
Police Officers Reveal Who They Wish They Could Let Go Free... But Couldn't
[rebelmouse-image 18358686 is_animated_gif=Cops are bound by the law, but sometimes, even they know the law can be ridiculous. Cops shared their stories of instances where they would have rather let someone go, but couldn't.
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Punishing poor kids is really cruel.
[rebelmouse-image 18358687 is_animated_gif=An old roommate was a police officer and once she had a shopkeeper detain a shoplifter.
When she got there it was a young kid, 11 or 12, stealing a carton of eggs and a couple boxes of cereal.
He looked totally malnourished and unwashed. She eventually got it out of him that he didn't have food at home.
She called social services, of course, but she asked the shopkeeper to just let the kid go so he could deal with CPS without this added stress or a spot on an otherwise clean record.
The shopkeeper insisted. Wouldn't let up. She didn't know what happened to the kid after that but didn't think it could be anything good.
Sounds like Sarge was on a power trip.
[rebelmouse-image 18358688 is_animated_gif=Found a couple homeless teenagers in a park after dark (which is illegal in my area). They had bicycles and a trailer with them. One of them lied about his name because he had a warrant and I arrested him when I figured out who he was. The second was chill the whole time. Didn't lie and wasn't a problem. I was going to cut him loose.
My Sergeant shows up and notices that the park has some graffiti on the tables and accuses the chill kid of doing it. The graffiti wasn't wet. The kid said he didn't do it but he still had art materials in his bag. Some markers and a sketchbook. The Sergeant made me take the markers and book as "evidence." The kid says, "Dude!! That is my only art outlet and the only thing that makes me happy right now!" The sergeant didn't care. I had to follow orders. Sometimes the job just sucks.
This sucks, for everyone involved.
[rebelmouse-image 18344885 is_animated_gif=I got a call once to a Burger King and it was an anonymous tip that someone there had a warrant. Ran the info given by the caller and confirmed the warrant. Arrived at the Burger King and found the guy. Talked to him and asked if he knew he had a warrant. She said he didn't think he did. Normally I'd be like "yeah sure ok dude" but this guy was super nice and literally only been at Burger King for like 5 minutes on his lunch break. The warrant wound up being l 3 or 4-year-old probation warrant but because it was still active I had to take him to jail. I felt really bad about doing it to him since he was genuinely taking steps in the right direction to turn his life around and STILL wound up going to jail.
Tragic, but there is no excuse to drive drunk. Ever.
[rebelmouse-image 18358689 is_animated_gif=LE here. One time I arrested a girl for DUI around 8 or 9 in the morning, she put her car into a ditch. After I placed her under arrest, I found out that the reason she decided to drive drunk was to get away from a house party where she may have been sexually assaulted/raped. Why she didn't call someone to pick her up, I don't know. Maybe she felt like had to leave right away. I processed her for DUI and released her to her mother. I encouraged the mother to take her to the hospital and file a report with the sheriff's office (happened in the county). Not sure what legally happened to her. It would have been up to the prosecutor to reduce/drop charges for the DUI.
Have you ever been so high that you... busted yourself?
[rebelmouse-image 18358690 is_animated_gif=My uncle is a university campus cop. Super friendly, goofy, funny guy. When I think of him I think of rambunctious card games, cliff jumping, and him pinning me down to fart on me. As such, he got the nickname, Officer Friendly.
One time he caught a student smoking a joint on campus and as per his job asked him to hand it over.
He expected the guy to hand over the joint, but the guy just started walking. My uncle followed the guy not knowing what was up. The guy kept walking to the university residence, inside, and up to his room.
He handed over two ounces of weed.
Here, an ounce or more is considered trafficking.
My uncle wasn't even planning to write this kid up, just wanted him to stop smoking obviously in the middle of campus, but at that about had to bust him for a trafficking level amount.
This blows.
[rebelmouse-image 18358691 is_animated_gif=Was assigned to the ship's security force while stationed on an aircraft carrier 8-9 years ago. Was on the night shift, alongside my assigned partner, conductive a usual rove through our patrol zone of the ship.
When we heard a noise coming from one of the weather decks, we went to go investigate and I found one of the guys I knew from my division, standing with his head sort of leaned back. Seeing the beam from my flashlight, he looked up suddenly with an "Oh s*" look on his face, a split second before a woman's head raised into view.
The Captain had a standing rule of no sexual activity onboard the ship, which I never agreed with, so any time I caught people getting frisky, I would just tell them to finish up and not get caught again.
That night wasn't going to be an exception, however, the person I was partnered up with that night was a guy I never really liked, that also had a major hardon for the rules. So, it was either take them both down and get their statements or have my partner rat me out for letting them slide on disobeying a standing order.
They both ended up getting sent to the Captain for non judicial punishment, resulting in the both of them being put on restriction, along with him getting busted down two pay grades (he had put on Petty Officer Second Class recently, but was not yet given the actual pay grade: we call this frocking) and since he was married; the Captain made him call his wife to tell her why he was getting busted down.
I didn't know he was married, and finding that out alleviated the negative feeling I had about having to take him in for it. I did find it kind of s*ty that the woman, while she also went on restriction, got to keep her rank.
What is this, amateur hour?
[rebelmouse-image 18358692 is_animated_gif=I had pulled a man over for speeding, nothing major just about 9 over. He was super cool, very apologetic, just a nice guy in general. However, as I was writing his warning, I spotted a small baggy laying on the passenger side floorboard with what appeared to be cocaine in it. Can't let that one go. Sorry man, wish you could've hidden it a little better.
EDIT: I didn't mention this fact, I had a body cam on, pretty critical to the story.
A downside to body cameras - you're less likely to catch a break.
[rebelmouse-image 18358694 is_animated_gif=Body cameras have changed how we operate, big time. I LOVE them and record far more than policy dictates but they do diminish our ability to make decisions based on circumstances. For instance, a couple weeks ago I handled a simple shoplifter. He was homeless and genuinely seemed like a decent guy stealing things he needed to survive. However, the entire encounter was on body camera. How can I justify not taking one shoplifter to jail, then turning around and taking the next? How do I know their personal circumstances?
Make no mistake that attorneys are requesting our body camera footage for everything we do. The fear of finding discrepancies in how we handle situations is real. There are less "breaks" given now and if you give one, it better be consistent to everyone who violates the same law.
In the end, I still prefer to record everything and will take that loss of discretion in getting sued.
Edit - thank you all for the kind words and excellent discussion! Also for the gold! I just started my 12-hour shift so I'm having trouble keeping up with comments. Trying to do so between calls!
A positive outcome to an otherwise very sad story.
[rebelmouse-image 18358696 is_animated_gif=This thread is already so old and I know this is going to get buried but I have to share this story anyways. Years ago I took a law enforcement class and was told this story by the officer it took place too.
Around 2 in the morning or whatever, right before this Officer was supposed to get off of his shift he pulls this lady over, obvious DUI. OBVIOUS. He grabs her license and stuff and she literally lives like a block over. It's late, he doesn't really want to deal with the paperwork and says "Look, I will just give you a ticket if you can get someone to take you and your car home." Lady was not having it, she said she had no one, there was no one who could take her.
He continued asking, pleading almost. Feeling almost bad for this poor woman who he described as an emotional wreck but she didn't budge. She said she was divorced, knew none of her neighbors and her 18-year-old son had literally DIED the night before and that's why she was drinking herself into oblivion.
The officer was stumped. He had no idea what to do, he couldn't book this lady. He told her one moment and started heading back to his car, he looked behind him to see her pull something from her bag. He ran back to her as she SLIT HER THROAT with a little knife she had in her bag.
He said luckily it wasn't a bad cut and he was able to stop the bleeding while he waited for the ambulance to arrive. Apparently, that lady called him a few weeks later and had apologized, and said she could never repay him for saving her life that night.???????
Run from the cops, you'll have a bad time.
[rebelmouse-image 18345155 is_animated_gif=I'm not a police officer, but I was an Urban Park Ranger in NYC for 5 years. Most of our job was environmental education but we did some law enforcement, mostly at the end of the fiscal year when the parks department would hand out overtime to run out the budget.
So anyways we were kicking kids out of the park at night. They were getting drunk and acting up so we were trying to end the problems before they got bigger. So there was this goofy kid that we saw hide something in a planting. I got out of the truck to approach him and he took off. I chased him, caught him, and handcuffed him. We put him in the back of the truck while my partner looked for what we thought was a bag of weed.
For the record, had he not run from me we probably would have just sent him home, but we were out there to do a job and we needed to show results.
So I'm in the truck with this jerk-off and he starts losing it, telling me there's nothing to find and he didn't hide anything. Meanwhile, my partner can't find anything. I can see that this kid wasn't one of the cool kids (because I was never one of the cool kids) and he's been acting like an idiot to fit in. But I have to do my job here. So I start trying to calm him down, asking him a bunch of dumb questions, which he fumbles through.
Finally, I ask him "is my Sergeant at least looking under the right tree?"
"No, it's the other tree"
"So what's he looking for?"
There's a blank stare on his face...."f_ck"
So I tell my partner to check under the other tree. He finds...
A single bottle of Twisted Tea.
I uncuffed the kid. "Get the fuck out of my truck and go home, you f_cking jerk-off"
When mental illness is treated as a crime...
[rebelmouse-image 18358698 is_animated_gif=Obligatory, not a cop comment (I'm sorry), but I am a criminal defense attorney. And I have to be vague about this, because of privilege.
I had a client who charged with public intox, but this person was not drunk, just off their meds and manic. I watched all the body cam footage. Five cops responded, and all but one wanted to book my client in on more serious charges. The one who didn't straight up said "I am not comfortable taking this person to jail. They need to go to the hospital." A supervisor was called in and overruled him, telling all the cops there to book client in on 3 serious charges, one of which was a felony.
The one cop recognized the situation for what it was, and literally took my client out of another cop's car, and booked them into jail like he was told, but booked them in on public intox because he knew it was the most minor offense he possibly could. And his report made it very clear what he thought about the whole thing, which made my end and dealing with the DA wayyyy easier. I respect the hell out of him.
No good deed goes unpunished.
[rebelmouse-image 18358699 is_animated_gif=Guy was brought into the station by the German police in handcuffs. I was told to fill out the paperwork and advise the guy of his rights. He'd been busted for DUI.
It was New Year's Eve and his neighborhood was having a party. He witnessed a female at the party being harassed and verbally abused by her husband. He tried to intervene but the husband wouldn't back off. All the MPs were tied up. He tried calling a cab and no one was available. And everyone at the party was blitzed. So despite having had a few drinks, he took it upon himself to just drive the woman back to her home, on the other side of the neighborhood.
In that very short distance, he got pulled over by the Polizei and arrested. Essentially it was all just a good deed gone wrong.
I had to read him his rights, but I also strongly hinted that he waive them and write a statement about the events. He ended up not getting into too much trouble military-wise but still had the DUI on his record. I definitely felt bad for the guy
Edit: That's what I get for writing this then going to bed.
Sometimes getting arrested is actually good for you.
[rebelmouse-image 18358700 is_animated_gif=Same thing as a few of the above. We were getting tons of calls about an individual that had run into a bunch of cars, drove up on the sidewalk etc. It wasn't just one call, and there were multiple accidents caused by this guy.
Well, it turns out he was a Gunny Sgt in the Marine Corps, having just gotten back from combat.
I knew he was struggling and could see the pain in his eyes. All I wanted to do was let him go, and drive him somewhere. The problem is, he had been in multiple accidents, ran over property and everyone in the world was calling.
It was not possible for me to let him go.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later, I checked in on his info and found he had just done the same thing..... again. M
EDIT TO CLARIFY Some people assume I just wanted to "let him go" in the sense that nothing happen to him. That's ridiculous. I myself have been through several Critical Incidents on this job that have about destroyed me. They have changed my life and my families forever.
As I understand some of the trauma he was probably feeling, it would have been so much better had I been able NOT TO ARREST HIM, and take him to a facility to get help with his trauma.
The taboo problem that I'm working to change in Military and Law Enforcement is the following. We don't know how to ask for help because the public and the media make it taboo to ask for help when we go through these traumatic experiences.
Reminder: The TSA cares about weapons and bombs, not weed. Best not push your luck, though.
[rebelmouse-image 18358701 is_animated_gif=Former TSA here:
Every checkpoint I ever worked did NOT want to find your pot. Pot was a ton of paperwork, and we were not authorized to arrest, detain, or get credit for finding pot. We had to call airport police, who then came and took credit for all the work we'd done finding your poorly hidden pot. All TSA cares about is blades and bombs. I had to rerun a bag 6 times to get all 13 lighters out of it, but my supervisor didn't want to know about any plant matter in ziplocks. Exception: we did stop the passenger with a syringe inside her teddy bear because it was creepy.
Sometimes a polite apology can be a saving grace.
[rebelmouse-image 18358702 is_animated_gif=My dad used to tell us that if he ever pulled someone over and they said "what can I say? You got me" he'd let them go (this was probably also depending on the offense, I assume) Nobody ever said it.
He'd tell stories of people who'd say "what can I say?" And he'd be waiting for the next part but it never came, so he didn't let them go because they didn't say it fully.
Edit: I've had a few people ask if this is a reference to anything. As far as I'm aware, it's not. I asked his best mate just now, who knew his obscure references. It was just his own little thing, not a reference.
Edit 2: More people have suggested Breaking Bad. Dad never watched it and he'd resigned from the job in 1999, long before the show came out
Word to the wise: don't be a jerk.
[rebelmouse-image 18358703 is_animated_gif=When I was an officer, I pretty much just gave tickets for serious offenses. Like doing 50 in a 25 zone or running red lights. But if someone was just an a**wipe? they got a ticket regardless of if I was originally letting them go on a warning. I never gave citations for crap offenses like jaywalking and noise violations, just warnings.
EDIT 1- about getting off with a warning? There is a lot that goes into this one. When you get pulled over, the officer is going to get a copy of your driving record. If you have previous violations? Your kind of up a creek unless you can talk your way out of it. If your record shows that you are not learning safety and the rules of the road? Then the way most people look at it is that hopefully one day you will. So they don't feel sorry for you. But, If he pulls up your record and you haven't had a ticket in a long time or never? then he doesn't want to be the one to mark you.
Believe it or not, most cops think arresting people for small amounts of weed is ridiculous.
[rebelmouse-image 18358704 is_animated_gif=First, some information: In Texas, any "usable" amount of marihuana under 2oz is a Class B misdemeanor. The Code of Criminal Procedure allows police to issue citations (in lieu of arrest) for both Class B and Class A amounts of marihuana if the person resides in the county of the offense. However, my DA's office is stuck in the 70s so they don't allow this.
Personally, as long as you're not driving under the influence, I don't care. So if I eyeball it and it appears to be around 3 grams or less, I'll take it and any paraphernalia you have and simply write a Class C paraphernalia ticket and cut you loose. However, one of my former supervisors has a f_cking hard-on for busting people for weed. So any time he happened to roll by during one of those stops where I found my 'paraphernalia' amount, he would make me arrest instead.
It's not breaking any laws or unethical (because in Texas it is illegal to possess), but I really hated the few times I had to do that. And now with body cameras and our policy being, they have to stay on, there's no more "stomp that out" or "throw it away."
Edit: For those wondering why I spell it "marihuana", it's because that's how our Health and Safety Code spells it (http://codes.findlaw.com/tx/health-and-safety-code/health-safety-sect-481-121.html).
When your hands are tied, but you do the right thing.
[rebelmouse-image 18358705 is_animated_gif=I worked 3rd shift for a City police dept, Had turned around at the city limits when I clocked a vehicle traveling 80+ mph coming towards me. I hit the lights and turned on it. Since I was leaving the city to catch him, and actually figured this was going to be a pursuit, it was policy to advise dispatch what was going on.
So grab the mic, "(badge number) Dispatch I just turned on a vehicle traveling 85 Eastbound out of the city"..... Stop the car, and it's a soldier, still in BDU's that had just got back from Iraq or Afghanistan ( i can't remember) THAT day and was headed home to see his family.
Did not want to write that ticket, told him I didn't want to write that ticket..... since I'd said that on the radio though, I had to write it. Told him to come to court, and I'd do what I could to get it dismissed. Talked to the judge, and at traffic court Judge dismissed his ticket and thanked him for his service.
Felt about 3 inches tall writing that dang ticket.
That's one way to get him out of the house...
[rebelmouse-image 18358706 is_animated_gif=Domestic incident.... husband and husband argue, one husband grabbed the other husband by the balls for whatever reason. Husband who did the grabbing admitted it. Husband who was assaulted wanted the other husband to leave the house for a few hours. Welp..... couldn't by law I had to make an arrest
And there are just as many grievances for which we are not at all sorry.
Curious to hear about people's track record of their questionable behavior, Redditor NanoPKx asked:
"What is something bad you have done with no regrets?"
Is it petty theft or flat out stealing? You decide.
The Parting Gift
"'Forgetting' to bring back a company ipad after they forgot about me having it. Actually they never asked for it back so I still have it and use it."
– Koetjeka
Furry Companion
"I stole a barn kitten while delivering packages for FedEx. He kept climbing my legs and getting into the van, sitting under the wheel when I tried to back out (it was a steep driveway, no way to swing the van around). I called the number on the package, looked the name up on facebook, called the local non-emergency to get contact info, all failed."
"So I took him. Now, if you're not from a rural environment, you might not understand that barn cats like that are 'no-man's-cats.' For all the owners know, he got sick or got got by a coyote. And he would have died, because when we got him to the vet he had a nasty upper resp infection and some other nasties."
"Now, one deformed nasal passage and the cutest snore later, we have a bonkers little orange cat with the heaviest penchant for snuggling I've ever seen (his name is Monty btw)."
"Edit: I forgot to pay my Cat Tax: https://imgur.com/a/HIXS4us"
"Edit Part 2: Monty loves the attention. Thank you for loving him as much as we do :3"
"MmmmMMMMRrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW" -Montgomerey Valentine, 2022
– SonOfSkinDealer
The Dirty Treat
"A housemate of mine kept eating mine and my girlfriends food and even though I asked him to stop the only thing he would ever say is 'I thought it was mine' then keep eating it."
"Well I bought my girlfriend some ice cream she really enjoys and she put the half she didn’t finish back in the freezer. Well when she want to get the rest it was gone and it made me madder than I think it probably should have."
"The very next time I saw him and somehow keeping a straight apologetic face I told him how he accidentally ate our sex ice cream and that bits of it had been on our parts etc. I told him I felt guilty not to tell him and that I had to apologise for him to eat such a thing."
"I will never forget the face he made when I told him. A face of pure self disgust and shock to which all he had to say was 'I wish you never told me that' and proceeded to move out around a month later."
"Although he didn’t actually eat sex ice cream, like why the f'k would you put it back after use anyway? Sometimes I wonder if I went to far but in that moment I just did not care at all. He still doesn’t know it isn’t true and I’ll probably never see him again."
"F'k you Vitas buy your own food."
– SpicyDolphin74
Vengeance is sweet.
Payback Time
"A drunk driver hit my parked car, left a huge dent in the front driver’s side door, and then drove away. I happened to be looking out the window at the time and saw the whole thing, including his plate number. Cops got there not long after and took my statement. After a couple days and a couple phone calls, I found out nothing was going to come of it because he was the son of the sheriff the next county over."
"Fast forward a couple months, I see his car parked behind a local bar within walking distance of my apartment. I got out my hunting knife and sliced all four of his tires, and made a couple trips around it destroying the paint job. Yellow Pontiac Sunfire, and I still remember the goddamn plate number even after almost 20 years."
– IgnoreMe304
For The People
"I was a GM for a retailer that was going out of business. During the liquidation I let my employees that worked until the end store product they wanted to buy in a closet I claimed I didn't have a key to. Oh the final days I sold them all the items they requested for 95% off. 70" tvs, ipads, gaming laptops whatever they requested."
– Midnights606
Surreptitious Swap
"Years ago I worked for a wealthy dude who was married to someone semi-famous. He would waltz in every morning and talk about the fantastic dinner he had the night before, how he hung out with some other famous person or whatever else."
"He paid me peanuts. I had a hard time making ends meet."
"I was the office assistant and IT guy. So it comes time to get a new computer for one of the designers. I spec something out, and show it to him. It was a ripper of a machine for the time (early 2000s). But it wasn’t expensive enough for bossman."
"So I added a really high end graphics card. Boss was happy then. The card added nothing for the designer: they only did illustrator and photoshop."
"So I came in that weekend and swapped the graphics card for my aging one from home."
"No one ever knew. Or cared. And I got a new graphics card."
– Dudeinairport
When times are tough, people had to do what it took to survive.
T.P. Crisis
"In college I was so poor I would steal toilet paper from the supply closet in our major building."
– Business_Loquat5658
Hungry College Buddy
"I stood watch for a college friend who was going hungry because he’d been disowned and his roommates had made living with him intolerable after he came out."
"I was loosely affiliated with an off campus program with local churches that gave free student dinners on Thursdays. We would go to church to eat, then bring dishes into the kitchen."
"Anyway, he would go in there and steal stuff like peanut butter, literal bread (not an allegory), granola bars etc. while I watched out for the pastor."
"Eventually we both got caught, the pastor for the college students got a bit mad because he was responsible for us while we were there to eat. And I think it was offensive on some level to steal from church. But then he saw what my friend was taking, and asked him if he had enough to eat. My friend shamefacedly said no, not usually."
“'Okay, fine. Put the food back, and come with me.' Took my friend grocery shopping instead, got him connected with the food pantry and community garden at church instead."
– SchnarchendeSchwein
Based on these examples, people didn't twice about their actions in the heat of the moment.
Within reason, we all gotta somehow get by.
But do you think their actions deserve punishment?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
When a person sees someone they care about going through a struggle or crisis, their instinct is to uplift them with positive advice.
But sometimes, the wisdom imparted by friends isn't always helpful or relevant to the situation.
Curious to hear from strangers online who could do without specific knowledge, Redditor Saibotnl1 asked:
"What life advice can just f'k off?"

These Redditors have a problem with how certain people have on outlook on life.
Time To Rest
"Sleep when you’re dead."
"Cool, but you’re going to be dead a lot sooner."
– Tag2graff
Irrelevant Sadness
"People have it so much worse than you so don’t be sad!"
– notrachelmar
"To that I like to say, 'people have it so much better than you so don't be happy!'"
– ___jupiter____
Your Life Path
"Almost anything relating to what age you must be in order to buy a house, have children, marry, have a profession, or do anything else. Seriously, everyone's life is different from everyone else's. Make your life the way you want it to be. If you so desire. Up to you."
– Frn071
On The Contrary
“Cheaters never prosper”
"Yes, they f'king do."
– waqasnaseem07
People can get out of any situation they find displeasing.
But others feel people should just "stick it out."
Ignoring Bullies
"Just ignore bullys or get someone else to handle it for you. I have never seen this work, only makes it worse. The only effective way I've seen to deal with them is by not making yourself an easy target and make them scared to f'k with you again. If going psycho on their a** is the only thing they'll respond to that's their fault. Also want to add in schools they will punish you for self defense but that punishment is only sitting around a few hours in detention or sitting around at home with a suspension. The punishment is temporary boredom, it's absolutely nothing compared to being bullied and when it's over the important message will still stand that you will not tolerate being a victim."
– User Delted
Remain to be Miserable
"Stick it out"
"Whether that's sh**ty jobs, shi**y relationships, shi**y living situations..."
"By all means don't just give up on things when you face challenges, but if something feels wrong or is wrecking your peace then take some control and change it if you can!"
– petitezoey
"Easy for you to say," might be an auto-response to these suggestions for many people.
Invitation For Recklesslessness
"Live like everyday was your last"
Yall know what people do when they learn they have a single day left to live?"
– LimeGrass619
A Possible Consequence
"I did that as a teenager and ended up homeless and addicted to heroin. Didn’t pan out for me too well."
"19 years sober though today."
– Open-Section-7263
A Practical Approach
"If I knew with certainty that I had one day left, I'd double-check all my financials, my will, and my insurance policies, make sure my wife had all of my passwords and knew where all the money was, spend the rest of the day with her and the kids, then call the medical examiner and ask to lie down on the gurney so that when I die they won't strain their back moving my remains out of my house."
– Asteriad
Nose Stuck In A Book
"Work while they sleep. Study while they party"
"That's not a recipe for success, that's a recipe for a lot of white hairs, burnout syndrome and a stroke before your 40s..."
– Khomuna
Doesn't Apply To Everyone
"Do what you love and money will follow"
"I love walking my dogs and grilling food for my friends but That sh*t doesn't pay the bills as well as my engineering degree!"
– Elons_android
While people's intentions are good, they're better off keeping their two cents in their own pockets.
Not everyone likes to hear platitudes.
Sometimes, people just want to know they're not alone with their problems over listening to unlikely solutions that are nothing more than superficial pick-me-ups.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Kids start going to school from the age of five, and for the most part, they spend more time at school than at home. Because of that, teachers can become very important figures in the lives of their students.
Some students don't have the best home lives. Some keep it to themselves, but others confide in their teachers.
Curious about various situations, Redditor Delicious_Mastodon83 asked:
"teachers of reddit what is the saddest thing you found out about a student?"
In Need of Parents
"Not a teacher but was a school-based therapist. Had a student (7 -8 y/o) I didn’t know knock on my office door and ask if I’d adopt her and “if you have room, my brother too, but if not, that’s ok, we can be split up. We’re split up now. And I don’t take up space. I just need a sleeping bag”. Broke my heart."
– secretkpr
Heartbreaking, But Industrious
"My mom taught at a school in a bad neighborhood in Chicago in the mid 90’s. There was a second grader that would save his milk and ketchup packers from lunch for his mom so she had something to eat when she got home from work."
– PowerstrokeMe
Big-Hearted Mom
"Not a teacher but a parent with a 9 year old son. Every day I pack extra in my sons lunch because he tells me he has a friend that never has anything to eat. It's winter and my son came home and told me his friend was turning up with shorts and shirt and holes in his shoes. So I sent in a jumper and long pants for him to wear and some slightly used but good condition shoes. I have been up to the school recently and the teacher pulled me aside and thanked me profusely for helping this child. Apparently teachers are not allowed to aid kids they teach here in Australia and they have already reported the issue 3 times to child welfare without results so I was the only one helping this child. The teacher told me before I started sending in more food and clothes, this child would steal others food from their lunches and look through the bins because he was so hungry. They doubt he gets fed at home. So now I make sure to always send an extra lunch and some school clothes/supplies when I can. I can only hope child welfare eventually does something but it breaks my heart."
– spetzie55
Amazing Big Sister
"It was right after winter break and before class started I was just talking with some students and asked if they got anything fun for the holidays. One girl said on no, I don’t ever get presents, my mom is a drug addict. But I went out and got some stuff for my little sister so that she can have a real Christmas."
"She just said it so matter-of-fact. She was so used to being the parent to her little sister that she didn’t even care about her own childhood. It totally broke my heart."
– tonydanzascaulk
The Importance Of Human Affection
"Second hand story from my mom, elementary teacher for 30ish years. She had a hug or a handshake out the door policy, just some small contact and a proper goodbye, and had this young boy who always picked the hug. She wondered why he always went for it, most kids would go back and forth depending on their mood that day, so she asked him why he was always so excited for the end of day hug? His answer, "It's the only one I ever get.""
– needsawholecroissant
Coming Out The Other Side
"Two teenage boys (16/14) with learning disabilities were on my caseload, they never missed school but often ditched class. They were homeless mid-year after they went home from school to find the locks changed, their Mom had abandoned them for a new boyfriend. She didn't leave an address for them to find her."
"*Edit: both eventually dropped out, however a couple of years later the younger brother came back to visit. He and his brother were both working construction, and his brother had gotten married, had a child, and was living with his wife’s family."
"The younger had roommates and was saving for a car. He told me it was a shame I didn’t have kids, because I would make a good Dad."
"People often persevere, even with the odds stacked against them."
– Kursch50
True Parentification
"Not me but my daughter is a teacher, she has lots of stories but one that stands out for me is one of her kindergarten kids saying she was tired and her asking why, the little girl explained that she had been up all night with her mums newborn baby. She did this every night, fed her bottles and everything."
– lb47513343
Luckily, He Was Resilient
"This year I had a 17 year old kid enroll at my school. He was sitting in my math class and I could tell he was struggling. After class I took some extra time to go over a concept with him. I asked him to read the question to me, and he sat there silently. He then looked at me and said “I’m not going to lie to you, I cannot read. I have no idea how to say these words""
"Turned out at age 17 he was illiterate and had been kept out of school by his very religious, controlling parents. Over the past few months he has worked very hard! Now he can finally read at an 8th grade level and he is STILL improving!!"
– User Deleted
A Heroic Teacher
"I worked in an inner city charter school. One of my students (`M10) had a sib (M8) in a lower grade. The mom was there every day in the beginning of the year encouraging them, helping them and generally being very supportive... until a CPS agent spoke to me asking about her behavior. After CPS left things went downhill. The boys showed up late to class even though they lived a half block away from school. When in school both boys were tired from sleeping in the car while their mom "went fishing". She also had two very young girls which she dragged around making the boys take care of them. One day the boys didn't show up and their teacher walked over to the house to find the mom had loaded up the fridge, paid the rent for the month and abandoned them. The teacher (a candidate for sainthood btw) took them in, adopted them and grew them up to be great men."
– mopedarmy
This is really heartbreaking stuff! Luckily, teachers aren't just another adult in your life; they can be your saving grace as well.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains sensitive content about depression and mental health.
As the stigma around mental health lessens (however slowly), people are more forthcoming about the problems they are facing. One of the most common mental health issues is depression.
Depression can affect many different types of people. Factors such as gender, race, nationality, and even age have no bearing on whether someone suffers from depression or not.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, "...an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years..."
Depression displays in certain patterns, such as mood changes, physical difficulties, and social isolation. However, depression manifests differently in different people and feels different to different people.
Reddit users divulged what depression felt like to them when Redditor iodineseaspray asked:
"What does depression feel like to you?"
Some of this is sure to sound familiar.
The Worst Kind Of Boredom
"Like being more bored than you could imagine but also not wanting to do anything at all, even breathe. So you want to do something, but you can't imagine anything that you would like to do so you're just sort of stuck."
– BuddhistSlater
"So you then spend literally hours staring at a blank wall hating yourself, your life, and everything around you. Well, as much hate as you can summon in the absolutely mentally numb state you find yourself sat in day after day."
– merryman1
Lack Of Motivation and Energy
"Complete lack of motivation."
"Ignoring people that I love, and who are trying to help."
"Just sh*t"
– HatFromStraw
"I feel it extra at work. Letting things slide until you either get into trouble or trying last minute to prevent it."
"Funny those times when I'm working to save my butt, the depression goes away and i feel super focused and motivated."
"I try to carry that energy over but no, it's rinse and repeat."
– ExtraBitterSpecial
Powerful Insecurity
"Insecure about absolutely everything, no hope for the future, dissociation from society and not knowing how to “act” anymore, feeling like I’m not as good at the things I always thought I was good at or that the “talent is wasted on me”, only food cheers me up and sometimes even that doesn’t work"
– tenamonth
Loss Of Creativity
"This. It's like some numb fuzziness you feel in your brain. It's the worst thing ever for an artist who just wants to create but your brain comes up dry with a dense fog that wants to just lie down for a few hours"
– FinnProtoyeen
A Mental Inability To Breathe
"For me, it feels like I’m in a lake with a ball chain tied to my feet, desperately swimming up for air, the only problem is the chain isn’t long enough. I can only get an inch of my head out of the water to breath, and as soon as a high tide comes, the water just floods over me and I feel like I can’t breath again. I live like this, constantly feeling like I’m struggling to breathe, weighed down by my own mind. It’s a struggle and I can’t really describe it in any other way, I’m jealous of people who don’t worry about depression"
– DrowningInBrokeness
"Like suffocating under a heavy cloak"
– kmartfreak
"Like being crushed. Like if the air was crushing my muscles and bones and I can’t breathe because I’m being crushed…"
"Kinda like that."
– Afreshnewsketckbook
Listlessness
"Scrolling thru your steam library. Thinking you want to play something, either not settling on anything or not wanting to put the effort into the game. Going back to the scrolling."
– Aistadar
"It feels like you're forced to play a game of Monopoly (represents life) and your just rolling the dice to appease everyone but you genuinely don't care about where you go, where you land, what you pick up, what you pay, what you gain."
"You kind of just watch it happen without interest and while people are cheering or oh no-ing for you, you genuinely don't care. Everyone is a piece on this board that hardly matters and you feel like we're all just running in a circle over and over again and it's boring and disinteresting as hell."
"You lose all curiosity for everything and just let everything happen and pass by you. No motivation, hardly any love, hardly any care. Feels like the world is in black and white and your waiting for the game to end became it's so absolutely boring and disinteresting, but it never does."
"You come to resent the game and eventually hate it because it feels like you're being forced to play it and suffer it's consequences when you never asked to play it in the first place."
"That's what depression felt like for me. Since then I've been medicated and recieved therapy. I'm doing a lot better now and I don't feel this way anymore, thankfully."
- KnlghtLlghts
A Relation To Fantasy
"You know that scene in the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo is describing to Galndalf what having the Ring all those years felt like? "I feel thin. Like too much jam spread over too much bread." That's honestly the best way I've seen to describe it."
– Electrical_Age_336
"I always say the closest thing to compare it to is a dementor in harry potter. It sucks every ounce of happiness out of you until there is only darkness left."
"Side note: chocolate always helps"
– sunfacer
Fear Of Lack Of Justification
"Like someone close to you died yesterday. Expect no one has, and nothing has happened to justify how you feel."
– AlterEdward
A Physical Pain
"Physical pain in my heart, will start crying just by attending to the physical sensation in my body."
– sagieday
Help Yourself
"I've always described it as having a shadow fixed to your brain which fuels things like indecision and negativity. You can do things to temporarily help but you can't truly shift it. Previous normality is forgotten. But it's amazing how much you can mask it."
"I found I didn't realise how bad I was until I started to get better"
"For anyone suffering with depression. Please, please speak to someone. Best thing I ever did"
– DavosLostFingers
Depression isn't something you can just deal with or get over. Learning to cope is not easy. However, as Redditor DavosLostFingers pointed out, talking to someone can literally save your life.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, contact the American Psychological Association by phone at 800.374.2721 or 202.336.5500.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.