When we think of cults, we think of creepy chants and sketchy charismatic leaders who victimize vulnerable people. We tend to imagine it as a sinister thing that happens elsewhere and would be impossible for "normal" people in "the real world" to fall into.
We would be terrifyingly wrong.
One Reddit user asked:
Redditors who broke free from a cult, what was it like?
And the responses were more than a little disturbing. Everyday people popped up to share their experiences - and almost without exception people seemed to not even know they were in cults when they were active.
Read through, take stock, and seriously consider the things you get yourself involved in.
Obvious Questions
the office questions GIFGiphyI was in a doomsday cult for 23 years from my age 13 to 36 (1995-2018). Nothing odd or weird went on. You would genuinely feel good at start. But once we get deep enough you lose any kind of ambition in life and start having a lot of negativity about the present world and people outside the cult. And you're literally waiting for the world to end.
Based on its teachings, this world should have "transformed" by now, into their so-called heaven, and only a bunch of the cult followers should have remained in harmony. I totally believed everything I heard without questioning (probably because I was young and naïve) and followed their "Rules and regulations " to the dot. Like celibacy, food habits, keeping a distance from everyone outside the cult (even close family members) .. etc.
Finally, when some obvious questions started arising in my mind I felt like fool, and totally lost and betrayed. Like 4 years back, I felt like I couldn't meditate or listen to their daily verses. It felt totally off. I had to dig deep inside my mind to find the reason why I am unable to feel anything. That's when I felt that a number of things didn't add up. No outside influence at all.
It took a lot to break free and am still in the process. I'm 38 and married last year. She's a wonderful person. Her love and support helped me move on. I would say I am doing good now.
- ohrlygr8
Confusing and Painful
Confusing and painful.
I was born in a cult and left when I was 18, because I could not bear to live like that any more. They were very hard on women, reducing them to helps who were not allowed to voice opinions.
Leaving was one of the hardest things I have done in my life. It took me years to realize the pain I caused my family was actually not my fault.
Also, I felt so alien in the world. I missed the general background that people have, because the world I had lived in was so different. I was trying to fit in, without knowing how to set boundaries to protect myself.
I was lucky to know people on the outside. The group I was in did live amongst non-believers. We were just not allowed to mingle. When I left, I went straight into a relationship with someone from the outside.
Within days I realized I was in a bad situation there too. I stuck around way too long, trying to make it work and thinking I was the reason it was so hard. I did get an education, so I would be able to take care of myself.
After five years I ended the relationship, moved out and have been doing better since.
Once You're Out
I think the funniest thing about living in a cult isn't what you notice living in it. It's what you notice once you're out.
There were some pretty strange things that when you're long removed from it all you're like, "Holy shit that IS messed up." When you're in it it just seems normal.
When I was a young, I was told in the end of days I would be tortured for my beliefs. They would try to get me to deny Christ. I needed to stay strong, and resist. So 8 year old me was 1, afraid of getting tortured, and 2, afraid that I wouldn't be able to withstand the torture and wouldn't end up going to Heaven.
When I was a mid-teen, it was things like when I masturbated I was supposed to imagine having sex with Jesus....that last one I thought was weird even when I was in the cult, but more of a "eww, I don't want to do that" over a " that is some sick and twisted sh*t" kind of thing.
That's the weirdest part. When you ask what it was like, my first response is to go, "Like any other childhood really..." And then I think about it and go...hmmmm okay, not quite. It's funny how accepting minds can be when it's all you know.
Falling In Line
I broke from a cult. I had gotten sucked in during college.
They prey on college kids who are away from home, searching for an identity and desperate for a sense of belonging. At first it was fun. Nonstop activities. People who genuinely wanted me around. Help. Support. It felt good.
But it quickly took over. Then the pressure started. Subtle at first. Give up all other people and activities because they weren't good for me. Spend all my time and energy with the church. They assigned someone to watch me. To report to. To confess to.
At the same time I befriended the cult leader's wife and spent a lot of time with her. I felt privileged. But I started to see things.
I went to catholic school 13 years and I think that was the best inoculation! Then the whole women's role thing really got me steamed. I started arguing with the cult leader's wife about women being equal and I suspect something I said got to her because the cult leader hauled me into a meeting and talked to me for an hour.
By the end he could see I wasn't going to fall in line and I could finally see him for what he was - a fraud. So he kicked me out. I was banned hard! He was afraid I would infect others. My good friend had to flee in the dead of night and hide in another state. They hunted him. But me - they never even spoke to me again!
Long long ago when I was a preteen I had to stay with some relatives for a while. These relatives were in a 'church' that was run by an openly admitted, formerly imprisoned con man. I was told I had to go to this 'church' too, 3 times a week, or be thrown out of the house with nowhere else to go. Things started off more or less normal-ish and only gradually did it become a fanatical cult.
For the time I was there, I was as sucked in as everyone else and couldn't see that things were messed up. One Wednesday evening I had a bad tummy flu and was left with the neighbors while everyone else went to the church. Friday night rolls around and I'm still too sick and weak to go. Sunday morning comes and I'm perfectly healthy, but no longer want to go. Once again I was left at the house, but with instructions to be gone before they returned. I left and have never regretted it.
What made this 'church' a cult:
- I know of at least one young woman in the congregation that had quietly asked around for help because the 'leader' was hitting on her and not taking no for an answer. She soon disappeared and was never heard from or mentioned again. I have no idea if something happened to her, or she just ran but either way it was bad.
- At any given time in the last year I was there, at least 3 of the most attractive teen girls lived with the 'leader', an unmarried man, with no supervision, and their parents seemed to think this was wonderful.
- The 'leader' would frequently say one thing and then contradict himself in the next sentence, and no one ever noticed or commented on it.
- The 'leader' put a great deal of effort into separating his 'flock' from friends, family and the community at large. All holidays became 'satanic' and the congregation was forbidden to practice anything considered normal for holidays.
- Years later when I was grown and married, a friend from childhood contacted me to tell me the cult was being investigated by, I don't remember now which alphabet agency. I immediately called the number for that agency that was in the phone book, and told them everything I knew. I never heard anything after that, and have no idea what happened.
"Altruistic Fellowship"
I left AA in 2011, after ten years of lies, coercive deception, and being intimidated by extreme fear.
Although many may laugh at AA being considered a cult, It has all ten of the 'Sam & Tanner' indicators, that would describe it as such.
As Scientology hides behind it being a religion, AA hides behind its structure of anonymity (at all levels). I was pursued and threatened if I didn't go back, and other members visited my family - at home and at their places of work - to tell them I was going to drink, and soon die if I didn't resume meetings.
As AA promotes the image of an 'altruistic fellowship' the Police are very wary of getting involved. It took me over six years to de-program, and even today, I have troubling thoughts from the incidents I witnessed while a member.
The problem isn't about the twelve step program as writ. The problem is the sick individuals that use Its anonymous status as a hiding place, To sexually predate on the vulnerable, use coercion to control, steal, and intimidate others, use 'sponsorship' to inflate their egos and manipulate.
I could recount dozens of sickening things I've seen and experienced around AA. Thankfully there are now many other legitimate support networks, and alcoholics are seeking them out, and gaining credible results. The 13th stepping, 3%ers, have finally been found out for what they are. I always found it odd, that the sickest conduct was always perpetrated by those with the alleged longest sobriety,
Thank you for sharing this. Indoctrination is scary at many of these meetings. The contradiction and wildly overstepping appropriate boundaries is near constant. I cant imagine AA in it's current state surviving us millenials who question "we do it this way and only this way because we do it this way" and I am forever grateful. Again - thank you.
- jlemo434
Dad Was Sent To Save The World
Not sure if it fully qualifies, but my Dad ran my family like a cult.
He was a fundamentalist Christian and believed he was a priest of the Melchizedekan order sent by god to save a bunch of people before the end times. In reality he was mostly just abusive and pathetic. We had a weekly scheduled meeting where he'd tell me, my siblings and my Mom that we were worthless (based on whatever we did he didn't like that week) and he was our only hope for salvation.
He also would lock me in a closet for days on end if I was more than a minute late mowing the lawn and had me dig my own grave twice (once for insulting my sister, which was a dick move...but not really grave digging worthy and the other time for deciding to leave the house after having been grounded for seven months prior.)
He was religiously popular in all our churches though he hid the whole "saving the world before the apocalypse" thing. I can't say everyone in those churches were bad people like my Dad, but they definitely weren't willing to believe me when I asked for help and were pretty crazy in their own right. My Dad was probably bipolar and a narcissist, I know my Mom was an extreme enabler, though she was abused as well, and I was the black sheep no matter what I did (my sister was the golden child and my younger brother was pretty much forgotten.) We were all, obviously, homeschooled.
I ended up going to a pretty culty fundamentalist university, it's not the one you're thinking of but was just as bad in a more personal way. It was the first time I got a lot of approval, literally had people calling me a prophet. But I realized that I didn't know what the fck I was doing and no one in there right mind should blindly listen to what I was saying and started seriously questioning my faith.
Ended up becoming the first openly non-religious person there. Was harassed, sued and physically assaulted by the campus pastor, personally publicly derided by the campus president and nearly kicked out over a rumor I was Michael Moore's nephew. I was nearly assaulted by a few students over my anti-torture stance, being the straight side of the first gay-straight alliance on campus...and for possibly being Moore's nephew. Was constantly stopped to hear arguments for religion.
Weirdly enough the professors were really good about it all, they disagreed with me but were supportive (I'm still friends with a number of them.) Though they also kind of treated me like a token in the classroom though, constantly asking me to provide the skeptical argument. That was pretty taxing as my entire life became debating religion.
Overall I lost a lot of friend, but some were surprisingly supportive. My Dad obviously hates me even more now. I tried being polite so that I could be there for my brother and I was. A few years back he actually credited me as the top positive influence in his life during an award acceptance speech (that little fcker's way more talented than me.) I didn't speak bad about my Dad until he brought it up during his 18th birthday when I took him out for our tradition Miyazaki film tradition. Prior to that I was just supportive, went nuclear on my parents the times that needed it (they tried to ruin his bugging game programming career in high school...and a lot of other sht,) and giving him old textbooks and computer sht I'd replaced with better so he'd at least have something.
Otherwise my non-religious life has been pretty peaceful and productive. I'm moderately wealthy, have a great career and generally enjoy my life. At the time I thought everyone was like the religious group I was in, but in reality most people don't give a sht. I've explored various other religions but not really found anything. I also tried a lot of psychedelics for a bit, which were kind of the nail in the coffin in explaining away the religious experiences I had as a kid. It's kind of weird how leaving that sht now is just normal (though it took a long time for it to feel that way.)
My Mom died last year from the flu, it kills me she never got away from my Dad. My Dad is a opiate addict, and has been for about two decades. He's also over 800lbs so no one really takes him seriously anymore. I never got an apology from the people I went for help to, though they all speak disapprovingly of my Dad now.
Weirdly enough, despite the sh*t I went through, I'm still friends with the pastors son from my teen years and loosely with the pastor. The son had a better life than me by far but managed to fck it up. The pastor was surprisingly accepting, though disapproving, of my non-religion. Despite being fcking crazy, I'll say that pastor did literally clear his schedule to stay with me while I was waiting in the hospital for my Mom to die - despite my family having left the church for 15 years while their new pastor didn't even show up.
It's weird, it's hard to condemn all the insanity. It's easy to condemn my Dad, but some of the people in that group weren't bad, but just crazy/broken people genuinely trying to do good but hampered by their insanity.
Selling Waterbeds
GiphyI accepted a job as a traveling salesman once upon a time when I was desperate for income. Had no idea that it was a front for a cult.
We sold waterbeds, but anytime someone would tried to leave the company, management would gaslight you, become mentally abusive and manipulative, and try to use your personal life against you. All the other coworkers were honestly like creepy AF. They all behaved like subservient loyal robots literally.
The cult itself, was centered around the owner. They had subtle wording in their company core values and policies that basically referenced that they were a God, if not the God of humanity. It was weird as fck. I was subjected to some really shtty situations, and trying to tell my family and friends about it they wouldn;t believe me. Thought I was a lunatic, it was just a shitty job etc.
But no, there were death threats, other forms of threats, all sorts of just mindblowing crap from management, including attempted blackmailing, framing etc. Company meetings consisted of people getting hazed, but they called it "trust building exercises".
There was also some kind of weird double love triangle going on between some of the coworkers and management. I'm pretty sure the coworkers all fcked each other too. Like you know the movie, what's it called...West World or something? Where all the cyborg robot humans were obviously preprogrammed to act and behave a certain way without fault? That's exactly how my coworkers were.
In the end I realized I had to move across country without warning to get away from them.
Re-Learning The Basics
Having to re-learn basic words, definitions, and thought processes. Oh, Practical Prayer doesn't take up hours of your time? Circular logic is bullshit? Idle hands are NOT the Devil's playground? Being a passive-minded, obsessively-clean, hardworking, frugal SHEEP that gives your blood, sweat, tears, time, and MONEY all to the Church DOESN'T make you a contributing member of society?
- BarGamer
Forgive Everyone Everything
Ex-Mennonite here, from a rather extreme branch of it.
I fcking hate how people idolize Amish and Mennonites and have no idea how fcked up it all is. The physical and spiritual abuse that is carried out behind walls; the sickening way they treat animals; how they force victims to forgive, and cover up the crimes of their own.
People were so surprised and admiring when those Amish whose school had been shot up "forgave" the sicko who did it. Missing from the commentary was that we are told from when we are very young that the only way to enter heaven is to forgive everyone everything. And to be doormats for all the violent men in our lives, whether in or outside the community.
- Hurtin93
How The World Works
Being so completely ignorant of how the world really works was the worst for me. I lived in a bubble just thinking everything outside the religion didn't matter, because soon everything will be destroyed and almost everyone would be dead because they were not Jehova Witnesses.
I had to educate myself when I finally woke up. I read more than 20 books in one year. Trying to comprehend how the outside world really works. But my life has been full of failures because is not the same in theory than in practice. Maybe one day I'll get the hang of it and start succeeding.
Paying Them For The "Honor" of Volunteering
I was in a cult for around 7 or 8 years. It started off great. I was making so many new friends and the congregation was quickly growing... but then after some time I started to notice money go missing from the church coffers. They were always fund-raising to improve upon something for the church, but the amount of money that they would raise never quite added up to what they would do with that money. After a few years they ended up selling the whole church, with the senior pastors adding the profits to their retirement fund... that's just the financial side of things.
They would also take advantage of their staff. They would get people to work for them without paying them. In fact, one of my good friends got roped into doing a 'traineeship' there in which she had to do over 20 hours of 'volunteer work' every week, for which she had to PAY THEM for the honour of completing.
They would also frequently raise money for 'mission / aid work' in third world countries. However, the funds raised for this purpose were always misappropriated on expensive dinners for the pastors and fully paid vacations that they called 'mission trips'.
The worst part about it has the be the brainwashing. They reach you things that are very narrow-minded and they teach you to think a certain way which is very harmful. For example, they put a big taboo around sex.
So yeah, that really only scratches the surface, but that's a bit what it was like. I really had to reprogram the way I thought a lot after I left, after I realized that a lot of what they had taught me was false.
Holidays Are Amazing!
It was difficult. 25 years of not knowing how to think for yourself and suddenly having to, is hard to process. Everything was very routine and once I got out of that routine, I didn't know what to do. Forced myself to meet new people and figure out what "truth" is.
Very happy with who I am now after three years but still learning more about being independent and being open to new ideas and beliefs. Plus, holidays are AMAZING! I love Halloween and Christmas 🎃🎃🎄🎄
- kimv88
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Nowadays, the movie industry touts innovative cinematic experiences with advanced digital projection technology and sound systems to entice audiences back into theaters.
But during the advent of cinema long before home-viewing entertainment, people had to go to theaters exclusively to experience films on the big silver screen.
The movies that were filmed and shown in black and white at the time are now considered classics, and there is an enduring quality to these films that have inspired contemporary films recapturing a bygone era like the 2011 French comedy, The Artist.
Curious to hear from neophyte cinephiles, Redditor Zahirico1 asked:
"Which black and white movies are absolutely worth watching?"
These enduring classics are still being talked about among film aficionados.
The Brilliance Of Kurosawa
"Seven Samurai, original 1954 version"
– SKINNERNSC
"I mean, all of Kurosawa."
– DCDHermes
Class Film Noir
"Double Indemnity."
– shamwowj
"Every Billy Wilder movie."
– realteamme
A Comedy And Mystery
"The Thin Man."
– haveakiki
"The murderer is right in this room. Sitting at this table. You may serve the fish."
– hp640us
Mother Knows Best
"Psycho."
– CentralTown776
"I had the pleasure of going into this movie without knowing anything else but the shower scene, and my god, what a thrill ride. Go into this movie with as little information as you can, and you'll be in for a real treat. – JupiterTartsPerfect Romantic Comedies
"Roman Holiday and Bringing Up Baby."
– Stormy_the_bay
Mysteries in black and white are all the more ominous yet riveting.
Twelve Angry Men (1957)
"My dad with dementia has about a half dozen movies he watches over and over (and over and over). Twelve Angry Men is one of them."
– Listening_Heads
A Compelling Case
"To Kill a Mockingbird."
– MissionWide
"This. I have an amazing father and zero 'daddy issues' but Gregory Peck’s Atticus is the ultimate portrayal of what a good man should be. And that is apparent even when you are too young to have any concept of a man outside of a father figure but old enough to have a crush."
– SwissMiss90
Now Whodunnit
"Arsenic and old lace."
– IamAPottato
"One of the BEST films ever in my opinion! And funnier because the role of the killer always being told he looks like Boris Karloff — and going into murderous rages over it — was originally played by Boris Karloff. He wasn’t available to reprise his stage role when filming took place."
– Cephalopodio
The following films were deliberately presented in black and white long after the heralding of films in color.
One Of Mel Brook's Best From 1974
"Young Frankenstein."
– InsomniaDreams
"It’s pronounced Fronkensteen!"
– Maso_TGN
Cold War Satire
"Dr. Strangelove."
– shamwowj
"Dude there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many scenes in that movie where Sellers f'king kills me every single time, and I've seen this movie at least 50 times."
"His facial expressions alone when he's talking to Brigadier-General Jack D. Ripper and the general is explaining to him how women stole his essence."
"It's f'king insane how talented that man was."
– ezypee
Schindler's List
"Best movie I’ll only ever watch once."
– Chaps_and_salsa
My favorite classic black and white film is Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard.
Interestingly, I saw the musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber first with Glenn Close giving a satisfyingly ostentatious performance.
After loving the show, I watched the 1950 classic film on which the musical was based and I loved it ten times more than the theatrical adaptation.
Everything about the performances and Wilder's brilliant direction is why I love classic movies.
Not to mention, I don't ever care to see the color of blood on film.
People Reveal What Grossed Them Out So Much About Their Partner That They Broke Up
People end their relationships for a multitude of reasons.
Sometimes, two people just amicably discover that they are incompatible.
Other times, people realize their partner isn't who they thought they were, and remaining in this relationship isn't healthy or safe.
Then there are the extreme cases, where people make unpleasant discoveries about their partners.
Discoveries which can only be described as "gross."
What grossed you out so much in a relationship that you just left?
Not So Subtle Manipulation
"We were in one of many fights and I told him I needed space, so we hadn't talked in maybe a day."
"I get a text from a random number saying it was his sister and that he was in the hospital after a bad work accident."
"I ask which hospital (knowing that it is him texting me using a number app, lying about being injured - BUT you never know, maybe it's real)."
"'She' tells me the name of the hospital and then sends me a picture of JUST his legs which are bruised, but they looked like how his legs always looked."
"And then she says this is the last picture they took of him before he was life flighted to the hospital."
"She said he had severe head trauma, a cracked skull, and his back was likely broken in several places."
"So...I called the hospital and asked if they had any patients by his name - they said no."
"I asked if anyone was life flighted in in the last few hours - they said no."
"I blocked the number and went to sleep."
"A few days later I got a text from ANOTHER random number claiming to be his brother."
"He sends me a selfie of him in a hospital gown in an exam room at a doctor's office."
"He looked totally normal - no cracked skull or broken back."
"And it was cute because the room was ocean themed with crabs and fish on the walls."
"Anyway, the text said he was in the ICU (the crab room) and he had just woken up from a coma!"
"Again, I ask which hospital and the 'brother' refuses to tell me, saying he'll be RELEASED within the hour so there's no point in a visit."
"I know it makes me sound like a bad person for not believing him, but this man lied to me on several occasions, told me he'd been shot, stabbed, poisoned."
"So many red flags and my mentally ill self was naive and lonely at that time in my life."
"Granted, this was a breaking point for me and I dove head first into therapy and never looked back."- coffeee_bean
Talk About Unhygeinic!
"(Briefly) dated a girl who never cleaned her adult toys."
"It was something I missed the first few times we were together due to lighting but once I did it was all I could do to not retch."
"I played it off like the batteries had died in it."
"Afterwards I took a peek at the rest of her collection and they were all the same, coated in crustyness.
"As far as I could tell she wasn't an otherwise dirty person either."
"He place was well kept and clean and every time we were together it was clear she had either just taken a shower, or we would take one together as part of our pre-game."
"Then again, I have anosmia and can't smell most things, so maybe she stank to hell, and I just couldn't tell?"- TheShandyMan
grossed out seinfeld GIF by HULUGiphyDoes She Even Own A Broom?
"Dated a girl for a while, always seemed really well put together."
"Nice clothes, hair and makeup."
"We usually hooked up at my place."
'Went to her apartment once."
"The smell when she opened the door should’ve been enough."
"There were dirty diapers overflowing trash cans in every room of the house."
"There was a super small walkway through the mounds of dirty clothes to the bathroom."
"And to make it worse , there were used paper plates on top of the MOUNTAIN of dirty dishes in 'the sink'."
"She proudly pointed out a moldy dish and said that it was from when she cooked dinner for two of our mutual friends."
"3 months prior."
'Noped the hell outta there."- Jammin_neB13
Tragic
"When she doted on my kids as though they were hers/ours but treated HERS like they no longer existed or mattered."
"MASSIVE MASSIVE red flag."
"I was sooooo happy to get out of that relationship but years later I feel badly for her kids and pray everything turned out well for them."- Pittman247
Good Thing They Noticed!
"The swastika I found under her left t*t."- vensik
Definitely Not A Keeper
"My ex used to say, constantly, that she wanted to be inside my skin."
"It was her way of saying she desired me, but it was weird and off-putting so I asked her to stop and she couldn't understand what was so uncomfortable about what she was saying."
"Pretty soon after that I went on a week long work trip and three days into it she called and told me the whole time I've been gone she wanted to cheat on me."
"Then she asked me if she could see other people while I'm gone."
"I broke up with her pretty much instantaneously."- BashfulArtichoke
Not What They Did, But What They Were Thinking
"She was jealous of me spending time with my sister and implied our relationship ‘wasn’t normal’."
"I was so grossed out by the implication."
"Dumped her the next day."- Tygoodnight
One Hopes She Got The Help She Needed
"It was two separate incidents, but long story short, one night she got super drunk at my sister-in-law's house."
"After spilling a second glass of red wine on my SIL's white carpet, we opted to move her glass further away from the edge of the table."
"As soon as we left, she screamed, like full-fledged raged, at me for 'not defending her'."
"The very next time we were together, she got drunk again and accused me of trying to cheat on her (I've never cheated on anyone) and threw her purse at me."
"I let things calm down and explained to her that I grew up in a house chock full of domestic violence and that was an absolute line in the sand."
"And for that reason, I was out."- Zutes
When They Admit To Stalking, GET OUT!!!
"He showed me, with excitement, a box of things he'd been collecting from me without my knowledge."
"This included strands of my hair taped up neatly, bobby pins and hair pins I had in from prom, my finger prints and saliva sample that he took out of the trash from our forensics class experiments."
"He thought this was a romantic gesture or something, but it just made me really realize how creepy and obsessive he is."
"He was also very controlling and got jealous/mad at me for hanging out with my sister or spending time on my laptop or with my dog."
"And he also admitted to me that he stalked my FB interests to pretend he knew and liked what I liked, researching the games I played and music I listened to so he could bring it up in conversation."
"Total psycho."- puppycatpie
Rendering His Showers Unnecessary
"I showered at his place after staying over and I asked for a towel."
"He gave me one which had literal skin flakes on."
"I asked for a clean one."
"He asked what I meant."
"He did not realize that you need to wash towels because 'they just have water on them so they clean themselves'."- G1ngerbeer
towel talking GIF by South Park GiphyComplete And Total Lack Of Sympathy
"My mom died just weeks before and I was tired as f*ck, exhausted, and in a traumatic phase of grief after a year of cancer treatments and all the fuss of being there for a cancer battle."
"The woman I was seeing told me I need to get over it and can't just be alone inside all the time."
"Never spoke to her again."
"Went through my phases of grief and have been a resource to ppl in my life that are going through similar loss since then."
"Grief takes time or it doesn't; it's different for everyone."- Stevenerf
Trolls Aren't Just Found Under Bridges...
"Found out gf had several fake social media accounts she’d use to bully strangers and harass women she knew including my ex wife."
"Instant dump."- Zen4rest
Some people simply aren't meant for one another.
After reading some of these cases, however, one could honestly say that some people simply aren't meant for anyone.
Working around or alongside dead bodies is not a job everyone can handle.
Indeed, it takes a strong stomach, massive discipline, not to mention bravery.
Of course, most people who are brave enough to work as a doctor, nurse, coroner, or a mortician usually also have a high level of compassion as well, honoring the life of the person they are working for.
Particularly if they are superstitious, and wonder if that very person might still be in the same room with them, just out of their bodies.
An idea easy enough to laugh off, but indeed, many of these people have first hand experiences of haunting, sometimes scary encounters of finding themselves in the presence of spirits.
"Redditors who have worked around death/burial, what’s your best ghost story?
Some Unfinished Business, Maybe?
"I used to be a security guard at a hospital."
"One night, while doing my rounds, I went into the surgery wing and was walking down a hallway when I saw a doctor looking at the whiteboard where all the scheduled surgeries are written down."
"I said 'hello doctor' and kept going."
"The doctor didn’t say anything back, just kept studying the whiteboard."
"When I got back to the security office, I was telling one of the guys that’s been there for years about how I greeted this doctor and he didn’t say anything back, I asked if thats the a**hole they told me to watch out for."
"I was asked where I saw him and I said the surgery ward, and he gave me a smirk."
"He then explained that the surgery ward closes at 9pm and that all patients are moved into the monitoring wards; there should be no one there."
"He then asked me if this doctor was studying the schedule board."
"I said yes and he then told me that I just met Dr. Luisitti."- addictedpunk
A Sign Of Comfort, Or Foreboding?
"I worked within hospice and long-term care."
"The spookiest phenomenon was the man in the corner."
"It happens all the time for people actively dying."
"They see a shadowy man in the corner of their room."- LeftandLeaving9006
Poor Guy. Both Of Them.
"Not me, but a colleague found a dead person in a dark smoke filled burned out building during the mop up of fire fighting operations."
"As unfortunately happens sometimes, you find them by stepping on them."
"If they're still intact you kinda bounce off them."
"If they're fried, you can often crunch them up pretty bad under your heavy boot."
"Well this guy stood right on a badly burned corpse's sternum."
"Crunch, right into the chest cavity."
"When he tried to pull his foot out it got stuck on the ribs and the body came up at him."
"Burned up arms flailing about."
"He needed quite a bit of counseling, poor dude."- demoneyesturbo
All In A Day
"I have several stories from when I worked as a Mortuary Transport Tech."
"The job was basically transporting the deceased from where they were to where they needed to go."
"Turns out dead people can have a lot of appointments."
"One time though I had an experience I’ve never forgotten."
"I was dropping someone off at the Science Donation place."
"This is when you donate your body to science and they take it from there."
"So I wheeled in the deceased, unlocked the freezer, and did all my stuff I had to do in there."
"I placed him on the board, got the lift out, and placed him on the shelf."
"The interesting thing about the freezer was that most everything, once it’s processed, was wrapped in this blue tape type thing."
"And you could definitely tell what was inside."
"Legs, hands, feet, etc."
"Kind of interesting to me at the time."
"Anyway, I shut the freezer and locked it back up, and started wheeling the gurney back over to the garage door."
"The science drop off and processing area was a big L shape, with the freezer off to the larger long portion, and then you turn the corner and there’s desks and filing cabinets and whatnot."
"I about had a heart attack as I turned the corner and there is just this guy standing there examining files in the file cabinet."
"Looked just like you or me."
"Dressed modernly, but out of place for what people normally wear back there."
"I stopped and said that he’d have to forgive me but he almost gave me a heart attack."
"It didn’t look like he heard me at all, or even knew I was there."
"I should mention this was also about 1am, and I’d never seen anyone at the place this late."
"So I said, 'well, sorry if I startled you or anything', and went on about my finishing up stuff."
"Got the gurney back in the van, closed and locked the large garage door from the inside, all the while this guy is just standing there, staring at an open file in front of him, not paying any attention to me."
"I had to use the bathroom so I told him that’s where I’d be going and I’d be right back."
"Again, no response."
'I thought maybe he’s deaf and couldn’t hear me."
"So I went to the bathroom, and came back to the garage and the guy is gone but the file cabinet is still open."
"I didn’t know where he went, and I hadn’t heard anyone walk down the hallway past the bathroom."
"I checked and made sure everything I was responsible for was still locked, and it was."
"So I just announced that I was going to be leaving and locking up to set the alarm."
"No response."
"And that’s what I did, and left."
"I’m not sure who he was, or is, or what happened."
"But it was definitely an odd experience and one I still remember perfectly."
"I have a few other memories about my time at the job, if anyone else wants to hear."
"Nothing like what happened above though."- OlliverClozzoff
Unsettling Doppleganger
"I was once working at a mortuary and had to go pick up a man from the medical examiner’s office."
"When you do that (at least where I’m from) you get a receipt when they release the body to you."
"The receipt has all of the personal belongings that are with the deceased."
"When I brought the man back to the office I opened up the body bag to make sure all the belongings were there and double checking the receipt."
"When I opened up the bag I was stunned to find this dude looked almost exactly like me."
"He was my age, had similar tattoos In similar spots, had the same long hair I do, even had the same style of jewelry I was wearing."
"It took me so off guard that I stood there in an existential crisis until the embalmer came in and was like 'hey SpartanM00 how’s it goin—ahhh holy sh*t that guy looks like you!'"
"It’s the only case I’ve had nightmares about."
"I’ll be the one in the body bag with the deceased man opening me up."- SpartanM00
The More You Know
"Corpses move when you cremate em."
"People who don't know this get spooked a lot."- rocharox
The Unseen Help
"During my apprenticeship, I worked at a funeral home said to be 'haunted' by an old funeral director assistant who had a heart attack in the building and died."
"All he ever did was mess with the chapel lights and if you called him out, something like 'John the family is coming, please don't' they would return to normal."
"Not really sure if I believe it was really haunted, but saying something always fixed the issue so I kept doing it my entire time there."- _bobbykelso
Nightmare Inducing
"I used to work in a nursing home."
"The residents in certain rooms would complain about a man in their room at night but hallucinations are common in the elderly so it wasn't really noticed."
"One night I was moping the dinning room which had huge windows over looking the garden, it was around 1am so pitch black outside and low lighting inside."
"I had this horrible feeling of being watched so looked up and reflected in the window was a man behind me."
"He had a brown suit in, a bowler hat and the cruelest look on his face, he grinned and his mouth was too big."
"This happened in seconds and when I turned around there was obviously no one there but I'll never forget that look of evil on his face."
"I paid more attention to the residents after that and they'd all seen the same man, he just enjoyed terrorizing people."- mycatiscalledFrodo
Holding Out Hope
"I used to be a driver for a funeral home corporation."
"Like, drive the hearse and pick up the bodies."
"Never had anything creepy happened, a few funny things, a few traumatic things."
"In general it was a chill job."
"However, I did get incredibly uncomfortable one night picking up a man who died at home."
"He still had the defibrillator leads on his chest and his eyes were closed, which is unusual because the eyes are always open."
"He just looked like he was asleep or unconscious."
"Not rigid or pale or anything."
"I just had this sinking feeling for about half an hour in traffic that he was going to suddenly gasp and wake up in the body bag."
"Then it hit me."
"That would be the coolest thing ever."
"I’d take him home and he’d be back with his family."
"So I just kind of drove slowly and turned up some music and sang along and talked to him."
"When I got him to the funeral home I left him out of the cooler for about an hour while I did paperwork and played on my phone."
"When I got another call I checked on him and his limbs had started to stiffen."
"I was kind of bummed."
"I put him in the cooler and went on my next call."- Chemistry-Least
Working alongside the dead is a challenging. poignant, and frequently scary occupation.
As you always have the feeling that someone is watching you.
And more often than not, you may be right.
Men Break Down Which Things They Will Never Quite Understand About Women
Men and women.
What a conundrum.
Or mess, whatever description makes more sense.
I don't believe this battle of wills and thoughts will be answered in this lifetime.
But maybe some headway can be made with a few honest thoughts.
Some guys out there really want to "get it," ladies.
And by "get it," they mean answers to questions and logic that escapes them.
So how can you help?
Redditor GrouchyResolution974 wanted to know what the boys can't quite seem to grasp about the ladies, so they asked:
"Men of Reddit, what’s one thing you will never understand about women?"
Thankfully, I like boys, but's it's a fascinating topic. I'm listening.
Follicle Issues
Giphy"Based on the amount of hair I have seen in the bathroom, and that I somehow still keep finding in my clothes/bu**crack, how do you still have so much hair on your head?"
shartnado3
mark your territory?
"Are you planting hair ties and bobby pins everywhere to mark your territory?"
"This actually came up in a previous relationship when my girlfriend (at the time) found a 'foreign' bobby pin in one of the bathroom drawers, and freaked out about it until I casually explained that she is in fact not the first girlfriend I ever had and that I don't go through and scrub every square inch of my apartment after a breakup."
onamonapizza
Chaotic Sizes
"Why are women clothing sizes all over the place? One store a size 4 could be a 9 at a different store."
Zihark53
"We don't get it either, and we don't like it. The fashion industry refuses to standardize sizes, make bras for well endowed women at a reasonable price, or put useable pockets on our clothing. It's freaking MADDENING."
TattooedWenchkin
"This is a topic most of us rant about at LEAST twice a month, if not every time we go clothes shopping. My best friend says women’s sizing depends on your horoscope and your immediate proximity to a chicken."
queenlesbian99
Why so Small?
"Why are their pockets so small? Who started this?"
GBgabe13
"Pockets went away because 20th century fashion silhouettes were too slim for pockets, cost of installing pockets makes manufacturers not include them in designs, and women’s clothing is made of weaker fabrics that aren’t suitable for pockets. The purse industry thing is a myth. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W2zSSE9pgC8"
butter_milk
Chatter
Mean Girls Gossip GIF by Paramount MoviesGiphy"Starting a conversation, then continuing the conversation after walking into another room where you can't be heard."
therealfrankpenny
Women have super sonic hearing, it's a gift.
Bruh!
Jersey Shore Dancing GIF by Jersey Shore Family VacationGiphy"I'm going to McDonalds, want anything? No. *Proceeds to eat all of my fries, bruh."
california-whiskey
"'I'll just have some of yours.'"
"No I want all of mine, that's the point. I'll just get 2 and finish yours."
Idontdanceforfun
0 to 100!!
"How a woman can instantly tap into the rage (with 0 energy loss) they experienced from an argument we had 2 years ago, and I don't even remember it happening."
whatchlookinat
"It's because of the implications of the past rage. I think women tend to connect behaviors into a pattern more, rightly or wrongly. So X things is seen as a warning sign for something negative."
"Something happen twice is a pattern of behavior that indicates negative thing. I think men tend to view each incident as an isolated event. I don't think either one is right or wrong. I think you need both kinds of thinkers in a social group. A lot of women just tend to lean one way and a lot of men the other."
jittery_raccoon
Location?
"Where do you want to eat?!"
WhenAllElseFail
"As a girl, I absolutely hate having to choose. I will never turn down a place when my husband picks. If I actually want something I will tell him. It should be simple. I get stuck making dinner at home most days and make those decisions- don't make me also figure out food out of the house too."
nickygirl19
"Frankly this is a fair take that I’ve never considered."
flaming_carrot12
Hats off y’all...
"Why the f**k you would ever want to be pregnant. I watched my wife push out two kids with no drugs, and y’all have my undying respect. No freaking way I’d do that dude. Courage is defined as a woman who intentionally get pregnant, knowing what that actually entails and all the terrifying risks associated with it. Hats off y’all."
ToastFromTexas
Bad Company
"Toxic Positivity. Why are you always hang around people you don't like and pretend to be nice to them."
Way_2_Go_Donny
"It’s not necessarily a good habit for sure, but women's networks rely upon collaboration so if you burn bridges, women can do a lot of damage to you socially with a bit of well placed gossip. Sadly. Women’s weapons are psychological devices, vs mens which may be more overtly aggressive."
Dry_Representative_9
Googley Eyes
Want You Love GIF by NICOLE DADDONAGiphy"How they can look at men and find them attractive. I’m an overweight turd and somehow I’ve managed to find one that finds me attractive."
mrtouchybum
We thank these ladies for answering these questions so candidly, in hopes of catching some of the men up to speed.
Do you have any burning questions or things you'd like to answer? Let us know in the comments.