People Break Down The Things That People Romanticize But Are Actually Awful

Do you know what popular thing I’m sick of people attempting to make romantic? The 1940s and 1950s.
How many times have we all heard the sentiments that dating isn’t like it used to be? Marriages don’t last like they used to?
Or how men knew how to be men or women were so glamorous back then? Or “I was made for a different time” citing romantic ideals of ice cream shop dates and car hops?
It’s a bunch of hooey.
Yes, we all love some great retro fashion but the time period was horribly oppressive. Those women—if even able or allowed to work—made so little per hour compared to men they could not typically be fully self sufficient.
Women were still raised for marriage and not their own dreams. They did awful things to themselves to fit into societal beauty standards at the time as it was tied in directly to their worth.
People of color had no rights, they were kept segregated and abused. The fight is still going today to undo the grievous social harms done during and after this time period.
So, forgive us if we don’t see the romance in “the olden days”.
Creative_Waltz_9462 wanted to hear what other wrongly romanticized occurrences bother others, so they asked:
“What are you sick of being romanticized or portrayed positively?”
Harassment is encouraged.
“Chasing a girl/boy who doesn’t want to be chased. And then making them feel bad, for not wanting to be with you. If someone isn’t interested, then it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Don’t harass them. It’s not a good look.” OkHomework7009
It’s a rampant and serious issue.
“Poverty - it’s always some family that is struggling but lives in some “run down” apartment that is merely small and not modern, but is heated and furnished and always has some amazing view or rooftop access that makes them feel the world is really theirs for the taking.”
“Nope nope nope. Unheated rat-infested roach motel with dangerous neighbors and a view of a fire-escape. Cut electric, cut heating, dinner of saltines if anything. Poverty is absolute shit and can be a death sentence to your health and sanity.” hyogodan
Suffering is not a virtue.
“Terminal illness. It doesn't 'open your eyes', it doesn't ‘give you a better outlook on life’. Most of them are horrible degenerative diseases that scrape away people's lives bit by bit until they are ghosts of their former selves.” TwentyFourSevenCID
Can we just stop making a joke of mental health?
“Obsessive compulsive disorder (maybe “positively” is the wrong word, but it’s certainly portrayed as ‘quirky’ or ‘silly’ a lot)” blairbxtch
“Ive seen this on social media a lot. OCD is NOT quirky at all. My intrusive thoughts are mostly about violence, harm(like wanting to hurt someone i love), really disturbing images, and like “if you dont do this, you will go to hell” sth like that. Seeing how it’s portrayed as ‘silly’ ‘quirky’ is infuriating. ‘Omgg im so ocd 😚😚’ 🤦♀️“ Apprehensive-Ad9077
Poverty is not 'cool'…
“Growing up in the hood. Sure, the story of triumph and making it out is great. But losing loved ones and friends throughout your childhood is a miserable and traumatizing experience. Not to mention the poverty and daily uncertainty.” astrofresh
"At 25 I finally escaped a generational cycle of poverty. That year my brother was murdered. It doesn’t even matter who I am anymore because I’ll never be the same without him.” titsandwits89
Be kind to artists…
“Starving artist. Starving is not pleasant no matter what causes it.” Ashtar-the-squid
“To piggyback on this: the sad, depressed artist that turns his pain into ART. I would burn all of van gogh's paintings if it meant that poor man could have been happy.” Averysaur91
There’s nothing romantic about it…
“As an adoptee, someone discovering that they were adopted and then venturing off to find their "real" parents and this leads to them finding that thing that was missing from their lives. I've known that I was adopted for as long as I can remember.”
“My ‘real’ parents are the the ones that raised me, loved me and nurtured my thirst for knowledge. I've had some contact with my biological mother but have only some ethnic elements as points of commonality. Never had any contact with my biological father and have no pressing urge to reach out.”
“I wouldn't refuse him if he sought me out, but I have my own life and admire both of them for having the self awareness to know that neither of them were in a good place to raise a child.”
“EDIT: Wow, thank you so much for the awards. I would just like to add a little something here. If you are thinking of adopting, please don't be frightened that they won't love you because you don't share quite as many chromosomes. If are willing to give someone a loving and nurturing home and give up some of your own personal indulgences to do so, then you are a hero. As one respondant said, at least we (adoptees) know for certain that we were wanted.”
“And if you are somone who is thinking of putting up your child for adoption because you feel that you cannot provide them the life that they deserve, then please don't feel bad about that decision. As I said earlier, I have the utmost respect for my biological parents for being that self-aware and doing what was right by all of us."
"Giving up your child for adoption should be seen as an act of love and caring, not abandonment. Aliit ori'shya tal'din: Family is more than blood.” TheRealAegil
“Those labels make me wretch more than the chemo.”
“Cancer diagnosis and its treatment. We are not all strong brave warriors and insisting we act like we are, to assuage non cancer sufferers fear of our diagnosis; doesn't allow us to safely process the trauma we are experiencing. Please stop.”
“EDIT: Thank for the awards. My sleeping tablet knocked me out and i woke up to alot of unexpectedness. I'm in active treatment for Breast cancer currently. I don't consider myself a warrior or brave. Those labels make me wretch more than the chemo.”
“I've taken to calling myself a Cancer Passenger as it mostly feels like I accidentally got on the wrong bus and now I'm holding on tight to see if i can get to my desired destination via an unexpectedness detour. I am sorry for all the raw loss shared below but bloody grateful for it too. We need desperately to talk more honestly about the reality of cancer and its treatments to allow us to manage it better and give us patients more dignified ends of our choice, if/when that time comes. Thank to you all.” SomethingElegant
They aren’t idols…
“Mobsters/Cartel members. They are violent criminals responsible for murders and running lives.” drunkin_idaho
“It's really telling when you hear an old Brooklyn guy say that ‘the mob made things safe around here back in the day’... yeah, because your family was from the same part of Italy as the folks running the mob.”
“For every family that praises mob-controlled neighbourhoods, there is another that was ruthlessly extorted for protection money every week of their lives. Perspective varies depending on what side of the fence you're on.” FromFluffToBuff
ADHD
“ADHD. It's not just having tons of energy or being quirky. At best, that's only the very, very tip top of the iceberg. I was only diagnosed at age 27 and until receiving diagnosis and treatment, it was a major source of severe anxiety and depression, made school 1000x more difficult, and damn near got me fired from my job a couple years ago.” Chuck_Sharts1
“A common symptom of adhd is actually fatigue, that's something a lot of people really struggle to understand for some reason. And the memory issues, f**k me those are the worst. I actually used to be afraid I was getting early onset Alzheimer's before I found out memory issues was also an adhd symptom because of the way it affects working memory.” Ppleater
Let’s just stop romanticizing other people’s trauma shall we?
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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