

-Stalker ended up harassing my friend a few more times over the years, showing up at his work to drop off important personal effects he had left behind during the move (e.g., a clothes hanger).

-Stalker showed up in my life a few times since then, too. A couple of years later, I was working for the college and he was running for a minor local political office. His political statement/declaration had him listed as a Ph.d. student in the department in which I worked (a fairly well-known program nationally).

Except, not only was he not a Ph.d. student with us, he (a) never completed his bachelor's degree and (b) was not enrolled as a student for several years. So you can imagine my surprise when one of our staff was like, "Who the hell is Stalker and why does he say he's in our program?" I do think this was just a coincidence, though.

-apathyontheeast

46.

Met a guy while walking to work. It was dark out but not in a creepy way. We run into each other a few times and I ask him out. We go for dinner and he tells me about his work history, says he did something in construction for 15 years. I am 20 when this happened. Turned out we were both really bad at guessing age and he was in his forties and thought I was was in my late 20s. Luckily he could tell I was weirded out by it and didn't contact me after.

-mountainsprouts


He sounds like a good guy. An age gap like that is just too large (in my opinion), and it is good of him that he respects you enough to leave you alone. Hopefully you can still greet him when you come across him during your walks, as the event is not something to be ashamed of for either parties.

-KiwiRemote

45.

Went to a girl's house to meet her parents and they sit a teddy bear at the table, gave it food and drink.

She was the youngest in the house at 23 and the bear was such a recognized member of the family it had a Facebook page.

This will probably be buried but the weirdest part is when they would do voices for the bear and make me speak with it.

Edit: Family also hated me as they were super religious and i was born out of wedlock.

-BoyGirlSmoke

44.

Was casually dating a girl for 3 months or so, she suggests we watch some adult movies together - ok cool. So she puts a dvd on (this is 2008) and the second scene was HER. Totally unexpected. Was cool but I found it sort of an odd way to tell someone that.

She ended up beating me with a clothing rack pole... Man, Brooklyn was a fun place.

-villan22

43.

I took a girl out on our first date. I guess she was trying to impress me because she rattled off the list of guys whose virginity she's taken. Spoken in a way suggestive that, if I played my cards right, something good may happen to me. I was not interested nor impressed.

-Braydeennnn

Similar thing happened to me too. a girl I just met started telling me about taking virginity from a guy and laughed about how can someone be a virgin at that age (22). I was 23 at the time and yeah, still a virgin due to messed up past that made and still makes me feel unsafe in sexual situations. Then she told me that her last date left when she left to the bathroom and she wanted to make sure that I will still be here when she comes back from the toilet. I told her that I won't, she took it as a joke. It wasn't a joke.

-messe93

42.

Might seem minor or silly but the first time my girlfriend didn't want to go bar hopping on a Friday she asked me if I was cool just coming over, drinking Miller Lite, and watching a Cops marathon. She specifically said it was a tased and confused special.

I never thought I'd hear a girl say that. We've been married for two years now.

-CarlOnMyButt

Before Netflix and Chill, it was COPS marathon and Chill.

-DiscordianStooge

41.

On my first date with my current fiance, he told me that he has two older sisters that are both married to guys named Cody. guess what my name is?

-GarshCT

Emma?

-Monicabrewinskie

Yes.

-GarshCT

Damn I'm good

-Monicabrewinskie

It's Cody. So three siblings (2 girls and 1 boy) are all going to be married to men named Cody.

-GarshCT

40.

So many great ones! I'll do this one since it has a few of those moments in them. I went out with this woman. She's really cool. Great first date, a lot in common, great connection. I reach out for a second date. I hear nothing from her.

Three months go by, I get a text from her out of the blue. She had to have a sudden surgery, so she didn't reach back because of that. We go out, we're still great. Third date, I'm stoked. I figure I'll impress her with one of these Academy films that's getting a lot of praise. Something called The Revenant. Whoops. Figured out what that was in the theater. Did not expect it to be so violent and graphic. And she was super squeamish about watching that stuff.

So we recover at a restaurant and we talk a little. At one point, we're making small talk and talking about our flaws. I say sometimes I feel like I can be a little selfish. I watched her starry eyes go cold and dead to me as I shattered all of her illusions of me. Her responses get quick and she gets quiet. I know exactly what's up. She lost interest instantly.

She gives me a ride back to my car and she just starts trying to figure out what's wrong with her for dating people like me. "Is it because you're an actor?" Then she sinks her head into her hands and says loudly for the quiet person she was, "why can't I date anyone normal!" Well, didn't see that coming. It was hilarious, but I didn't feel like it would be best to laugh there. So I politely ended the date and suggested that maybe we weren't as compatible as we thought. She reached out the next day to apologize and see if I wanted to give it another try. I replied, "Yeah, sure." I never heard back from her, as I now see that the way I phrased that has two interpretations.

-ConvenienceStoreDiet

39.

Coworker had a huge crush on me. Got my MSN messenger account (this was years ago) from another coworker. He started talking to me back and forth for maybe 2 weeks, and then asked me out on a date. That workplace actually encouraged in-office dating, it was in China so whatever. We went on four dates, each of them great, and then he confessed...he already had a girlfriend.

-iworkwithtableau

You know the saying: it's easier to get a job when you already have a job.

-nimble__nav

38.

Started dating a girl and she seemed nice but I wasn't sure she was into me. A few months in and she starts talking about future plans and marriage. I was happy as I was on board with that but it just seemed like some switch had been flipped. I had passed whatever tests needed to be done. I had made it. Skip to now, We're engaged and all is good. It was a strange transition though from "Hey I like this girl but I wonder how she feels?" To "Whoa! She's totally on board!" In a day or so.

-PapaOoMaoMao

Be careful friend. i just got out of a situation where it was "I love you see you tomorrow" to "We cant be together anymore" in a day or so.

-Relentless666

I get it. This was a while ago though. I asked her about it later on and she explained it all. Mostly shyness. We're both very invested now. Making a life together is a big step but we're both leaving very solitary lifestyles so it's a two sided investment.

-PapaOoMaoMao

37.

One of my ex's practically disappeared. I couldn't figure out where she went or what happened to her until her dad called me and told me she didnt want ro see me anymore. We were both 21, and had been together a few years.

-MrBootmen241

36.

My friend had one of these. Girl he had been dating a few weeks just flat out disappeared for a week. No calls nothing. Then she shows up and wants to keep dating. She claims she was in the hospital for a week for emergency surgery. Mmm ok.

Well my friend was getting handsy with her and they were taking their clothes off when he noticed she had no fresh surgical scars or anything like that and she claimed they had done a laparoscopic procedure on her abdomen. He calls her on it and she finally comes clean.

Turned out her and some idiot friends had decided to rob a convenience store with a fake gun. They got caught of course and she was now looking at felony robbery charges. I guess she was out on bond and was trying to pretend like nothing happened.

Yep he broke it off right there. Armed robbery tends to do that.

-Raincoats_George

35.

We had a yellow-umbrella moment.

On our first solo date (first was a blind double date), we were talking about how we knew some of the same people. I think told him I had gone to a party that year where I was really drunk and a huge fight broke out between like 12 people at a house party on the front lawn. I saw some glasses on the ground so I held onto them so no one would step on them.

A guy then came up to me asking if I had seen some glasses his friend dropped. Turns out he had the same story about trying to break up a fight at a party and finding that his friend's glasses were picked up by some girl. We also had talked to the same people at the party, but at different times but never bumped into each other.

That guy is my husband now.

-ForElise47

34.

Met a woman for dinner after chatting online for a few weeks. She's super cute, conversation is flowing well, really hitting it off. I'm talking with her about my work, how I get to meet all kinds of interesting people including a man who pulled me into a discussion about Bigfoot for 45 minutes that I couldn't tap out of.

Her reply? "I don't believe in Bigfoot, or aliens, ...or dinosaurs" I had heard of people that believe that the Earth is only 6000 years old and the Devil put the dinosaur bones here, but that was the first time I had met one in the wild.

-MrPaulyG

33.

First time going to my now-fiance's apartment.

He had gotten drunk after a bad day at work. Not just drunk, but absolutely hammered. I drove him home, helped him up the three goddamn flights of stairs to his apartment, and opened the door. He apologized for the mess.

It was clean!

There were some cups and video game controllers on the coffee table, and a pair of pants on the couch. That was it. That was the mess. Other than that, the place was immaculate. It was well-decorated, organized, the carpet had been vacuumed recently, and it was full of really nice stuff!

He asked if I wanted to go to bed with him. (We hadn't had sex yet.) I told him he's too drunk to make good decisions. He said, "Oh...you're a good adult. I'm super drunk. Thanks for looking out for me." He wandered into the bedroom.

I waited a minute for him to come out and say goodbye, but he didn't. I went into the bedroom and found him laying in bed, flat on his back, snoring. So, like a good adult, I set a glass of water and a few Advil on his nightstand, left a note saying I'd pick him up and drive him to his car the next morning, and locked the door.

TL;DR - Impromptu trip to his place reveals a clean apartment; I turn down his advances because he's absolutely piss drunk; he sees my rejection as a good decision on my part. KEEPER

-insertcaffeine

32.

I coached a young girls soccer team (6-7 yo) about 12 years ago. My assistant coach's wife was always super nice but never really caught my eye because she was much taller than me (5'11-5'8), and married. Ive never been secure enough to be attracted to or date a taller woman.

Fast forward to a few years ago. We're both divorced after our spouses cheated. We run into each other. We go on a friendly lunch date. Im blown away that i never noticed how beautiful and wonderful she is. We kiss in the parking lot with people laughing at us!

We now live together... ...and she is the most amazing woman I've ever met. Complete package. Sweet, kind, no games, fun, funny, beautiful, great job, my kids love her, etc. Never would have seen us together but glad Im now confident enough to date a taller woman. So glad I went on that "friend" date!

-motown1

31.

Just before the second date with my now girlfriend.

She called me to let me know that she was feeling pretty sick (coming down from a migraine + bad cold) and didn't feel up to making the date.

She called me. When, after almost 1.5 years of plugging away at the online dating scene, pretty much all of the ladies I'd gone out with would just pop a text/message on POF/OKC my way.

The fact that she actually called and spoke to me almost shorted out my brain.

We've been together about 2.5 years, been living at the same place over 1.

-frachris87

30.

i never have chased love in the past couple years, had a lot of bad experiences and was tired of the outcome every time. met a girl through a mutual friend, she was really extroverted at first, i'm more of an introvert and prefer 1 on 1 time with someone rather than groups.

it was going pretty good for the first couple of weeks, i definitely had feelings for her, strong ones too. i always thought i was gonna live to be a hermit and alone by myself all my life.

that all changed when we went to walmart at 11 pm just cause she was craving frozen pizza. i never thought i'd be able to process having such big feelings for someone, but when i saw her in my sweatshirt and pajama pants walking out of walmart on a drizzly night holding a frozen pizza and looking like the happiest thing ever i just knew that was the one i want to spend my whole life with.

edit for clarification: we started "talking" about two weeks into knowing each other, dating after one month of "talking".

-chazeltine

29.

Asked a girl on a date. She declined as she was busy but from the tone of her voice I guessed/hoped that maybe she would be interested.

So a few weeks later I ask again. She enthusiastically agrees. Awesome! Date, time, location all set.

About five minutes into the date she casually mentions the existence of her boyfriend. I had no idea. This was not a date, apparently. I hustled through that date, I mean, not-date.

-drsameagle

28.

Went to a family party and was introduced to my cousins girlfriend. He's about 10 years younger than me and someone I used to babysit. At the party I reconnect with the cousin and he mentions we should go catch a movie together. His girlfriend hands me her phone to put my number in. A few months later she invites me to a movie and I say yes assuming this was the both of them.

Instead it turns out to just be her and she's definitely dressed for a date, tiny purse, heels and everything. I ask where my cousin is and it turns out he joined the military and shipped out and they decided they would both be open to other relationships while he was gone. I ended up watching the movie and having dinner with her but I didn't give any impression that this was a date. Her last effort was to offer to drive me to my car despite her car not being that far from where I was parked.

-B0NERSTORM

27.

Opened grindr. Saw a guy who looked pretty cute at first like 84 feet away. Realized it had to be one of my neighbors. Thought to avoid it. I had seen enough small town issues and didn't know if I liked the idea of seeing someone who lived that close to me on the app. He started messaging me though. "Wow. You're really close." We started talking. Found out he was actually my neighbor's brother.

He wanted to meet. I said sure, let's go for a walk. We met down the street and started on the walk. First thing he told me was that he was so high and that his brother was running a meth lab. I had to just be polite and try to get through the walk. I wanted to end it from the begining though.

Later his brother got raided and arrested right next door because another neighbor called the police after she heard a fight.

-ZeusDX1118

26.

Went on a tinder date a few years ago, he seemed really nice, we went on a few dates but each time he always said something odd. First date: 'Its cool that you goto the bathroom and leave your bag on the table with a complete stranger' Did not leave my bag unattended again. Second date: 'I didn't have a date for a family wedding, so I went with my cousin (nothing wrong with that I thought), we kissed practically all night, people looked at us alot'. Erm...

-cloy23

Just out of interest did this charming, cousin kissing individual manage to get a third date and if so did he have any more fun phrases for us?

-PracticallyAlive

Unfortunately, his charm and wit didn't persuade me enough to ask for a third date. Shame.

-cloy23

25.

Grew up in a military town in the south. I always told anyone who listened "I'll never ever date a soldier." And "I hate country boys, I'll never date one." So what does life do? Throws me a young man from South Georgia that was stationed in my town when I was in my first semester of college. I didn't see it coming because he was the exact opposite of what I ever envisioned myself dating, but I've been with him for over 3 years now, and he's the silliest and best person in my life.

-happy_citrus


Pretty sure my fiancee never expected to end with a country type guy like me. I'm probably about as far as you could get from what she expected to ended up marrying. She's a posh, artistic, British dancer, and I grew up in a one light town in the middle of nowhere. Tbh I never would've believed I'd end up with her either but I thank my lucky stars every morning that I have.

-1unsupervised_adult

24.

Casually flirted with a girl for 1-2 months, asked her out, she said yes. On the way to the bar she makes a highly suggestive comment about how she would look in a very sexy dress we see in a store. I think to myself "this is going great". We enter the bar, sit down, things turn around just like that as 1 minute in the conversation she grows completely cold and says "I'm at a stage in my life where i do not want to date anyone".

After 20 seconds dead silent, i replied "Then what the hell are you doing here with me, on a date?". Can't remember the answer but it was something nor here nor there. And it wasn't one of those FWB things. Finished my drink, escorted her to the meeting point, never heard from her again.

Maybe it isn't one of those "Whoa" moments, but the switch from "really cute girl, shows signs she's into me, this could be something great" to completely and utterly cold definitely caught me by surprise.

-giddyup281

23.

Went on a date. It seemed to go well. Set up a second date. Dude cancels on me because he wanted to pursue someone else. Alright, fine, whatever. Then three months later sends me a friend request on facebook. I accepted because I was curious. He hasn't attempted to message me or comment on anything. I'm so confused.

-Red_Mare_

Dude is playing the long con. Knows a reasonable person would think its ridiculous to try after that, so he's not. Instead he is biding his time and looking for an angle to make it more "natural"... Either that or he thought you were really hot and was hoping you'd have some vacation bikini pics on your profile... Either way he must have missed out on your obviously superior hotness.

-jay_rod109

22.

When I was in high school, I was a hostess at a restaurant, and there was a cute busboy I worked with. Eventually he made a move and kissed me after work, and we started casually seeing each other.

One day after work, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open (good old mid 2000s!) and his wallpaper was a photo of a baby. I asked if that was his little sibling and he said "nah, that's my son."

The busboy was only a year older than me, so I was really shocked. He told me that he still tried to get along with his son's mother, but she'd cheated on him so it was hard. My dumb seventeen-year-old ass was like, "yep, I can do it. I can be a stepmom!"


Then I found out he was actually still dating his baby's mother. I let him know that I knew, and he begged me to give him a chance; he said he'd break up with her, that she was really awful, that I could "change his life". I just instant messaged him, "I'm going to block you now," and then did so. Probably the most self-possessed I've ever been with a romantic partner, lollllll.

-HoosierSky

Kudos on being capable of such a sensible reaction at an age when many of us did stuuuupid crap in the name of love.

-Wiggly_Cat_Tails

21.

I've posted about it before, but I approached my now wife entirely as a joke. My buddy was down, and I thought it'd cheer him up to get a laugh. I don't have much luck with women, I am quiet and nerdy and not much to look at. So I picked out a pretty blonde girl at the college cafeteria and decided to go hit on her. Usually I would never but I was a little buzzed from the night before and thought it'd be funny.

I figured she would tell me to f**k off and it would be hilarious. Just a brutal public shut down that I, to be totally fair, deserved entirely.

We talked for a few minutes. She was very nice. I stopped short of asking her on a date, so I guess it was just wildly unprovoked small talk.

Anyway. Ya. We had a class that semester, and with the ice broken I just talked to her like a normal person.

We have two kids now.

Did not see that coming.

-sooomuchcoffee

20.

About 9 years ago I was talking to 2 guys called Angus on online dating. One of them asked me out and we agree to meet at a coffee shop the next week. When I get there I see him and he is waiting tables so I walk up to him and he gives me this look like he knows me. He asks me "table for one?" and, extremely confused at this stage, I reply "umm table for two?"

So I follow him and sit down at the table and he goes to get water and I'm thinking of all the ways I can explain how I'm really unimpressed that he would invite me to the place he works while he's working for our date. As I'm deep in this thought I see someone else approaching my table and it's...the other Angus (let's call him Angus 1). Angus 1 and I had unknowingly organised a date to the place the other Angus (Angus 2) worked and then I'd seen Angus 2 and confused my Angus' and assumed I was meeting Angus 2.

So Angus 1 and Angus 2 arrive at my table at the same time. Angus 1 says "Hi it's me Angus 1 from (generic online dating website)". At this point I can see in Angus 2's face that he's figured out where he knows me from, then he takes in what Angus 1 has said and then gives me a look that literally says "what is this girls weird obsession with guys called Angus!"

To make things worse Angus 2 was a very attentive waiter who checked on us frequently and got to hear the awkwardness that is the first date from an online dating website conversation all while poor Angus 1 had no idea what was happening and probably recounts this story as a date he had with an extremely awkward girl who's weirdly shy and doesn't like to talk in front of waiters.

In hindsight I wish back then I had the confidence to tell Angus 1 what was happening and laugh about it but it didn't happen! Needless to say I never heard from either Angus again.

-klandford

19.

The summer before I went to college, I ran into an ex at a party and we ended up having a night together.

Sitting in class taking notes a few months later, I get a facebook message from the ex. "I'm pregnant".

Well, now I'm freaking out. I was already seeing someone new, really didn't want a life with this girl, and had just started college. I wasn't ready for a kid. I started prodding a bit, like "what do you plan to do" and "have you told anyone else?", and she gave all the answers I didn't want to hear. Family knew, she was keeping it, etc.

This dragged on all day. I'm freaking out, trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do about it.

Then, late that night, she mentions she's still in the first trimester.

That doesn't add up, I haven't seen her in like 5 months.

That's when she finally mentions that her new BF knocked her up and she just needed someone to talk to about it, and figured letting me think it was mine was the proper way to go about it.

Never shared another word with her.

-MyNameIsRay

18.

Went on a date with a man. Seemed really decent, and I liked him. But then he ghosts me for a weekend. I was super confused, and finally said screw it.

He text me on Monday morning to explain. Told me he has a daughter, who is 2, and he had her for the weekend. Okay, cool, whatever. I like kids.

But then he tells me he's living with a girl that he WAS dating, so I can't come to his house, ever. And the daughter wasn't from her. It's from a co-worker that he had an affair with, so that's why he kept it all from me.

We went on a couple more dates, but then he let me know that he was still with baby mama on the side, and he wanted to try a relationship with her. I said good bye and don't talk me to again.

Less than a year later, they're married, new baby, and guess who is texting me to be his side piece?

-pinkcamo07

17.

Was talking to a friend of mine, just hanging out in the garage. I had been slowly falling for her for a little while before this so one day I just said screw it, told her how I felt. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. She told me she felt the same way so I went in for a kiss.

This girl straight up mounted me.

We've been married for almost a year and I couldn't be happier. Life is dope.

-ItsLunchboxB

16.

Met this girl in college. She sat in front of me, so we'd chat from time to time. Semester is coming to an end, and I decide to ask her out. We go get dinner after class, just to get to know each other. As we're at dinner, she starts talking about her kids. plural. This has never been brought up before. I ask about their father(s). She explains it's by the same guy. I ask if it was planned. She responds "Nah, his pullout game is just weak". I pause, and let this sink in. So it happened not once, but twice? ok. I ask about contraception. "It's against my religion, and what kind of example would I set as a youth pastor?"

There was no second date.

-BumblingBlunderbuss

15.

This was almost three years ago now. I met a girl online, went on a first date, hit it off pretty well. She invited me to come over her house a few days later as she was gonna have a few friends over. I show up, find out that it's actually the birthday party of one of her friends, a little weird, but okay .

She was from the Ukraine, and everyone who showed up was from Russia or Ukraine, or their significant others. There was a also child. Basically like being invited to a family BBQ as the second date, and by the way, OptimusPyne is the one in charge of grilling for everyone.


At one point one of her friends did the basic, "How'd you guys meet/ how long have you been seeing each other". I told her, she said "It must have gone pretty well". I could only respond with "I guess so?".

Everyone wanted well done burgers. Nice people though.

-OptimusPyne

14.

Dating a guy who was so nice I wasn't sure it could work because I'm kind of abrasive when it comes to dealing with things(not a fan of bs in general..i.e.my people skills suck) and I had dated my fair share of people who seemed nice and turned into nightmares. Anyway, he tells me he loves me after the second time we've slept together.

Had no idea it was coming, super worried because the too early confessions of love are usually a red flag. I tell him it's too soon and I only say that stuff if I know for sure I mean it. Fast forward to now, we're married and it's the healthiest relationship I've ever had in my life, not a red flag at all. Just an extremely genuine person who knew his own heart.

It was one of those rare times in life that everything just fell into place. Our schedules matched up, we never ran out of things to talk about, he was and is this singularly kind individual. By the time we actually had bumps, we were so close we just kinda fell into this routine of facing each problem side by side and solving it together. I've been married once before, for eight years of chaos and abuse. I know what dysfunctional dynamics look like. This time around, my husband is like shelter in a storm. What they say is actually completely true. There's nothing like the adventure of finding the right person.

-friendlyantisocial

13.

I went to fourth date with a girl..

Ended up seeing her whole family, and slept overnight there.. also helped with farm stuff at morning a bit(i liked it btw)my non-confident ass really did not see that coming.

Not to mention, she called me her boyfriend also.

-Micholous

12.

Background information: When my abusive ex boyfriend and I broke up I was basically packing up everything he gave/let me borrow over our 3.5 years together (3 items total, only wanted one back) to give him the next day with my now boyfriend (the man who gave me the confidence to leave). While packing I realized that my 'promise' ring, that I actually sorta begged for, was on my hand. I LOVED this ring, not for sentimental reasons but because I personally picked it out and it was basically my dream wedding band. I loved this ring so much I broke down crying, it almost physically hurt me enough to get rid of it and my now boyfriend was very aware of this.

The morning my boyfriend picked me up he had a bunch of rings on his hands when he normally ever wore one. I questioned why and he simply stated that the normal ring he wears to work, where he handles food, it's the only one that doesn't slip off. This was only the second time we hung out together so I didn't think to much of it. I had work later that afternoon so naturally he dropped me off. While waiting for my shift to start, sitting in his Jeep, he lays his hands flat out in his steering wheel and says to me,

"Until I can buy you an actual ring you can wear any of mine, take it and it's yours."

He fully planned ahead that he was going to give me one of his rings to wear so he wore them all so I could pick my favorite. I'm still in 'awe' at how sweet it was.

-ForeverPizzaPrincess

11.

When I was 19 I worked at Buckle in a mall, a few times this gorgeous girl came in. Second time I recognized her as soon as she walked in, let me reiterate, B-E-A-Utiful and I decided I could not let this opportunity pass. Mind you, I am not great looking, average at best. But I attempted to shrug off doubt and talk to her. The moment we started talking, I realized that not only is she one of the prettiest girls I'd laid eyes on, she was intelligent and witty, I was stuck by this even more so than her looks! We talked and she told me she works in Hollister.

Soooo not long after, I made my mind up I was going to do something out of character and stroll right into Hollister and ask her if she'd talk her lunch with me later so we could talk and get to know each other. She agreed cheerfully and told me that 2 days from then would work best since it was a full shift. I was electrified, I was so fricking happy I practically skipped through the mall back to buckle! I probably had a sh*t eating grin for days. I had never really put my self out there and absolutely felt that she was out of my league. So this was exhilarating to say the least.

The next day on the way in to work, she was out side smoking I said hello, we chatted and we went to work. The next day all is well, she texted me, we planned a time and we followed through.

So the break starts:
She asks "Hey do you wanna go smoke really quick?"
I said "Sure, why not."
So we went out and each smoked 1, then went in to go get a bite to eat. We are standing in line, she looks a little pale,.
I asked "Hey, is everything okay?"
She replied "Oh yeah, I just feel a little light headed"
She preceded to tell me "I don't really smoke often and rarely a whole one, I saw you smoking the other day so I figured that I would ask you to go smoke"
Laughing I told her that I only agreed because I saw her smoking and that I really only smoke with other people, if at all.

We got our food, sat down... As soon as we did, her eyes got HUGE, she covered her mouth with her hands and puked. Not just like a little mouthful, she puked. I may have wasted a literal second, but I got up quick and got handfuls of paper towels to clean up. She was mortified and I could tell. I tried to let her know that I really didn't care, stuff happens and I just tried to be relaxed about it.

She cleaned herself up, our breaks were over and we went back to work. She never responded to my texts, avoided me in the mall, and we never spoke again.

I have to say though, for that very short time I knew her, I really liked her personally and found her immensely charming. But alas, I guess it was fated to never be.

So let this be a warning, don't smoke before you eat. Hell, just don't smoke and you'll be fine. Also, I have the worst luck ever with dating.

Maybe one day we'll meet again and I'll have a real shot! But I doubt that possibility.

-EnviroDruid

10.

The moment where I realized that the girl I'd been hanging out with off and on for about 3 months thought we'd been dating the whole time. She was a great person, but I had no romantic feelings toward her and I'd just been hanging out with her as a friend. Apparently she thought we'd been dating. Yikes.

-kchezum

I've been the girl in this situation. It sucked. :(

-insertcaffeine

Yeah, I definitely felt really bad for her, and I basically just apologized profusely for not catching on. :(

-kchezum

09.

I had been dating this girl for a couple years before she moved in with me. She got fired for no-showing there months later, began wildly stealing my credit card to use it, got angry and abusive (emotionally and physically) when she learned I cancelled the card. She stated she refused to look for a job because I am "supposed" to take care of her, do all housework, and everything while she played WoW. That was the first and last time she hit me. Threw her as out that minute.

Prior to moving in, she seemed ambitious, hard working, responsible, incredibly nice but according to her parents, that's only when she's living alone. This flip happened every time she moved in with a guy or her family.

-LuciditySam

08.

Was secretly dating this girl for a few months as she wanted to keep it low profile and not reveal to anyone yet. 1 day, a guy i knew was telling me how much he fancied her until he found out she was engaged, and the wedding was in the summer. The secrecy all made sense now but what made it awkward was that i had actually met her husband-to-be a few times, we're not friends or anything and he's a really nice guy but he was absolutely clueless about it.

-GarenBB

07.

I was dating a girl for almost three years. She had a pretty serious alcohol offense (DUI + accident) before we met. About a year in to our relationship, she was finally sentenced to a alcohol program. This specific county within this midwest state do not mess around with DUIs and is a VERY strict program. I was living a half hour away at the time. I thought she just had made a mistake before and the county just threw the book at her. I didn't realize she had a drinking problem. She couldn't stay sober and they put her in a halfway house. Even in the halfway house she was hiding it. (She did not drink around me and I had no idea). She became friends with other people in the halfway house.

I was halfway across the country visiting my sister and I received a call from her roommate from the halfway house. Her roommate told me that she had slept with her boyfriend and my girlfriend the night before. She was telling me this because she was angry thinking that her boyfriend was giving more attention to my girlfriend than her during the threesome. Halfway across the country getting that call- ouch

-Taylor1401

06.

After 11 months of casual friendship my crush told me she had been crushing on me for 8 of those 11 months. Been together for 5 months now and couldn't be happier about life.

-IndianaMogens

05.

Having dinner, it's going good, we are laughing I am ordering more drinks. Suddenly guy pulls up a chair sits down and introduces himself, and she goes pale. He's like "you're not going to tell him your married and you have two kids?"

I'm like so I think this is my cue to get out, I just walked away, she called me later that night if I could go pick her up from her house and give her a ride.

-PprincePhillip

04.

Long distance ex gf told me she was very sick and probably wouldn't live for very long. Of course 15 year old me was very distraught but after a long talk we decided to call it quits and she disappeared off of all social media shortly after. Earlier this year I found her very much alive on Instagram. She even messaged me and played dumb. I was really fucking shook up for a while.

-OpheliasBouquet

03.

I dated my ex for 3 years. Met the parents, did some traveling, grandma gave us her blessing, yada yada. We both thought we had it on lock... We broke up in March 2016. It was a hard break up, very similar to the experiences I'd held my friends through.

What blew my mind the most, though, was when I had a panic attack as the realization hit me that I just wouldn't be with him anymore, but the life we planned together was gone too. It was so confusing to have the next decade planned, then actually starting to look for places by myself for the next week. The uncertainty hurt more than leaving his side, and I never saw that coming. Maybe I knew all along that he wasn't the one. IDK.

-stonedsoundsnob

02.

Uh I didn't even know I was going on a date. So a friend from college invited me to go to the club/bar with him with a few of our college friends. After much convincing I say yes since it's been a while since I've seen them all. I arrive at the club and text him to come out so he can show me the way to the table. We get there and it's just him and I. So I ask where everybody else is at. He goes on to tell me that they all had something come up and couldn't make it.

Anyways i can't just bail and leave so I get a drunk and he gets a few drinks. Now, he's really shy, but the alcohol made him a non-stop talker and goes on to tell me that he wants us to be roommates and move across the state to start our careers tells me that we could be living in the city and have the time of our lives. Anyways so it's time to leave and I get in my car and he hops on too, and he's drunk so I can't let him drive. So I take him to a taco truck he eats and I drive him back to his car.

He gets out and asks for a hug, I hug him and then he asks for another hug and leans in for a kiss, and I dodge it and he hugs me tighter. And then I finally leave. Never again do I wanna go out with him. He ended up asking me to go out with him again a year and a half later. Clearly he didn't get the memo

-20121619

01.

Okay so, I might try to summarise it xD Just second year of my degree, trying to fit in and get to know people around the campus I meet this girl; black, really curly hair, shy at first but as chatty as someone can be when you get to know her. We are both interested in art, so we start a club together, hang out and all. I have to admit I have kind of a crush in her, but here it comes, I find out she is ace (No sexual attraction) and prefers girls. No probs, she is a great friend!

Two years later we are real close friends; go everywhere, hang together often, we know pretty much about about and support each other. We keep running and even have built an awesome art community around our first club, met a lot of awesome people along the way... Well, you know, just life. One day just joking, I have these pajama pants whose waistband has gone loose and constantly fall, so I tell her something along "Damn, you're so hot my pants drop on their own". She immediately answered flirting. And not joking but REAL flirting.

I'm surprised but play along, and we spend the next two weeks or so like that, flirting back and forth. We asked each other out, like, one night after going out with some friends, at the same time, and we have been dating for the last eight months. So yeah, like, I couldn't have seen it coming at all, but I am really happy we both took the step! Ah, and we literally skipped through the get-to-know-each-other phase.

-IkeBosev

How do you handle the ace thing? I am curious.

-OlcanRider

Well, seems like she discovered she is demisexual instead (Means that only feels sexual attraction if already feels emotional attraction). In many ways for me it was like meeting a new person in her, and I feel like she discovered many things about herself as well in these past months, so I'll be fully supporting her.

-IkeBosev

That's very nice man. A new journey for you two. Hugs for you both.

-OlcanRider

People Break Down Their Funniest 'Sir, This Is A Wendy's' Experiences

Reddit user deadmoby5 asked: 'What was your "Sir, this is a Wendy's" moment?'

Wendy's fast food restaurant sign
Photo by Siyuan Lin on Unsplash

Most of us have heard the "Sir, This is a a Wendy's" phrase, said in those moments when someone has said something totally inappropriate given the setting they are in.

And while some of these literally take place in a Wendy's or similar fast-food chain restaurants, these awkward moments can happen... pretty much anywhere.

Redditor deadmoby5 asked:

"What was your, 'Sir, this is a Wendy's,' moment?"

...Actually, This Is a McDonald's.

"I was working at McDonald’s and this lady said, 'Can I get the Wendy’s four-for-four?!'"

"I said, 'Ma’am, this is a McDonald’s.'"

"Without a moment's hesitation, she replied, 'Indeed it is, can I get a Big Mac?'"

- lukemercerrr

Someone Separated from Reality

"I had a guy come into my place of work yesterday p**sed off because he missed his payment date and had to pay extra to turn his phone back on."

"He said something along the lines of, 'It was due at midnight, and y’all aren’t open at midnight, so how was I supposed to pay?'"

"I calmly explained that we are open until 7:00 PM every day except Sunday."

"He screamed, 'Well, unlike you, I actually have a job!'"

"At my job."

"Whilst doing my job."

- lordgabe92again

An Office Mix-Up

​"I work for a CPA office that is in an office park with a couple of doctors' offices."

"One day, a guy came in only speaking Spanish, so I grabbed my Spanish-speaking colleague to translate. He talked to the guy in the lobby for a few minutes, and then the guy left, and my coworker came back and asked if that was a joke or if we put someone up to that."

"Apparently, the guy explained that his testicles were extremely swollen and painful, and he was looking for one of the doctors' offices and just walked into the first building in the complex."

"I'll never forget, he said, '...I’m like, sir, we do taxes here, not testicles.'"

- AlternativeAcademia

A Health Advocate

"I worked in a cell phone store that had a veterans support office behind us."

"One day, an older gentleman was waiting in the queue. When it was his turn, I called him up and asked what I could help him with."

"He stepped up to the counter and told me that the veteran's hospital was claiming his vision impairment was only 20% disability, and he felt it was much higher."

"I agreed, and I offered to walk him to the correct building, and told him I would be a witness for him, lol (laughing out loud)."

- fridaycat

The Deck of Entitlement

"I was in Lowes one morning right after they opened. There was a woman at the service desk having a complete meltdown down, yelling and screaming because Lowes didn't have a licensed contractor there at the store for her to hire."

"She apparently woke up that morning and decided she needed a deck, like, that same day, and thought she could just go to Lowes and have someone immediately start building a deck."

"It was dead so I stood with the cashier listening to the show. They ended up having to call the police to get her to leave."

- DasGoat

The Coca-Cola Theorist

"I've told this story tons of times to my friends and family because it's one of my favorite Domino's Stories. This happened somewhere around 2017-2018."

"One day, it was really slow at work at Domino's. I was still a relatively new Insider (only a few months into what would be about four years) and still in school, so I was hoping that it would stay slow so I could go home early, so I could cheat on my math homework, play some League of Legends, and get some sleep since my school started an hour earlier than other schools in the area."

"A woman, probably mid-40s, came in to order a pizza. She was pretty chill, and we were just chatting while she was ordering because there really wasn't much to do otherwise since we already cleaned the store and oven and all that."

"After she got her pizza all done up, I asked her if she would like any drinks."

"She was like, 'Oh, what do you guys have?'"

"I was running down the drink options and she noticed Coca-Cola and looked at me wide-eyed like she just saw someone get hit by a car."

"She said, 'DON'T YOU KNOW THEY PUT HUMAN EMBRYOS IN COKE?!'"

"...I'm sorry??'"

"She then spent the next SEVEN. MINUTES. Running down pretty much every major conspiracy, from human embryos in Coca-Cola to Flat Earth to the moon landing being faked, etc. If you think of a pre-pandemic conspiracy, she hit it."

"I was stunned. The only words that could come out of my mouth were, '...So no on the drink, then?'"

"She said brightly, 'Coke Zero, please.'"

"I guess the Zero means 'Zero Embryos.'"

- noblemile

Work That Connection

"I work in radio, and got a call on the contest line one time."

"'Yeah, I need a hotel room,' said the caller."

"'OK. How would you like me to help you?'"

"They said, 'Well... book me one!'"

"'You're aware you called a radio station's contest line, right?'"

"'Yeah. Don't you book hotel rooms for rock stars when they do a show in town? Book me one!'"

- originalchaosinabox

I Believe the Store You're Looking For is... Sephora.

"Not one specific moment, since it happened all the time when I worked at Ulta."

"She said, 'I'm looking for this lipstick,' and showed me a Sephora brand lipstick."

"I said, 'We don't sell that, but I can show you something similar!'"

"She was indignant. 'No, I want this specific lipstick, don't you sell it?! Well, where can I buy it?!'"

"I deadpanned, 'At Sephora, ma'am.'"

- Sunshine030209

A Misdirected Call

"I worked in a local cafe/newsstand/convenience store type spot. We also had a Ticketmaster outlet for a bit. Our small town had an annual concert that usually ran two or three nights. It was really popular with the local folks, so it brought in a lot of foot traffic with people buying tickets (my boss was honestly a small-business mastermind)."

"That was the extent of our involvement: we sold and printed gate passes."

"On night one of the event, I was closing the store as usual, at 10:00 PM."

"An irate woman called, wanting to 'file a noise complaint' about the concert."

"I was like, 'Ma’am, you must have the wrong number, this is a local cafe.'"

"She INSISTED that she was filing 'an official noise complaint' and demanded to speak to the owner RIGHT NOW."

"I said, 'At 10:00 PM on a Friday? Yeah, he’s not here.'"

"He also isn’t the police and doesn’t deal with noise complaints. Also, it’s only 10:00 PM, and this concert has been widely advertised for months."

"She then went on a wild rant that we needed to do… something?… about the noise, since we sold tickets. She wouldn’t let me off the call and was going berserk."

"I told her I was going to disconnect since we had nothing to do with the event or the noise."

"She called back multiple times, and finally I just let the phone ring… It was still ringing when we locked up. Like, MA’AM, ARE YOU OKAY?"

- Swimming-trifle-899

In Search of the Mystical Dairy King

"I worked at Dairy Queen about ten years ago, and a customer pulled up to our very busy drive-thru."

"Customer: 'Yeah, can I have the 10 nuggets for $1.49?'"

"Me: 'I’m sorry, sir, we don’t carry nuggets, but I can get you a chicken strip basket?'"

"Customer: 'No, I want nuggets! On your commercial! You don’t even know your own food?!'"

"Me: 'Sir, I’m sorry but we don’t carry nuggets. We have chicken strips and steak fingers?'"

"Customer: 'NUGGETS FOR $1.49!'"

"Me: 'Sir, this is Dairy Queen, you are referring to Burger King.'"

"Customer: 'Dairy King?!'"

"Me: 'You are at Dairy Queen, asking for a Burger King menu item.'"

"Customer: 'Oh. (proceeds to wait in line for another five minutes while I watch)"

- avianeyb

Deer in Headlights

"I worked at Wendy's throughout high school and some lady ordered a burger meal at the drive-thru. Over an hour later, she comes back to the front counter, slamming the burger on it, saying it was cold."

"I checked our receipts and told her she ordered over an hour ago and that burgers aren't meant to stay hot for that long."

"She said that was absolutely unacceptable and how dare we serve her a burger that gets cold."

"She then proceeded to ask me for my full name and details so she could sue me, at the same time freaking out when I didn't have a pen to give her to write down my info."

"Another customer walking by said, 'Holy s**t, lady, relax,' and she yelled at him to mind his business."

"He said, 'Well, I just feel bad for this poor employee you're yelling at. If you don't wanna eat here, go somewhere else.'"

"Bless his soul, I was only 17 and was so shocked."

- hayleexh

Not a Medical Professional

"I work as a cashier at a home goods store. I’m very friendly and honestly treasure my customer interactions."

"I was doing my usual patter, like, 'Hi there, how’re you doing, did you find everything all right?' and this lady tells me that it’s the first time she’s been out of the house in a while."

"I thanked her for choosing our store and went to move on with the transaction. She raised her shirt, showed me a HUGE angry red incision on her stomach, and started telling me about her recent hysterectomy. The stitches hadn’t even been removed yet."

"I sort of nodded and smiled and tried to pivot to her total so I could move on with the MASSIVE line that’s building, and she wouldn’t stop talking."

"I had to call for a back-up cashier while getting a very detailed description of surgery, uterine cancer, and the recovery process. She didn’t drop her shirt the entire time."

- souryoungthing

Depending on the Pet Supply Department

"I used to work for Kmart. Someone came into the store and wanted to know where the pet department was located. We only had one aisle of pet items and it was mostly items for dogs/cats (food, litter, toys, etc)."

"I took the customer to the aisle, and they said, 'This is it? This is all you have for pet supplies? You don’t have an actual department like other stores?'"

"'Yes sir, we just carry the basics. If you need a bigger selection, there is a Pet Supplies Plus located at the other end of the plaza.'"

"The customer got upset and said, 'But if I wanted to go to Pet Supplies Plus, I would have gone there. But I wanted to go to Kmart. So I’m guessing you don’t have fish food or anything like that?'"

"I showed him the same selection of fish food, and he got upset. He then started asking advice for fish tanks and again, I directed him to the Pet Supplies Plus that was located just a couple storefronts down from Kmart. When he insisted on not going to that store, I gave him directions to 2 other pet stores in the area."

"Eventually he left, but not before saying, 'This is why Kmart is going out of business!'"

"Sure buddy, the lack of a pet department is the sole reason Kmart is going out of business."

- DannyC990

...Oops.

"Found the product I needed online. I drove to the store and spent 20 minutes failing to find said product on the aisle it was supposed to be on."

"I showed the picture to multiple staff, none of whom recognized it."

"I finally went to the customer services desk and after 10 minutes of waiting in line got told the website I was looking at was one of their competitors."

- SarcasmWedding

Uno Reverse Card

"I went to the drive-thru at a Wendy’s and the person taking the order said, 'Welcome to Walmart.'"

"I was really confused and I heard laughing and he said, 'I’m so sorry,' he works there too and was on autopilot."

- SpecificLook7215

"You missed the opportunity for the uno reverse card. Imagine saying, 'Sir, this is a Wendy’s,' as the CUSTOMER."

- Avenntus

"A few months ago, I drove up to the Wendy's drive-through and heard through the speaker: 'Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?' (There was laughing in the background)."

"I did reply in a serious tone, 'Sir, this is a Wendy's!'"

"Cue uproarious laughter by all... I think they were stoned."

"10/10. Always going to that Wendy's."

- codeprimate

From hilarious to jaw-dropping to utterly shocking, it's fascinating to see how awkward things can get when someone does something completely inappropriate for a setting. At least in most of these cases, they made for funny and memorable stories.

What happens when a therapist's professional veneer cracks? These Redditors and therapists share their most bizarre, harrowing, and hilarious experiences.

1. Not There When It Counts

I’m a social worker who works with children. We got this underaged girl who was raised by a mother suffering from Munchhausen-by-proxy Syndrome, which essentially means the mother pretends that her child is sick to get attention and the pity of other people. This goes as far as poisoning her own child just to have a reason to seek out doctors and get their attention.

The mother in question was incredibly horrible, even when her daughter got taken away from her. For some reason, officials never took child custody from her, which made it easy for her to influence her daughter’s life from far away. She specifically used it to tell her daughter that she loved her and will always be there for her, but every time she needed to be there, she wasn't. This led to an absolutely heartbreaking moment.

One day, her daughter got pregnant. However, the fetus wasn’t viable, so they had to perform an operation. All the mother needed to do was grant permission by email, but although I called her several times and she assured me she would send it, it just never came. It took three whole, agonizing days for that poor girl to get the procedure she needed, simply because her mother just didn't do anything.

We finally reached out to CPS and got permission through them, but her daughter was deeply harmed by this and just never recovered from it. Seeing her like this was my first "I need a minute" moment.

SquishHotS

2. Let It Go

I was in a tiny room with this well-known patient of mine. She was a sweet, sweet woman who all of a sudden stood up, said “Excuse me for a second,” went to the opposite corner of the (again, tiny) room, and threw the biggest, loudest, perfect high-pitch toot I’ve heard in my life. Then she came back to the chair (two steps really) and smiled as if nothing had happened.

Whatisdissssss

3. Home Alone

white and red wooden house miniature on brown tablePhoto by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Working with kids has always affected me the most. I had one kid who was in foster care and had been pushed from house to house. He had apparently had a very rough upbringing before that. He was very quiet and didn't talk much. We always gave every child a box that they could decorate and fill with things they made in sessions. At the end of their sessions, they could then take it home if they wanted to. His response to this shattered my heart.

What did this kid do when I first gave him his box? He started making it into a house. Gave it a door, windows, a roof, etc. and then wrote a message to his mother (who he couldn't see anymore) on the side to say that he loved her. In the sessions, he spent the majority of the time playing with the dollhouse where it always went the same way.

He arranged all the furniture and people perfectly. He was very specific about what went where and what people had which rooms. And then he would destroy it all. Saying that “the new people are coming". I have a lot of stories but remembering his pain and his simple desire for a home always breaks my heart. I hope that he is out there doing OK now.

Vaytato

4. Don’t Carry It All

My client told me his family didn't appreciate his interest in guns, to which he proceeded to tell me he is always carrying. He then places his piece on the table in front of me and asked if it made me nervous. It did, but we focused more on why he wanted to know if I was nervous and brought it back around to his family. From then on, I made sure to always have access to a door and never put the client between the door and myself again—just to be safe.

Permalink

5. Sharing The Burden

I am an intake coordinator at a community mental health center. One day, I had to meet face-to-face with a woman who was wanting services. She desperately needed them. She was hoarding multiple properties and sleeping in her car at a fast-food restaurant. Her children wanted to help but she couldn't let go of the items. It was difficult to politely ignore the strong odor coming from her, but I did.

She's explaining how her life got this way. It was largely because she had to undergo treatment for cancer 10 years ago. My heart stopped for a moment. See, my mother had passed quite recently and very quickly with the same kind of cancer, after having been cancer-free for five years. I started to tear up. She thought it was so compassionate of me to listen to her story and work on getting her help.

After she left, I couldn't hold it in. I sobbed. The office staff teared up and they told me I was so professional and kind. I got a few hugs and I went to my car to process. But here's the ugly truth: I wasn't so much sad for the lady as I was angry that she survived her cancer and my mother didn't. That she lives her life in squalor while my mom perished just when she reached the happiest, most stable chapter of her life.

My therapist heard all about it. We've worked it out in our department to try to avoid cases that would be triggering if possible. My colleague will take the cancer ones for me.

elusivemoniker

6. A Bridge Too Far

woman in black crew neck shirtPhoto by OSPAN ALI on Unsplash

I used to work as an outreach clinician for people with serious and persistent diagnoses. A person who was experiencing a lot of paranoia was showing my colleague and me “evidence” that the local hospital had harmed them during a medical admission. They handed my co-worker a freezer bag full of grayish-yellow, oily curls. When they explained what it was, I nearly threw up.

The bag was full of skin they’d peeled from their feet and thighs as evidence of “being exposed to contaminants". I can hang with almost anything but we were NOT open to any more contact with the bag.

Rasberry_Sweaty

7. Not Now, Brain!

When I worked in bereavement, a client of mine used the term “skid-marks” when discussing the accident he and his family had been in. For some reason, there and then, the expression just caught me off guard. I joined the dots, and the corners of my mouth started to rise. In actuality, this may have only lasted a moment, but it felt like minutes. All the while I was drawing blood as I chewed down on the insides of my cheeks.

I felt like the worst human being alive.

Permalink

8. Happy And Unhealthy

I work at a residential group home. We had a kid who we had admitted about four months prior. In a family session, they mention they had parasites. At this point, I’m like what??? The mom goes, “Oh yeah, our whole family has them. We don’t believe in getting rid of them since they’re part of our biological ecosystem". I’m just dumbstruck from here on out.

We spent three weeks afterward convincing this family it was an infectious disease concern for all of our other residents. Three weeks of education, planning, and worst of all convincing this kid and mother that their IQ wouldn’t drop because they had agreed to irradiate the parasites!

Hollow_Comment669

9. You Can Do This

woman in white tank topPhoto by Molnár Bálint on Unsplash

I worked as a therapist at an agency that dealt with substance misuse before going into private practice. One of my biggest “I need a moment” times happened there. I was working with a young individual (and I myself was around their age) who was an addict. They were bright, intelligent, and deeply empathetic to the world but so, so sick. They had to have not just one open-heart surgery due to cardiomyopathy, but two.

This was prior to ever turning 30. They just kept relapsing despite trying so hard. This client never missed treatment. One day, they didn’t show up for an appointment so I called. No answer. They called back and asked to speak to me. I will never forget the sound of their voice when I answered. They were so broken. They had just relapsed before calling.

They were so afraid and disappointed. I remember thinking that their addiction was going to kill them and it weighed so heavily on me. I will never forget this client. After that call, I sat there awash in the realization that my client would likely die from this and they were my age. Addiction can turn people all out of character, but they were so sweet and kind.

They would give you the shirt off their back. I truly believe they were just too kind for this harsh world. But there was a beautiful ending to all this. See, this was a while ago. My client went to a higher level of care and I found out over a year later that they were sober and doing well and had moved states. I remember crying when I found out they made it all that time later.

deane_ec4

10. Rope-A-Dope Diagnosis

I’m an intake clinician and once had this exchange. Me: "What brings you in today?" Him: "I'm here for an addiction. I watch too many adult videos". At this point, not the weirdest thing I've heard, let's go with that. "Okay, tell me about it". Him: "I watch them three times a week, for 15 minutes or so at a time. My girlfriend said I'm an addict and forced me to come in".

I see lots of very extreme cases, but this was so minor that it made me stop for a moment. I sent them to couples' counseling instead.

apathyontheeast

11. A Few Eggs Short Of A Basket

I had a patient who was psychotic and believed their ex-spouse had been harming their child, when he hadn’t. They went into detail about the unhinged “tests” they would do on their child. I had to go to the door of my office and tell them they had to leave or I was going to call security. For the record, I never asked them about this, either, despite being aware of it from their crisis evaluation.

I'm an activity therapist and my assessment with patients is all about their lifestyle and activity. I was asking them about chores, housework, and their basic routine, and they just came out with this. Eventually, authorities removed the child from their care. The patient eventually cleared from their psychosis and recanted on their belief that their spouse was hurting their child.

maybe_little_pinch

12. Just A Moment

grayscale photography of woman in tank topPhoto by Davide Pietralunga on Unsplash

I'm not a therapist, but this stirred some memories for me. Weirdly, throughout the passing of my infant daughter in the hospital, I was quite composed considering. The usual emotions were there with all of us. But it was a few days after I traveled on the ferry to sign her birth and death certificate that it hit me. They gave me a box of all the documents and a few items like her hospital wristband.

On the ferry back, I just sat there on the chair with the box on my lap. As everyone departed the craft, I just sat there. A ferry worker came over to tell me it was ok to leave, and I snapped out of it. I must have visibly had emotion on my face and red eyes. She then said, "Do you need a minute?" with genuine sincerity. I just nodded and sat there for a moment.

She walked away. I took some deep breaths and departed, and I gently nodded to the lady with a smile. She smiled back. I guess I really needed that minute.

swanlevitt

13. No Consequences, No Manners

I was working at a camp for children with various psychological disorders, most with some sort of behavioral concerns. The girl I was paired with had a history of aggressive and violent tendencies. We went the whole day without any problems. That was, until we were doing some group physical activity to wind down and focus before leaving for the day.

She didn't like that this meant no longer playing with a certain toy, so she took off her shoe and threw it at the little boy in front of her. He had autism and immediately started crying and screaming. While someone helped him, I turned to the girl to explain to her that what she did was wrong. As I turned towards her, she punched me square in the face, then grabbed a hold of my hair.

She managed to pull out a good chunk. I'm about 5'1 and this girl was maybe one or two inches shorter than me and had about 20 pounds on me, despite being nine years old. Trying to get a safe physical restraint was difficult and comical to say the least. Finally, I got some help from other staff and we were able to calm her down after about 15 minutes.

The kicker was when we told her mom what happened, she basically dismissed the entire thing and laughed about it. SO frustrating because you just know this kind of thing is reinforced at home as there is no punishment. The girl then starts hitting her mom, who grabs and holds down her arms. The little girl laughs, looks at me and the other staff member, and says, "Ugh a little help over here?! Are you going to let her do this to me? She's hurting my arm".

I went home and did this weird laugh/cry for a few hours after that. Luckily you learn pretty quickly not to take things personally and move on, so things were back to normal the next day. I do occasionally look back at that day just baffled at how quickly that whole situation escalated.

sike_ology

14. Believe In Yourself

I was a CPS social worker working in a new country. The first client I met was an addict who turned tricks and was eight months pregnant with an elderly client’s child. She was homeless and disconnected from her family. The plan was to remove the child and place it into foster care immediately, and then she would have supervised visits. The first time I met her she was just such a sad and broken person.

The shame was just seeping out of her. I just tried to love her. I told her what needed to happen to protect her baby. She understood and was willing to work with me for her baby to be safe and healthy. She asked me if she would ever be able to have a child she could be a “proper” mother to. I looked at her and I said: “It will take hard work and determination and there will be lots of hoops to jump through, but I believe you can do it and I will get you help if you are willing to do it".

I wasn’t able to contact her again until I got a call from the hospital where she delivered because of her homelessness situation. I went and saw her. It was a really hard day, she was alone by herself having given birth by herself, and I had to take the baby and place it in foster care. I bawled the entire way there. This beautiful innocent child, this beautiful mother who just got messed up and lost in life.

What a tragedy. And then something changed. Over the next two years of supervised visits, rehab, reconnection with her estranged family, new living arrangements, and therapy, I watched that woman turn her life around through sheer will, blood, sweat, withdrawals, tears, and lots and lots of mental health support and medication.

I was due to go back to my home country, and during the last week there, I was able to share the privilege of starting the transition plan of her baby coming to live with her at her mother’s house for shared care. The baby would still be on the CPS register for a while but the reunification happened. The mother’s smile was dazzling, as she had been gifted dental work to remove all of her damaged teeth and receive dentures.

This woman looked like a new woman, and she was. Honestly, every time I think of her I need a minute to cry. If the only person I was able to help in my career was her, it was worth all of the struggle.

pinksultana

15. Personal Hygiene Is Not Public Hygiene

person with orange nail polishPhoto by sq lim on Unsplash

Needless to say, I’ve seen a lot of things during my time as a therapist, but there is one thing that stays with me. And, uh, it’s not what I would have expected. I once had a client come in, sit down, remove his shoes, and begin cutting his toenails while talking casually about his week. It took everything I had not to laugh, or scream, or somehow do both.

datguy753

16. I DO See Color

I work in a hospital, and we once had a confused little old white lady who thought she looked like Whoopi Goldberg. She also received a revelation from God saying everyone was going to turn Black by the end of the week. I haven’t noticed any changes yet. When she was saying all this, I was trying so hard to keep a straight face, but I needed a moment after.

ohsopoor

17. You Reap What You Sow

I wasn’t the therapist in this situation—I was the client. One day, I’m watching the news and I see my therapist’s face on the television. It was a mug shot. He had apparently been detained for sleeping with one of his clients, which is NOT legal, in case you’re wondering. But here’s the kicker. He was our marriage counselor, and he was married. So was the client.

markitzero

18. Not Music To My Ears

person playing pianoPhoto by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash

I’m a music therapist and was engaging with a client when they became very overstimulated and began to thrash their head extremely hard. I was at the piano and they began to slam their head into the piano, so I used my hands to guard their head. Both my hands got completely crushed against the piano and I immediately had bruising and swelling.

By the way, this was all happening within the first five minutes of the session. I spent the remaining 30 minutes trying to regulate the client. They left the session and appeared totally regulated. I left in tears. I’ve been off work for two weeks so far and while my bruises are clearing up, I have nerve damage and pain each day (thankfully, no broken bones).

I miss and love my job, but it’s truly not all rainbows and singing “You Are My Sunshine” every day.

oliveyay

19. Here Today…

I completed an initial assessment with a client, built some great rapport, and agreed to a further appointment to discuss a treatment plan the following week. When that appointment came there was no answer for a while. When I finally found out the truth, I was floored. I got through to the client’s sister, who told me she'd passed from cancer.

She had told me about it the week before, but stated she'd been in remission for a while. It hit me so hard for not just being my first client, but obviously, when working in mental health you're conscious of mental health-related deaths and risk management, so I was completely blindsided and reminded that there are other causes of tragic ends.

It’s stuck with me since and took a while for me to manage my worry when clients don't answer the phone after the first ring.

MommyJelly93

20. Clean As A Whistle

Not a therapist, but in the mental health field. When I was a nurse on a surgical ward, a guy was being a bit odd and kept wanting his curtains pulled around him. After a while of hearing odd noises, I peeked in and he has SLATHERED himself in hand sanitizer. Head to toe, two full bottles. He looked rather proud of himself for getting rid of the germs, and I had to step outside so as not to laugh in his face.

13aquamarine

21. It’s Coming From Inside The Center

black and tan german shepherdPhoto by Sofia Guaico on Unsplash

I used to work as a Specialist Facilitator for a group of resource centers for people with profound disabilities, behavioral disorders, and mental health conditions. One early morning, my colleagues and I were setting up for the day when someone told us to come to the window quickly. I couldn't believe my eyes...One of our older colleagues was swinging through the trees and making monkey noises directly outside the center.

The center was on a regular domestic public street so we had loads of spectators. But it gets more embarrassing. The worst part was that her massive, unruly German Shepherd was running amok beneath her, barking at said spectators. Things came to a head when our colleague leapt on the roof of the center and started howling non-stop. My boss had to call the firefighters.

This woman then propositioned a male firefighter on the roof, and we ended up having to call animal control for the dog while one of our mental health teams helped our colleague. This was all before our service users arrived at the center.

Blackcat1206

22. You Are Not Alone

I’m not a therapist, but when I was in the hospital two years ago for mental health reasons, I had to fill out a safety plan. One of the parts is to list three people you can reach out to. I was barely 17, so they told me I could write friends but I had no one to put down beside my mom. The nurse even let me have my phone to look at contacts, but I had no one to reach out to.

The nurse just sat there staring at me and then got up and told me she needed a minute. A different nurse came in and apologized to me and helped me do the rest. When I saw the first nurse later, she apologized to me and told me she has a kid my age and it was just hard for her to see someone like her kid suffer the way I was. It’s something I think about a lot.

weston200

23. Foot In Mouth

I work in a community residence for adults with mental illness. Most of them are very capable and independent. One girl who is 27 years old constantly acts really dumb for sympathy and will do dumb things because she can, I guess. The first week she was admitted, she tripped on something getting out of bed and she fell on her foot and broke some of the small bones in the foot.

I take her to get her cast and she gets the usual: “Don't get the cast wet, use your crutches, elevate, etc". Since her bedroom was on the second floor, we had to send her back to her mother's house for a few weeks since she would not be able to exit the building in time in case of an emergency. Well five days later, the boot to put over your cast comes in and we call her up saying we'll bring it over.

Her response: “Well, I don't think it'll fit" “Why not?” We ask. "Because I cut my cast off. I got it wet and it was too tight". They didn't give her a second cast and she never used her crutches, claiming they were unstable and she would fall and get hurt if she used them. Oh, but the worst was yet to come. Her foot never healed properly, and two months later she fell and broke it again.

She's since told us she wants her foot amputated because then it wouldn't hurt so much. ~Logic~

PeruvianVipertooth

24. You’re A Strange Animal

two man talking to each other on grass fieldPhoto by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

I used to work with children who have autism and Down syndrome, which means a lot of play therapy. I had my “I need a minute” moment when one of my clients wanted to sit on my lap while we practiced reciting animal cards followed by their corresponding noises. It ended in disaster. I made a noise that made him laugh so much that he ended up peeing on me from the laughter.

That night was also date night.

Flipopaotamus

25. Gotta Stay Hydrated

Not me, but this was a therapist I was supervising. Her and a client were in her car because it was community-based counseling for severe mental illness. Her client pulled money from her nether regions and put it in her water bottle. She then shook it up and drank the water. She then offers the therapist a sip. Absolutely bizarre and she didn’t know what to do with it.

DrSnarkyTherapist

26. Mistaken Identity

I got a phone call from a co-worker right as my 3 pm client was walking into the office. My co-worker’s words stopped me in my tracks. She said, "Dan’s gone". Now, we had a mutual co-worker named Dan, so my initial reaction was that it was him. I was in shock as she continued to talk about needing to "review the chart". I then realized that she was talking about my client, Dan.

My stomach dropped as my grief changed into something that was still grief but also fear and worry. I was in disbelief that he was gone. He was too young. I was worried it was self-inflicted that I missed something or had failed. I was realized that I had several clients who were friends with him and that they were impacted. It was horrible.

The co-worker hung up the phone with me and I burst out crying in front of my 3 pm client. I had to tell them that I wouldn't be able to meet today because I just had bad news. I needed more than a minute. It was hard. It was never determined if it was accidental or not. My agency provided zero support to me, other than reviewing the chart and telling me "everything looked fine".

It didn't feel fine. It sucked, all around.

AlwaysTheIntrovert

27. One Bad Day

a man holding his hands to his facePhoto by Charlotte Knight on Unsplash

I’m a school counselor. I was working in a school and one of the young boys I was seeing and helping was in an accident one night and perished. I didn't find out until the next morning when word got out during the first period. I was called in and rushed over to help with the students, a lot of whom I often saw along with this boy. I tried to stay composed and do my job, but we filled the library with over 100 students who were just finding out and breaking down.

Eventually, I had to crawl behind a bookcase and have a meltdown, although I quickly composed myself. The whole day was a nightmare and heartbreaking. At one point, I had to leave campus to track down the boy’s closest friends, who had run off and driven away. When I found them, the state they were in broke my heart. It’s the hardest thing I have ever had to go through as a counselor and took me weeks to emotionally recover. I still think about it.

Inevitable-Deth666

28. The Truth Is Out

I am not a therapist, but my husband and I were in therapy after losing a daughter to trisomy 18. The truth was all our family was horrible during this time and even before. It was rough. One day, my husband was finally opening up and talking. Then, he let out this loud, 30-second long toot. Him, me, and the therapist had a really good laugh.

It took us a few minutes, but we composed ourselves and continued the session.

Viperbunny

29. Too Young To Lose

I used to be a crisis counselor. I once did an assessment of a 13-year-old kid who, years earlier, lost one of his older brothers, and had lost his other older brother just a couple of months earlier. The way he and his mom talked about it, they had only just started to finally process and put the pieces back together after grieving their oldest when the other brother passed.

This boy had really fallen into a deep depression after. I’ve worked with a lot of youth before, but I still have never seen anyone like this. His sadness just radiated off him like that. I was able to keep it together during the assessment and gave his family some resources for therapy and grief support groups but I had a good, long cry in my car on the way back from the office.

danger-daze

30. Boy Meets Real World

medication pillsPhoto by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

Once I was with an adolescent client who wanted help because of his impulsive and antisocial behavior. During our fourth session, he tells me that he had bought pills to calm himself. As he continues explaining that he got them for "cheap," he reaches into his backpack and brings out what I only assume were thousands of very powerful…antipsychotics.

Like, these were STRONG. They were restricted for public use and were like $100 a pill. He was totally unaware of the price and only knew that the "friend” who gave them to him expected "some" value/compensation out of the transaction. He didn't want to sell them and was totally unaware of the danger of dealing with the kinds of people who would sell them.

At some point, I had to stop the session and explain to him the severity of the situation. Thankfully I worked in the public sector and managed to get the family a lawyer and help from the municipality in case they were threatened to give back the money. They immediately left the pills with the authorities. For a couple of months, he thought I "betrayed" him, but he kept coming and finally understood that the law can also bring you protection.

He has been doing much better since then. I have to admit that at some point I was in awe of the unawareness of the boy.

DyausVaruna

31. Let It All Out

A teen I had been working with for about a year was finally "going there" and talking about her deep pain related to her mother. She had cut ties with her biological mother and was having issues with her stepmother. She looked me in the eyes, sobbing, and asked, "Why can't I get a mom to love me? What's wrong with me?" Her vulnerability in that moment reminded me of a small child.

She has since been doing much better. There was a lot of emotion in the room during that session.

hi17

32. Not In The Job Description

Oh, this takes me back. But this time, it was my (terrible) therapist who made me take a minute. She stopped me in the middle of a session to tell me that the real problem was that I made everything about myself. Which would have been a valid point, had she not kept talking.

She continued: "Like right now, you're just talking about yourself, and about your life. Every week you just talk about yourself. You know, I just had a baby a few months ago, but you never ask me how that's going. You never ask me about my life, or my friends, or my relationship with my husband. If you're like this with everyone in your life, I can imagine why people don't like being around you".

I left super ashamed and never went back.

Staruckerbyday

33. Too Much Of A Good Thing

shallow focus photography of prescription bottle with capsulesPhoto by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Went through a couple of years where I was using Xanax too much and eventually got my license taken away. I had to go to a counselor to get it back. She had a weird shed/building she had converted into an office, so I was already feeling uncomfortable walking into someone's backyard for therapy. I got there for my first session and was proven WAY right.

She immediately offered to get me a Xanax prescription after me telling her my history. Thankfully, at this point, I was already clean and had decided to stay that way. It was definitely a what the heck moment I needed to take a minute on. I'm glad I didn't find her at a time when I would have been weak enough to accept the offer. Screw that therapist.

MennyNdJaddy

34. Child’s Play

I was 39 and had unearthed my wife's affair only a week previously. I was just a total heartbroken, shattered mess. Well, my therapist’s recovery plan was to "make a man out of me". This guy kept telling me in our sessions that video games were "for children". He was well into his 70s. I fired him. I have since remarried. I still play video games.

Dobralov

35. A Cruel Joke

I am not a therapist, but I was in a therapy program years ago and we got a new patient. Within the span of a week, her mother passed from cancer and her house caught on fire and her dad and sister perished in the accident. The sister passed after slipping from the girl’s hands and falling into flames. I felt so bad for her and I couldn’t comprehend it at first.

EmiEvans

36. Pop A Wheelie

black and gray wheelchair on blue floorPhoto by vitor camilo on Unsplash

A client referred to a wheelchair as a "wheely boi". We'd been on a call and I had tears in my eyes from laughing. I don't know why but that humor really gets me. Further context: the client was unable to reassure me of their personal safety and so I had been persuading them to go to the hospital. They responded with, "I'll only go if they give me a wheely boi".

succsinthecity

37. At Attention

I was working surveillance one night at a psych ward, keeping a close watch on a mentally ill patient. Right before my shift started, I was briefed that the patient had started eating one of the lightbulbs and went for a nurse. At around 5 am, he woke up and saw me sitting there at the end of his bed. I said good morning and he didn’t reply.

About 15 minutes of silence went by before he stood up and stared out the window. Then he made the most bizarre remark: "A person is most vulnerable while taking a poop". I didn’t sit back down for the rest of my shift.

Sigouin

38. Hard Work

I'm not a therapist, but I go see one. One thing we talk about a lot is that I have a narcissistic mother. She told me that I must be very resilient to be able to put up with my mother because anytime she has an hour-long session with a narcissistic patient, she makes sure to have a break for at least an hour afterward. It kind of helps knowing not even she would be able to stand my mother.

ShutterBug1988

39. Take A Bow

man in black knit cap and black hoodiePhoto by Altin Ferreira on Unsplash

As a new therapist, I had a particularly intense client take a dive, Fight Club-style to try and get me in trouble. It wasn’t really a problem because there was a camera in the room, but I was so shocked that I said to him, "I'm going to sit here and breathe a moment," and I did. That's the only time I've ever needed a minute in the session, but it was scary.

the_virtue_of_logic

40. Let A Little Too Loose

Once, I had a client with a child who did nothing but scream at the parent for about 20-30 minutes straight. As soon as they left, I cried for 20 minutes due to how emotionally charged the words and accusations were. I tried to defuse it at times, but it continued to rebound quickly until I just had to sit there and watch it happening right in front of me.

Ryahh61577

41. See You Never

I went to an appointment with my therapist and the door was locked. I waited 15 minutes and called him. No response. He texted me back a few minutes later and said he had the flu and was in bed and sorry he didn’t call to cancel. I went to the grocery store instead. I saw him shopping. He ducked when he saw me. I never went back to him.

Beths_Tissies

42. Good On You

closeup photo of man with beardPhoto by Vinicius "amnx" Amano on Unsplash

I had been working with this client for a while to build their self-esteem and alleviate their depression, and at the end of the session, they told me I was the reason they found the strength to keep going that day. The session had started rough but it ended on such a high note and it felt great to hear that from them. I had to take a minute between sessions and appreciate the improvement the client was able to feel, outside of the compliment.

Mind_taker84

43. Observing All The Niceties

This past December, I talked to a very angry father of a kid I worked with. He ended the call by shouting down the line, "And you have yourself a happy freaking Christmas!" It was just so funny and weird, I had to take a minute before moving along with my day.

BellsIAm

44. Use Your Eyes

A client was going to probate court and thought he'd dress up by putting a non-slip sock on his collar as a tie. Trying to be supportive, I told him, "Nice tie". To which he replied, "It's not a tie, it's a sock, stupid". Yep, that one just about did me in with laughing.

EggiWegZ

45. We Don’t Deserve Them

selective focus photography of orange and white cat on brown tablePhoto by Amber Kipp on Unsplash

Any time anyone tells me about their pets dying, I need a minute. I do not know your cat. But I love your cat.

Itsnottreasonyet

46. Sticks And Stones

I’m a school counselor going into the second year of my career. I had a student with who I had grown close. She disclosed her major depression, highly impulsive tendencies, and her eating disorder to me as we talked more and more. But she had gone through extensive therapy and treatment and was getting better with it all. Her parents kept in close contact with me as well.

One day she came to me sobbing, wouldn’t say a word, just grabbed my hand and handed me a thumbtack that she had been scratching herself with. I asked her, “What happened?” When she replied, I nearly burst into tears. She said one of her best friends came up to her and told her she no longer wanted to be friends with her because she had too much “baggage".

The girl later called her parents with me in the room and sobbed to her mom. She said, “I wish you and dad didn’t care about me so much so I could just be done with this". That was the first time I simply could not keep my composure. I asked another counselor to come in and stepped out of the room to sob at the fact we simply never know what a person’s going through, and words hurt so much more than we know.

bdenn27

47. One Heck Of A Curveball

I arrived at a client's house for a session one day. I was doing in-home therapy for adolescents at the time, and it was with a 13-year-old kid. He was a little late getting home from school so he wasn't there yet. His mother has me sit down to wait for him and says that while he's not home, she wanted to ask me something. I never could have guessed her next words.

At that point, I'm assuming it's about her son since that's why I'm there. Nope. She proceeds to ask me why I think her boyfriend won't please her in the bedroom and if I have any suggestions to change that. Really didn't see that one coming.

freechurro824

48. The Ones Who Got Away

pink and white flowersPhoto by Mayron Oliveira on Unsplash

It was my first internship on my path to being a counselor and I was working in a funeral home under the grief counselor there (grief and trauma is my focus). We were taught to be strong and supportive to those grieving, of course, and if we needed to cry, we were supposed to go in the back or to the bathroom. On one memorable occasion, I helped an elderly lady view her husband before the service.

I showed her to a chair in front of the casket—and then watched in despair as she completely lost it. The poor woman laid down on the casket, bawling her eyes out and declaring how much she loved him and missed him. She begged him not to leave her and to come back. That totally destroyed me. I immediately started crying behind her.

She stood up and I sucked it up to help her walk back into the hall to start greeting guests. I thought I had done a good job collecting myself, but my mentor took one look at me and softly said "go to the back room," which I did. I completely lost it for a few minutes, cleaned up, and went back to help with the service. I definitely needed that minute.

Tacomapenguin81

49. You Never Know What Can Happen

When I was just starting out as a therapist, I worked for a community mental health clinic at the satellite office, which was located in the basement of a community center. Looking back, it was completely unsafe. No other staff worked there except for me. I was in a cinderblock room, alone, with individuals who had varying degrees of mental health issues. One day, it came to a dark climax.

The incident involved a woman with Schizoaffective Disorder. She was typically very odd in her presentation, with loose associations and bizarre speech. However, she really was a sweetheart overall. But one day, she came into my office holding a giant rock. She was agitated and indicated that people were trying to "mess with her," so the rock was for protection.

I'm grateful that I had an established relationship with her and navigated the session without getting bludgeoned. But afterward, I was shaking and needed a bit to center myself for the next client. I also began to raise concerns about the safety issues (and it didn't change a thing).

AlwaysTheIntrovert

50. There’s Someone For Everyone

This wasn’t a client, but I once got an inquiry from someone seeking therapy because he was cheating on his wife…with his mother. I’ll admit, I needed a moment. Then I collected myself, put my game face on, and referred him to a colleague of mine who specializes in infidelity. At the end of the day? You just do the job and process personal feelings and reactions afterward.

That’s why maintaining clinical supervision (even after full licensure) is a best practice.

Seeking_Starlight

Doctor using their smartphone
National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

Let's face it. No one looks forward to a doctor's visit.

Anyone declaring otherwise is fibbing and needs to have their head checked–which should be no problem for them to clear their schedule for.

While some visits consulting a medical pro is beneficial for identifying an ailment or for seeking relief, the process can still be unnerving.

Curious to hear from the experiences of strangers online, Redditor sydthakidd asked:

"What was your worst experience at a doctor's office?"

When doctors don't know who or what they're treating, it's a major concern.

Unnecessary Scan

"I was getting a bone density scan for some odd reason, and the doc came in a while later and told me I had Osteoporosis. This was not why I was there in the first place and was completely surprised. I asked him if I could see the chart, and it was for a 70 year old woman. I was a 30 something man, and he had the wrong chart! Turns out I did not have any issues at all, well, bone density related…"

– Curleysound

Pumping Iron

"Oh god, this reminded me of the time I took iron pills daily for four months because LabCorp mixed my results with someone who had severe anemia."

"When I went back to be tested again, my iron levels were SO goddamn high it was almost bad."

– swanlakepirate423

Lethal Prescription

"I went to a clinic to see a doctor about a fever and body aches and informed him I was allergic to NSAIDs.. he said he'd give me something and it was not an NSAID."

"Went home, swallowed the pill, immediate allergic reaction starts.. rushed to the A&E of a hospital where they pumped me full of drugs to stop the allergic reaction.. and the doc there asked me why I took the NSAID."

"I think the A&E doc reported the clinic doctor because he was never seen again."

– bearyken

Bad Communication

"I had a similar thing at a hospital here. Told multiple nurses and staff that I was allergic to aspirin, basically everyone except the doctor. Doctor prescribed me Advil, and assuming he looked at my chart and having no idea that both are NSAIDs, took Advil. Came back to the hospital an hour later in anaphylaxis and difficulty breathing."

"25 years later, had a minor surgery at the same hospital and now they put a bright band around my wrist immediately, and the first thing any person I interacted with asked is 'Do you have any allergies?' Annoying to be asked that 25 times in a 4 hour period, but nice to see that policy has changed to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen again."

– impossibilia

Unpleasant Emissions

"I had pinched my syatic nerve pushing carts at work. He accused me of having very kinky sex while my gf was in the room. I told him it was at work, and he assured me he would not judge me if it was from sex. He then gave me OxyContin and told me when ever I needed a refill I should call him and he’d make sure I had plenty. Very weird."

"The other is super mild but he kept farting. Like the whole time he’d fart every few minutes."

– Karsa69420

The last thing these Redditors expected was to endure more suffering after seeing their doctor.

Fix It, Don't Break It, Doc

"I thought I had a broken nose. The doc was showing me, on a heavy glass x-ray plate, that my nose was not broken. But as I was looking up, he dropped the plate on my nose and broke it."

– Wind2Energy

"'I, uh, guess you're here for a broken nose after all, huh?'- Dr probably."

– Chris_the_Otter

The Inappropriate Specialist

"Was 17, had an infected ingrown toe nail. My pediatrician tried cutting and digging it out with what looked like pliers and bracing his leg against the table. After f'king around for a bit he realized he wasn’t going to get it. No numbing gel or anything. Hurt like a mofo. Scheduled an appointment with a podiatrist, he numbed it, had it removed in about two minutes and told me to never see that dr. Again."

– Sam_i_am_68

More Embarrassment Than Pain

"Laid on my side with my back to the door for a prostate exam. Heard people walk by talking while a finger was in my butt and realized the door was open."

– survival-nut

"I want to move to another country on your behalf just from reading this."

– OddEpisode

If at first you don't succeed...

X Didn't Mark The Spot

"The ENT doctor removed a skin cancer from my nose, leaving an ugly scar. Turns out he excised the wrong area and I went to a different doctor to actually remove the cancer."

– DdraigGwyn

"Smug Bastard"

"Not me, but a close friend:"

"She was having debilitating migraines, to the point she couldn’t work or function. She waited nearly a month to see a neurologist. Upon a brief examination, he said:"

“You don’t have anything wrong with you. Just exercise and try not having headaches.”

"Three months later, he finally relented and did an MRI. She had massive lesions on her brain. She was diagnosed with MS. The smug bastard was somehow irritated she had a positive diagnosis. Her health wasn’t as important as his ego."

– wheresmychin

Second Doctor Saves The Day

"I had been sick for a while and had been gaining about 20 pounds a month. I had seen multiple doctors and they just told me I was just eating more than I thought which was ridiculous. I went to a doctor for a skin issue and the new doctor walked in the room and looked at me from across the room and said 'let’s get you to the emergency room' after about five seconds."

"I had end stage cirrhosis of the liver. That kind of sucked. I had a liver transplant 362 days ago and only in the last month have I started to feel like I am getting back to normal."

"Did you know you can get so sick your hair turns gray and then get better and the gray hair goes away? It’s weird honestly."

– blippityblue72

Hands-down the worst experience ever at a doctor's office was before I met with my actual doctor.

While I was waiting in a separate room waiting to go into the doctor's office, the phlebotomist came in to take some blood samples from me.

I have very prominent veins with the bluish hues making them even more visible. Yet, the phlebotomist managed to miss piercing through my veins.

Not once. Not twice. NOT THRICE.

She had to run out to get my primary care physician to jab the needle into me for my fifth–but thankfully his first–successful time.

It's a wonder how I managed to get back home in my highly woozy state.

If you were to ask most parents these days what they hope their child might be when they grow up, chances are the majority of them will say a doctor or a lawyer.

Or, at the very least, they might say they hope their child marries one.

However, had you been growing up in late Victorian or Edwardian England, being a doctor or a lawyer, let alone marrying one, was not exactly something to brag about.

For if you were someone of any means or rank, you probably wouldn't work at all.

Thankfully, the stigmatization of those jobs wore away over time, and people now respect them for the important professions they are.

Sadly though, the passage of time has not been as kind to other professions, whose pedigree has suffered the reverse fate.

Redditor probablyuntrue was curious to hear which professions people believe no longer carry the same pedigree they once did, leading them to ask:

"What job used to be prestigious but isn't anymore?"

If Anyone Rues The Invention Of The Automobile...

"Blacksmith."

"They were the town engineer, manufacturer, craftsman, and problem solver all in one."

"Now they are mostly just hobbyists."- BaconReceptacle

And All They Told Was The News...

"Newspaper columnist and local news anchor."

"They used to be celebrities when they were the primary mediums people got their news from."- 4Ever2Thee

Blame It On The Name Change...

"Flight attendant."

"Back in the 1970s, if you were dating a 'stewardess', all your friends were jealous."- Earguy

Cabin Crew Applause GIF by KLMGiphy

Maybe It's People's Taste Which Has Taken A Hit...

"I was a furniture and cabinet maker in the 2000s."

"I designed and built entertainment centers for the new flat-screen tv fad."

"Paid great, everyone thought I was cool."

"No one gives a sh*t anymore and the pay has scaled way down with this economy so I’m back in school."- Low-Abbreviations-38

Owing To Certain Connotations, Perhaps?

"Spice trader."

"I was of course talking about reading actual spices."

"With the new movie, being a character in Dune is probably more prestigious than it has ever been."- I_might_be_weasel

Thanks Spotify...

"Nighttime radio DJ."- Scrappy_Larue

"They used to set what music was cool and not."- laudinum

Dj Puppet GIFGiphy

Before There Was Kinkos...

"Printer."

"Lithographic or various others."

"Used to be an amazing career and essential to society."

"Since the rise of the internet and decline of printed media the industry has died."

"Not that long ago, the spread of information was made possible through printers, not anymore."- Advanced-Stupid

There Sevice Has Been Expedited, or perhaps "Expedia'd"...

"Travel Agent."

"Finding flights, booking good hotels, knowing the cool places to go, how to get tickets to events, and how to pull it all together for someone used to be fairly useful skills to have."

"Now the job is basically nonexistent apart from super high-end or specialty positions."- MrMojoFomo

Their Cargo Is Seldom Precious...

"Letter carriers for the postal service."

"All I deliver now is junk mail and Amazon packages."

"Certified letters used to be treated like it was a classified gov document(because it could be) that you were responsible for."

"You even had to sign out to receive them because you were accountable for them."

"Now they come mixed in with the bulk junk mail."- flyjum

Postal Worker Vintage GIFGiphy

"Bank manager."- biga204

"I would argue that position is still prestigious in towns under 20k pop."- 2cats2hats

Some Money Management Isn't So Glamorous...

"Working at a Bank."- DogusEUW

"Before the credit score was invented, working as a banker was prestigious because you got to decide if someone got a loan or not."

"Everyone want to be buddies with a local banker because he could sign off on a loan and set the terms."

"How do you think grandpa bought the house?"

"Now individuals don’t do that algorithms do."- Limp_Distribution

"...All The Livelong Day..."

"Freight conductor/ engineer."

"Used to be a great career."

"The hours and schedule have always been rough but the pay made up for the inconvenience."

"Now corporate greed, sh*tty contracts, mass company surveillance, and insane attendance policies have turned railroading into a sh*t job."- Boo_Blicker

Survey Says...

"Land Surveyor."

"3 of the 4 presidents on Mount Rushmore were land surveyors, and owning property was a big deal so people who could give you legal authority over ownership were pretty well respected."

"Now you make $12 an hour starting to dig holes lol."- HandsOfJazz

When You Realize You're On The Wrong Track...

"Working in academia, in a way."

"Over last several decades, tenure tracks got way more competitive."

"Young scientists are now often overworked, underpaid and have uncertain future."

"No wonder that many leave the academia for private sector."- MyKinkyCountess

It's Very Easy To Judge..."

"Is any job considered prestigious nowadays?"

"It feels like the internet has allowed us a deeper look into what every profession really is like and the aura of mystery/awe that used to surround particular jobs just isn't there anymore."- justgonnaknowaway

What Do You Do For A Living GIF by Hot BenchGiphy

It's certainly worth wondering what makes people think a job is prestigious or not?

The pay? The duties? The qualifications?

None of which should ultimately factor in, as when push comes to shove, all jobs have value.

After all, most of the jobs that were considered "essential" during the height of the pandemic were generally anything but lucrative.

But where would we be today without them?