Top Stories

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

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

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

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

Keep reading... Show less
Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?