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Parents Who Regret The Name They Gave Their Child Explain Why

Parents Who Regret The Name They Gave Their Child Explain Why
Photo by Adele Morris on Unsplash

Let's get this out of the way:

If you find yourself relating to any of the people below, maybe consider calling your child by their middle names?


Reddit user, u/dani4715, wanted to hear:

Parents of reddit, have you ever regretted what you named your child? If so, why?

Not HER! 

My mom regrets my name. They thought I was going to be a boy, and had a boy's name picked out. I arrived, very much not a boy, after 12 hours of labor and no epidural (sorry, Mom). She told my dad to just pick a name, so he named me after his sister, Karen. My mom and my aunt don't like each other. At all.

Dad did not get naming privileges for my siblings, and Mom made sure to pick one name for each gender well before they arrived.

jemmo_

A Spell Upon You.

Melissa Joan Hart Witch GIF Giphy

Hi, the child here. My birth mom named me Sabrina, after her favorite tv show, Sabrina the teenage witch. You can bet that when a certain someone from my middle school that for some reason absolutely hates me found out, he started calling me "Sabrina the teenage B." I don't go by Sabrina at all, by the way.

CalleahWinters

Slippery....

unimpressed viola davis GIF Giphy

I knew an Analeze once, and when she was 8, they realized that the unique spelling of her name was a popular personal lubricant.

Froggetpwagain

Almost....

I was almost named Luke Sky.

One guess as what my last name is.

I honestly probably wouldn't have minded much, I already took on a lot of flak in school anyway.

vbcnxm_

1+1= No. 

My name is Jessica, which is the name my dad wanted. Mom wanted to name me Clarissa. I was born early and they hadn't settled on a name, a nurse suggested combining them... the seriously considered naming me Clarissica. They had even decided my nickname would be Rissy. I am so glad Mom decided Jessica was fine, I never would have forgiven them.

Jessilee113

EVERYONE!

For this reason I never told my kids names beforehand. EVERYONE, barring my hubs and self, found out the name at birth. All this much to the chagrin of our mothers, and especially after my MIL suggested Verna Louise if our 2nd was a girl. Over my cold dead body would a daughter of mine been named "Verna Lou".

trueblue533

Thomas.

james blake inbetweeners GIF Giphy

My dad regrets my name. He wishes he had named me after his father. When my parents had me both his younger brothers were engaged, so he figured they'll probably have sons and name him after their dad. Well one had two sons and the other had one. None of them need after my grandfather. My dad regrets picking the name he preferred and has said, "If I could go back in time, I would name you Thomas."

From the Greek Word....

My friend's name is Sepfora, and she was named that before the popular make up company Sephora got big. It's the greek version of the biblical name Zipporah (Moses's wife).

sirthisisreddit

Quick Google search: Sephora gets its name from a blend of two words. The first is the Greek word "sephos," which means "pretty," and the second is the name "Zipporah" who, according to the Bible, was the wife of Moses known for her beauty.

mexicock1

Hey J....

As far as I know, my parents don't regret my name, but it's an odd situation... I was their first born, and my dad wanted me to be named Jerry, after himself. But we have 7 other Jerrys in my family... So they named me Jerry, but they decided, from birth, that I would go by Caleb (my middle name). I don't mind, because I don't like the name Jerry. But it makes things confusing at work, cause I don't like to explain to everyone that I prefer to go by my middle name... So I usually just go by my first name at work.

synchronoussavagery

How Royal...

Not me but my SO teaches two sisters named Princess with their middle name as the differentiator. If they haven't regretted it they will when both 'Princesses' grow up........... I hope (gulp).

LaUNCHandSmASH

'new kid'

There used to be 7 kids named 'Ayden' in my grade but all were spelled differently, or had different last names, until an 8th Ayden showed up with the same last name and spelling as another kid in the same grade. We called him 'new kid' for the rest of the year. moonfishrin

Be Super....

man of steel superman GIF Giphy

I always let my kids name themselves when they turn five. Some people complain, but I can tell you that my son Superman is doing fantastically.

ElderCunningham

Sound it Out. 

I named one of my kids a name that I knew from childhood, but is french. Because I am so used to the name it didn't occur to me that everyone is going to mispronounce it for the rest of their life.

Magsi_n

I understand that you name is a pain because English mouths cant work it; but on paper at least it look amazingly awesome.

mikey_weasel

Several Spellings.

Didn't anticipate spelling her name every single time you need an appointment, prescription. It's a strange but known spelling of a common name. Used it television, fashion, and an author with it.

Like Cierra for Sierra kind of difference.

I was also unaware of how people butcher my now husbands last name (German but short). We weren't married at the time. So this kid has to spell out her first And last names every single time usually twice.

She just starts spelling now vs saying then spelling bc people still get it wrong.

Trashbat8

She REFUSES!!!

i hope no one who knows me happens to be scrolling this sub... my mother absolutely REFUSES to call me by my name, and has my (22f) entire life. she named my older brother, so she let my dad name me, despite her so badly wanting to name me "laramie" (gag). my dad named me alexandria. i don't like it, and i hate being called alex which literally everyone does no matter how much i insist on alexandria. but its better than what my mom wanted to name me, and calls me.

My mother hates my name so much, and is so pissed she didn't get to name me, that she refuses to call me by my name. so instead, she came up with a nickname for me that she's called me since i was an infant: buddha. not my real name, not a shortened version of my name, not my middle name, not my initials, not a bearable nickname, not even the name she wanted for me, but fucking buddha!? BECAUSE THATS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALEXANDRIA!? to add insult to injury, i was a very overweight child with a large protruding stomach. her yelling "BUDDHA!!" in the grocery store was always a mortifying experience.

She got "buddha" from calling me "beautiful baby" in a baby talk voice. so she would say it like "boo da ful baby" and it got shortened to "boo da" very fast. but of course when you see a mom calling her fat ass kid "buddha" the last thing you think is "oh, well thats CLEARLY short for beautiful!" no amount of begging or pleading (even as an adult) has made my mother stop calling me "buddha", she will not use my actual name. its kind of ridiculous and annoying and upsetting, but i realize theres no winning. i am forever "buddha" smh.

i think i have name dysphoria.

glamericanbeauty

18 and the change. 

I had a very weird first name, that was also extremely close to my mom's name, and a very common middle name. My mom wanted my middle name to be my first name. She's told me many times she regrets that it wasn't.

At age 11 I decided to go by a nickname for my middle name. At 18 I legally changed my name to what had been my middle name.

Wish mom had argued harder for it to be my first name; would've saved me an argument with the person reading names at my high school graduation, among other things.

lizardgal10

Name Boom. 

Yup. Named him, literally rolled out of the operating room and a nurse said she just named her kid that name. It damn exploded and now it's everywhere. My first name was the most common the year I was born and I hated it and never wanted that for my kids. My maiden name was 13 letters and can barely be pronounced so didn't want to go that route either. Easy to spell, easy to say, not common that was all I asked. And I failed.

jkaugs

LOLOLOL

Mothers Day Lol GIF by reactionseditor Giphy

Before my son was born, my husband and I were having a lot of problems picking boys names. Everyone in my husband's family has two middle names so that made it a lot harder.

After a few days, we landed on a name we loved. Harrison Atlas Henry Ames.

After a few hours of blissful happiness, I stopped dead in my tracks, telling my husband we can't name our son that.

His initials would've been HAHA.

ManicLittlefoot

Oh Schmidt!

When my sons were born we deliberately chose names that were rather common and were not family names on either side. So they were unique in our families but pretty normal in life. My mom named me after two biblical names but didn't think about the order leading to a life time of renditions of Jingleheimer Schmidt.

MerkNZorg

The Ex's Idea. 

My ex and I couldn't agree on names, so he picked boy names, and I picked girl names. He named our son after his role-play character. I wanted to make him something normal like "Michael". This is reddit, so I'm not going to say the actual name, but it would be like naming your child "Agamemnon". Poor kid got teased for his name all through school.

Spice_it_up

Ava for short.

My family comes from Africa, but I was born in America.

When I was born, my mom wanted to give me an American name, so she chose Ava, but my dad wanted to be traditional and give me a traditional name. but they ended up using Ava for my middle name. in my opinion, it's a great name, I have a lot of nicknames. but whenever we had a sub in a class all my friends would (and still do) look me dead in the eyes and just keep whispering, "their gonna mispronounce your name-" and life forget it--it is not like it's been happening since kindergarten- When my brother's birth was the same. Mom wanted him to be named Aiden, dad disagreed, got a traditional name, got Aiden as his middle name.

ThatGayJuiceBox

Decades Later.

facepalm smh GIF Giphy

I think my parents do, they named me after a guy who was my dad's best friend at the time. A year or two later they had a huge falling out and 30+ years later haven't spoken since.

gwsteve43

Smarter as you go....

So when my son was born I was allowed to pick his first name. Our last name is Barrett, so I picked Grinin. Because then his name would be Grinin Barrett.

His name is Eric.

For my second son, my wife was smarter. She let me chose the middle name, figuring hey, almost nobody knows anyone's middle name. If it's a disaster then it's easily hidden.

I chose Romeo. I figured that when he was a teenager it might come in handy. "Hey baby, my middle name is Romeo".

His middle name is Samuel.

Oh well, at least they got to keep the last name.

KnowanUKnow

Ask Judge Judy. 

I named my daughter a pretty ordinary but nice name. When I got involved with the woman i am married to now, her daughter who was very little started calling my daughter something else. It stuck and not long later she went to court and changed her name. She ditched her first middle and last names and got a new first and last name without a middle name.

warningfromfuture

Too Young to Know. 

Before I was born, my older brother helped our mom and dad pick my name. I wish it could've ended there but my dad decided he liked a different, longer version of my name and continues to call me by this name to this day.

My mom and dad divorced when I was young, so to one side of my family I'm the name on my birth certificate but to my dad's side of my family, I'm something else even though it's still virtually the same name. To this day I think my dad did it as some weird kind of power play.

BlackMargrave

Whateves...

fanning jack mcfarland GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

I'm having a baby boy tomorrow and we are calling him Jack. Not because either of us like the name, it's just the only one we both don't hate. Can't agree on anything else. I never thought I'd have a kid called Jack but here we are.

Hotfuzz82

The "Prophet"

My ex wife and I named our son Ammon after a "prophet" in the Book Of Mormon who, as myth has it, among other things, cuts off several arms of his enemies in a fight. That was 19 years ago. Ammon and I left the Mormon church 2.5 years ago after several months of in-depth research into the history of the church etc. I keep wondering if he will want to change his name bc of what it represents. To us and to everyone who knows him, and I'm sure to himself, he is Ammon ... but I hope he one day decides it's worth it to make a change.

golfmogul

36 generations

The first born son in my husband's line is always named John or James. With A as the middle initial. I don't like the name James so my son is John. I always wanted to name my son Sebastian Xavier but I couldn't argue with 36 generations of tradition. My second child is a girl and I wanted to name her after my mother but my mom doesn't like her name. I used it as a middle name instead. I do kind of regret not putting my foot down, especially with my second child but her first name suits her personality so it worked out.

jadeursa

Poor Kit. 

My brother has some regret that my Mum chose the nickname Kit for him as he was named Christopher after our father, who already went by Chris. My brother chose to go by Chris himself with his friends once he reached his teens but remains Kit to close family only because that's what we've always called him.

He was very badly bullied growing up and kids will seize on anything they can.

Kit is a very old, very romantic choice of nickname for Christopher, dating back to Elizabethan times. Unfortunately it also rhymes with a vast array of insults. You can start with twit and just keep working your way up from there.

Kit Harington's fame as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones may have made it popular again but I would advise caution. He comes from a very privileged background where it wouldn't have stood out so much.

EmmaInFrance

be original....

frustrated jake johnson GIF Giphy

Yes. Gave him the first name as his dad. It's caused problems flying, scheduling dentist appointments,pharmacy confusion, etc.

Frozen_Twinkies

The Process. 

My daughter was supposed to be a boy. So the name was going to be my father's name, my two middle names and last name. My one middle name is my one grandfather's first name and the other is my father's middle name and his father's middle name.

We barely went over girls names by the time we learned she was to be a boy. My wife had only a couple names picked that I hadn't vetoed for being exes or porn stars. So when we saw the specialist again and he asked us if we wanted to know the sex... we said we already knew. From him. But nope. It's a girl. Plain as day. So then we were stuck.

My wife suggested Aurora and I liked it. Unique. Etc. My wife likes Disney movies. I had no clue that's Sleeping Beauty. I didn't find that out until after she was born. But my daughter loves her name and it fits her perfectly. And she knows she's my princess.

Sykfootball

Why Parents? Why?

I regret them naming me Hamish because I have a gap in my front teeth so when I tell people my name it tends to get muddled but I don't have a speech impediment, So I would say my name is Hamish. But they would say oh hi danish or shamus, it gets very annoying when I need to tell very formal people because I'm very shy and don't like correcting people.

sky-punch

Sorry Dad.

Well, as a Caitlin, I've just started spelling my name to people instead of saying it. Everyone tries to spell it Kaitlyn. Everyone.

My dad wanted to name me after Picabo Street and he wanted to name my sister after Kristi Yamaguchi, but my mom put a stop to that. Guess he had a thing for olympians?

acecatmom98

Authenticity.

My Body Is Ready Mj Rodriguez GIF by Pose FX Giphy

Hell yeah I regret it!

My son was assigned female at birth. My ex husband gave him a girly name, because most people who are assigned female at birth are actually female.

Nope! Not our son, he's trans. Really wish I would have known that and given him a name that would work for either gender, because legal name changes are a pain in the butt.

insertcaffeine

Pre-Internet. 

I named my daughter after a lot of thought and research (pre internet) because i wanted her to have a nice name but not an overly popular one. Two weeks after naming her there were two other girls with the same name announced in our mid size town paper, it became one of the most popular names for a few years in the country. so I regret not waiting to name her because i had other options.

erillee

Almost.

When I was pregnant with my third child, I knew he was a boy. All my life, I'd loved the name Gabriel and I was set on that name. I even called the baby Gabriel when I talked to him.

That is until, when I was 7 months pregnant, my family and I got together with my sister and her family (she had just relocated close enough we could visit).

She, of course, asked about names and I told her his name was Gabriel. She paused and asked about Nick names, would I use Gabe. Now, this is my sister; we're Irish twins. She knew I had an aversion to nicknames (having never had one when everyone else in the family did - and I do mean everyone) so I told her, unequivocally, no. He would not be called Gabe.

She said I might not call him Gabe, but surely someone would and maybe he would even choose it over Gabriel as he got older. Again, I said, no way.

She said, you might want to think about that because someone is going to call him Gabe at some point...

And your last name is Lowe (phonetically low).

So, yeah. Almost regretted that.

omega12596

Warmed Up.

Thumbs Reaction GIF Giphy

I didn't like our youngest son's name for about 6 months but now I can't imagine him being called anything else.

yellowpowerranger87

World of Warcraft Issues

Yes. And as soon as the divorce is over, my son is getting his name changed, and not just because he is trans.

Before my ex wife became pregnant, the two of us ran a large World of Warcraft guild. We had a close knit group of leaders that did various things. Our DPS Trainer became pregnant right around the same time as my ex. They bonded virtually during the pregnancy.

You can see where this is going. My wife absolutely had to have him named after the DPS Trainer's in game name. It's a very unique name that no one can pronounce right the first time. My son has always hated it. He goes by a nickname of his own choice now that has nothing to do with his dead-name.

SingleDadGamer

She Gone. 

My daughter shares her middle name with her mother who turned out to be an awful mother/person and is no longer a part of our lives.

votejonforgod

A Unique Fail. 

Not the name itself, but the spelling of it. When my son was born I decided I wanted his name to be a bit more unique, so I replaced a vowel with a y (e.g. Jason to Jasyn - not his real name)

When he was adopted later on, his parents changed it back to the proper spelling and I'm so glad, because I'd never thought about how much of a pain it would have been for him spelling his name out his whole life.

Not to mention that when people see names spelt like that, they usually automatically presume the person to be a bit, well, lower class.

I still feel awful that I could have made his life infinitely harder just because I wanted to be unique, but at least it was fixed before he learnt to write.

tigerjess

BOOM, Winner.

Giphy

I named my daughter Karen.

Thanks, Internet.

WreckNRepeat

Let's Get The Obvious Out Of The Way

Giphy

I'm just here to see how many "Khaleesi" posts there are.

jahvidsanders44

The amount of friends that I have who named their kids after GoT characters is just too high...

GLaDOs18

How Could You Predict Something Like This?

Isis. Back when it was just an Egyptian Goddess (7 years ago).

We don't yell her name out in public anymore.

JayeAus

You Can Do That?

Well, I had my first son and named him Walter Jr. But then I had my second son and he better exemplified the Walter name so I named him Walter Jr and switched the first son to Andrew, which I found in a baby name book.

shelloshelloshello

When You Don't Live Up To Your Expectations

We gave my son the middle name of "Danger" thinking it would be cool when he was a high school QB, or make him look cool at college parties. But now that he's a teenager I think it's safe to say that if my son ever even attends a football game it will be because he's playing the Tuba there (not that there is anything wrong with that but probably wouldn't associate the middle name danger for someone on marching band).

bzzltyr

Old Wounds Built In Our Roots

I dont mind my sons name but I regret that I didn't stand my ground and insist that his middle name be my great grandpa's name. I really wanted to honour my opa who was a big part of my life and my ex insisted it was "too German" and insisted he have a "good Irish name" and "allowed" my alternative.

My ex is like a quarter irish through his grandma that he never met, meanwhile my German dad literally didn't speak English til he was 7 and my mom is German and I grew up in a household where German was spoken too but go off i guess.

Catezero

In Today's Racially Charged Climate, This One Certainly Turns Some Heads

Giphy

Well I don't think they regret it or care but my name is Latina and I'm black. I always get asked about it and have to explain that it was completely arbitrary and I speak no Spanish

rainrain_throwaway11

Dodged A Hairy Bullet There

My parents couldn't agree on a name, so they agreed that my dad would get to name me if I was a boy, and my mom would name me if I was a girl. My dad, in all his greatness, settled on Wolfman Jack. Yeah, thank god I was born a girl. Thanks, mom.

Allxon

Yeesh...Gross

We were going to name our daughter Milena, but then I told my OB/GYN father what our decision was for the name. I kid you not, but he said "That is a terrible name. You will regret it. It is very close to the medical term melena, and that means bloody tarry stools. You don't want me to link her name with poop for her whole life, do you?"

So needless to say, Milena was out.

roundmusic22

Whoa, Sounds Like There's Some Big Issues There

Before I was born, my dad wanted to name me Harley after his favorite bike, but my mom insisted that I needed a Bible name. At age 4 I chose a nickname for myself because I couldn't pronounce this Bible name, but then as a teen I questioned my younger self's choice and explored new nicknames, including Harley.

When I brought this idea to my dad thinking he'd be pleased, he got red in the face and said "I had to sell that bike to put you in school! It's nothing to me now, just a random chunk of metal. You want to be named after a random chunk of metal? Fine! I'll call you Crankshaft how about that!" And he did, for like 2 years. I don't know where the regret is in that story, but it's somewhere.

ENEBZILE

How Could You Have Possibly Known?

My wife and I don't like all the family politics of naming the children. Someone's going to get bent out of shape because one family member got used and not another. So, we racked our brains to agree on a name not used on either side of the family.

Didn't announce the name until the birth. Neither my mother or father said anything for a year. Then, one day they casually mentioned the name of my uncle's first son that I wasn't even aware of. He had died at only 6 weeks old, 15 years before I was born.

I don't know that I regret the name of my son. But, it would have been crossed off the list of contenders had I known.

rhymes_with_chicken

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People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.

Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.

The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.

Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:

"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"

Serious Danger

"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."

"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."

oofboof2020

Waiting for Food

"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."

"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."

nowhereboy1964

Captain Hobo to the Rescue

"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."

"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"

"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."

FartAttack911

Survival

tsunami GIF Giphy

"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."

faithfulpoo

These Tsunami stories are just tragic.

On the Sand

Scared The Launch GIF by CTV Giphy

"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."

oyloff

Be Clever

"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."

OstneyPiz

Bad Jokes

"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."

Alegan239

YOU

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"

PrettyLola2004

Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.

No one should talk to others in the dark though.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...