It can be easy to write feelings of unease off as simple paranoia, especially when you aren't the one feeling uneasy. There's an important reality to keep in mind though, before you write someone off as simply being paranoid:
It isn't really paranoia if you're right.
Reddit user IMjudas asked the users of r/AskReddit:
"People who have been accused of being paranoid but ended up being right, what happened?"
10.
I was called a conspiracy nut years ago for claiming that my text/phone conversations and even in-person conversations with my phone on the table were being recorded and used for advertising.
Even did an experiment with my brother talking about parrots all day (a topic we've never had occasion to bring up) and watched our targeted ads from instagram. Hoho! Seeing birdfeed ads come up on my explore was VERY gratifying, but not enough to be taken seriously.
And now it's so apparent that it's a common joke/meme.
9.
I was being stalked via social media. Kept getting follow/friend requests from sketchy looking profiles and people talking to me who I hadn't contacted in years. I mentioned this to a few people but they all seemed relaxed about it and made me think I was overthinking (which I do do sometimes..). Turns out this was all from one guy who had made HUNDREDS of fake account and even hacked (or faked) other accounts to get in touch with me. Had to delete all my socials and return with a new name.
8.
Giphy
I was studying abroad in Spain this semester. I decided to go home early because the coronavirus seemed to be getting bad and it was giving me anxiety to be there. Everyone told me I was overreacting and making fun of me for essentially being a wimp and leaving early. 3 hours after I booked my flight (for the coming Friday) Trump announced the European travel ban.
7.
In college, this new guy joined the org I was president of. Always thought there was something off, but he got along so well with everybody else. About a semester goes by, and we've all become friends, but I'm still a little off put by him. Pretty sure he drugged my drink at a hangout once, but a friend of mine drank it instead. That friend ended up in the hospital.
ALWAYS trust your instincts.
6.
I was worried during my junior year of high school that my best friend secretly hated me and was trying to sabotage parts of my life. My boyfriend at the time said that that wasn't true; that he's talked to her and she really loves and cares about me.
Fast forward to a few months later, just before senior year starts. I broke up with that boyfriend and for some reason a bunch of my friends seemed to have stopped talking to me. I find out during the summer from two of my friends that she had spread rumors about me after the breakup to make people think I'm crazy, and for years she's told the whole group about my love life and how badly I "mishandle" it. Cut her off that same day.
5.
Giphy
I could smell gas everytime I opened the cupboard under the stove and said something to my mum. She just shrugged and said "pretty sure that's normal" and kept using it.
It took a long time, but one day the spark didn't ignite right away, so she used a lighter. PHWOOSH. Big rush of fire explodes out of the cabinet.
It made her nervous, but she STILL didn't do anything about it for a few months before she decided to upgrade. The installer who removed it was shocked nothing worse happened.
People Break Down The Best Purchases They've Ever Made | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
4.
My ex boyfriend and his best friend ending up together. I knew it the day I heard him speak about her when we were 2 weeks in the relationship. We dated for a year, broke up and they started dating a while after. Now, they have been together for 5 years, engaged for 5 months and a bun in the oven. I'm so happy for them, I love being right about love!
3.
Worked in a company for almost 16 years and knew everyone from the facilities workers up to the president, would go to lunch with the director of HR at least once a month.
One day I came in and made my usual rounds but people that I knew really well seemed a bit off. They didn't want to engage in conversations like they were doing the day before, this happened several more times and I just couldn't put my finger on it but I knew something was up.
2 days went by and one of my jobs was to upload the board meeting minutes to an online database so they could search it. While doing it I saw that they retained a management consulting firm and tasked them with evaluating salaries and tenured employees but didn't explain why.
Put 2 and 2 together and got my resume out in the field, IT was booming and I got 4 interviews in the first week. 3 weeks later I got to upload the board meeting minutes and see the results of the management consulting firms analysis it had my name on the list along with numerous other employees that were suggested for termination.
I received 3 offers from other companies and selected one of them, walked into my directors office and handed him my resignation. He acted surprised and asked why I was leaving, I said just saving you the trouble of terminating me.
The company laid off over 300 of it's 600 employees within the next 3 months, I wasn't paranoid.
2.
I've always had anxiety, and one of the problems that came with my anxiety was the fear that nobody actually liked me or wanted to be my friend— they were all just pretending. Eventually I settled into a group of three girls while I was in High School.
Well one day I hit a very low point. After years of knowing these girls, I confessed to one of them that I had this anxiety, and that I wanted to kill myself because it was non stop all day. She tearfully assured me that I was wrong; they all loved me and wanted to be around me.
Until two weeks later when I didn't want to go to the mall with them and that girl flipped the f*ck out saying none of them actually liked me at all, they only hang out with me because they feel bad for me and because I paid for things. She told them all those pathetic things I'd said, so now they knew I was crazy, and it was rude of me to “dump all that on her" because she had to “pretend she cared" otherwise people would think she was a b*tch.
When I asked the other girls if they felt the same, they admitted that they absolutely did. She not-so-subtly suggested I should just kill myself and get it over with because all those things I think about myself are true.
If you’re out there, f*ck you Cassie, you short, nasty b*tch. I‘m still here.
1.
Anybody who's been cheated on has had the experience of picking up on clues, getting a bad gut feeling about the situation, and being told they're paranoid. If this goes on for awhile, it's one of the harder things to get past as you need to learn not only to trust other people again, but your own instincts.
Yep. You don't know why you know something is off, but you know something is off.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
"Straight men of Reddit, what is the strangest thing you have been told not to do because 'that's gay?'"
The following behavior just screams, "gay," fellas. Watch out.
Song Choice
"Sing a Lily Allen song during karaoke."
– KentuckyFriedEel
School Protocol
"Advice I received in high school from other students:"
"Don't cross your legs with one knee over the other. Put one ankle over the other knee."
"When carrying books, palm them and carry them at your side. Don't rest one edge of the books near your waist."
"Never button the top button of your shirt."
– Gorf_the_Magnificent
Look, But Don't Look
"This one time, at summer camp, this guy who'd just been swimming in the lake told me you could tell how cold the water was by how hard his nipples were. 'But don't stare too long,' he said, 'because that's gay.'"
"You were the one who told me to look in the first place!"
– SonOfTheShire
Sandwich For Sissies
"When I was a kid, my dad called me a sissy because I cut a sandwich diagonally."
– captainmagictrousers
Getting Woodwind
"I played the clarinet. I got called Faginet a lot."
– Virtual_Caramell
"But that's one women do," one might argue.
Daddy Duty
"Changing my daughter's diaper. Mentioned it in the office one day. Called gay."
– Bullydaddy
A Lighter Shade
"Buying a white IPhone."
– Freshrendar
"Added my husband (then boyfriend) to my phone plan. Went to the store on my own to upgrade both our phones. We both just wanted the next gen Samsung. It was only available in purplish-pink in store."
"I shrugged and said it didn't matter, he's putting a case on it anyways. Guys working at the store kept trying to talk me out of it, actively pushing me to go to another store, making them lose commission, just so my partner wouldn't have a feminine phone. He used his pink phone for 3 years."
– Caity26
Life Skills
"I've been criticized for knowing how to sew and cook. Those are essential life skills!"
– placeholderNull
"My father was a Marine drill instructor in the 50's. Guess who did all the sewing in my house growing up?"
"Yeah, no one dared to call him gay for it."
– desrever1138
Here are examples of guidelines for being a manly man, according to manly men.
Manly Appetite
"Not a straight man but... back in my bartending days I asked a man if he wanted to see a dessert menu. He said 'if I wanted dessert I'd order wings like a real man.'"
"Weird flex but okay."
– BigJiggies
When I'm In The Mood, I Masticate
"When I'm feeling extra manly, I just take a bite out of a cow and then chew on some raw wheat."
"Like a man."
– AmigoDelDiabla
No Appointments Necessary For Straight Men
"I left a pick-up basketball game because I had an appointment to get a haircut. Evidently, the only straight way to get a haircut is as a walk in."
– patricksaurus
Abiding By The Law Is So Gay
"Using turn signals. And not as some sort of euphemism, but literally using them while driving to turn or change lanes."
– Sargatanus
In grade school, some fellow classmates asked me to check for gum on my shoe because they saw me step in some.
When I lifted my leg to take a gander, the boys were howling hysterically as if my actions confirmed something.
Well, it sure did. Apparently, if I l looked at the bottom of my shoe from in front of me, I was "normal," but since I bent my leg back and looked at the bottom of my shoe from behind, that made me "so gay."
Although, I didn't come out 'til years later, maybe those goons were onto something. Thanks for the heads up, guys.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.