People Share Unfortunate Stories About Marrying Into Familes Who Immediately Disliked Them

People Share Unfortunate Stories About Marrying Into Familes Who Immediately Disliked Them
[rebelmouse-image 18357478 is_animated_gif=It's wonderful when two families can come together through marriage. But that happy ending doesn't always happen.
Reddit user TheWardenOfFive asked "People who married into families that didn't like them, what ended up happening?"
Here is how some people were (or weren't) able to get past the rejection.
Kill Them With Kindness
[rebelmouse-image 18357479 is_animated_gif=22 years, 2 wonderful kids and a happy son later (my husband, their son), and they love me. I killed them with kindness, loved them even when they weren't sure about me (I am a different race, that did not go over well) and I finally wore them down.
Disowned
[rebelmouse-image 18357480 is_animated_gif=My sister-in-law's parents didn't come to the wedding. She has no relationship with them now and can't see half of her siblings anymore (they still live at home or are underage) and it just sucks. Our family has accepted her as one of our own, but she did lose her family.
Burned Bridges
[rebelmouse-image 18357481 is_animated_gif=My parents never liked my boyfriend. They thought he had no ambition, never going anywhere in life, why didn't he like talking to them, yada yada yada. They were mean to him, gave him dirty looks when he came over, tried to get me to break up with him. Well we dated for 8 years then I married him. He's a software engineer now and he makes more money than my parents ever did and he's awesome.
I go visit my parents, but he doesn't come with me. I try to rotate which holidays I do with my parents vs my in laws. They tell me to bring him over next time I stop by and I'm always like, yeah okay dad and brush it off. It doesn't bother me, there's just been way too much hurt from my parents and I don't blame him for not wanting to see them.
I see it as my husband is my number one family now and I don't really care what my parents think.
Small Doses
[rebelmouse-image 18357482 is_animated_gif=I limit contact with them. I'm polite at holidays, but I'm even scaling back attending those. My husband does a good job of running interference, but I hate putting him in the middle. The best alternative it's to just remove myself from any potential bad situations.
Definite Red (white & blue) Flag
[rebelmouse-image 18357483 is_animated_gif=The first time I met my husband's step father, I said "hello" and his response was to turn his face away from me and loudly ask "what did that she just say to me?" He's from Pennsylvania, yet rocks confederate flags like they were ever in style.
We don't really spend time with them at all. He isn't welcome, and my mother in law doesn't like to go anywhere without him. We tried to invite her to our last child's birth, but she actually expected to bring that racist idiot with her. So... nah. Plus, I surely do not want that a-hole near my kids.
Divine Intervention
[rebelmouse-image 18345307 is_animated_gif=Her family was heavily religious, thought I was atheist, and I had a kid from a previous relationship which led to some pretty heavy... skepticism from them.
Her career took off after we moved in together and especially after we got married. They swung totally the other way and started ascribing her sudden leap in career success largely to my influence. Really I chipped in a bit, but it was mainly a coincidence (in my eyes). So it worked out OK I guess.
Done
[rebelmouse-image 18357484 is_animated_gif=This is where its ended up with me and my mother-in-law. She has bi-polar and has had episodes here and there, during our wedding she was quite... 'stressed' (aka manic) and was pretty awful, trying to make everything about her.
Then I got along with her (I thought) really well for years, despite the stupid things she would say.. how she pit her sons against one another (granted her eldest is a waste of space).
Unfortunately last year she went 'off' again when she found out we were moving away. Said some wretched things about my husband (her own son) and I defended him while he was out of the room. Apparently that earned me the top spot on her s#$! list. She s#$! on me to her entire family, told lies about what horrible things I've done to her through the years. etc. Told my husband how I refused to respect her and wasn't a part of the family, and on and on.
She's medicated and 'back to normal' now, but refuses to acknowledge what she did and said. She's too embarrassed apparently.... so she's going to pretend that she never said them. And I'm not going to pretend to be her friend. Everything is through my husband now and I talk to her as little as possible.
12 years+ of putting her first because she's divorced, alone, low income, and her older son treats her like garbage. Done. I'm done with it. I refuse to engage any longer.
Hate at First Sight
[rebelmouse-image 18357485 is_animated_gif=They hated me from the start. That hate has only gotten worse. We've been married a decade. No sign of it letting up either. My wife acknowledges that they treat me poorly, so she doesn't have a lot to do with them. Some of the s#$! they've said to my face, I'd never say to my worst enemy. I can only imagine what they say behind my back. It's okay though, I've got an amazing wife and kids. So I'm the winner here.
Mommy Dearest
[rebelmouse-image 18357486 is_animated_gif=We were married for four years, together for seven when I realized I couldn't do it anymore.
His mother was more important. She and the family could make fun of anything, even a small amount of weight I would gain and he would never stick up for me. If I tried they would make it seem like it was in my best interest and he would get mad at me for trying to cause problems with mommy.
Worst part was when my niece, not even a year old, died of a genetic disorder...and she told me that she was better off dead than with me or my family. My now ex-husband heard it....and she convinced him that she either didn't say it or it wasn't "meant like that".
Not in it for the Family
[rebelmouse-image 18357487 is_animated_gif=Me and my wife's family have no contact whatsoever, except for some occasional contact with my father-in-law. He's a nice person.
Me and my wife have been happy together for 15 years now. My mother-in-law has done her best to try to separate us, with no luck whatsoever.
You marry your partner, not their family!
Pruned from the Family Tree
[rebelmouse-image 18357488 is_animated_gif=My paternal grandmother hated my mother from the moment Dad met her because she only had a Master's degree, not a PhD, and therefore wasn't good enough for him. She treated mum like s#$! for the first few years of my life, even after mum moved here to New Zealand from Canada with my Dad and baby me just so my paternal grandparents could spend time with their grandkids.
Grandad was a lovely guy and never had a problem with anything, but after he died when I was 6 there was no one that could reign my grandmother in. Eventually it got to the point where Dad would take us round to visit her and mum just stopped coming.
Dad died a few years ago, when I was 14, the eldest of her only 3 grandkids. Since then she has cut off all contact with us and our mum and the only thing we've heard from her since the funeral is that she cut us out of her will less than a week later in the same letter that she accused my recently widowed mother of being selfish and not letting us see her (we didn't want to, we were mourning and she's a b!@#$). Since then she complained about us to my uncle who is now also not talking to us and we have no contact with any extended family at all.
But I'm Your Mother!
[rebelmouse-image 18353768 is_animated_gif=My mom treated my wife like s#$! before we were married. We hosted Thanksgiving a month after getting married and there was a blowout. I asked her (my mother) to leave. I wrote her a letter explaining what's what. She tried to pull the whole "but I'm your mother!" thing but I didn't bend. Over the next few years they both put forth a lot of effort and were able to build a healthy, mutually respectful relationship. Now they get along great.
Mama's Boy
[rebelmouse-image 18345395 is_animated_gif=My ex's mother was an insanely jealous, insecure and competitive woman who did not want to share her son with any other woman. No matter how outrageous her behavior, he refused to see her in any bad light, to draw any boundary lines or to demand an attitude of respect towards his wife. We're divorced now.
No More Enabling
[rebelmouse-image 18357489 is_animated_gif=I'm anticipating my father-in-law dialing up the crazy when we move. Right now we're next door. We're moving 42 miles away, not planning to give them our new address. If they want to see us, they can meet us in town, at a park or for a meal. Our son will definitely not be over at their house without us.
Not sorry at all, I'm not going to have him around an abusive alcoholic and an enabler with serious issues of her own. They expect him to sleep over/come for weekends when he's older. I don't think so.
Crazy Train
[rebelmouse-image 18357490 is_animated_gif=My mother in law treated me like s#$!. I tried humoring her, I tried talking to her, I eventually had to just ignore her. She cranked the crazy up to 11 at some point and my wife cut off all contact. After about a year of that she started sending threatening texts and leaving threatening voicemails and one day I came home from work and everyone was crying. Apparently she had knocked, ducked below the peep hole, and kicked the door in as soon as my wife turned the knob to give our children Christmas presents. I returned them to her and offered to turn her skull inside out if she ever set foot on my property again and that's about where it's at.
She occasionally sends texts ranging from "r u going 2 send school pics 2 me THIS yr????" to "my attourney has adviced me to my grandparents rights, r u going to play ball or do i have to take full custody AND support IN COURT?" or "am redoing my will. If u don't want my estate i guess i will leave it to my dogs."
Monster-In-Law
[rebelmouse-image 18357491 is_animated_gif=When my now husband and I got engaged, Mother In Law told my parents.. and everyone at the table at our engagement dinner... that I was his second choice and could've decided between me and a doctor (I was working for a great company making very good money for my age - more than her son tbh) I Have never ever seen my dad so angry in my life.. and adding to it... her crying because she's losing her 'baby'
3 years later we barely have any contact.. she's insulted me and my family countless times and I don't need someone who plays games in my life. She recently texted me that she was disappointed in me.. well IDGAF.
Witchy Woman
[rebelmouse-image 18357492 is_animated_gif=His grandma accused me of being a literal witch and putting a spell on him. That's the only reason he married me.
Toxic
[rebelmouse-image 18357493 is_animated_gif=My husband already knew his family was toxic; them not liking me was just one more thing on the list. Once we had a kid of our own, he realized that he didn't want his children growing up around them. He has no contact with them.
Apologetic
[rebelmouse-image 18357494 is_animated_gif=My mother-in-law was pretty clear she didn't like me. Would ask me racially charged questions about my family. Was passive aggressive when I was around. At our wedding she made comments to everyone about how she couldn't see why we were bothering to get married, and speculated that I was secretly pregnant.
Two years after we married, she sent me a birthday card. She acknowledged her lousy behavior and apologized. She said she realized I was a good person and a good choice for her son.
The courage it must have taken to apologize made her stock shoot right up. We've been aces ever since.
Facing Reality
[rebelmouse-image 18357495 is_animated_gif=My wife's parents made it clear from the beginning that I wasn't who "God intended" to end up with their daughter even after 4 years of us being together. So on October of 2015 I asked for her hand in marriage out of respect and I get a "We'll pray about it" then November comes and goes then December flies by and in January, I say f#$@ it and ask her anyway.
So my wife and I kept a secret for months until her mother and father were basically talking bad about me at dinner and she just blurts out that we're getting married in June..... In two months....I didn't know that since we hadn't set a date.
So this is where I get serious and find us a house and appliances. One day I'm struggling pushing the washer into our new home and here pulls up my future father-in-law and helps me put it in the house and even hooks it up. After that was said and done he asked if I truly loved his daughter to which I replied "isn't it obvious?" And that's when he hugged me and said welcome to the family. And that was it.
There are just some things in life that are not necessary knowledge.
Maybe we always hold out that tiny bit of hope we will one day be on Jeopardy... because you never know.
It's the creepy facts about life that leave me wondering and reeling.
RedditorsPanzer_ace_8wanted to compare notes on the things we're aware of that maybe we wish we could forget. They asked:
"What’s a disturbing fact you know?"
I mostly know disturbing facts about serial killers. As if that isn't enough. This should be fun.
Rest Well
"The skin mites that live on your cheeks come to the surface at night to find mates and do the deed. Sleep well."
Hullaba-Loo
Cannibals
"If you were to eat another adult human being, it would be approximately 125,822 calories. I went down a rabbit hole on Google and yeah."
ItsmeTrev
"How come it's almost 126K?"
Blablabblue
"Math. Average human is say 70 kg, has 20% bodyfat, so 14kg of fat. Fat has 9kcal per gram, which makes it. 126,000kcal. Math never lies! But I do make plenty of mistakes. Probably it's more complicated - but directionally seems legit."
NekkidApe
Decay
"Within three days of death, the enzymes from your digestive system begin to digest your body."
floopowdertravels
"I guess it’s reassuring to know your body decays before bugs can even get a shot to help your body decay, sort of like a medical death except your body willingly does it for you instead of doctors."
Standard_Zero_3152
People on Earth
"If you are 25 years old, approximately 1/3 of the entire world's population that existed at your birth, have since died."
ColSurge
How do people just stumble upon this sort of info? Y'all must read.
Gotcha
"Some species of shark will 'waddle' onto land in order to catch more prey."
CARMBLOVER
War
"During World War 2, Japan bombed China with fleas infected with the bubonic plague."
XoGossipgoat94
"Man they were just straight attempting to kill as many civilians of possible with that one."
JesseAster
"This is why a large portion of Chinese loathe the Japanese."
dicker_machs
Crush
"It's believed the USS Thresher or USS Scorpion (don't remember which one) took around 20 minutes to go to crush depth in it's free fall."
Jigsaw_isnt_a_puppet
"My Uni mate is a navy submariner and he said that if a problem isn’t your department you just ignore it, because ultimately it either gets fixed or you die, neither of which are scenarios you can do anything about. Him and a friend were playing Fifa in their bunk when the whole sub tipped to 45 degrees. They just kept playing at 45 degrees… it got fixed eventually but they’re reactor crew so nothing they could do to help either way."
FreegardeAndHisSwans
"body farms"
"There are places called 'body farms' were scientists and researchers look at the decomposition process of human remains in different circumstances. Basically a big area somewhere outside were human, sometimes pig corpses are laid out to be exposed to the natural elements or they're even enclosed somewhere (like the trunk of a car). They're actually important e.g. for forensic anthropology to help solve crimes. And you can donate your body for research after you die!"
ThisMessOfMe
Miles Long
"Your body makes blood vessels of about 7 miles in length for every pound of fat you gain. This in turn strains your heart as it has to work harder to pump blood through the new network of blood vessels."
macaronsforeveryone
Well there are things I never needed to know. But now we do.
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Hitchhiking. It has to be one of the most dangerous things a person can do.
There are too many movies where a hitchhiker falls victim to some psycho, and they're shocked it's happening.
Like... Hello?!?! You got into some stranger's car. How could you not get killed?
Also, all throughout childhood years we tell kids to NEVER get into a stranger's car.
But once we're 18 that rule seems to no longer apply.
I feel like it should be MORE prescient in adulthood.
But I'm sure all the survivors have quite the tale to share.
RedditorWestTexasOilmanwanted all of the road travelers to share some memories about past rides. They asked:
"Current or Former Hitchhikers of Reddit; What person that stopped or gave you a ride was the most memorable? Why?"
I just don't have the trust in humans that some of y'all do. How do you get into a stranger's car? Oh no...
Among the Horses
"So a few years ago I was working in a small resort in the French Alps for the ski season."
"About 15-20 of us all worked in a hotel in one valley, the only bar that stayed open past 11 was in a different valley, it was a pretty flat and straight road to it but a good 15 minute drive or hour walk. We would regularly split up into smaller groups to try and hitchhike cause ain't no one stopping for 15 people with their thumbs out."
"Well one time we couldn't be bothered to split up and we just decided to do the walk and not worry. We decided to chance it anyways and stuck our thumbs at to every car that went by, got a lot of honks, shouts etc, all fun and games until one guy stops with a horse trailer."
"He asks where we're going and we say where and he says hop in. Que 4 of us in his truck, 4 in the bed of the truck and the rest in the horse trailer next to this guys horse."
HAZZ3R1
I'm Innocent
"Got picked up in Queensland Australia and after a few quite pleasant hours the driver started freaking out as we came to a police checkpoint. Turns out my new friend had broken out of jail and had stolen the car. I got stuck at Bowen cop shop until I could prove my innocence."
--bedevil--
"not far!"
"I accidentally picked up a hitchhiker once. I was at a red light at the transition between a village and town road (no more sidewalk, road gets busier and a bit more dangerous to walk). A man walked up to my window from the sidewalk and waved like he was going to tell me something (I assume tell me I had a flat tire or something about my car)."
"I rolled down my window and he mumbled something with a smile, and when I motioned that I couldn't understand him, he just nodded happily, grabbed my door handle and got in my car. Once he was in, it was clear that he spoke little to no English (he was Asian, about 25-30 years old, and very polite)."
"He motioned that he appreciated the ride and I asked how far. He understood and said 'not far!' I told him I was only going home which was a mile down the road and that's as far as I could take him. He nodded politely but I'm not sure he understood."
"I drove the mile down the road, and right in front of my neighborhood was a Blockbuster. He motioned to the Blockbuster and said, 'Here, here!' I asked if he was sure and he nodded, thanked me profusely with gestures and bowing with his hands together. I waved and drove off. To this day I've never seen him again and it remains a strange encounter for sure."
User deleted
zest for adventure...
"I have only ever hitchhiked twice in my life, and both times, a ruinous hike was involved lol. In this story, I was left behind by the shuttle because it took me longer to complete the mountain traverse. I was in the middle of nowhere, it was getting dark quickly, and my phone wasn't working."
"An old couple in their 60s, whom I had been chatting with on and off on the trail, noticed my agitation and asked if I was okay. I told them the bus had left me behind and I had no way of getting back to my lodge, which was 30 kilometres away. They offered me a ride even though it was out of their way."
"We got to talking during the drive. I told them that the hike was a first for me as I wanted to do something memorable for my birthday; they joked that maybe I should stick to dinner and movies next time. As for my good Samaritans, they had been travelling the world to celebrate their recent retirement."
"Prior to doing the trek, they had just completed a cross-country motorcycle trip with their son. I was awestruck by their kindness and generosity, their obvious zest for adventure, and the fact that they were still so, so smitten with each other after all these years."
gagagamgee
"you like hasish?"
"Hitchhiking in Israel with my partner in the 90s. We were picked up by these Palestinian brothers."
"After a bit of chit chat the one in the passenger seat says 'you like hasish?' Pulls out a big joint which we all smoked. He then says 'my brother, he's a cop,' then pulls out his glock and starts waving it around. 'It's all good' he says. We had a good chat, many laughs and after half an hour they dropped us off. We realized we were only about 100 metres further down the road from where we were picked up."
theotherbruce
How have so many of you survived this long? Luck.
In Scotland
"About six years ago I was hitchhiking in Scotland, heading north to do some wild camping."
"My second ride, I got picked up by a Scottish guy, I could barely understand what he was saying because of the accent. He was heading into Glencoe to climb a hill and camp at the top, so I joined him. Long story short I now live in Scotland, we've been married for 4 years, and I now understand 99% of what he says."
Affectionate-Rub-936
Maine
"My most memorable ride was also my shortest. A guy pulled over in the middle of nowhere Maine. He said our path's would diverge just over the bridge but he'd give us a ride anyway. So we got in for the 100 foot ride. After we got out, he leaned over to the open passenger side window and said in a gravelly voice, 'Life does not give a rat's @ss who lives it.' And he drove off."
valleymountain
The Racoon
"I once picked up a guy wearing a black leather trench coat in 100 degree weather. He was young and friendly, made good conversation, but he absolutely reeked. Finally I couldn't really stand it and was like, 'Man, I'm sorry, but I gotta tell you that you f**king stink.' And he goes, 'Oh haha yeah, it's probably my racoon,' then he opens his jacket and he has a freaking racoon pelt tacked to a piece of cardboard."
maselsy
The Blizzard
"Memorable more for the reason I was hitchhiking. I had driven a few hours away from where I live and payed my last past penny to get training for my desired career. I barely had enough money to attend, and couldn't afford a hotel, so I packed a sleeping bag, and everything I needed to sleep in the back of my van at the training center."
"It was mid spring and was supposed to be pretty warm in the day, and a tad nippy at night, but we ended up having a freak blizzard. The Van was absolutely freezing so I decided to turn it on to keep warm and hope I didn't use too much gas. As it turned out my battery had died in the cold and I had a 2-hour walk, in a blizzard, to get in to town to try and get help."
"By some miracle I spotted a truck about an hour in. The driver had arrived too early to drop off his load, and decided to park on this empty dirt road to rest for the night. He ended up giving me some food, and jumping my car. I managed to stay warm the rest of the night, and get home after the last of the training."
"Definitely one of the scariest moments of my life, because I don't think I would have made it town with all my toes if I'd had to walk another hour."
Vypernorad
This is nice...
"Not a naughty story, sorry... but I got a lift once while hitching during my army days. Hopped into the car, slightly distracted. Noticed wood panelling, leather seats, etc. That bonnet going on for 2km in front of the car. Turned out to be a vintage Rolls-Royce."
Namibbat2
This is why I fly. Y'all are crazy.
There are many people who are seen as role models, but that doesn't mean those who inspire others can cause mischief.
And while some bad choices warrant reprimanding, there are other instances where yelling is not really necessary.
Curious to hear examples in which people were berated for inconsequential reasons, Redditor Ratzink asked:
"What is the stupidest thing you've ever been yelled at for?"

Students being disciplined at school is expected. However, there are exceptions.
No Phone Zone
"I was in 8th grade waiting to be picked up from school. I didn't see my mother after awhile, so I got my cell phone out (it was a nokia block phone) and was about to call her to see if she parked somewhere."
"This older woman came over and got in my face. She yelled at me to put my phone away or she would confiscate it, and if I had to make a call, I would have to cross the street and do it."
"A really congested street full of cars with no crosswalk nearby; I would have to leave the pickup zone by myself."
– SarahTheJuneBug
"It was WELL past 3 pm (school was out and I was not breaking any rules) and this hag got pissed by just seeing a block phone that barely did anything beyond calls. I just put my phone away and waited for her to leave."
"Thankfully, Mom showed up not long after that. She was angry when I told her what that lady said. She told me she was a b*tch and that I did nothing wrong, and added that if anyone actually ever confiscated my phone for trying to get in contact with her after school was over that she'd deal with it for me. I also asked a teacher about it the following day; she was just as baffled as I was and agreed I wasn't breaking any rules."
– SarahTheJuneBug
Bitter About The Funeral
"I told my Math teacher I was leaving class in 15 mins to go to a funeral, my friend had just died."
"She said no, and I was like 'thats fine, but I'm still going... its my friends funeral.'"
"And then her face went so red and she shouted in front of the class 'I watched my mother and father die right in front of me, what makes you so special.'"
"I was like woah. The whole class was like woah. The teacher must have been having a bad day but she screamed so loud, and her parents dying was not relevant to me going to a funeral. Was super weird."
– [deleted]
Playing With Food
"I once measured a Fruit by the Foot with a ruler when I was in third grade. Lunch lady accused me of playing with my food and I got in trouble. I genuinely really wanted to just measure it to see if it was actually three feet long."
– TheRealOcsiban
Looking For A Place To Sit
"In 5th grade, I got sent to the principal's office for the first time. I asked the secretary where I could sit and I immediately got scolded, telling me I'm wasting her time for even asking her that question. She even brought the principal over and told me to repeat my question just to further lecture me on how stupid of a question it was and how much it wasted her time. Yea."
– MrJerhomie
People got all in a tizzy with these work-related issues.
The Deal Breaker
"I was dating this girl. She had been looking for jobs for a while with no luck, and I was looking too. My friend offered to pass my resume to their boss for a job in my field after they got one that paid better. I ended up interviewing, then getting the job."
"The first thing that happened after I told the ex was her she yelling at me for getting the job. 'Why did I have to accept a job?' 'Why did you have to take the easy route by getting a job through a friend?' 'Why did you have to apply there?' 'You lied because you didn't want to work with friend.'"
"And no the relationship didn't last much longer after that."
– Responsible_Yak832
Mad Customer
"My absolute favorite: I was working at a bakery, helping out a dude who I could tell was about two seconds away from losing his entire sh*t."
"Nothing due to anything I or the bread were doing; he looked to just be having one of those days and was only barely keeping it contained. After handling the entire interaction like a ticking explosive, I finally ring him out, hand him his stuff, and offer the customer service standard, 'Have a nice day!'"
Which was apparently the thing that sent him over, as he spat out, 'I will NOT!"' spun on his heels, and stomped away like a petulant toddler."
– mus_maximus
People need to be clear about who did what before accusations fly.
Who Hit Who?
"When I was 11, my mother started yelling at me for hitting my 5yo brother. That's understandable, if I had hit him. He had hit me. Literally walked up to me, slapped me in the face, and ran away laughing. Turns out he had run to our mom after fake crying and told her that I hit him. She thought I was lying about it until she realised he had started laughing."
– Hot_Interaction7245
Mistaken For A Menace
"On my local summer swim team when I was maybe 8 years old I had the same first name as some other kid who was a total menace. He’d splash water in girls’ faces and pull on their bathing suits thinking it was flirting, etc."
"One day at practice we’re all hanging out on the edge of the pool and I’m talking to my buddy, and there’s a girl on the other side of me. Suddenly her mom, let’s call her Karen, comes rushing over and says 'HEY! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?' I’m confused and look around me to see if she’s talking to someone else and she says 'YEA YOU!' So I say 'uuuuh… {my name}. Why?'”
"She then grabs my arm yanking me halfway out of the pool and starts yelling at me and I don’t really remember what all she said but it was some mix of 'YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER' (the girl who happened to be next to me) and 'WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS??' all while spitting as she yelled."
"And I was just a terrified, confused kid who’d been assaulted for no reason by this crazy lady and was trying to ask what she was talking about, who her daughter was, what I had apparently accidentally done, but she wouldn’t let me get a word in."
"Finally her daughter got her attention yelling 'Mom… MOM… MOM!!'”
“WHAT!?!”
“That’s the wrong boy…”
"She dropped me pretty quickly and looked super embarrassed but was probably still just red from yelling. She gave me a quick 'oh sorry' and just walked away."
"When I got picked up and my mom asked how practice was I just said 'fine… some crazy lady yelled at me but it was a mistake.' My mom looked confused, took me home, and that was it."
– DunderMifflinPaper
Embarrassingly, I was the idiot who yelled at someone for a stupid reason.
Years ago, I felt water sprinkles periodically hit my face while watching Jurassic Park in a packed movie theater.
I may have imagined it but I thought I heard giggling following every splash of water I felt. I was so convinced some kid had a water gun and was targeting me throughout the movie.
During the climactic T-Rex scene–where the tension is amplified without a score to accompany the encounter–I snapped and filled the silence with my wrath.
"Knock it off!" I yelled behind me, generally addressing the audience.
The kid sitting next to me leaned over and whispered in my ear, "It's the ceiling. It's leaking from the bad AC unit."
As soon as the credits started rolling I bee-lined it out of there before anyone could match the face to the temperamental, but very daft, moviegoer.
Let's put this up front: the United States of America is not the greatest country in the world.
It's just a fact. We're not tops in the world in education, our maternity leave for new mothers pales in comparison to most European countries, which is to say nothing of our healthcare as a whole, and our average income per household?
8th. Last we checked, that's not 1st.
It's not all doom and gloom though. There are still a lot of things to love about the good ol' U. S. of A. And if you love something, you fight for it, to make it better, and truly try to achieve the ranking of "best."
Reddit user, kake92, wanted to know what the U.S.A. actually gets right when they asked:
"Americans, what thing do you appreciate the most about America (USA)?"
Not everything that makes the U.S.A. great is honorable or noble.
Sometimes, it's just funny.
Too Much, Then Dial It Back
"Drink refills at restaurants."
MisterMorgan1206
"You get ice! And you get ice! And you get ice!"
PrisonerV
"yes, and most of the time way too much! Europeans complain that we are obsessed with ice. This might appear to be true, but im more comfortable asking for less ice in the US than for ice at all in Europe."
MisterMorgan1206
I May Not Agree With What You're Doing, But...
"we can have all sorts of outlets that mock people in positions of authority and dont get sent to labor camps or prison"
"hell we can burn our own flag"
"pretty gud I think"
King-Grey
"I think people who burn our flag are sh-theads, but I'll defend their right to do so to the death, and that's a fact. I don't always love what I hear from "free speech" but I love that it's free. For now, anyhow.."
LittleArkansas
You know what we have a lot here? Land!
There's a lot of land and a lot of land to see, so why not take a trip this summer and get lost in the wilderness of your imagination.
This is starting to sound like a travel ad.
The Most Gorgeous Vacation You Haven't Taken
"National Parks"
Ezzy17
"Sounds braggy, but I work for the National Park Service and it's the best job I've ever had in my career. I don't think I ever want to leave. Plus, paid trips to all the parks and getting to see things "off the beaten path" that normal visitors just can't get to. I love it and I love our parks."
clyde2003
Not As Crowded As You Might Think
"Wide open spaces can still be found here. I don't like most people, and I frequently need to get away from them."
salthecrawfish
"I grew up in rural Idaho and the wide open spaces are truly amazing. I live in the city now, but still look for any opportunity to get away. My wife is from back east and she thought she knew what the "middle of nowhere" was like until I took her to my grandparent's ranch. The nearest neighbor is five miles away. The nearest "town" is 30 miles away. She didn't realize how much nothing there was in the Western-half of the US."
clyde2003
And We've Got The Disaster Movies To Prove It!
"We've got all the weather. You want hot and humid? We have it! You want frigid? We have it! You want all the weather within 24 hours? We definitely have it!"
"Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes (not weather, I know), lightning? We've got it all!"
CitizenCobalt
Location, Location, Location
"This is going to sound really dark but with all the talk of war recently…especially with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I appreciate how far we are from all the other major powers."
"Yes, they can always send missiles but any land invasion is very difficult to achieve. China and Russia would have to put in major effort if they were going to try to invade America….."
OSUfirebird18
Maybe we're not the "greatest country in the world," but we should all be doing everything we can, every day, to make that come true.
Go Do What You Want
"Answering this as a serial expat that has spent at this point 25% of my life overseas and has lived in multiple countries."
"Few places on Earth embrace the "go do what you want" mentality like America. You want to be a wiccan priestess that lives in a yurt in the Cascade mountains? You want to be a rancher in Utah?"
"You want to live your dream of opening a cupcake store for pets? No matter what you do there is a community of people cheering you on in America and that is a very rare and very cool thing."
RootlessNumbers
Mostly, We're Alright
"I have lived in lots of other countries, but I am from the US. I have a few things to point out."
"The roads are generally nice. Smooth, without huge potholes. I am generally talking about the highways."
"Cleanliness. I have been to places with mountains of trash 6 feet high. Another related thing is that the US has very few stray dogs, and that keeps things overall cleaner."
"The last thing is kind of hard to explain, but I would say the sense of order. Everything is structured, and I kinda like it. The places I have lived, people are just not raised with the mindset that everything should be standardized."
"It really grinds my gears when people talk about how bad the U.S. is. It does have its problems. So does every country. When people go on and on about how bad the US is, I try to put it in to perspective how much worse it can be. My house almost got burned down because the government removed the gas subsidies (which after having them for 2 decades, were bankrupting the government) and people were afraid that the transportation system would shut down. I doubt many people who complain about the US have experienced that."
Mawd14
We're Trying To Get Better, A Little, Every Day
"Having lived outside of the US, I have some perspectives that differ from the norm."
"I’m gonna say some stuff that is gonna make Americans and foreigners alike scratch their heads but I’m hoping some people will know what I’m talking about."
"I truly and wholeheartedly believe that America is the least xenophobic place on the planet."
"I think that xenophobia is so deeply ingrained and normalized the world over that people genuinely do not recognize it in themselves. People will engage in the most hateful xenophobic behavior that I’ve ever seen and then say with a straight face that they are afraid of moving to America because of xenophobia."
"I think that people think America is xenophobic because America’s xenophobia is highlighted, fought, and condemned in ways that no other nation’s is."
"This is because of the second thing that I love about America."
"America is the most diverse nation in the world."
"More than half of our population is people of color, and those people of color are made up of American Black people, North Africans, Sub-Saharan Africans, Native tribes, East Asians, south Asians, central Asians, Latin Americans, Pacific Islanders, Indians, Arabs, and more."
"Every single world diaspora has a politically significant population in America, most of whom are also American citizens who participate in our democracy and our national conversation."
"No other nation in the world comes even close. France and England also have diaspora but not like America does."
"This diversity has created an environment in which that xenophobia which does exist is magnified in its relevance because it actively effects people; a xenophobic American has much more opportunity to cause harm because of their xenophobia than a xenophobic Chinese person."
"But also, this means that America is the epicenter of the movements against xenophobia, and we are the only nation in the world who is engaged in a national conversation about it."
"I’d argue that America is not more xenophobic and thus more backwards than the rest of the world, I’d argue that America has advanced to the stage in attacking our xenophobia that the rest of the world isn’t even close to doing yet."
Brandywine5
We many not get everything right, but it doesn't mean it's not worth living here, fighting for here, and always doing our best to make sure the mistakes get corrected.
What's something you like about living in the United States? Tell us about it in the comments!