Women's issues are becoming a central part of our political conversations and activism as more (but never enough) women come into power. You may have heard issues such as patriarchy, glass ceilings and wage gaps, or misogyny. But what about women's health issues?
The World Health Organization shared news on the progress and the challenges of women's health over the past 25 years and said:
"Today, sexual and reproductive health conditions remain one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity for women and girls. Violence against women and girls is the most frequent human rights abuse worldwide."
Even thought progress has been made towards equity and autonomy over women's bodies and sexual health, there's still so much more to do.
Redditor MINNESOTAKARMATRAIN_ asked:
"What are some women's issues that are overlooked?"
These painfully true stories are only a glimpse into the global issues that women face every day.
Birth control and the terrible side effects.
"How bad some of the negative effects hormonal birth control can be. I was losing my mind, but my doctor brushed it off saying I was just stressed. Got off it, and instantly felt so much better."
"I f*cking hate hormonal birth control. I've tried almost every type and they all magically mess me up in different ways. It seems to either makes me so nauseated and wrecks my GI system, it completely kills my sex drive, or it makes me suicidal. I really want my tubes tied but I'm super scared of surgery. I wish there were more non-hormonal options or more options for men. Plus every time I complained about the side effects it was 'Oh are you sure it's the BC, most people handle it just fine!' Please shut up."
"'Oh, you're just stressed.' That phrase! They told me this for months when I was complaining of abnormal, catatonic exhaustion. Finally a doctor thought to test my iron stores and B12 level and I had nearly none of either and was close to permanent nerve damage. Now whenever a doctor utters that phrase to me they get an instant middle finger."
"...just kidding, we also don't get the luxury of anger."
- sabarlah
"I know exactly how you feel, it's so infuriating to be treated like you don't know your own body."
"Oral contraceptive birth control pills can cause depression and very often do."
"PMS and PMDD aren't taken seriously enough. The depression and anxiety of PMDD are debilitating."
"I'm so sorry but not surprised that so many of you deal with these issues. If you have PMDD, please join us at r/PMDD if only to have a sounding board for when you're feeling bad and wondering if you're crazy. You're not alone!"
"I really wish this were discussed more. I struggled with depression and anxiety for years throughout my early 20s. I stopped taking birth control and it just vanished. I almost couldn't believe the difference it made. Even my colleagues noticed how much my demeanor had improved. A lot of my friends have stopped taking it too with similar experiences- none of us feel the need to go back."
"Additionally, my friend struggled with migraines for years and no doctor ever suggested that BC could be the cause but she hasn't had one since she stopped taking them years ago. I don't know why nobody ever suggested it."
"I know the pill has been incredibly useful for women to have better control over their bodies and can be very helpful to some. I just wish they had talked through it more when prescribing. The only thing I was worried about was that I'd gain weight on them."
Doctor's refusing to go off of birth control.
"Getting off of any form of birth control is hard."
"This past week I had my normal yearly OBG check up. I mentioned I wanted my IUD out. (my normal doctor was out of the office so I had to see someone else). She refused to take my IUD out because I wasn't married and she insisted that my fiancé wouldn't want the chance of us getting pregnant."
- ham799
"'I want you to document in the chart that I requested you remove my IUD and you refused.'"
Endometriosis and Period Shame.
"Endometriosis."
"It took me 12 years to get a diagnosis and I'm still fighting for acceptable levels of care."
"'One day, you'll wake up and find a little bit of blood in your underpants. And that is the day you become a woman.'"
"Yeah no. I woke up to a scene from Godfather."
- Lucifang
These Are The Worst Job Interviews Ever | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
"Man, I got mine before I was going to bed and had a panic attack thinking I was about to die crying in the bathroom. Aussie sex education is non-existent."
"When I started bleeding at 11, I thought it was because I was masturbating and it had made me ill (overheard the usual 'don't do that it'll make you go blind' which was said to my brother, because no one wants to acknowledge that young girls also go through sexual development...), and assumed I was now dying because of it. Didn't tell anyone because I was ashamed they'd know what I'd been doing."
"So I started throwing away my bloody knickers. My mum found them in the bin and asked why I was doing that, told her I was bleeding, she explained what a period was etc..."
"It's f*cked up to me that periods aren't explained to girls, why are we so scared of girls coming of age? Why are we pretending it doesn't happen? Can we just teach girls about their bodies?"'
Not given the autonomy and choice of sterilization.
"Not being able to get sterilized when you're 100000000% sure you don't want kids. PMS & cycle in general."
- Myrora
"35 year old woman: I don't want kids. I would like sterilization options."
"Doctor: What? You're too young to make that decision."
"15 year old: I'm pregnant because my idiot boyfriend didn't wear a condom. I'm keeping my baby."
"Doctor: Here is a literal grocery bag full of information on everything you'll need, as well as schedule doctors visits."
"Literally."
"Not just the U.S. either. My younger sister had two pregnancies, three children, and she nearly died in childbirth twice. She asked for a hysterectomy because she knew she couldn't cope with a third pregnancy, and every doctor told her "she was too young to make that decision, what if she wanted more kids, what if her husband wanted more kids", never mind the fact he walked out on her when he learnt she was pregnant with twins."
"She fought for two years and it was only because she dragged him in with her that a doctor finally consented to give her a hysterectomy. Not the fact that she nearly died during childbirth, not the fact that her pregnancies were difficult and she went into pre-term labour multiple times with both pregnancies, no she only got it because she dragged her deadbeat husband in to 'consent' to her getting a hysterectomy."
"This is in New Zealand... I haven't bothered fighting for a hysterectomy because I know they won't give me one despite the fact I know I'm not having kids - I have a genetic condition which is severely disabling and I'm not passing it on. So I abstain from sex until such time as I know I can't get pregnant, I'm not taking the risk that a condom will break, and I'm on so many meds that the doctors can't guarantee that birth control will be effective. I know other forms exist, but honestly I'd have to fight for that as well since the doctors refuse to accept that I'm not changing my mind."
- ngatiara
Pelvic floor physical therapy.
"Pelvic floor physical therapy! It's life changing, and many women don't know their physical issues can be easily addressed."
"Also, incontinence is never normal. It's always a medical issue worthy of treatment."
"So friend is a midwife and she's the one who gave me the "incontinence is always a medical problem" quote. Her journey with pelvic floor physical therapy started after she was kicked in the hip by a horse in college."
"Nothing was broken or obviously torn, but she became incontinent over time afterward. She went to a pelvic floor PT and they fixed her up."
"That same PT later treated my coworker's weird sports injury. She had pain centered around her tailbone and it was really impacting her life. She'd had tests and seen multiple doctors, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. I recommended she check out this PT and she was like "I'll try anything". She recovered after working with the PT, although they were never quite sure what was the cause. It was probably some deeper core instability — she was a heavy runner who neglected core work but then switched to an intense Pilates class. It probably overtaxed her body."
"ANYWAY, I hope you can ignore your embarrassment and get help. There's no reason to deal with this at any age, you might as well nip this in the bud now. Your pelvic floor is part of your general core and provides support and stabilization — allowing this problem to linger could end up causing back (or tailbone!) pain."
"Remember, a doctor is like a plumber or mechanic — they are hired by you to perform a service. And seeing your body is like scanning an email at the grocery store or accepting a meeting invite. It's not interesting, it's Tuesday and they're meeting a friend for lunch in 35 minutes. They don't care."
"Good luck!"
CorporateDroneStrike
Those who deal with issues around birth control, autonomy, and being believe deserve their voices to be heard. It's beyond time we take these thousands of experiences seriously.
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People Share Their Best 'Botched Wedding' Stories
Reddit user NickWhite566 asked: 'What happened to those who had attended a botched wedding?'
Many weddings involve months of planning and thousands of dollars.
But the one guarantee in life is that poo happens and weddings are not immune to sh*t storms.
Natural disasters, unexpected illnesses, accidents or animosity can derail even the best laid wedding plans.
Reddit user NickWhite566 asked:
"What happened to those who had attended a botched wedding?"
Hunger Games
"Went to a Pig Roast wedding in a rural setting, 120 people, huge field, right by the river."
"I looked at the one pig roasting and thought to myself 'They must have the other pigs roasting elsewhere to keep the smoke down'—NOPE only one pig for 120 people."
"We were the first table to line up after the head table—and the pig was already 1/3 gone—they ran out at about table 5 of 20 tables."
"I ate then sat back an watched the fallout. One of the groomsmen was my good friend and I casually said 'Should throw the groom in the river for this kind of f**k up'."
"Groom was promptly thrown in the river—that kinda thing happens when people drink on empty stomachs."
~ collectivedisagree
Stone Cold
"A few years ago, my cousin was getting married. The man she was marrying was perfect for her. I was jealous. I wanted something like they had."
"Anyway, the day of the wedding comes and her maid of honor (bride's sister) and her soon to be husband are nowhere to be found."
"Well, she's waiting in the church and one of the groomsmen comes in with a hand written letter from the fiancé."
"Turns out the maid of honor (her sister) and her fiancé have been sleeping together for a while, she's pregnant, and they ran off to Vegas to get married."
"So, no wedding."
~ ServiceCall1986
Change of Venue
"I attended a wedding where they held the ceremony and reception at this renovated historic house. During the reception though, police were called because apparently the 'venue' wasn't actually permitted to be a business."
"It was just some people's house that they kept renting out to weddings to the immense annoyance of their neighbors (and subsequently the police)."
"One of the house owners actually ended up being arrested because they had already been given a 'last warning' at the previous wedding the weekend before, and the dude was getting belligerent."
"Most of the reception was done by that point anyway, but it sure was chaotic as we were all shooed out, trying to call like 50 Ubers while the cops made sure we left."
~ ShrimpHeavenAngel
Brrrr... 🥶
"I attended an outdoor wedding."
"In December."
"All the guests assumed there would be shelter/heating but nope—nothing was provided."
"All us guests were freezing cold. Some got drunk as fast as they could and others kept asking the staff for cups of tea, not to drink but to hold the warm cups."
"It was awful."
~ ErodeMode
Tragic
"Went to the wedding of one of my husband's close friends and everything was going wonderful until about 3 hours in when the bride's grandma becomes unresponsive."
"We were sitting right next to that table when she falls to the floor not breathing. Our other friend (an EMT) ended up performing CPR on her until the paramedics came."
"He said he felt her ribs cracking under his hands."
"The wedding promptly ended as the bride and groom go to the hospital with grandma. She passed away in the hospital that night after an emergency surgery."
~ blondie5697
Not What They Ordered
"My wife and I watched in horror as the wedding planner proceeded to get very sloppily drunk and exceedingly outlandish behavior."
"It came crashing to an end when she started dancing/grinding on the father of the bride with his wife and the bride a few feet away staring in shock."
"Lots of shouting and then the groomsmen not so kindly escorted her out."
~ uni-monkey
Father of the Bride
"I was the photographer."
"The bride was very close to her stepfather, and her father had not been in the picture for a lot of her life, but he was invited to the wedding and they did two father-daughter dances so he wasn't left out or anything."
"He was also supposed to pay for part of the photos, and he just showed up with no money. He eventually got mad, like she was doing something wrong by including the stepdad, who raised her and paid for most of the wedding (and for that matter, her upbringing)."
"She spent like an hour crying in the back and eventually an uncle offered to pay for some of what the dad owed."
"I knocked off $100 and stayed an extra hour for free so we could get all the photos we would have done during that hour, but it was obviously not the same for her."
"Then the dad spent weeks harassing me to send him the photos I took because she wouldn't send them to him. (I didn't, obviously)."
~ LizardPossum
Noped Out
"The Bride said NO at the altar. Literally walked back down the aisle and out the door."
"The groom stood for a moment and then went to a side room. The minister followed the groom, then came back and said that while the wedding was off, the reception would go forward since the food was already there.
"Awkward reception and nobody stayed long after eating."
"They were getting married because the bride was pregnant, and they thought it was the right thing to do. She decided that pregnancy was not a good reason to marry after all."
"She had the baby and they ended up raising the child together, although not as a romantic couple."
~ Lulinda726
Worst Man
"I used to have a friend who owned a small hotel which operated primarily as a wedding venue. They lived in one of the hotel rooms, so all of the events taking place in the courtyard directly outside their door could be heard very clearly."
"We were hanging out one night during a wedding and listening to the speeches, the most notable of which was the best man speech during which he told the story of having a threesome with both the bride and groom at Burning Man, and heavily alluded to still being in love with the groom."
"Lots of older relatives in attendance."
"The place went silent and the wedding ended about two hours early."
~ Chapsy_
Get Him to the Church on Time
"I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. Day of the wedding we are all getting ready as you normally would. I'm in the bridal suite area; everything is going fantastically."
"The church is filled to capacity with guests. We all walk down the aisle and take our places, bridesmaids and groomsmen alike. My soon-to-be SIL is walking down the aisle on her father's arm. My brother is nowhere in sight."
"There is a long, awkward pause as my SIL is standing in front of a packed church, and we are all just looking at each other. Everyone is assuming the worst—that my brother has skipped out at the altar and left her."
"I'm shout whispering to the Best Man 'where is he'eandk he says 'I don't know". My mom is nearly having a heart attack."
"My dad finally gets up goes to the room where my bro was supposed to be waiting and comes out with my brother. My brother says 'Where's the minister, I was waiting on him'."
"My bro hadn't left at all, the minister was a no-show!"
"He was supposed to be waiting with my bro and walk out with him, or tell him when it was time to walk out while groomsmen were lining up to escort bridesmaids down the aisle. Because no one had checked in on my bro after getting ready no one knew the minister wasn't there."
"At this point, we are all standing in a group at the front of the church; the majority of the church guests still don't know what is going on, just that my bro had to be summoned, and there are angry looks all around."
"My dad realizes he needs to let them in on what's going on, so he announces to the guests, 'We can't find the pastor, is anyone here licensed?' but of course no one is. The bride's father calls the minister on his cell phone, on speaker so the whole church can hear the conversation."
"'Hi Pastor Denny, where are you? Did you forget what today was? Yes Denny, the wedding. The wedding is right now. We are all waiting on you at the church. Ok we'll just wait here then'."
"Turns out the pastor was playing golf and had put the wedding date down as the following weekend in his planner."
"I then ask my soon-to-be SIL if she wants us to walk back down the aisle and come back in or what. She says at this point 'forget it we are all here' so we just stand around and wait for Pastor Denny and try to make jokes with the wedding guests but it's pretty awkward as no one really knows what to do."
"After about 15 minutes Pastor Denny comes running into the church in his golf clothes—polo shirt/funny shorts etc...—apologizes and goes immediately into the vows."
"My poor SIL was furious that day, first thinking my bro had ditched her at the altar then at the fact that the minister had ditched them."
"She laughs about it now but it was a tense ceremony."
~ GreedyReality9815
Party!
"It was my very first friend to get married: a girl I’d known in high school. We were 24, 25. Classic rom-com nightmare scenario where the groom had second thoughts the day of and just bolted."
"We all just milled around for a while, not sure what to do. Awful vibes, the bride’s mom was weeping hysterically."
"Me and some friends were finally making our way to the exits, and the bride stopped us, like 'where the f**k do you think you’re going? You guys are taking me out to a bar right this minute, and you’re gonna have to carry me out of there.”
"So we did—mostly the young people, though a few stray aunts and uncles came along, including a few of the groom’s relatives who were like, 'he’s a little punk anyway, you’re better off without him'.”
"We all got unfathomably drunk, sang karaoke, glasses were shattered, the bride hit on literally every man there including me (though no one took her up on it, that would have been weird)."
"There were a rough few months in store for her afterward, but that ended up being a hell of a party. I can still feel the hangover a decade later."
"Bride married a guy who actually showed up several years later. I think they’re happy."
"No idea about the groom—that was the last time any of us really spoke about him."
~ Nerazzurro9
Surprise?
"My family was invited to what we thought was an engagement party. My aunt had reserved a room at a local restaurant for about 50 people."
"Turns out it was my cousin's wedding. So no one brought a gift or dressed up at all. Bride is in a wedding dress and groom is wearing jeans."
"We ordered food and drinks. The officiant does his thing while waiters are bringing in drinks and appetizers. Finally over and we get to eat."
"But when the officiant asked for the marriage license so they can all sign it, my cousin and his new wife just stared at him confused."
"They didn't know they had to get one!"
"Thought just having a wedding was enough. They were in their late 20s."
"So wedding, but no marriage. They never did 'officially' get married and he ran off a few years later to another state to be with some girl he met online."
~ msao2009
Sick Day
"Friend's wedding. A bunch of people got food poisoning at the rehearsal dinner. Including the groom."
"He spent the night at the ER getting fluids and medication to stop puking. This was an awesome high-end wedding and he almost cancelled."
"He was a pale green color and basically sipped Gatorade all day and got through it. He married his high school sweetheart and they have been married 30+ years."
~ Caspers_Shadow
Fill In
"The best man choked on a piece of steak. I didn’t see it happen but I guess someone performed the Heimlich. It came out, anyway."
"They called an ambulance (you always should go to hospital! Even if obstruction is removed) and he left."
"Another groomsman did an impromptu speech in his place, which was brave of him. He started off with 'I guess (best man) bit off more than he could chew with that role'."
~ rescueruby
Have you ever been invited to a wedding that didn't happen the way it was planned?
Share your story in the comments.
People Break Down The Craziest Money-Making Schemes They've Ever Heard Of
When I was in seventh grade, I had aspirations to be a poet. I made a Mother's Day card for my mom with a cute (but now, cringe-worthy) poem inside, and a hand-drawn picture of a rose that took me hours to perfect.
A friend saw the card and said they wished they could do the same. Then suddenly, she asked if she could buy the card from me. I said no, since I needed to give it to my own mother, but I said I could make her a copy. From there, my friend got the idea for me to make copies of the card to sell. I went along with it, mostly because I didn't think it would actually work.
Turns out, it did. After making sure people would actually be interested, we went to the library after school and made several color copies of my card for 10 cents each. The next day, we sold each card for $1. Not only did we make enough money so that my friend and I could both afford to get our moms an actual present in addition to the card, but we had enough leftover to put us over the top for the money we needed to buy the matching faux leather jackets we'd been wanting all year.
The next year, many people who bought cards asked me to do it again, so I did. Once again, we made a killing. We didn't try to do it again once we got to high school, but it was definitely fun while it lasted.
When we tell people this story, they think it's a pretty crazy money-making scheme. Maybe it is, but we're not the only ones who ever did anything like this. Redditors know all about crazy money-making schemes, and are eager to share their own stories.
It all started when Redditor primeiro23 asked:
"What are the craziest ways you’ve heard of people making money?"
Tumble Into Business
"In college, I take a class on how to start & run a small business. Prof tells us to think of ridiculous business models for our fictitious businesses as we will get more out of the class that way. Stupid ideas ensue. Selling paperclips door to door, refilling car gasoline tanks in people's driveways, service to read & summarize the newspaper to executives etc."
"One classmate decides he is going to sell tumbleweed."
"Guess who quits college and started a successful business? Tumbleweed guy. Takes a van to the desert, collects tumbleweed and sells them to Hollywood movie & TV studios who need them. Keeps the tumbleweed in a warehouse and since they never spoil, his only costs are gasoline, storage & a website. He eventually becomes the number one tumbleweed provider to studios around the world, shipping tumbleweed globally."
"Made a heap of money selling what millions of people drive by and ignore every year."
– Accomplished-Fig745
Synopses
"I did have a job reading and summarizing newspaper articles to the boss. Literally only task I was hired for."
– Draigdwi
"An actual union job in the film industry is reading scripts and summarizing them in short mean book reports."
– Trixiebees
Jump!
"Heard of crazier, but a guy I know, friend of my mother's, went to Texas 30+ years ago. (we are from Norway), and he noticed every single garden had a trampoline. And it was almost always "jump king" - the circular with blue mat ones."
"So he went to the HQ, bought 10 and took back to Norway. Within days they were sold, and he ordered 50 more, same thing. So he became the only importer and has God knows how many millions to his name today."
– alexdaland
"This IS wild. I went to Norway recently and one of the first things I noticed was that almost EVERY yard had a trampoline in it."
– TrulyMadlyCheaply
Working For A Home
"Back when Dogecoin took off I wrote a guide on recovering old lost wallets and it got so popular I was flooded with requests for further help. Some corrupted wallet files, some lost passwords, etc."
"I have a background in computer science and experience in data retrieval and password cracking, so I started helping people in exchange for a percentage cut (industry standard for wallet recovery). All above board with a contract and everything."
"For a while I was getting new clients every week and making hundreds up to thousands of dollars on every successful recovery (with a fairly good rate of success). The biggest one I ever recovered was a 19 letter long password someone had lost. The work dried up when the price of doge dropped but it got me the down-payment on a house."
– internetpillows
Horsing Around
"A cabbie in Dublin once told me a story about one of his fares who had a brilliant hustle."
"The guy was a sculptor. He would watch horse races, then when a horse won, he'd use social media to contact the owner directly with a digital mockup of a life-sized sculpture of the winning horse. Now, the people who own winning racehorses tend to be very rich - we're talking sheikhs, oligarchs, billionaires. Every now and again, one of these owners would bite, and spend €100,000 euros or so on a statue commemorating their animal's win."
"Dude only did a couple a year, and spent the rest of the time living the good life."
– escoterica
Sweet!
"Richest guy in a rich town near us makes enormous amounts of money buying Hershey bars and rewrapping them with customised retirement celebration designs or corporate logos to be given away at events. Literally just rewraps them in pieces of paper and doubles or triples his money."
"Every time I try to start a company or invent a better product or something, I ask myself why I’m not just rewrapping candy bars."
– perchance2cream
"F**k man, I think I found my new niche."
– LibertyPrimeIsASage
Slightly Used
"I went to college in a capitol C college town. A friend of mine bought an old school bus, fixed it up and took out all the seats."
"At the end of every semester she would drive around the neighborhood that was the fancier side of off campus living and collect whatever the rich kids were throwing out before they moved / went home for the summer. Flat screen TVs, couches, computers, tables, it was wild to see what people would chuck out and replace the next semester rather than having to deal with getting a storage unit or moving themselves."
"Sold it all on Craigslist over the summer or the beginning of the next semester and made a killing."
– sam_neil
Credit Where Credit Is Undue
"When I worked in a really busy, upscale restaurant my coworker would put all of his cash-paying customer’s bills on his credit card and keep the cash which he used to promptly pay off his credit card."
"He did this all day, every day for quite a while and the points started to add up and he was getting free airfare, etc."
"Worked great for a while until management notice a rise in credit card processing fees with an emphasis on one employee and they shut him down real quick."
– blinkysmurf
We Found Gold!
"My buddy worked his way through college by panning for gold. This was in 2009 in California. Most days he made nothing, occasionally he would come home with a couple hundred bucks worth and I think once he found a night worth over $1k."
– discostud1515
"My cousin had a metal detector when he was in HS. He would go every weekend down to the lake and take it with him on vacation. He found all kinds of things. He did find gold jewelry and would sell it online. He made so much money he bought his own car."
– Content_Pool_1391
Sleeping For The Job
"I knew a woman whose job was literally to sleep."
"A local office building owner wanted somebody on-site 24/7 to be the point of contact with first responders if they ever needed to be called. So they hired her to come in to the building in the evening when the maintenance crew was finishing their work. And she would settle up to sleep for the night in a bedroom they'd set aside for her. In the morning she'd hand the building back over to the office employees and go on about her day."
"No first responders were ever called. It's about the least stressful legitimate job I could ever imagine."
– CaptainTime5556
The Secret
"Back in the 90s, I knew a guy who put an ad in the classified section of the newspaper which read something along the lines of, “For $10, I’ll tell you my secret to making easy money. Send $10 cash to (address) to find out how.” People would send him $10 & he would then instruct them to put a classified ad in the newspaper telling people to send $10 & how to make money."
– freudianfalls
Accident Payment
"I was pushed down the stairs by a teen girl who told me to "pay attention and get out of her way" i ripped my dress during the fall and was getting back up when some guy rushed up to me, apologized for his daughter and handed me $500 as compensation."
– thebrilliantcounc
"LOL - years back, I was in a parking lot during a snowstorm. A guy was trying to pull around me, slid on the snow/ice and hit into my passenger side door. It really and truly was an accident. He was all apologies. We exchanged info - he said to get a quote and he would pay for the damage."
"Well, the car I was driving at the time was a crappy old Ford worth maybe $500. But, I went to a body shop, got a quote on the repair and it was $900. I faxed it to him (this was back in the 90's, LOL) thinking he'd tell me to go through the insurance company and just have the car totaled out."
"To my surprise, I had a bank check for $900 from him in my mailbox three days later. Now, I already owned another car, so I pocketed the $900, sold the smashed car for parts for $300 and ended up with $1200 on a car that was worth only $500 before the accident. I was very glad that he ran into me!"
– Deleted User
Only Feet
"I have a friend who sells pictures of her feet. In heels. Barefoot squishing cake. In mud. She charges extra for special requests. Has strict ‘no go’ rules. Never shows anything above the calf so she can’t be identified (no tats). All proceeds go to her kid’s college fund. Has made enough to fund a PhD."
– NotACrazyCatLadyx2
The things people do for money! But, I guess it works for her!
When we're in pain or scared, we're not on our best behavior.
We've got more important things on our minds than proper etiquette.
Couple our lowered inhibitions with the bizarre amalgam that is the human body and weirdness is bound to happen in hospital waiting rooms.
Reddit user IAmAsianHearMeRoar asked:
"What did you see happen in the hospital waiting room?"
Feline Friend
"A cat walked in once."
"Shamelessly caught everyone's attention."
"Maybe due to how long we were kept waiting, but a few of us jumped at the chance to grab the cats' attention."
"I’m excited to see a cat every time I see a cat."
"I own three cats. Or they own me, whatever."
~ Accomplished-Fee3846
"I’ve worked in the vet field 3 years, have my own cat and I’m always excited to see a cat. I love cats!"
~ kxiyaz
YTA, Dude
"Watched a guy fake passing out so he didn’t have to wait, since there were a lot of people waiting."
"A**hole winked at me as he was wheeled back on a gurney."
~ Tangboy50000
Don't Do This
"I once saw a guy cut himself with a piece of broken glass just to be seen sooner by the nurses during triage."
~ Shamanofthealike1
Going Up
"I had taken the elevator down from an appointment at one of the hospital's smaller buildings, my young children in tow."
"When the elevator reached the bottom floor, I realized immediately that there was a very purple elderly man lying between us and the exit, surrounded by medical professionals performing CPR on him."
"I closed the elevator door and rode back up before the kids noticed anything and we hung out in the waiting room until the ambulance had pulled away. Got my first CPR certification a few weeks later."
~ merganzer
Look Away
"I was in the emergency waiting room with my Mom."
"I was the one with an emergency and was drowsy the whole time, but I remember that at some point a man was wheeled into the room while making throat noises (think The Grudge) and my Mom took my face in her hands and told me, very calmy and without an inch of panic in her voice, to look through the window and tell her what that weird tree was because she'd never seen one like that (she definitely had)."
"I had no idea what was going on so I kept staring at that tree, and then it was my turn so we left the waiting room."
"Days later she told me that the man who was wheeled into the room had one of his legs hanging on for dear life and that there was blood everywhere on his pants, but also on his clothes."
"He was drunk so he probably had a fight. I hope he's okay now."
"My Mom is the best. She was worried and didn't want me to see this. So she took in the sight but protected me from it. Sometimes, I think we don't deserve Moms."
~ Magomaeva
HIPAA!
"My doctor hired her son to be a receptionist."
"He announced a woman’s STD tests in the lobby."
"He didn’t work there long."
~ gothiclg
Brains...
"I was sitting in the ER waiting room and this young couple comes in. The man pushing his girlfriend in a wheelchair."
"She’s barely conscious, slumped over and pale."
"As the boyfriend is checking her in, she wakes ups and Exorcist-style projectile vomits onto the floor. Nurses rush her back."
"The boyfriend then sits down and not a minute passes before out of nowhere he does the same!"
"Everyone waiting slapped masks on real quick once that happened."
~ Silent_Push_1413
"This is how zombie apocalypses always start."
~ Maxwyfe
An All Beet Diet?
"I went to the ER with a kidney stone and there was an old couple sitting across from me probably in their 60’s or 70’s."
"The lady was bickering to the man complaining about how long they’ve been there. The only thing is that this woman was completely purple."
"Like all of her face and head was this dark purple. She didn’t appear to be in any pain but my f*ck was she ever purple."
~ PewpyDewpdyPantz
The Circle of Life
"Like 20 years ago waiting in the ER I see a guy dressed up as a full monkey being wheeled on a stretcher past a large doorway and then 3 other monkeys following him."
"They were performers from the live Lion King show at Disney Animal Kingdom."
~ FLcitizen
Holiday Cheers 🍻
"I work as a nurse in the emergency, I’ve seen some crazy things."
"Once while security was busy doing two separate take downs, an old guy dressed up like Santa unzipped his backpack and started handing out beers to everyone in the waiting room."
~ Best_Lead_632
"So what you’re telling me is Santa’s real???"
~ aggressively_baked
DIY
"Once upon a time I was waiting on news of a friend who'd been in an accident."
"I saw a guy (about early twenties) come in with him mom because he'd fallen off of his roof and dislocated his shoulder. After about an hour of waiting his mom just says 'F*ck it! This is taking too long!' and legit began to Google how to reset a shoulder."
"After about 5 mins of research, she took off her belt, folded it up and told him to bite down on it. She then proceeded to violently shove her son's shoulder back into the socket while he naturally screamed in agony."
"Security and nurses rush over to see what the commotion is and more or less need to pull her off of him. Security sits her down and the nurses take the poor kid and get him treated."
~ August-Dawn
Our Robot Overlords
"I watched a robot filing cabinet press the elevator button and guide itself to a different area of the hospital."
~ jessieisokay
"We have these at my hospital. They even dress them up. Handy little robots help us transport non-emergent meds, lab samples, and equipment."
~ mrsfisk
"I wish our robots could do that."
"Instead, we have 4 delivery robots that all need a person to follow them and put them on and take them off of the elevators."
"Or we could just, y'know, hand the meds to the person and not take 38 minutes to get it there."
~ aurelius92a
True (Toxic) Love
"Girl trying to get admitted to the mental health unit, turns out her boyfriend was a patient. She didn't get admitted, she wasn't happy about it but she left."
"Next thing we know there's a car doing donuts just outside of the ER entrance, she was throwing things out the window and screaming 'Am I crazy enough now?'."
"She ends up driving around to the other side of the hospital and driving right through some sliding glass doors."
"She's lucky she didn't kill someone—another 10 feet and she would have crashed over a railing and into the cafeteria below, where staff was napping on a couch."
"Definitely got carted away, but not to where she wanted to go."
"Thing is her boyfriend wasn't even in that hospital; there's a small mental health inpatient unit, but her boyfriend was in a completely separate mental health facility about 15 km away."
"This was right in the heart of the pandemic, when building materials were really hard to come by, and so the entrance that she drove through ended up being closed for about 6 months."
~ beachmonkeysmom
People going to the hospital are in crisis most of the time.
It's to be expected that the unexpected is bound to happen.
People Share Signs To Tell Whether A Friend Has A Good Marriage
No matter how good it might be, no relationship is 100% perfect 100% of the time.
On the contrary, there are some relationships that seem pretty doomed to fail, and it's disheartening how many signs we can spot of the relationship coming apart, perhaps even before the couple themselves is aware of it.
But as clear as a sign of trouble might be, it can feel impossible to talk to a loved one about it when it's about their relationship.
Redditor AnitaDeckenme123 asked:
"What are some signs that your married friend doesn't have a good marriage?"
All Joking Aside
"Talking s**t about their spouse, even if it’s in a joking way, is a clear sign to me. I went to a bachelor party with a bunch of guys I didn’t know and they spent the entire time b***hing about their wives, and they all sounded miserable."
- FunctionBuilt
Desperate to Hide the Truth
"They are withdrawn or secretive. If your friend is suddenly withdrawn or secretive, it may be a sign that they are having problems in their marriage."
- LiaRipsx
Weird Gestures to "Mark Their Territory"
"His hang glider now has a full-sized graphic of his spouse holding the cat on it. And he wasn't asked beforehand."
- BarcodeNinja
Hypothetical Divorces
"They talk about divorce hypothetically."
- LaximumEffort
"Okay, but what if, say, I am watching a lot of true crime murder shows, and he tells me we can just get a divorce instead of me killing him? Does that count? Lol (laughing out loud)."
- HopefulKitty
Detached Relationship
"When they don’t care what the other person is doing or where they are. Basically, two people who live separate lives and live like roommates."
- Lucyinthesky
"My friend never says anything bad about her husband, but she also doesn't speak about him much at all. They’ve been married less than a year, but she's said things like not caring what he's up to a couple of times, and it made me wonder if that was normal in marriage. It feels wrong."
- happinessinasong88
Fighting in Public
"I’ve known two different couples that off and on fought a lot around me at certain points, which isn’t obviously a great sign."
"The fighting stopped, but what I realized after a while that may be worse is that they didn’t interact at all unless absolutely necessary."
"I’m mostly oblivious, so it took my wife pointing it out to notice that both of these couples never really talk to each other besides mandatory stuff like plans or the kids."
"No casual conversations, no eye contact, no touching each other; literally no interaction that’s not necessary for the family to function."
"I suppose it’s better than fighting in public, but it’s kind of weird once you notice it."
- non_clever_username
Social Media Cover Stories
"If they're plastering social media with how HAPPY they are, and they're SO IN LOVE, and THEY'RE GOING TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER, that's a sure sign that things are in the process of going sideways."
- wilderlowerwolves
"This confuses me SO much. I have two close friends (women) who have been texting me nonstop about how s**tty their significant others are, like going OFF about them, long voice messages, etc."
"Then between messages, I will open Facebook and see they just made a post about how much they love their partner with a cute picture and tons of hearts and s**t."
"Like... WHAT. I have never called them out, but what the h**l?"
- perfectdrug659
"Gah, my BIL (Brother-in-Law) divorced after a short two-year marriage, and this was the prime indicator of knowing that they were doomed."
"They did this kissy cutesy schmoopy lovey-dovey thing in public, and the worse their relationship got, the more publicly showy they were about showing how in love they were. It was horrific to watch unfold."
- abqkat
Controlling and Jealous Behavior
"In my experience, going out with my old homie that was married, I couldn't ever post us out at the bar or anything. If his wife saw it, she’d blow her top apparently."
"We went out for my 23rd birthday a couple of years ago and merely his elbow was in the video of me sipping on whatever drink I had. In a panic, he urged that I delete it before his wife saw it for whatever reason."
"They’re divorced now."
- jailbreakthetesla_
Mean to Their Partner
"When their identity is the 'person who is mean to their spouse.'"
"I was at a party this weekend and there was a woman who just bad-mouthed her husband and talked about how nice it was to be away from him and the kids for the night. That’s like her shtick… she talks about how her kids and husband are s**tty. It’s such a gross personality, and it’s relatively common. It shouldn’t be common at all."
- SpacemanPete
Flirting Elsewhere
"They flirt a lot. A lot of unhappily married people I know are quick to flirt with anyone who seems interested because they want to feel that spark again."
- FlatulentDwarf
Constant Check-Ins
"When one of them is out and their spouse does not stop calling them."
- BansheeShriek
"I can't imagine living like that. I took a 10-day road trip to the beach alone, and all my husband asked of me was to keep my location turned on in case of an accident, and text a few times a day so he knew I was alive. That's trust."
- HopefulKitty
The Depression or Glow Up Era
"If they suddenly seem really down on themselves or stop taking care of themselves for seemingly no reason, If their outlook on relationships and/or marriage had changed since getting married, If they have nothing good to say about their partner or just don't talk about them..."
"The list goes on."
- Misspent_interlude
"Or reverse, they start glowing up. They lose weight, focus on appearance more, it means they're getting ready to split."
- Alternative-Post-937
Wishful Widows
"When my husband died, some friends admitted that they were a little jealous."
- emmymcd
"My ex-husband responded, 'One can only hope,' and looked at me when he heard someone’s wife died."
- foldinthecheese89
"I would never say this to someone, but I understand the sentiment. I absolutely wished my ex-husband dead a handful of times. It's one of those things where you can't leave because I had very little money of my own and staying meant living with abuse."
- IsThatBlueSoup
Jealous of Working Relationships
"It's bad when you avoid or feel guilty talking about how happy you are or about the nice and thoughtful things that your partner does because you know your friend can't relate."
- anemic_girlfriend
"Yikes. This is how I am with a friend group of mine. They’re always complaining about their husbands, and I stay silent. I don’t want to rub it in that I love my husband and he’s mostly awesome. In the past two years, one has gotten divorced and another is on her way there."
- Nonny70
"It gets weird for me when people are like, 'Must be nice to get away from the wife' if I'm on a work trip or something."
"I don't understand. I sleep better when my wife's next to me, I feel better about the day when I get to see her and talk to her, she makes me smile all the damn time."
"Everybody on the planet is a very distant second on my list of people I want to be around, and even though we do plenty of things separately I don't see time apart as some sort of reprieve from her presence."
- HereToTheSquatch
Wishing They Were Out
"I got married young and a lot of older guys gave me s**t for it, like they resented their wives for settling down too soon. It upsets me when men talk s**t about their wives. If you hate your wife, then leave, she’s probably better off without you."
"My wife is my best friend. Seven years later, our relationship only grows stronger over time. If you love someone and they love you back, be grateful for that and show it!"
- Apprehensive-Hall254
There are many ways to tell that a relationship is in a downward spiral, especially when the relationship is not our own.
But these accounts were intense and ones that we can only hope are less common.