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People Describe The Real Reason They Cut Ties With Their Best Friend

People Describe The Real Reason They Cut Ties With Their Best Friend

Friendships are one the most important and intimate connections young people make. Friends are the people you are close to, who you grow up with, and who are always there for you when you need them.

A majority of people have best friends. That's the one friend who you trust and love above everyone else. The one who has proven he'll always be there for you and the one you're ready to drop everything for.

However, not all friendships are meant to last. Sometimes, one or both of you will change. Other times, you'll just drift apart. And sometimes, the friendship will end because of malicious actions. Redditors seem to have a lot of those stories!


Curious about what broke apart once strong friendships, Redditor gli-tc-h asked:

"People of reddit what ended your friendship with your best friend?"

Work And Friendships Do Not Mix

"I gave one of my best friends a job at my convinince store when he was down on his luck. He worked in his dad's shop previously for like 6.50 an hour and his dad was toxic so he quit and came to work for me till je got a better job. The inferiority complex kicked in and he started talking down to me and talking about how I was spoiled and a daddy's boy "my dad gave me the shop.""

"I paid him the best money he ever made and he would routinely go off on me for perceived managerial issues or start stupid arguments with customers like not selling kids toy guns because they would be at risk and not selling cigarettes or beer to pregnant women, which I understand is a personal choice but as a business I can't just refuse to sell people sh*t their allowed to buy legally. Covid hit and he became a huge antimasker and I finally fired him after a huge blowout about me trying to establish a mask policy. He's a marine now and got married to a girl he knew for two weeks. We still talk but I've never trusted him since. It sucks because I think he was just like me but from a worse situation. If I was in his shoes maybe I would be way worse."

– joyesthebig

Uneven Investment

"I got tired of always being the one to put forth any effort. Fly across the world to meet up, attend family gatherings, reach out, be patient, make sacrifice. It was good times when we were together. So it was worth it for a while but when she moved close and still never bothered to make an effort, I was over it. Wish her nothing but the best."

– SpoonfulofYou

Not A Real Friend

"When I realized he was a bully. I just wanted his friendship and attention, and then I realized he was using me for kicks."

"I put up with his bullsh*t because I wanted to be liked."

– bananajr6000

Neither A Borrower Nor A Lender Be

"After 14 years of friendship we get an apartment and suddenly he loses his job as a personal trainer because of a dress code violation (he wore a hoodie to work, allegedly) and then 2-3 months of him not working. Then after he agreed to pay me back eventually, all he ever gave me was $400 from his mom (I paid over 14,000 for the year). So I paid the full year lease and he stayed 8 months total. I never talked to him again also because I found a receipt where he was trying to make a copy of my car keys make and model. F*CK THAT GUY"

– autumnsromeo

Flirting With Disaster

"Every single time that I would tell her I was interested in/talking to a guy, she would try to get with him. She was never successful but it hurt that she kept trying. I confronted her about this in a very nice and civil way and explained to her how I felt about this. She apologized profusely and promised it would never happen again. And then it happened again. I just immediately cut her off after that, no explanation or words needed. She knows what she did. Haven't spoken a word to her since"

– WhiskeyMeAway-

Just Didn't Mesh Well

"Took an international vacation where we realized we hated damn near everything each other did the whole time. Realized year of seeing each other 1-2 times a month made us hardly know each other."

– McJumpington

Me, Myself, & I

"Just made a post about this but she uses me as a therapist but when I try to vent to her, she gives me a few cliche words of support before turning the conversation back to her. It's gotten to the point where we don't talk unless she has a bad day and needs someone to talk to. She'll take days or even a week to respond to a funny meme but then immediately start dumping on me about things going on on her life. I'll invite her out to have fun and within a few hours, I'm being her life coach."

"Also, we just started to grow apart. She's turned into her parents and her parents are the typical snobby surban people that are extremely judgemental."

– Pear_Jam2

Completely Tacky

"She didn't invite me to her birthday party. It was my first time back from college and I would have been able to go. She made a whole Facebook event page and invited everybody but me. I found out through mutual friends, the kicker was no one showed up and she called me crying that this other girl didn't show up."

– ubettawuurrrk69

"A friend did something similar when he didn't invite me to his wedding. He called me years later apologizing when he needed to vent about his marriage."

– tamagotchi____

A Passive Lady Macbeth

"My husband at the time had to step away from his job because he was dealing with pretty severe mental health issues. We had a young child and I was a stay-at-home mom and it was really devastating not only financially, but socially as a lot of our social life revolved around his job and work friends."

"I was really good friends with a coworker’s wife. The coworker moved into my husband’s (higher up) position when my husband had to resign. We had to sell our home since we couldn’t make the mortgage payment anymore. The friend came to help me pack, and while doing so told me that they always knew this would happen because the Lord had revealed it to the husband in a dream several years earlier. They had basically been waiting around for my husband to “fail” so that coworker could “succeed” and fulfill the Lord’s prophesy."

"Yeah no. Said goodbye to her, moved out of state, and never looked back. I won’t tolerate people using religion to be jerks."

– LittleWhiteBoots

...No Big Loss

"He peed in my college dorm room after he found out that I was still friends with his ex-girlfriend even after they broke up."

"He (let's call him P, no puns intended) was one of my first friends in uni and was dating this girl (let's call her N) when I met him. Initially N and I wouldn't talk much, just share a few memes with each other or talk about things pertaining to P (stuff like "hey can you make sure he's awake for this class", or "could you order this cake for his birthday")."

"When covid struck we all went back to our homes, doing nothing. My sleep schedule was pretty fcked up, turns out, N had an equally fcked up sleep schedule too. She would be awake at the same time as I, so we started talking more. Eventually she became more than just my best friend's girlfriend- she and I became friends independent of the relationship I had with P."

"One day P calls me and tells me that him and N broke up. I do my bit in consoling him, making sure he's alright, video calling him every once in a while, the whole nine yards. Throughout all this, I don't stop talking to N- for the very simple reason that she and I were friends now and even though the breakup was a tricky situation, it didn't warrant me ending my relationship with her."

"Eventually P finds out about N and I and confronts me about the situation. I try to explain my side of things to him but he isn't ready to listen. Not wanting to push this man (who has also just had a rough breakup) I give him his space just so he can wrap his head around it. No biggie."

"Months pass, complete radio silence. He removes me from his socials and stop talking to me completely. It was a little awkward initially because P and I were a part of the same friend group, but eventually he started hanging out with the group lesser and lesser. The friend group was aware of the situation and after multiple back and forths with both of us, they understood the situation and (thankfully) agreed that I wasn't in the wrong."

"By this time, N and I had gotten even closer. While the whole P situation was playing out, I had broken up with my long-distance girlfriend and gotten COVID leaving me with a ton of free time. I chose to spend this time with N: we would watch movies on video call, or play a few games online. I enjoyed my time with N a lot and I didn't tell her much about what was going on between P and I."

"When the lockdowns finally ended, we were called back to attend uni offline. A few of my friends and I moved out of the college dorms when we came back, but a lot of my stuff was still in the dorms. I casually mentioned to a friend of mine that I was planning to go back to my dorm room to pack up my old things and bring them to my new place. He pulled me aside and asked me if I had been to my dorm room yet. I told him I hadn't. He asked me to not go. He said, "I was talking to P the other day, and he said he vandalised your room. He also mentioned peeing in it.""

"All my friends found out a week before I was told this. I had no idea how to react. It was f*cked up and disgusting. I ended up telling the warden and having my room cleaned out by the cleaners. All of us in the friend group cut ties with him as he left for a semester abroad."

"A lot of people have since heard this story and the look on their faces when I reach the climax is priceless. As for N and I, we have been happily dating for the past 11 months. She knows the whole story now and we still laugh about it."

– oneandahalfpunjabi

People Really Do Change

"I knew my best friend since 1st grade, we where inseparable, then he became creppy. He started to follow me everywhere i went. In quarantine, we used to play with another kid. We where a trio. A month in, he became seriously toxic, me and the other guy would wait for him so we could all play, but when he joined, he couldn’t resist 5 minutes before starting arguments. Saying lies bout me, telling me i was trash etc etc. We used to insult each other, in a playfull manner. Everyone could insult anyone, it was all cool between us. Each time we hang out he grew even more toxic, so i started distancing myself from the both. In the time i kept off two things happened"

"Other guy asked toxic friend for some hw answers, toxic guy gave him the wrong answers and tattled on him with the teachers"

"He started making up lies about other guy"

"Other guy dmed me saying “hey, toxic guy is going way out of line, think you could help me make a video about him bout how we are kicking him out?” I said, yeah sure!""

"We make the video, it was basically making fun of him for the things he did"

"Claiming i had aimbot cause aim assist"

"Saying i was a spammer"

"He would always camp/ ran away from battle"

"And that he was “working hard” to repay his depts (we had bets)"

"And that he was kicked off our group"

"Also sprinkling in a inside joke that tbh is offensive not knowing the context"

"TWO HOURS LATER"

"My mother calls me asking wtf did i do to him, she was saying that he was crying"

"Turns out, he called his mom, told her we where bullies, her mom got worried (obviously as a mother should) called the school, wich called out parents and shit went nuts. Apparently, he “never insulted us back” wich the lil shit almost got away with because our insults where verbal and none where on text, except for the whatsapp chats, we showed this too everyone, gave our side of the story, and they suspended us 3 for 2 days"

"He tried to apologize, but i shut him down, he tried to “try it again” but i reminded him he was the one that became toxic, i reminded him that we wanted things too cool down but he didnt want to back off."

"Havent talked to him in a year, i have too see him in 3 days"

"(Damm this should go on aita)"

– Automatic_Search_123

Liar, Liar

"She started lying about her life when we got to 7th grade in order to seem cool in front of other people. If i tried asking her why she was lying when others were around she'd either deny it or not know what I'm talking about, but i know for sure that she did those things cuz she made pictures of it and send it to me."

– confused-girl_lol

Lesson Learned

"She taught me the lesson that you can forgive someone, but that doesn't mean you should invite them back into your life. Kinda like being shown a landscape and being told it used to have landmines in it. You should think twice before going in there."

– walkinghomeat3am

MOH-Zilla

"She was my maid of honor at my wedding. Jealousy has taken her over since she wasn’t having a wedding of her own. She started a huge fight at my bachelorette with my sister in law who was tired of her being mean to me and putting me down on my own bachelorette. She then on my wedding day made up lies to all my bridesmaids to get them to hate me / never talk to me again. Which ended up causing a lot of stress for me."

Once I found out what was happening I confronted her (weeks after my wedding) and she tried to blame me. Then we "never spoke again. Good thing too - I hear more and more from people about how manipulative and backstabbing she was. We were best friends for 32 years."

– Jscholtzy

Many Years Doesn't Make A Good Friend

"We had been best friends since high school, half our life. There had been several times where we would get into an argument or disagreement and she would ghost me for some time. The most recent time, she came around after I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Because I was diagnosed while in school outside of my home state and had health insurance in the state I was currently living in, I had to get my surgery and treatment in that state and had to cancel multiple trips home. I didn't get to go home for almost 2 years."

"Well, a few months ago, I had the opportunity to go home for the first time in nearly 2 years. I wanted to surprise my parents, including my elderly father. The reason I wanted to come home was because he had been having some health problems and I wanted to physically see my father. I had some vouchers that were expiring that covered one way and found a really cheap flight, but it would land at an airport nearly an hour away (30ish minutes with no traffic) and in the middle of the night over the weekend. There were no shuttles from the airport anymore and a taxi/uber would cost about $100 (almost as much as the plane ticket). My parents were unable to drive at night due to their poor vision. Before booking the ticket, I asked if she would be willing to pick me up from the airport, and if she couldn't, I would pay the extra money to go to a closer airport OR I just would not be able to go and see my father. She told me "book the ticket, I'll make it work. You need to see your father.""

"4 days before I was supposed to come home, she texted me saying she couldn't pick me up anymore because of her dogs (which I told her she could bring with in the car with her if she was worried cuz I know they're good in the car. Granted the whole round trip would be less than 3 hours and her dogs are alone for 8+ hours a day while she was at work) and she had run club in that morning and it would be "too much back and forth." Mind you, run club is an optional thing, not a mandatory scheduled job. I responded saying thank you anyways but I was disappointed since I wouldn't have booked the ticket if I knew she wasn't going to be able to come get me, especially since she said she would make it work."

"I never heard from her again. She never asked if I made it in to town ok, never asked how my father was doing (this was the whole reason why I was coming home after all!!), never once reached out to me again."

"I accidentally FaceTimed her 2 months later when I meant to FaceTime my dad. It was 3 days before my birthday. As soon as I realized I had FT'd her, I ended the call. She texted me a few hours later asking me if everything was ok. I said yes, it was an accident. Never heard from her after that. Not even a happy birthday, not even checking in. Nothing. Completely ghosted me. After 14 years of friendship. It was my last straw. I removed her from social media, deleted our text strain. Everything short of deleting her number."

"The other thing that always bothered me that she did but I never told her was, when I was getting radiation, I got my partner, parents, and another friend of mine shirts in support of me, with the thyroid cancer ribbon on it. It was to wear on my day of radiation. I was terrified that my cancer had spread and it was important to me to know I had support from friends and family, even if it was by wearing a silly shirt. Everyone else was fine with it and I bought them (didn't even ask anyone to pay for them!!!) and mailed it to them. When I asked for her address, she wouldn't give it to me and said she would make one herself. She never did. It was one of the most hurtful things anyone has ever done."

"So ya, after being friends for 14 years, half my life, I've officially cut her out and honestly, my life is better because of it. I wish her well, but the friendship was over and can never be repaired."

"And wow it felt REALLY good to type that all out haha"

– greenvsblack

Human ATM

"After a few years I became aware that he only wanted to hangout when he was short of cash and wanted me to buy the beer. I realized he didn't wanna see me when he had his own money to spend"

– Lubedguyballa1

Priorities

"I’m a leap year baby, I try to make a big deal of my bday since it only comes every four years. My 24th, I booked a beach house to spend it with my family, my other best friend and her. Told her two months in advanced. Paid for everything and family took care of the food, so all she had to do was show up. The day comes and she said she couldn’t come cause she couldn’t get off work early enough (we were there on a Thursday-Sunday) so I thought she’d at least make an effort to come on the weekends. She never came. Then a week later, she tweets that she’s compulsively took time off work to watch F1. Felt like she couldn’t even make time for me but can make time to watch cars racing."

– kkhhaayyccee

It's never easy or fun to lose a friendship, but it is sometimes part of life.

Sometimes, it's something that will always haunt you, but you can learn from that. And other times, it's just a way of expelling toxicity from your life, and you can find better friends who will enrich your life.

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

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Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?