Love is a beautiful thing but, also an insane, confusing, arduous life experience. Trying to find love can test anyone's most solid mental resolve. But we continue to try. And every date can lead to the best and most out there stories. At least there is that.
Redditor ItsMeMaple wanted to hear how off the rails other's love lives are to feel better about theirs by asking:
What was the worst dating experience you've had and why?
In the Family.
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"On the very first date this woman decides to tell me she had an affair with her brother-in-law. Couldn't leave the bar fast enough." jzhoodie
Cue awkward conversation.....
"Went on a first date. Waited 60 minutes for food at the restaurant. Cue awkward conversation. Went to a movie and the movie jammed in the middle and we had to wait 20 minutes for them to fix it. Cue awkward conversation. On the way home, the car broke down and he insisted we couldn't call any of my brothers or sisters for a ride, so we walked 4 miles home. In the snow."
"We have been married for 37 years." 4ninawells
Bye Girl Bye.
"I got catfished but for some reason I felt too mean calling her out on it because she was a nice person, just not my type, and she had obviously used another woman's photos. Other than that she seemed very kind and I didn't want to hurt her feelings."
"So we still went to my place where eventually during a movie after some hints she finally just asked me, "Do you want to have sex now?" Again I felt bad, so I made up this lie about how I really wanted to, but I was a devout Christian and it was a war inside me. I got her a soda and we finished watching Captain America."
"At the end of it she asked me if I was gay and I said no, then she kinda rolled her eyes while we said goodbye." Kamehwik
Date ended there and then.
"I went on a date with a guy who not only felt that I was emasculating him because I won't let him pay for my meal and drinks. It was a first date and I believe in splitting the bill on the first date so that no one feels they owe the other. He kept demanding that I let him pay and I kept saying it's fine when he blurted out "just let me pay damn it. How the heck else am I gonna get lucky tonight?"
"Date ended there and then. I don't sleep with people of the first date either. It made my school year awkward though because we shared a lot of classes but for the most part I avoided him." Lark1987
Mr. Complex.
"Mr Complex, ugh. It was seriously like he was a crappy movie stereotype come to life."
"He made a couple of snarky comments about me wearing heels on the date even though I wasn't. We were the same height (5'7") and I guess imaginary heels was the only way his mind could grapple with the concept. When we got to the restaurant, I opened my door to exit the vehicle and he began screaming at me for "making him look like less of a man" by not letting him open my door for me. A LOT of the dinner conversation was about how women don't appreciate "a male provider" "anymore".
"I was young and stupid so we ended up going back to his place and it was the only time I've actually had an "is it in?" moment. Afterward, he recalled that he's pleased many women before and they all said he was one of the best they'd ever had. Before I left, he let me know we were actually at his sister's house and she was in the bedroom next to us and to try not to wake her up leaving."
"What a sad dude. I hope he got therapy." Much_Difference
Just Twice.
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"Not me but I was heavily involved in setting up the date. I set up a good friend, a girl with a guy I used to work with."
"Later that night after the date, she called me up and said "I think I'm related to him somehow." We go sleuthing on Facebook and text each other updates. And after an hour of talking to some distant relatives, we are dead certain that he's her nephew a couple of times removed."
"She calls me up sobbing saying they had already had sex twice after that first date. "Slash1909
Al Those Wings.
"First night I stayed over at my partner's house. We both thought her family had gone away for the weekend and were somewhat vocal as a response. The morning proved us wrong when her mother congratulated us over breakfast she had specially prepared."
"She offered us tips and practical advice, also gave us a thumbs up. Best MIL ever. Mortifying at the time however."
"They had a large house, and her mother was keeping herself occupied in a wing we had no reason to enter, so we didn't know/expect her to be home." Lazy_Raccoon
All Cued Up.
"Oh so many."
"Being an American immigrant of Russian Jewish decent and not married by 21, my mom naturally signed me up for a dating service. I have always been pretty open minded so whatever. Cue (or queue) a line of men (some in their 40s, some younger, most creepy) who were looking for anything resembling a woman that would lead to a green card."
"Personal favorite was a Dolph Lundgren lookalike who showed up in a suit, grabbed his heart Bill-and-Ted style, and proclaimed that I was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen (spoiler, I am decidedly not) and he must marry me. Preferably by the 29th of March." Spectrum2081
It's All Aight!
"As someone who just got tinder thanks for making me laugh, feel self conscious about how i might end up here and how this could possibly happen to me." MeatBuu
"Hahah that's perfectly natural. I feel the same way every time I download Tinder, as do the friends I've spoken to about it."
"At the end of the day it's best to just be open minded with it. I've dated some incredible people through the app, as well as had some mind-blowing sex. I've also been through some horribly awkward dates and hookups, so you'll be right!" Justforfun_x
With the BF.
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"Met a lovely girl over Tinder, we really hit it off and had a great conversation, decided to meet in person for coffee the next day."
"She showed up on time, looked just like her pictures - and brought her boyfriend." confettiicecream
The Good Start.
"Dinner went pretty well, he was funny, sweet, so we decided to uber to a bar."
"On the way there we're holding hands and chatting, the guy immediately pulls his half erect member out and asks the uber driver to reroute to his home."
"The uber driver threatened to call the cops, kicked him out of the car, and drove me home free of charge." meghanarsenic
Not Ready...
"I went on a first date with a guy. he was very educated and polite. he was friends of a friends and they set up us. they failed to mention that he just got out of a 5 year relationship and was not over her in the slightest. We went to a restaurant he frequently took his ex to, which i found out 10 minutes into the date. i would try to change the subject when he mentioned her but it was obvious he needed someone to vent too. so i spent the date letting him get out his thoughts/emotions about his ex. he wasn't a bad guy, he just wasn't in a position to be dating anyone." tinydancerxo
3 Bottles In.....
"She ordered three bottles of wine at dinner. I had maybe three glasses total. Which means she had 9 glasses on her own. When she tried to order a 4th one the waiter cut her off. She caused a scene and got us kicked out of the restaurant. I called her an Uber and while we were waiting she pissed herself in the parking lot. Basically poured her into the back seat of her Uber and went home. She texts the next day- "hey sorry I missed our date last night, I must have taken a nap and slept through it. Reschedule?""
"For context "mean bar" is a bar my ex works at. Blackout had originally suggested we meet there for drinks and I had to explain that she works there and is kinda crazy and I probably shouldn't take a date there. She knew that's what I called the place. When I first said I'll get back to you I was really contemplating a second chance because she's smoking hot. But ultimately my big head prevailed over my little head." Reddit
A Knight's Tale.
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"Sophomore year of college, my roommate and I decided to double date. It was the first date for both of us and we invited the guys to our apartment to watch A Knight's Tale. My date got drunk within 20 minutes and spent most of the movie face down in my lap mumbling "It's just so anachronistic!" while my roommate and her date cuddled and laughed at me." HugOWar
'what the hell, why not'
"My only blind date..."
"My college roommate had a date, asked me if I'd come along and take out his date's roommate."
"I thought 'what the hell, why not'
"We arrive at their place to pick them up."
"My date comes out, she's cute. She looks at me and just says, "Oh hell no". She goes somewhere else."
"I drown my sorrows in pitchers of margaritas...find out they have a 2 pitcher per person limit, and we're at 6 pitchers already."
"I call a buddy to join us. Buddy arrives, sits across from me. Order 2 more pitchers of margaritas."
"Buddy tells me he had plans with a girl he'd been dating for a bit, but the plans had just fallen through, so let's get f'd up."
"Three minutes later, the girl he had plans with arrives on a date with another dude...sits at the table right next to us."
"We call another buddy to join, so we can get 2 more pitchers of margaritas."
"In retrospect, we should have gone home after the second pitcher of margaritas." AMMJ
The Widower.
"Didn't quite get to the dating part. My best friend was a guy and his girlfriend didn't like me hanging out with him. She decided she wanted to set me up on a date to get me out of her hair. My best friend asks me to please do this to get her off his back. Apparently the guy she wanted to set me up with was her coworker's brother. He was a young widower and a solid guy. I reluctantly agreed and she gave him my number. This guy called me and we talked. He told me that he was a widower. We talked about his job."
"He didn't ask me out. Three more conversations over the phone and he still didn't ask me out. I finally told him if he wanted to go out on a date it would have to be soon as I was leaving on a lengthy trip soon. He said he was waiting. I asked him what was he waiting for? And his reply was.... the funeral. His wife's funeral. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I noped out of that asap and told him he should wait a while to date. Was sooo mad at my best friend and told him his girlfriend could screw off." Roo514
"I don't believe in dental hygiene"
"They walked into the restaurant immediately said "I don't believe in dental hygiene". I believed them as they had black teeth and gums that I could smell from several feet away."
"I could not tell if it was a joke, or some sort of experiment, but it was hard to focus on much else. It was easily the most disgusting mouth I've ever seen." Seigest
Hissy Fits....
"Probably any of the dates with my abusive ex when she would throw a public tantrum to 'test' me."
"For example, the last time we went out together before I managed my escape we were going to the zoo. She wants to cross the road, I ask why and point out we can't get to the zoo from that side, she immediately goes into a screaming hissy fit, shouting, tears, the whole works, right there in the middle of the street in a very busy city."
"I was pretty used to it and done with the whole thing by this point in our relationship, previously I would have been desperately trying to comfort her but this time after she wouldn't tell me what was wrong I just walked away. Tears dry up, comes running after me, finally explains there's a shop across the road she wants to visit. 10 years later I can still feel the exasperation with how bloody stupid the whole episode was." Aypreltwenny
A Goat?
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"I went on a tinder date that ended in me leaving because his friends showed up at his place with a stolen goat. They wanted to kill it and try to get in touch with the spirit world. I wish I was kidding." LN3132
One second thought, perhaps we'd be happier alone than dealing with some of these stories.
- Parents Describe The Most Awful People Their Kids Have Ever Dated - George Takei ›
- People Describe The Worst Restaurant Experience They've Ever Had - George Takei ›
- People Break Down The Worst Date They've Ever Been On - George Takei ›
- People Break Down The Worst Things They've Seen In Online Dating Profiles - George Takei ›
- People Describe The Worst Physical Pain They've Ever Experienced - George Takei ›
- People Describe The Best Non-Sexual, Non-Drug Related Sensation They've Ever Experienced - George Takei ›
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
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What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
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Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
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Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
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Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...