Rich People That Were Once Poor Explain Which New Problems Wealth Brought Into Their Lives
Having lots and lots of money is wonderful. Having very little money is really stressful and terrible.
But apparently, it's a little more complicated than that. Once poor, now wealthy Redditors weighed in with some truths about what happens when money starts rolling in. Spoiler: "Mo money, mo problems" is totally a real thing but money is also really cool because you can buy helpful stuff.
One Redditor asked:
Rich people of Reddit that were poor before, how did money solve your problems and what new problems have appeared?
Through the Cracks.
"Went through childhood in the foster system and fell through the cracks, ended up homeless a few times. Anyways I am not a 1%er but I do make more than 80% of Americans (yearly salary wise)."
"Money relieved me of stress. When I go shopping I don't check my bank account before I make a purchase, I have insurance so I am not afraid to go to the dentist or doctor, going out with friends is fun because I know I won't be financially struggling from a night out. It ultimately bought me a level of stability I never was used to and I am incredibly grateful."
"My 'new problems' I wouldn't call problems, home maintenance, car upkeep, bills, etc. I am grateful those are my main worries these days." SpookyCritter
Downside:
"I can now buy good gifts for my friends/family."
"Downside: now I cant get them crappy gifts." WhiteHairedWidow
Just poor....
"Not rich currently but due to my work skills I have been both flush with cash and scraping by. This position changes every so often."
"When I had excess, forget it level of money, my immediate needs were taken care of so I could focus on other things/take on new projects."
"People don't realize that when you don't have to worry about:"
- "Food for the next month(s)"
- "Basic household bills for the next month(s)"
- "Fuel for the car"
"you are so free to spend your energy on other projects and learn new things."
"For me, the issues that having that much disposable income is the temptation to spend it. Lifestyle creep and keeping up with the Jones' will destroy people if the cash flow ever gets interrupted. Without that cash flow you can't afford you mortgage or your new car. I avoided it, luckily. Many others have not."
"I bought a small house and a nice 15 year old truck when I had the money and then I stopped. I put my money in the bank/invested it. My monthly stay alive cost is under 1K. When the good times end, I still keep the lights on working a low paying job." Routine_Condition
Fawning service industry people.
Giphy"Fawning service industry people. Waitstaff, hotel, retail store people. It's embarrassing sometimes because I don't know how to react."
"I have a sister who is middle class and three kids. I'm relied on to provide certain expensive things for the kids. Once in a while is fine. It's fun. But because I have no kids, she thinks there should be a constant stream of fun activities and gifts coming from me because "what else are you spending your money on." the-camster
I can go to whole foods.....
"Grew of middle class, until 12 years old, then mom had a stroke and parents lost family business and was essentially piss poor broke. I think parents sheltered my brother's and I from it a lot. Always had something to eat but always moving around different homes, xmas presents consisted of socks, underwear and candy bars. It sucked during high school. I was jealous. Went to college, got a job, and so did my brother's. My brothers started doing well and started supporting our parents. I ended up going to med school. Getting through residency. Still paying off massive loans but now in a place where I don't have to worry about my car breaking down, I can go to whole foods, I can buy friends and family dinner without thinking about it. I can pay for my parents dental work without thinking too much about it."
"I can invest in stocks, invest in a good home, maintain the home and my cars and even make money on my house by investing correctly."
"The biggest difference is that. Now I can make financial decisions that on their own make money for me, with real estate and with investing. And the ratio of this easy capital games money only gets better every year."
"When you are poor you own nothing and the only way of making money is to work but if your paycheck cant support your lifestyle it is very difficult to break cycle." gnfknr
Payoffs....
"We weren't really that poor but we lost a good part of our income and the biggest problem is I cant spend money without stressing about how many hours I will have to work to pay it off." AdaLovelaceKing
The 1%...
"Not "rich" by 1% standards, never been "poor" (I always had a support system, even if I had no money myself)."
"That being said, the number one thing I noticed is holidays aren't as stressful, because money isn't an issue. Shopping for presents is relatively easy, because I'm limited by creativity, not weighing "how ashamed am I going to be to give this crappy gift to someone vs how much do I want to eat this week."
"The main problems come from being in that place where "enough" is never enough. As long as I watch my spending, I can mostly buy the occasional thing I want, but I don't have enough that I can buy "whatever." It's also a dilemma when it comes to helping out my friends. I don't have enough that I can afford to solve (or really significantly impact) my friends financial problems, while at the same time I want to be generous/helpful when I can."
"On the gripping hand, it becomes easy to be taken for granted or even worse, taken advantage of. Springing for the occasional meal can easily become being expected to pay for restaurants that are more expensive than I want to be going to in the first place. You want to nip that crap in the bud real quick."
"But I have a lot of friends who are literally looking through couch cushions for gas money. At the same time, if I gave them gas money all the time, I wouldn't be able to pay my own bills. So it sucks to sit there and have to figure out when I can actually help vs when I'm lighting myself on fire to keep someone else warm." JesterBarelyKnowHer
Missing You Much...
Giphy"Kinda the opposite here, was fairly wealthy living in a large single family home, now living in a 250 sqft trailer. The biggest thing is probably not having the time to be able to enjoy ourselves. Working 7 days a week just to make ends meet isn't fun. Before, we could go anywhere on a whim and not have to worry about missing out on the money."
It. Is. Heaven.
"It is hard to overstate the joy of having a RELIABLE car, with gas, with insurance, that I just take to a guy if something needs to be fixed. It isn't brand new or fancy, it's just a car I can trust."
"It. Is. Heaven."
"New problem; my nieces and nephews hit me up for money whenever they have some sort of travel event they found that they want to go on. Sometimes the answer is no and that often causes hard feelings." picksandchooses
Stay Calm...
Giphy"Can't say I'm rich but for my age (22) I'm wealthy. I always had to think a lot before buying anything, having money makes it much easier. I don't have to say no to my friends when they invite me for something because I don't have the money, always so embarrassing."
"Still I'm always afraid I lose it again and I end up being poor again. It's a constant anxiety." xDariius
"One thing I can say for sure though is I will never take normal things for granted ever again. How I miss having a dishwasher and a clothes washer and counter space. I miss having an oven big enough for a tray of cookies. I miss having more than one bathroom in the house. If I were to ever have these things again, I'd never ever look at them how I did before, I'd be eternally more grateful than I ever had been." Reddit
Necessary, not sufficient
"In the German language there is a saying that goes: "Geld macht nicht glücklich, aber es beruhigt ungemein." It translates to: "Money doesn't make you happy, but it calms you down immensely." It seems to be really true."
Retroxyl
There's no going back..
"Money allows me to not worry. It doesn't make me happy, but it frees up my mind to BE happy, because I don't have to spend time worrying about how I'm going to pay the next bill."
"Lifestyle creep is a very real thing, if you're looking for a "problem." We've gotten used to this level of money, so if it were to go away, it would be a pretty big problem pretty quickly. Our bills have risen along with our income."
scottevil110
"I can now buy good gifts for my friends/family."
"Downside: now I cant get them shi**y gifts."
WhiteHairedWidow
Just never seems to be enough...
Giphy"I can afford the good toilet paper now. The only problem is, I'm still not rich enough to have someone wipe for me."
Ejgee
Outta the woodwork
"What new problems have appeared: people suddenly become very friendly if they need money and they stop being friendly if you don't loan them (more). Also loans are gifts in their head."
AleanderGG
"I am in a similar boat. Trying to help my sister out of credit card debt, I have been buying them groceries. Hoping they would put the money onto the credit card. Later I learned with all the money they had "saved", her husband went out and "invested" in some new trading cards. However i try and help family it always seems to backfire."
jumpingjehosophat
Unlimited vices!
"I couldn't afford beer and now I can."
SailorTodd
Easy, but not simple
"If you obtain a large sum of money in a vacuum (metaphorically, not in a Dyson) then yeah having money is not a bad thing and can't be construed as such. The reality though is that generally large amounts of wealth are obtained through a huge amount of work which almost assuredly brings problems. That being said, problems like work/life balance, managing people and so on would be preferable for almost anyone over wondering how you are going to pay your rent or bills next month."
deanvancity
The long con is doable
"Basically, money is a safety net. I feel like I can buy my way out of problems fairly easily. Also, not being poor bring economy of scale on everything... like, I can cook a meal for 4 adults with $7 because I have all the staples in my pantry."
XavierWT
NO MORE BRATS
"I have to make sure my kids aren't entitled little brats and don't grow up to be entitled, awful adults."
needs_more_zoidberg
License to chill
"Went from extremely lower middle class (where I didn't carry insurance because I couldn't afford it, and could never pay all my bill in any given month) to 1%er. The biggest difference is bar none the loss of that fear and shame. My wife is an incredibly empathetic sympathetic person but she came from money and doesn't understand the feeling. The stress, shame, and sleeplessness that comes from not having money just can't be explained unless you've lived them. Not having that feeling, just knowing I can buy what I want (with in reason, don't confuse the 1% with the .01%) is one of the greatest changes in my life. Having come from almost nothing to where I'm at now there are no problems. The problems I face now are totally first world problems, because money."
Igotnoclevername
Level up to Robinhood powers
"I can give now. We support youth development causes in our town, but more importantly, we pay "scholarships." This is when you are signing your kid up for something cool, and you pay 2-4 times the amount, so the poorer kids can do it too. This was my childhood. My best friend was rich, but his parents really respected mine, and they also loved me. Every cool thing that came up that I knew I couldn't afford turned out to be just "free!" My friends mom paid double for everything, and neither I or my parents ever knew until she had passed."
JuliusVrooder
There are some problems here we never quite considered.
Do you have similar stories? Let us know in the comments.
People Describe The Most Historically Significant Event They've Ever Witnessed In Person
Reddit user FictionVent asked: 'What is the most historically significant event you witnessed IN PERSON?'
Do you ever wonder what it must've been like to experience major events throughout world history when reading about them in text books?
But if you take pause and actually think about it, we're living through many newsworthy current events that succeeding generations will be talking about long after we're gone.
Reading about them online or in newspapers is one thing. But seeing them happen unfold before our eyes is another.
"What is the most historically significant event you witnessed IN PERSON?"
People recall the natural disaster events they've witnessed.
Tremors
"1964 Good Friday Earthquake 9.2 Richter. Was a boy in Cordova, Alaska at the time."
– KitchenLab2536
"My father was skipper of the USCG cutter stationed there. He was inport, and when the quake struck shortly before 5:30pm, he and my mom gathered me and my three siblings on the front porch. At first, it felt like the house was crumbling at the foundation, but on the porch we could plainly see our whole world was shaking. I remember watching telephone poles swaying, and the wires snapping and crackling in the street. The quake lasted about five minutes initially. My dad got his ship underway to avoid the tidal wave which was sure to come. We had several aftershocks in the coming weeks, some of which were quite strong, though nowhere near as strong or as long as the quake itself. I was seven at the time."
– KitchenLab2536
Collapsing Freeway
"October 17th, 1989. I watched the 880 Nimitz freeway collapse during the San Francisco earthquake. The Honda in front of me had the upper deck crush her front-end engine compartment. The mother and her daughter were shaken up but completely fine."
"I was driving a convertible Triumph Spitfire, which was scratched up slightly from debris. However, I walked away unscathed. Aside from the fact I pissed my pants, which I didn't notice until much later."
– CatDaddyWhisper
Thar She Blows
"I sat on the roof of our house and watched Mt. St. Helens erupt less than 100 miles away."
– stinkykitty71
"This must have been fascinating and terryfing in equal measure. What a thing to witness."
– runrossyrun
"It was amazing! The ash that covered everything like snow was interesting to kid me, but less so to my parents."
– stinkykitty71
People recall seeing major catastrophes as a result of malfunctions or judgement errors.
Bomber Crash
"The b-52 crash that led to changing what large military aircraft are allowed to do for airshows."
"I didn't see the plane, but immediately saw the fireball. It was just a perfect, bright red turning to black mushroom cloud."
"Fairchild is a nuclear air base and there were a few minutes there where I was sure the world was about to end."
"A few years before a KC-135 doing the same thing crashed near the school while we were in class."
– goffstock
Tragic Takeoff
"I was standing on my front porch watching the launch of the Challenger."
– StarChaser_Tyger
"Was riding in my parents car to a basketball game in the next town over in north texas when we saw a shooting star and thought that was neat."
"It was the Columbia..."
– Misdirected_Colors
Demolition Gone Wrong
"The failed implosion of the Zip feed mill in Sioux Falls, SD in 2005."
"They hyped it up, sold tickets to it, had a big 'BOOM' marketing thing, and broadcast it live on TV."
"The explosives took out the main supports on the first floor, and the rest of the building above it just plopped down 10ft or so and came to a rest. It was a massive failure, and was a funny little blurb on news stations around the world that day. Definitely not major news, just the rest of the world taking 20 seconds to laugh at us."
"The building sat like that (the leaning tower of SuFu) for quite a while until they figured out how to safely demolish it."
"Here's a clip of the failed demolition."
– KitchenBandicoots
These well-known historical events were seen by very few who are alive today.
Historical Remnant
"The tumbling of the Wall in Germany… along with people selling bits and pieces of it on tables in lobby in front of commissary and px in the following weeks and months. I had picked up a chunk about the size of an oreo and kept it… has blue spray paint on the flat side. Wonder if anyone is buying them now?"
– SingedPenguin13
Major Upheaval
"I would have to say the LA riots. I lived about two blocks from where it started. I was on my way home from school and saw someone throw a brick through a window. I didn’t even wait. I just started running the whole way home."
– Scarlaymama0721
Day Of Infamy
"9/11, I could SMELL the collapse of the towers."
– go4tli
"A friend of mine was there. One day in the warehouse we worked in together there was an odd electrical burning smell. He stopped in his tracks and went 'this is what 9/11 smelled like.'"
– mantistoboggan287
I didn't physically witness the fall of the World Trade Center but I was living in New York City at the time.
However, I did see the smoke.
I was living up north in Washington Heights at the time and knowing what happened, uncertain of what was to come, and seeing the plumes of smoke from the attack site was the most ominous sight I've ever seen in my life to date.
Have you ever lived through a historic moment or witnessed something sure to be noted in history books? Let us know in the comments below.
People Who Quit Their Job In The Middle Of A Shift Explain Why They Did It
A job search is not fun, so most people will tolerate a lot to keep a job.
But everyone has their limit.
Sometimes that limit is reached right in the middle of a work day and people are forced to walk off the job with no prior notice.
Reddit user thann3 asked:
"Have you ever gotten up and quit your job in the middle of a work shift? If so, why?"
Hands Off
"I was a bar back in my 20s, and I had an incredibly abusive boss. It was a weekend night, and the bar had two floors, and I was the only bar back that night, and there was only one bartender on each floor."
"At about midnight, food orders would start coming in left and right, and that night was no exception."
"Between having to empty out ashtrays, pick up dirty glasses, clean tables, wash dishes, and make all of the food orders, I couldn’t keep up."
"My boss got very angry with me because I was behind on food orders and people were starting to get upset about having tables with empty glasses and very delayed food orders."
"She summoned me over to the bar, grabbed me by the shirt collar, shook me, and screamed in my face, 'Just get me through the rest of the f**king night and then you can quit!'."
"I was in disbelief, and went back upstairs."
"I looked at all of the tickets I had left to make, and just decided that job wasn’t worth it."
"I turned off the grill and the fryers, turned the light off in the kitchen, threw my towel in the dirty towel hamper, and walked out."
"That was the night I stopped taking other peoples’ sh*t."
~ ConspicuousCat80
Tech Crash
"Dell computer sales 1998."
"They fired 90% of all the commission making sales people and replaced them with hourly workers from a temp agency."
"They then asked me to train them. I was like, 'maybe you should have trained them before firing everyone— why would I train them so you can fire me in 2 weeks?'."
"I then grabbed my sh*t and noped out of there!"
~ Raspberries-Are-Evil
Fight Club 🥊
"Temp agency sent me for assignment to a small factory making furniture."
"7am start time. At 7:03 or :04 , while still waiting for some sort of foreman/ supervisor to come over & say hello, here's what we do here ........ coupla dudes start shouting at each other & it breaks out into full blown fisticuffs."
"Yeah, I'd seen enough."
"Funny how I have a completely crystal clear memory of looking at the clock in my car as I drove away. 7:12am."
~ thrwawaythrwaway_now
At the Car Wash
"I worked at a car wash during the winter in the wet tunnel."
"Manager got in my face for wearing a coat that didn’t have the company logo on it, but they didn’t make uniform coats. Told him to eat my entire a** and choke on it, and then left."
"It gets below zero here regularly, I’m not risking my life or even my comfort for $12 an hour."
~ BoobsCirca1942
All Day, All Night
"Dishtank. Only job I ever walked off of mid-shift."
"We had a new manager who was lazy and chased the women waitstaff. I cooked, did expo, prep, dishtank, and in a pinch I did waitstaff but new manager always tossed me in to dish tank."
"One day I opened the store at 430am as prep, then cooked until about 3pm; new manager comes in and tells me as I am leaving to 'get my a** back to the dishtank, that I am closing there tonight'."
"I told him I opened, preppeqd and cooked until now, and that I had sh*t to do tonight (I had a date)—to which he laughed."
"I told him to f*ck right off and walked out."
"Got a job delivering pizza for more money and better hours. F*ck you, Mark."
~ tigerbreak
Scrubbed
"I was a cook and new manager kept making me cover the dish pit cuz dishwasher was not showing up. They refused to hire another one and were making him work 7 days/week."
"I told him if he kept making me close dish pit I was gonna put my 2 weeks in."
"He said 'good' and went back to cooking. So I went and grabbed my shoes and backpack, got his attention, he turned around and I gave him a peace sign and left."
"Keep in mind I had been there for three years, worked as a busser, dishwasher, server, host, cook… I did everything they asked."
"He had only been our manager for 2 months."
~ Tensonrom
Nepo Baby
"I was 17 and just finshed mopping the floor at closing time and was walking out the door."
"The owner's son walked across the floor in boots covered in motor oil and told me to 'mop this sh*t up'."
"I dropped the mop on the foor and told him to do it himself."
"I was being paid minimum wage and wasn't going to deal with that sh*t."
~ Dead_Hours
Not Lovin' It
"I started at a McDonald's because I was desperate."
"First day, it's already 2 hours past the time I was supposed to go home, but they kept telling me I had to stay and wait (for what exactly?)."
"Finally they said to sweep the kitchen and go home. I swept everything into a big pile, was about to put it into the dustpan when the shift lead came by and said 'looks good!' then she kicked the pile out and said 'now do it again'."
"I made myself an ice cream cone and left."
~ dark_wolf1994
Customer Service
"After I retired early (at 50) I thought that a job at the local Tim Hortons would be perfect. Part time, no stress, and I enjoy seniors and our sleepy town of 2000 had a high percentage of seniors."
"Most of 'training' was me fixing the computers to get them to work so that I could actually watch the training videos. That was week one."
"Week two I realized how slow the location was, despite being on the highway. We had a lunch rush and it was pretty slow other than that."
"Two days into week two and I was already recognizing the regulars."
"Seniors in their 70/80's who would come and get one coffee in a China cup and ask that I fill it as much as I can because we didn't give refills."
"No problems, it drove me nuts to dump coffee after 20 minutes and not offer it to them."
"Problem was, very few of them could carry these full cups to the tables. No worries from me, I'd bring their coffee to them.
"As I said, the location was slow and days were long and boring. It was no big deal to carry coffee cups for a few seniors and make them smile.Twice that second day working the floor I got in sh*t for doing that.
"I pointed out that there was no one else in the store and it just took me moments. Their response was 'we are not a full service restaurant, let them carry their own coffees'."
"I stood like a useless fool behind the counter when the next group of seniors came in, feeling like an idiot."
"Break time came. I grabbed my coat and went out back for a smoke. Halfway through my break, with one of the managers, I said 'f**k this. I can't treat people like this. Sorry.' and walked home never to return as an employee."
"On the rare occasion that I go there as a customer, I'll jump up from my table to assist any seniors that I see and now they can't do a damned thing about it."
~ borborhick
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot! 🥵
"I was a dishwasher, had worked there 2 weeks."
"The air conditioning (A/C) for kitchen and office both broke the day before I started."
"Office A/C was fixed the following day, kitchen A/C 'wasn't priority '. It was a heatwave in August, hitting 115° outside."
"The whole kitchen staff walked out."
~ handandfoot8099
Ring, Ring
"I was looking for work and took anything I could find, unfortunately the job I found was telemarketing."
"Anyway the work sucked and I hated it, I always took no for an answer and that got me in lots of trouble."
"They kept putting me in a room with this old VHS tape on pressure tactics and never taking no for an answer. The tape went for an hour so I just had a nap instead."
"Thankfully I was also looking for work on the side and found/got a job at the local supermarket, so I knew I had a backup plan."
"The next time they put me in that room with that tape, I had a nap again."
"When I came out they said 'if you have to go in there again your position will be terminated'."
"I just said 'I'll save you the trouble, I quit'."
"That really pissed them off because they were already understaffed."
~ TheRealReapz
"Same thing happened to me."
"Everyone yelling at me or hanging up."
"Boss pressuring me to make more calls."
"Took my lunch break and never went back."
~ MiltonRobert
Don't Mess With the IRS
"Day 2. Owner tells me that he pays taxes for us so he pays cash and it is after taxes."
"So $7.50 and not the $10/hr we agreed to."
"I walked out and called the IRS hotline to report fraud."
Have you ever quit a job in the middle of the work day?
Share your story in the comments.
Many weddings involve months of planning and thousands of dollars.
But the one guarantee in life is that poo happens and weddings are not immune to sh*t storms.
Natural disasters, unexpected illnesses, accidents or animosity can derail even the best laid wedding plans.
Reddit user NickWhite566 asked:
"What happened to those who had attended a botched wedding?"
Hunger Games
"Went to a Pig Roast wedding in a rural setting, 120 people, huge field, right by the river."
"I looked at the one pig roasting and thought to myself 'They must have the other pigs roasting elsewhere to keep the smoke down'—NOPE only one pig for 120 people."
"We were the first table to line up after the head table—and the pig was already 1/3 gone—they ran out at about table 5 of 20 tables."
"I ate then sat back an watched the fallout. One of the groomsmen was my good friend and I casually said 'Should throw the groom in the river for this kind of f**k up'."
"Groom was promptly thrown in the river—that kinda thing happens when people drink on empty stomachs."
~ collectivedisagree
Stone Cold
"A few years ago, my cousin was getting married. The man she was marrying was perfect for her. I was jealous. I wanted something like they had."
"Anyway, the day of the wedding comes and her maid of honor (bride's sister) and her soon to be husband are nowhere to be found."
"Well, she's waiting in the church and one of the groomsmen comes in with a hand written letter from the fiancé."
"Turns out the maid of honor (her sister) and her fiancé have been sleeping together for a while, she's pregnant, and they ran off to Vegas to get married."
"So, no wedding."
~ ServiceCall1986
Change of Venue
"I attended a wedding where they held the ceremony and reception at this renovated historic house. During the reception though, police were called because apparently the 'venue' wasn't actually permitted to be a business."
"It was just some people's house that they kept renting out to weddings to the immense annoyance of their neighbors (and subsequently the police)."
"One of the house owners actually ended up being arrested because they had already been given a 'last warning' at the previous wedding the weekend before, and the dude was getting belligerent."
"Most of the reception was done by that point anyway, but it sure was chaotic as we were all shooed out, trying to call like 50 Ubers while the cops made sure we left."
~ ShrimpHeavenAngel
Brrrr... 🥶
"I attended an outdoor wedding."
"In December."
"All the guests assumed there would be shelter/heating but nope—nothing was provided."
"All us guests were freezing cold. Some got drunk as fast as they could and others kept asking the staff for cups of tea, not to drink but to hold the warm cups."
"It was awful."
~ ErodeMode
Tragic
"Went to the wedding of one of my husband's close friends and everything was going wonderful until about 3 hours in when the bride's grandma becomes unresponsive."
"We were sitting right next to that table when she falls to the floor not breathing. Our other friend (an EMT) ended up performing CPR on her until the paramedics came."
"He said he felt her ribs cracking under his hands."
"The wedding promptly ended as the bride and groom go to the hospital with grandma. She passed away in the hospital that night after an emergency surgery."
~ blondie5697
Not What They Ordered
"My wife and I watched in horror as the wedding planner proceeded to get very sloppily drunk and exceedingly outlandish behavior."
"It came crashing to an end when she started dancing/grinding on the father of the bride with his wife and the bride a few feet away staring in shock."
"Lots of shouting and then the groomsmen not so kindly escorted her out."
~ uni-monkey
Father of the Bride
"I was the photographer."
"The bride was very close to her stepfather, and her father had not been in the picture for a lot of her life, but he was invited to the wedding and they did two father-daughter dances so he wasn't left out or anything."
"He was also supposed to pay for part of the photos, and he just showed up with no money. He eventually got mad, like she was doing something wrong by including the stepdad, who raised her and paid for most of the wedding (and for that matter, her upbringing)."
"She spent like an hour crying in the back and eventually an uncle offered to pay for some of what the dad owed."
"I knocked off $100 and stayed an extra hour for free so we could get all the photos we would have done during that hour, but it was obviously not the same for her."
"Then the dad spent weeks harassing me to send him the photos I took because she wouldn't send them to him. (I didn't, obviously)."
~ LizardPossum
Noped Out
"The Bride said NO at the altar. Literally walked back down the aisle and out the door."
"The groom stood for a moment and then went to a side room. The minister followed the groom, then came back and said that while the wedding was off, the reception would go forward since the food was already there.
"Awkward reception and nobody stayed long after eating."
"They were getting married because the bride was pregnant, and they thought it was the right thing to do. She decided that pregnancy was not a good reason to marry after all."
"She had the baby and they ended up raising the child together, although not as a romantic couple."
~ Lulinda726
Worst Man
"I used to have a friend who owned a small hotel which operated primarily as a wedding venue. They lived in one of the hotel rooms, so all of the events taking place in the courtyard directly outside their door could be heard very clearly."
"We were hanging out one night during a wedding and listening to the speeches, the most notable of which was the best man speech during which he told the story of having a threesome with both the bride and groom at Burning Man, and heavily alluded to still being in love with the groom."
"Lots of older relatives in attendance."
"The place went silent and the wedding ended about two hours early."
~ Chapsy_
Get Him to the Church on Time
"I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. Day of the wedding we are all getting ready as you normally would. I'm in the bridal suite area; everything is going fantastically."
"The church is filled to capacity with guests. We all walk down the aisle and take our places, bridesmaids and groomsmen alike. My soon-to-be SIL is walking down the aisle on her father's arm. My brother is nowhere in sight."
"There is a long, awkward pause as my SIL is standing in front of a packed church, and we are all just looking at each other. Everyone is assuming the worst—that my brother has skipped out at the altar and left her."
"I'm shout whispering to the Best Man 'where is he'eandk he says 'I don't know". My mom is nearly having a heart attack."
"My dad finally gets up goes to the room where my bro was supposed to be waiting and comes out with my brother. My brother says 'Where's the minister, I was waiting on him'."
"My bro hadn't left at all, the minister was a no-show!"
"He was supposed to be waiting with my bro and walk out with him, or tell him when it was time to walk out while groomsmen were lining up to escort bridesmaids down the aisle. Because no one had checked in on my bro after getting ready no one knew the minister wasn't there."
"At this point, we are all standing in a group at the front of the church; the majority of the church guests still don't know what is going on, just that my bro had to be summoned, and there are angry looks all around."
"My dad realizes he needs to let them in on what's going on, so he announces to the guests, 'We can't find the pastor, is anyone here licensed?' but of course no one is. The bride's father calls the minister on his cell phone, on speaker so the whole church can hear the conversation."
"'Hi Pastor Denny, where are you? Did you forget what today was? Yes Denny, the wedding. The wedding is right now. We are all waiting on you at the church. Ok we'll just wait here then'."
"Turns out the pastor was playing golf and had put the wedding date down as the following weekend in his planner."
"I then ask my soon-to-be SIL if she wants us to walk back down the aisle and come back in or what. She says at this point 'forget it we are all here' so we just stand around and wait for Pastor Denny and try to make jokes with the wedding guests but it's pretty awkward as no one really knows what to do."
"After about 15 minutes Pastor Denny comes running into the church in his golf clothes—polo shirt/funny shorts etc...—apologizes and goes immediately into the vows."
"My poor SIL was furious that day, first thinking my bro had ditched her at the altar then at the fact that the minister had ditched them."
"She laughs about it now but it was a tense ceremony."
~ GreedyReality9815
Party!
"It was my very first friend to get married: a girl I’d known in high school. We were 24, 25. Classic rom-com nightmare scenario where the groom had second thoughts the day of and just bolted."
"We all just milled around for a while, not sure what to do. Awful vibes, the bride’s mom was weeping hysterically."
"Me and some friends were finally making our way to the exits, and the bride stopped us, like 'where the f**k do you think you’re going? You guys are taking me out to a bar right this minute, and you’re gonna have to carry me out of there.”
"So we did—mostly the young people, though a few stray aunts and uncles came along, including a few of the groom’s relatives who were like, 'he’s a little punk anyway, you’re better off without him'.”
"We all got unfathomably drunk, sang karaoke, glasses were shattered, the bride hit on literally every man there including me (though no one took her up on it, that would have been weird)."
"There were a rough few months in store for her afterward, but that ended up being a hell of a party. I can still feel the hangover a decade later."
"Bride married a guy who actually showed up several years later. I think they’re happy."
"No idea about the groom—that was the last time any of us really spoke about him."
~ Nerazzurro9
Surprise?
"My family was invited to what we thought was an engagement party. My aunt had reserved a room at a local restaurant for about 50 people."
"Turns out it was my cousin's wedding. So no one brought a gift or dressed up at all. Bride is in a wedding dress and groom is wearing jeans."
"We ordered food and drinks. The officiant does his thing while waiters are bringing in drinks and appetizers. Finally over and we get to eat."
"But when the officiant asked for the marriage license so they can all sign it, my cousin and his new wife just stared at him confused."
"They didn't know they had to get one!"
"Thought just having a wedding was enough. They were in their late 20s."
"So wedding, but no marriage. They never did 'officially' get married and he ran off a few years later to another state to be with some girl he met online."
~ msao2009
Sick Day
"Friend's wedding. A bunch of people got food poisoning at the rehearsal dinner. Including the groom."
"He spent the night at the ER getting fluids and medication to stop puking. This was an awesome high-end wedding and he almost cancelled."
"He was a pale green color and basically sipped Gatorade all day and got through it. He married his high school sweetheart and they have been married 30+ years."
~ Caspers_Shadow
Fill In
"The best man choked on a piece of steak. I didn’t see it happen but I guess someone performed the Heimlich. It came out, anyway."
"They called an ambulance (you always should go to hospital! Even if obstruction is removed) and he left."
"Another groomsman did an impromptu speech in his place, which was brave of him. He started off with 'I guess (best man) bit off more than he could chew with that role'."
~ rescueruby
Have you ever been invited to a wedding that didn't happen the way it was planned?
Share your story in the comments.
When we're in pain or scared, we're not on our best behavior.
We've got more important things on our minds than proper etiquette.
Couple our lowered inhibitions with the bizarre amalgam that is the human body and weirdness is bound to happen in hospital waiting rooms.
Reddit user IAmAsianHearMeRoar asked:
"What did you see happen in the hospital waiting room?"
Feline Friend
"A cat walked in once."
"Shamelessly caught everyone's attention."
"Maybe due to how long we were kept waiting, but a few of us jumped at the chance to grab the cats' attention."
"I’m excited to see a cat every time I see a cat."
"I own three cats. Or they own me, whatever."
~ Accomplished-Fee3846
"I’ve worked in the vet field 3 years, have my own cat and I’m always excited to see a cat. I love cats!"
~ kxiyaz
YTA, Dude
"Watched a guy fake passing out so he didn’t have to wait, since there were a lot of people waiting."
"A**hole winked at me as he was wheeled back on a gurney."
~ Tangboy50000
Don't Do This
"I once saw a guy cut himself with a piece of broken glass just to be seen sooner by the nurses during triage."
~ Shamanofthealike1
Going Up
"I had taken the elevator down from an appointment at one of the hospital's smaller buildings, my young children in tow."
"When the elevator reached the bottom floor, I realized immediately that there was a very purple elderly man lying between us and the exit, surrounded by medical professionals performing CPR on him."
"I closed the elevator door and rode back up before the kids noticed anything and we hung out in the waiting room until the ambulance had pulled away. Got my first CPR certification a few weeks later."
~ merganzer
Look Away
"I was in the emergency waiting room with my Mom."
"I was the one with an emergency and was drowsy the whole time, but I remember that at some point a man was wheeled into the room while making throat noises (think The Grudge) and my Mom took my face in her hands and told me, very calmy and without an inch of panic in her voice, to look through the window and tell her what that weird tree was because she'd never seen one like that (she definitely had)."
"I had no idea what was going on so I kept staring at that tree, and then it was my turn so we left the waiting room."
"Days later she told me that the man who was wheeled into the room had one of his legs hanging on for dear life and that there was blood everywhere on his pants, but also on his clothes."
"He was drunk so he probably had a fight. I hope he's okay now."
"My Mom is the best. She was worried and didn't want me to see this. So she took in the sight but protected me from it. Sometimes, I think we don't deserve Moms."
~ Magomaeva
HIPAA!
"My doctor hired her son to be a receptionist."
"He announced a woman’s STD tests in the lobby."
"He didn’t work there long."
~ gothiclg
Brains...
"I was sitting in the ER waiting room and this young couple comes in. The man pushing his girlfriend in a wheelchair."
"She’s barely conscious, slumped over and pale."
"As the boyfriend is checking her in, she wakes ups and Exorcist-style projectile vomits onto the floor. Nurses rush her back."
"The boyfriend then sits down and not a minute passes before out of nowhere he does the same!"
"Everyone waiting slapped masks on real quick once that happened."
~ Silent_Push_1413
"This is how zombie apocalypses always start."
~ Maxwyfe
An All Beet Diet?
"I went to the ER with a kidney stone and there was an old couple sitting across from me probably in their 60’s or 70’s."
"The lady was bickering to the man complaining about how long they’ve been there. The only thing is that this woman was completely purple."
"Like all of her face and head was this dark purple. She didn’t appear to be in any pain but my f*ck was she ever purple."
~ PewpyDewpdyPantz
The Circle of Life
"Like 20 years ago waiting in the ER I see a guy dressed up as a full monkey being wheeled on a stretcher past a large doorway and then 3 other monkeys following him."
"They were performers from the live Lion King show at Disney Animal Kingdom."
~ FLcitizen
Holiday Cheers 🍻
"I work as a nurse in the emergency, I’ve seen some crazy things."
"Once while security was busy doing two separate take downs, an old guy dressed up like Santa unzipped his backpack and started handing out beers to everyone in the waiting room."
~ Best_Lead_632
"So what you’re telling me is Santa’s real???"
~ aggressively_baked
DIY
"Once upon a time I was waiting on news of a friend who'd been in an accident."
"I saw a guy (about early twenties) come in with him mom because he'd fallen off of his roof and dislocated his shoulder. After about an hour of waiting his mom just says 'F*ck it! This is taking too long!' and legit began to Google how to reset a shoulder."
"After about 5 mins of research, she took off her belt, folded it up and told him to bite down on it. She then proceeded to violently shove her son's shoulder back into the socket while he naturally screamed in agony."
"Security and nurses rush over to see what the commotion is and more or less need to pull her off of him. Security sits her down and the nurses take the poor kid and get him treated."
~ August-Dawn
Our Robot Overlords
"I watched a robot filing cabinet press the elevator button and guide itself to a different area of the hospital."
~ jessieisokay
"We have these at my hospital. They even dress them up. Handy little robots help us transport non-emergent meds, lab samples, and equipment."
~ mrsfisk
"I wish our robots could do that."
"Instead, we have 4 delivery robots that all need a person to follow them and put them on and take them off of the elevators."
"Or we could just, y'know, hand the meds to the person and not take 38 minutes to get it there."
~ aurelius92a
True (Toxic) Love
"Girl trying to get admitted to the mental health unit, turns out her boyfriend was a patient. She didn't get admitted, she wasn't happy about it but she left."
"Next thing we know there's a car doing donuts just outside of the ER entrance, she was throwing things out the window and screaming 'Am I crazy enough now?'."
"She ends up driving around to the other side of the hospital and driving right through some sliding glass doors."
"She's lucky she didn't kill someone—another 10 feet and she would have crashed over a railing and into the cafeteria below, where staff was napping on a couch."
"Definitely got carted away, but not to where she wanted to go."
"Thing is her boyfriend wasn't even in that hospital; there's a small mental health inpatient unit, but her boyfriend was in a completely separate mental health facility about 15 km away."
"This was right in the heart of the pandemic, when building materials were really hard to come by, and so the entrance that she drove through ended up being closed for about 6 months."
~ beachmonkeysmom
People going to the hospital are in crisis most of the time.
It's to be expected that the unexpected is bound to happen.