Life can be freaky and we all see and experience things from time to time that we have no rational explanation for.
Today's burning question from Redditor Angellic_Reaper: "Skeptics of Reddit, what's something you have seen that you cannot explain?"
Buckle up, kids. Things are about to get weird.
"I was hiking in Yosemite..."
I was hiking in Yosemite and one night while stargazing I saw a light that slowly moved across the sky in a reasonably straight line. I thought it was a satellite as those are incredibly common when you get out into place that shows the night sky clearly. The light then stopped and started moving in every direction in these erratic jumps and bursts of speed. It did this for maybe 20 minutes before it started moving in its original direction. I have never seen anything like it before or since.
Shooting stars or satellites don't just stop and zip around in random directions like that. It couldn't have been a drone because it seemed to be too high and you couldn't hear anything, and besides, most drones can't move like that anyway. Everyone in our group saw it but we didn't really talk about it much, other than my buddy referring to it as the "drunk driving alien". I don't know what it was but I have seen nothing like it before or since.
"It wasn't seen..."
It wasn't seen, but years ago I thought of my best friend's mother, who I hadn't seen or thought of in ages, and a few minutes later my friend called to tell me her mother had just died. Still freaks me out.
"About a week after she died..."
My mom died of cancer and during the final months, she was living with us and we took care of her until her last breath in our house. Four events have happened that were not easy to explain.
First, in her last week, I was trying to help her relax so I played a playlist I keep on my phone called "bedtime". It has some very relaxing music. Her breathing was getting loud and it was difficult to be there with her. At one point I was crying because of watching her this way. Her brother, Leo, had passed away before her so I closed my eyes and thought "Leo. Please take her. It's so hard for her. She's ready." Ten seconds later she took her last breath. It wasn't until later the next day that we realized she passed away on the exact same day that Leo did, ten years later.
About a week after she died, I was sitting on the couch and I thought to myself, "mom, if you're ok give me a sign". My phone started playing that bedtime playlist all by itself.
A few months later, we were moving out of that house. We had loaded the last box and I was doing my final walkthrough of the house. In my head, I said "mom, we're going to a new house. I hope you're coming with us." And I sh!t you not, my phones started playing that playlist again.
Two weeks ago, we were in Cancun on vacation. It's been a couple years since she's passed away. We were having a romantic dinner on the beach and I knew my mom would have really enjoyed it where we were and I thought, "mom, if you're still with me give me a sign" and about 5 seconds later a huge shooting star shot across the sky. It was actually a meteor. Like it flamed out in the sky.
"I have no idea what I saw."
I was 14 and vacationing with my family on a beach in Eastern Europe. Our balcony had a view of the beach and I would sit out there every night. One night, there was a man and a woman(?) walking on the beach. She would walk a few paces and then he would catch up to her. Except for she wasn't really walking like a human, but more like a horse if that makes sense. She would raise her knee, extend her leg (toes pointed), and then gracefully plop her foot down on the ground. She was super thin and looked bald. She also looked like a human mannequin made out out of fabric and stitched up. He was watching her walk and almost studying her.
She would walk 5-10 steps and then robotically turn around and walk the other way. The only plausible explanation I can fathom is that she was some sort of robot/sex doll/etc., but her movements seemed too fluid to be a robot and too robotic to be a human. Since then, I've tried researching different illnesses (maybe she was sick?) and looked at photos of the newest robots and no dice. I have no idea what I saw.
"I told her that I had just been at Ida's house..."
I'm a skeptic of basically everything, but my mom actually has a story about me as a kid she always tells that scares the hell out of people.
When I was 3 her aunt died, who she was very close to, Ida. A few months later her friends took her to a psychic as a birthday gag. The psychic told her not to worry about herself or me because a woman who was like a mother to her and who had died was watching over us both. It freaked her out, but she ignored it.
A few months later she was walking to bed past my bedroom door, which was open a little. She heard talking and she looked in. I was sitting at the end of my bed staring at the wall having a conversation in the dark. She turned the light on and shook me and asked me what I was doing and who I was talking to.
I told her that I had just been at Ida's house and we were eating cheesecake and playing Hi-ho Cherry-oh (both my mom's favorite).
I've never been to Ida's house and I was 3 and didn't know what those things were. And we lived across the street from a giant cemetery. And that's where Ida was buried.
"I didn't think anything of it..."
GiphyMe and my girlfriend stayed at a very old Hotel in Boston recently. I was going to take a picture of the staircase as we were staying on the top floor and it looked like a cool shot. Instead I realized it was on Video and immediately stopped it after 1 second.
I didn't think anything of it, but I went to play it the other day and there is a voice that says "Are you taking a picture of me ?" No one else was in the staircase; it's neither of our voices and it absolutely freaked us out.
"I went for my after work run one night..."
I went for my after work run one night around 11pm back in 2010 in my neighborhood. I was 18 and just about out of high school. I was headed home and I felt this weird buzzing electricity in my body. Ya know, that feeling when the hair on your body just stands up and you get cold chills? This weird feeling of fear draped over me and I for some reason thought I needed to stop to shake it out. Thought maybe I was just starting to feel tired or just...something. As I stood there getting my bearings straight and removing my headphones I was caught off guard by some sort of movement in front of me. I turned my eyes and I watched as a green orb, about 20 to 25ft away came up out of the ground. Almost like it had been in the Earth and just moved up out of the ground effortlessly.
It whirled around for about 5 to 6 seconds like it was getting a view of the area. I immediately became petrified. I'd never encountered anything otherworldly or supernatural-like in my life. I watched this thing shoot off like some sort of rocket, but faster. Like lightning. Idk how to describe how fast it went, but it shot into some trees a ways off. It was still out there, but was pulsating light in these trees. I ran home as fast as I humanly could. Walked in the door and parent's said "you are so flushed. It looks like you've seen a ghost or something?!" I immediately burst into tears from all the fear that was bottled up.
I'll never forget that.
"I was out on my boat with my dad..."
I was out on my boat with my dad, coming back from an island for lunch. There's this lighthouse really far away on a huge rock that sticks out and would ruin ships, and they were getting ready to do construction on it, and to replace the current bulb with a solar powered LED one to save money. Nobody was out there at this point in time. We were close enough to it that we could see the features of the rock and lighthouse but also relatively far away. I look to the left of it and there's this dark black square. I start thinking, 'I'm so tired.' And then ask me dad if he can see that black square. He said yes. I was super confused and freaked, it was a bright sunny day, and the square was half the size of this already huge lighthouse. I thought to myself it was surely some scaffolding tarp that had been caught in the wind, but the thing didn't flap and stood perfectly still. It got thinner and thinner and then poof. Vanished. I still have no idea what it was.
"As he was doing it, I saw something walk out of a corridor..."
There was the time when I was young.
My parents took me into the underground city in Edinburgh for a tour. The tour guide was giving the "don't get lost or we'll never find you" spiel.
As he was doing it, I saw something walk out of a corridor behind him. I'm gonna save text here because I could go all melodramatic and wax lyrical about it for ages - it was basically what we'd now call a grim reaper - skeletal head and hands, carrying an hourglass in the hand I could see, with what looked like smoke or shadows around it for clothes.
No one else even twitched. When I was clear that no one else was seeing this thing in the corridor, I freaked out to the point my parents had to take us off the tour.
The thing that still makes my skin crawl about that - I didn't have my love of sci fi, fantasy or actual science when I was that young. I didn't really get that until I read the hobbit a year later. So I didn't know what a grim reaper was. I didn't know the anatomy of a human hand's bones or the association of the hourglass with death. Yet I saw all those things and some of my drawings from that age have details I wouldn't have known at that age (like the fact the carpus at the base of the hand being seven bones in a cluster, not a single knob of bone).
Been over 20 years and I've still not quite figured out how I knew things like that for those drawings. If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd been the victim of a practical joke, but I freaked out enough that there's no way my parents would have kept it going.
"My friends and I camped out..."
My friends and I camped out in this abandoned island off the coast of my country once. The history is that British soldiers used to be based on this island during the age of imperialism and no one ever lived there again because they say either the souls of those British soldiers dwelled or the place is inhabited by "djinn" (Arabic for genies; sort of the Islamic ghost).
Anyway, we camped there when my friend went to go pee. He came running back freaking out saying he saw something. Keep in mind, we were the only people on the whole island as it is uninhabited. Later on, I needed to pee myself, so I went to a different secluded part and saw this shape... it was the silhouette of a very big cat. Feeling scared, I finished off and went back to my group and asked if there are any animals known to live there - everyone was adamant that nothing could survive on this island, and our region as a whole doesn't have that much wildlife.
The next morning, we went to inspect the rest of the island. It's not big... about a mile in diameter. We couldn't find any evidence of anything living there amongst the ruins. Still freaks me out to this day.
"An old house I rented..."
Not seen, but heard. An old house I rented was the home to a former whiskey-maker and county-wide notorious a-hole. One night, about 3-4am, I heard what sounded like an old-time radio show. Like a trio or duo of women singing old gospel style music, then an announcer speaking with them, all in that old times midwestern meter. I searched the house but could find nothing. I bailed and slept at a friends. A few nights later, several friends were over for a party, and by around 3am, it had died down, we were just vegging in the living room. One of my friends just asked "Does anyone else hear that old radio?" He described hearing practically the same thing I heard previously. I didn't stay at this house long.
"I came across a deer..."
GiphyA while ago I took a road trip to the southwest US. I was in northern Arizona, near the border of new Mexico on some back roads outside a reservation looking for a place to park and camp for the night. The sun had just went down and it was getting dark quickly. There was still a band of light across the horizon from the setting sun.
I came across a deer that appeared to be hit by a large vehicle, a semi or box truck or something like that. There was flesh and bits of fur in the road and a blood stain spiraling across the road that lead to a fresh deer carcass on the shoulder. It looked gruesome. Naturally I slow down and rubberneck. The deer was still alive and looked into the headlights. As I pass it, I swear it sits up straight like someone getting out of bed and starts to stand on it's back legs.
I punch the gas and didn't slow down until I got to Flagstaff. F**k that.
"My dad and I were in Montana..."
My dad and I were in Montana deer hunting on our friend's private property, and we came across what we believe were Sasquatch tracks in a large patch of snow. My father has been hunting his entire life- he's seen pretty much every animal and their tracks. I'll never forget the wide-eyed look on his face when he said, "That's not from a bear."
The tracks looked almost identical to a human's, but they were massive and at least 3 feet apart. I remember the toes were long and the soles wide. I don't think it could have been a person, since we were several miles into private property and our friend was out of town. I'm not sure what those tracks belonged to, but the fact that my dad was stunned and couldn't identify them leads me to believe that they were something very, very unique.
"I once had a dream where my grandmother..."
I once had a dream where my grandmother (still living) told me she was in heaven. It's unusual for me to remember any details of my dreams, but this one stuck with me. While having breakfast the next morning, my father called to tell me she had died during the night.
I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, and I'm agnostic at best about the notion of an afterlife. I've had other people who were close to me die since, and nothing like that has ever happened again. The dream could have been triggered by simple unspoken realities; she was 93 and in the hospital, although she was not at death's door, so it wasn't like I was expecting it.
The one thing I come back to is the thought that Grandma and I were always very close. I was her first grandchild, and I think I was her favorite. So if there was any way she could reassure me from beyond the grave, she would. The logical side of me says it's all just happenstance. But the whole experience left me with a small flame of hope that I don't expect will ever get blown out.
"Was home totally alone..."
Was home totally alone, doors and windows all locked and double checked. I had our two dogs in my room with me watching a movie and snuggling round 2 am or so when I very distinctly heard my mums voice yelling for me from downstairs using my nickname no one else uses. My family was in Louisiana and I was in Texas at the time and so I just assumed I was overtired and my brain was short circuiting. Pretty quickly after that I heard it a second time and that time both dogs got up with hackles raised, got in front of me on the bed and started growling like the devil himself was at the door.
Of course I totally flipped out because they won't stop and won't even look at me as I'm calling them and petting their heads trying to get them to chill out. Heard something thud pretty heavily on the landing outside my bedroom. Both dogs loose their minds and vault off the to bed and starting barking and snarling at the door; I flew across the room locked the door and then booked it back to my bed .
Just about peed my pants and the dogs didn't chill out until the sun came up. They spent the entire night growling and sitting over me facing my bedroom door. They've never done it again and in the morning everything was still locked up and I couldn't find anything that might have fallen. Still gives me goosebumps to this day.
"So about a year ago..."
So about a year ago, I had a dream. I was playing a board game with my dad, which was fairly normal, as both of us love board games. I had never seen this game before. In the dream, my dad moved a piece (I won't elaborate on the actual game because that's kinda boring for most people) and he said "that piece is more powerful, so I'll take it out first." A couple months later, he got a new game. It was identical to the one in the dream. No differences whatsoever. The first time we played it, this event happened, word for word. Ever since then, I've had stuff like this happen every once in a while. I'll have a dream, or just be daydreaming, and then sometime from a day to half a year later, that exact same thing happens.
I have also been in the car with my parents going home, when we see some kind of plane (maybe 30 feet long) just hovering 10 meters above the ground. It wasn't moving at all. This wasn't a hallucination - my mom saw it too.
"This wasn't necessarily visible..."
This wasn't necessarily visible, but I still cannot explain this for the life of me
So I had a friend who lived in another town, about 1.5 hours from where I live, so we didn't talk often. At the time of this story (around 2011), we hadn't seen eachother in a good 8 months, or even conversed all that much since those 8 months. I decide it would be fun to hang out again, so I give him a call. Instead of him answering the phone, I get the message 'this person is already in a call' (paraphrased). I wait a minute and call again. Turns out on the exact moment I called him, he called me. I still don't have an explenation for this, except for chance of course.
"I saw a UFO..."
I saw a UFO outside my window when I was in high school. I was perplexed, and stared until it was out of sight.
I told people about it, but eventually I kind of just forgot about it.
Several years later I came across this documentary, and the UFO i had seen in high school was featured in the film. A guy from my hometown caught it all on camera, and many people from the area reported seeing it that evening. I saw it all over again, and still can't really believe what I saw...even though there is evidence. What the f*ck was it?
"When I was 4 years old..."
When I was 4 years old, I was asleep and my grandma came in to check on me before she went to bed. There was blood all over my blanket, sheets, and the wall. She woke me up and looked me over from head to toe but found no trace of a bloody nose or any cuts anywhere on my body.
"Was working as a floor nurse..."
Was working as a floor nurse on a busy med surg unit. One patient was going to have an open hysterectomy (1983 or so). Stated she had an identical twin sister living in Germany. Patient did not want to notify sister about surgery until it was over so she would not worry. On the afternoon of the surgery, about the time the patient returned from PACU, the twin sister called the patient 's home saying she had been having severe abdominal pains all day and a feeling that something was wrong with her sister. Patient in Tennessee. Sister in Germany.
While we've all seen familiar items in TV shows, or even obvious product placement, most TV shows and movies also include items that were specifically made for their story line.
Though they're meant to be fictitious, we can't lie and say that we haven't wished for some of these items to be real.
Redditor splendid_moisture asked:
"What is your favorite fictitious product from a TV show?"
Instant Toast
"As someone who doesn’t have a toaster and hates the wait time but loves toast, that instant toast-cutting knife from 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' sounds reallyyy good right about now."
- TechsSandwich
Quick-Fix Prescriptions
"'Colon Blow' from SNL (Saturday Night Live) with Phil Hartman."
- Ok_Report_6272
"Or Chris Farley’s 'Hibernol.'"
"While you sleep, living off stored body fat, the cold will run its course. In fact, many other colds and flus may come and go, but you won’t even know it, because you’re out cold!"
- Bosoxbooster
Vitameatavegamin
"Vitameatavegamin from 'I Love Lucy.'"
- Wonderful_Horror7215
"It's so tasty, too!"
- emmennwhy
"Just like candy... honest."
- spitel
"Do you pop out at parties? Are you unpoopular?"
- 1201_alarm
"Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do!"
- deadwood
Big Kahuna Burger
"The Big Kahuna Burger from 'Pulp Fiction'!?"
- naugasnake
"That's some serious gourmet s**t."
- r2mayo
"Now THAT is a tasty burger!"
- quackupreddit
Log Log Log
"'Log' from 'Ren and Stimpy.'"
- Canazabis
"What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, and over your neighbor's dog?"
- BetterThanHorus
"What's great for a snack and fits on your back?"
- WishBear19
"IT'S LOG, LOG, LOG."
- maggot_smegma
Bachelor Chow
"Bachelor Chow from 'Futurama.'"
- TheRogueToad
"When I was a bachelor, there was a time when I was like, 'I could go for that if it were a real thing...'"
- macjoven
"The way my husband ate before we got married? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he would have just bought Bachelor Chow by the case and eaten it from the can with a spoon every day. They were pretty on point with that one, lol (laughing out loud)."
- niceoldgranny
Krabby Patty
"The Krabby Patty of course."
- DarkCinnamon
"Ravioli, ravioli, give me the formuoli."
- grantgoldenboy
"It'd probably taste bad to humans. It's made for sea creatures and is meant to be eaten underwater."
- fluffynuckels
Products from "Back to the Future"
"Hoverboards from 'Back to the Future.'"
- VodkaMargarine
"I'd actually rather have the pizza hydrator."
- Hammerheadhunter
"Those auto-tighten shoes he wears in 'Back to the Future 2' blew my little mind back in the day. They're actually a thing now."
- TripleB_Darksyde
Veridian Dynamics, Period.
"Anything from Veridian Dynamics on 'Better Off Ted.'"
- Paxil_popper
"Even the weaponized pumpkins?"
"...I sure miss 'Better Off Ted.'"
- UnitedCitizen
"'Veridian Dynamics. We're the future of food, developing the next generation of food and food-like products. Tomatoes... the size of this baby, lemon-flavored fish, chicken that lay 16 eggs a day, which is a lot for a chicken, organic vegetables chock-full of antidepressants.'"
"'At Veridian Dynamics, we can even make radishes so spicy that people can't eat them, but we're not, because people can't eat them. Veridian Dynamics. Food. Yum.'"
- Hey_look_new
"The commercials were the best part. 'We treat our employees like family. That’s why we make them work weekends and all major holidays, because that’s when families should be together.'"
- edgestander
Also Anything by ACME
"The complete ACME line of products from 'Looney Tunes.'"
- sickelite
"Slingshot, dynamite, they've got it all!"
- Snoo-35252
An Egg Salad Sandwich
"The egg salad sandwich that Fry ate in 'Futurama' that made him smarter and muscular."
- wrexmason
"What's that black cracker? Tomato."
- Mdmrtgn
Fight Milk
"'Fight Milk' from 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.'"
- DrRonny
"I drink some every day so I can fight like a crow."
- Caiden0907
Resources from 'Star Trek'
"The replicator from Star Trek. Though not too sure if it categorizes as a product in a world without money."
- AdmiralClover
"The Holodeck!"
- sharrrper
"Yes, and the transporter... though it freaks me out."
- RhymesWithLasagna
"Even 'Star Trek' has a character who doesn't like them."
- AdmiralClover
"Totally! I get why. I've had so many conversations about it with my husband trying to understand the theory especially when the transporter pads are used vs site to site transports... And it seems to me a person is taken apart and then put back together elsewhere, and it's questionable if that's the same person really. But the convenience seems so wonderful!"
- RhymesWithLasagna
Cleaning Supplies
"Mr. Sparkle."
"It's disrespectful to dirt."
- okay_victory_yes
Getting By with a Little Help from Our Friends
"The milk spout thing that Joey was in a commercial for on 'Friends.'"
- InspectionNo9917
"ÜBERWEISS from 'Friends.' As a German, I can't stop laughing about it."
- Ser_Optimus
"Ross's sandwich from Season Five of 'Friends' that Monica saved for him. I know I could make something similar, but I want that one."
- Cho596
From food to cleaning supplies to techy gadgets, it seems most viewers have wanted something to be real from their favorite shows at some point.
Somehow, our shows would feel all the more real if we could connect through a shared object, in the way we've already shared experiences with our favorite characters.
Traditions are passed down from generation to generation and are preserved because they provide a sense of comfort.
Groups of people and families repeat time-honored customs without a compelling reason other than the fact that it's what the generation before them engaged in.
However, there are some traditions that are outdated by today's standards and are ones people could do without.
These were explored when Redditor NewImprovement1160 asked:
"What’s a tradition that you think people should get rid of?"
Cakes are meant for consuming, not this.
Unwelcome Facial
"Smashing of the face on the birthday cake."
– Arlington817
"Similarly, shoving cake in your new spouse's face during a wedding reception. I hate it."
– whomp1970
Red Flag?
"This tradition is so bad. The bride perfects her makeup and gets her face slathered with cake and can't just wash it off like a guy would."
"One of my friends was getting married and she told me she discussed the cake smashing with her fiancé before hand and explained why he shouldn't do it. When it came time, they fed each other and she dabbed a small bit of frosting on his nose; everyone laughed, it was cute."
"He was offended and tried to smash the whole plate in her face. She backed away in time and walked away; everyone was laughing...except for him. He chased her down, grabbed her by the neck, and smeared his cake all over her face. It was like watching a 10-year-old teach his 6-year-old sibling a lesson."
"She tried to laugh it off as she retreated to the bathroom for repairs, but I could tell she was seething. The room went ice-cold."
A Follow-Up
"To everyone asking if she immediately dumped him: of course not, this was a real story. They've been married for 20 years and have a couple of kids. She was 22 and poor and the hottest (horse) girl at our university, working on her Mrs. degree. He was 30 with his own business; he bought her a Porsche she uses to travel the horse jumping circuit with her daughter (and her horse). He wanted a trophy wife and she wanted to be a wealthy SAHM; they both got what they were looking for."
– abe_froman_king_saus
Redditors share trauma they've experienced when they were younger.
Borderline Abuse
"I agree so much!!! I've had a family member do it to a young child who cried. What an a**hole!"
– razometer
"I was a young child this happened to. My father's then-girlfriend (later wife, now ex-wife) smashed my face into my cake on my 6th birthday. All I remember was a ruined birthday cake and running out of the room, confused and crying. It's been nearly 30 years, and I still haven't forgiven her."
– squidgemobile
Negative Reaction
"My father in-law did it to his 12y.o. nephew. The nephew punched him in the face and then they tussled and had to be separated. Lol."
– 2ShredsUsay39
Unplanned Swim
"I hate cold water. A lot! As an adult, I can prepare for it, and just go against the grain, and make myself feel tough. But as a kid, it was just always unpleasant to me to be in cold water."
"A family friend, aware of this, threw me into a cold pool once. What the actual f'k? I cried, because I was like, 8. But a bunch of adults thought it was funny, so cool, right?"
– YossiTheWizard
Culture Clash
"I married into a Honduran family, love them all…seriously the greatest people I’ve ever met (minus Carlos..he’s a dick 🥹) and this is a huge thing that I’ve been fighting them on. Smash my kids face into their cake and you’ll be eating drywall. 😂 violent sure but I’m not kidding"
And you thought tying the knot was always a good thing.
No Other Option
"Forced marriages."
– AnnemarieOakley
"I have an Indian friend and his parents basically just sent his wife here from India and said you’re marrying her a couple years ago. I don’t understand it at all but I think they do it like a business deal back at home."
– jadedmonk
Explaining Arranged Vs. Forced Marriages
"It should be clarified in most cases there is a difference between 'arranged' marriages and 'forced' marriages. Arranged marriages are still quite common but the prospective couple each have the ability to say no. Essentially the parents are finding who they think is a good match but it’s not uncommon for either person to back out (especially these days). In the case of your friend his parents just suck."
– Fried_puri
How Deep Is Your Love...And Your Wallet?
"Super extravagant and expensive weddings."
– llcucf80
"I'll add in spending enough money to make a down payment on a car or home for an engagement ring as well."
– OkVolume1
Paying For Rites Of Passage
"Expensive wedding and funerals, specially with funerals, that person is already dead."
– ALI4MHR
"My brother was telling his wife and me about his wishes after he is gone. He wants to be cremated, his ashes thrown in a coffee tin, and then scattered in the mountains. He also does not want a funeral or memorial service. He just wants his friends and family to get trashed the very night of his passing."
– ShangLoongMa
I've always said this and believe to be true.
Tipping should no longer be customary.
People working in the service industry deserve higher wages, and it's not up to the customer to determine if a server at a restaurant will be making enough that week to put food on their own table.
Other countries don't have this tipping system and somehow I've managed to have excellent service.
There are no expectations and pressure imposed on both the server and patron.
While all couples promise that they will commit to one another "till death do us part," not all couples are able to fulfill these vows.
Sadly, some couples learn after committing to one another that they were not meant to be married, resulting in a divorce.
For most couples, it's a slow discovery, as they begin to learn more about one another, as well as themselves, eventually shedding light on the fact that they simply aren't compatible.
For others, they discovered that their marriage was beyond salvation after one, eye-opening moment.
"Divorced people of Reddit, when did you know it was over?
A Worrisome Sign Of Their Future
"When her grandma died."
"It was her dad's mom and a wonderful lady, who died peacefully."
"Her dad called me sobbing, saying he was a mess and needed someone to talk to."
"I told him I would come straight over and then called my wife."
"Her response?"
"He was being over dramatic and she was with her mom (his wife) and they were ignoring his texts and calls."
"WTF?!?! "
"His mom just died."
"He is sad and alone."
"Went over there and hung out for a while and realized that if I stayed married I was looking at my future self."
"FIL is a good guy and treated like a stray dog."
'They have separate bedrooms."
"She hates him."
"Has made their kids hate him."- _Stamos
All Take, No Give
"We went to counseling."
"She talked about the things she needed and wasn't getting."
"Counselor asked me if I could work on those."
"I said yes."
"This took the whole first session."
"Second session happens a week later."
"I talked about the things that I needed and wasn't getting."
"Counselor asked her if she could work on those."
"She kept avoiding and redirecting."
"On the drive home she said she wanted to find a new counselor, this one wasn't the right one."
"Went to a new counselor a few weeks later."
"First session was a repeat."
"So was the second."
"She said we should find a better counselor."
"I asked 'one that agrees with you?'"
"And she said yes."
"Then I was done."
"Yes, I'm doing much better now."
"We don't keep in touch, but I think she is too."
"I don't want to make it seem like she was terrible and I was a saint."
"We were a bad match."
"This was just the point I knew we couldn't fix it."- PatrickKieliszek
When You COULD Wait To See Them Again
"Driving home from work, coming around the corner, and feeling disappointment to see her car in the driveway."- lucky_ducker·
Filled Their Heart With Anything But Joy
"When I realized I was more at peace when he wasn't around."
"I was calmer, less anxious, and smiling more."
"Also, when I realized I would smother my smiles or hide happy news so he wouldn't have a chance to ruin whatever I was enjoying."- LurkSmurf
Not Their Only Love
"My ex thought I was working out of town."
"She had been having an affair for about three months and totally thought I didn’t know and she had me buffaloed."
"This was way back before cell phones, but she had been call forwarding our phone to her new boyfriends number so when I called her I would think I was reaching her at our apartment."
"I came home about 10:00 pm one evening and she wasn’t home, I called her boyfriend's number, and she answered the phone."
"I asked her what she was doing and she told me she just climbed into bed for the night, I asked her whose bed she climbed into."
"There was a long pause."
" I told her I knew what she was doing and where she was."
"The last thing I said to her was that I was leaving my wedding ring on the nightstand on her side of the bed."
"That was over 40 years ago."
"Been married to a wonderful woman for a very long time now, all is good."- wyoflyboy68
Just One Of Those Nights...
"It was weird."
"I was sitting on the couch, and she was in the recliner."
"I looked at her, and it was like I didn't even know her."
"I thought... I don't like you and I wouldn't even date you now."
"We just grew apart."
"I said, 'do you want to break up?'"
"She replied, 'I thought you'd never ask... yep. It's been over for awhile'."
"It was amicable, and we went our separate ways."
"No hard feelings it was just done."- TotalDomination1952
Sad On So Many Levels
"When he told me he married me to punish me for getting pregnant and he was going to spend the rest of his life making my life a hell because I stole his childhood."
"Friends, he was 24."- Puzzleheaded-War-113
Manipulative Games
"When she filed for divorce, but didn't actually want a divorce."
"That's when I realized I couldn't put up with any more of her sh*t."
"If she was willing to file for divorce (and thought I was going to pay for it all), I knew it had gone way too far."
"I spent the next two years trying to finalize that divorce with her trying to stay married."- Azzizzi
A Literal Sign
"Left work to drive home."
"Hour commute."
"Passed an apartment complex with a vacancy sign."
"Started thinking seriously about why I was driving home."- ReallyFineWhine
Love can be very confusing and misleading.
Sometimes, we think we're in love and discover much too late that we were wrong.
Other times, even if love was genuine, it wasn't enough to fix something which couldn't be unbroken.
Every decade we learn and grow.
Well, we hope we do.
Everything changes with the passing of time.
Sex is especially fluid.
They say the older you get the better it gets.
I'm not sure for myself, but it sounds like it's working out for a lot of other people.
20s are full of verve and energy.
30s are full of bitterness and regret from the sex in the 20s.
Though that can be hot too.
Redditor Infinite_Werewolf395 wanted to hear about how things can change over the course of a decade when it comes to sexy time, so they asked:
"What is the biggest difference between sex in your 20s and sex in your 30s?"
I guess I was maybe little more confident in my 30s.
That was a plus.
Never Settle
"I gained the confidence to ask for what I actually want and say what feels good to me and what doesn't. Too many people just go with what they usually do in the sack, instead of talking about what each individual actually enjoys."
"Basically, I no longer settle for bad sex."
mynamecouldbesam
Continue
"20s: It didn't really take a lot to get me going, just 1. being in my bed, and 2. being mostly nude was enough."
"30s: I really need them to be into it, too. Like... if they act like they're only doing this to make me happy, I pick up on it and I just can't continue. I also need them to like, show some interest in me too, or it takes some monumental effort to be in the mood. I'm more particular, and more aware of what the other party is doing and how they're reacting, etc."
We1tfunk
Real Struggle
"The amount of time you have available."
frenix5
"Not necessarily. In general, life just gets busy. My husband and I are in our 30s with no kids and still find this a struggle. Life just gets busier the older you get. We have to work hard on prioritizing our relationship."
TheSilentBaker
"There’s a hell of a lot more planning involved. Gotta schedule that crap out in advance."
KosstAmojan
Learning
"I'm 35 dating a 27 yr old. I tried the pills and all kinds of different things. Eventually, we had this one time where I was really Into it (never happens anymore really. Can't keep it up so it's hard to comply when it's initiated cause I know it'll just end in disappointment for both of us) and It was the best sex we'd had in years."
"I'm still not sure what factors were different that day but I honestly think it was probably mostly emotional reinforcement. Usually, she just starts grabbing at me and there's no romance so it's hard to get... hard. I think that day we actually did some foreplay. Anyways this has really helped me a lot reading all the responses. I figured I was just freakin' cursed. Never got much action in my prime."
"It just seemed appropriate that when I was finally getting some my sh*t would stop working lol. Good to know that I'm not the only man who puts importance on the emotional component of sex. Thought that was my problem for a while too. Guess I just have emotional needs that aren't being met and it's bleeding into other facets of my life."
MurphNastyFlex
Still Hot
So Excited Reaction GIF by OriginalsGiphy"Sex in the 30s are about a million times better. Still very very horny but also experienced, skills, more willing to try things."
probablyurprofessor
I didn't find this to be true.
That's me though.
The Process
Bored Season 5 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Sex got better. I finally figured out what my wife likes. Though a long tedious trial and error process."
SaiyanGodKing
Ruts
"Exploration is difficult once you’ve fallen into a rut. Routines become commonplace. I’m such a sub these days that I don’t mind bad sex for me as long as I can make my partner climax. It’s easy to tell with men, but with women partners I'm always afraid they’re faking or acting, so there definitely needs to be established trust first."
pissoff1818
Decades of Learning
"Teens: did it like a nympho, but sex was mediocre. 20's: did it like a nympho, sex was a little better. 30's: started figuring out what I wanted. Did it a little less, but better quality. 40's: best and most frequent sex yet. Hornier and more experimental now than ever before."
"(Edited to add: had kids in late 20's, early 30's. Kids consume so much time and energy. Kids are getting older now, so more time and energy for sex again. Honestly sex in 40's has been the freakiest, wildest, most fulfilling yet)."
ChristyCurious
Let's Sleep
"20s: sex?? Yeah!! I’ll have sex!"
"30s: sex? Hmmm okay but it’s already 8:30pm and so if we start now and stop by 9:30 we should still get a full nights sleep but also we could wait until Friday or Saturday night that might be better because if we are up too late it won’t really matter much the next day but sure yeah let’s do it! F**k it who cares wait what was that oh one of the kids is at the door."
Hopeful_Jello_7894
Perfection
"Oh man, it's so much better in my 30s than it's ever been. Multiple reasons but primarily finding a partner (my perfect wife) who has helped break down my walls through conversation and experimenting together. I feel so much less guilt about sex now and I can actually enjoy it. Not sure if it was being raised with Catholic guilt or my first gf being just the wrong partner but wow did I ever feel awful about anything sexual before."
Leebollomew
Learning and Growth
Think Winnie The Pooh GIFGiphy"I’ve got something I haven’t seen yet..."
"20s: As a dude, I’d sleep with almost any woman even if they were a horrible person or I hated their guts."
30: Anything considered a red flag or something I don’t want to deal with causes me to go limp and I lose all interest."
Slappyhandz
A decade can really change everything.
Farewell youth.