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People Who Live In Small Towns Divulge Their Biggest Scandal

Small towns are often awash with gossip, so any embarrassing or scandalous behavior is usually known by everyone in town in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Some towns definitely have a bit more scandal than others, though, as these Reddit responses show.


Reddit user u/Ayayaya3 asked:

"People living in small towns, what's the recent scandal?"

10.

A few days ago, Amber Alert sent out an emergency message about a fellow in a green car who had stabbed his girlfriend and stolen their baby out of San Jose, which is 3 hours north of us. Lo and behold, the guy was caught right at our own downtown gas station when the kidnapper accidently locked the baby and his keys in his car, which drew attention to him. A good samaritan from an entirely different town, (a tourist), put the puzzle together, and put the guy in a headlock until the authorities arrived.

-archetypaldream

9.

A local police department likes to post "Wanted" pictures on its Facebook page.

The other day, I saw one of their sh*tty Wanted postings of some woman who is allegedly evading police for drug charges and intent to distribute.

The suspect herself commented on the post and said, "I'm not evading, I'm not on the run, I've been out of town, and when I come back I'm turning myself in."

-OtherwiseJello

8.

A couple months ago someone left their fire pit in their driveway for a few days. They received a mailed letter from an anonymous neighbor shaming them for making the neighborhood look bad. The recipient then posted the letter on the town's Facebook page. People ran with it and created the first annual front yard fire night.

-sayyyywhat

7.

The town went with the lowest bidder for a big roadwork contract, and it turns out they were totally unqualified for the job and were messing stuff up. So the town fired them and hired the second-lowest bidder. Same thing. They're on their third contractor now IIRC, and the project which was supposed to be done this summer will hopefully be finished sometime next year.

-notfromvenus42

6.

Our city council just voted to give themselves a 103% raise.

For reference, the pay is low-mid 20k currently, the raise puts the pay at 52k. The support is that more people will be able to get into office with the higher pay, and wages were stagnant from many years ago. So instead of the gradual pay increase over those years with cost of living, it's been adjusted to the current market today resulting in a significant jump. The overall trend from opposers is that they were blindsided and didn't get to vote on it like the last mayor said should happen.

-likemong

5.

We don't know who but someone has been going around egging random cars and throwing full water bottles at people's windshields..

-purplelove03

4.

Our newly elected mayor (who is a school teacher as well) caused a head-on car crash injuring 2 small children in the other car. She was found to be drunk and it was 330pm on a weekday. The kicker: she wasn't charged with a crime (as of yet) but she did resign after "considerable thought."

-murkfury

3.

I left my small town years ago but I was home over thanksgiving and got an earful.

The local grocery store was renovated/expanded after 30 years and now "everything's moved and you can't find nothing".

I was home for four days and literally every new social interaction with people in town involved the go**amn grocery store and how awful it is now.

Spoiler: it actually looks quite nice and they hang signs over the aisles telling you where things are. You know, like a grocery store.

-Corporate-Asset-6375

2.

During my sisters volleyball game one of the super aggressive sports dads slapped someone else's kid- cause apparently she "set the ball into a bad positioning" and that caused his daughter to miss the spike

His kid is not good at the game

I played volleyball for a long time and my mom sent me footage of the set, she set that ball beautifully for the small league she's in

They won the game- just be happy

The entire community is turned against him right now and the family of the girl is considering pressing charges, which i feel they should cause this guy has gotten close to crossing the line before and he needs to be reprimanded for his actions


Edit; a lot of you have commented about how he didn't get beat at the game, no one had the chance because immediately realized he f**ked up and ran out to his car

He drove away leaving his kid to be embarrassed and alone in a court full of people pissed at her dad ( one of the nice moms gave her a ride back to her house where she spent the night )

And on a happier note I've just learned from my mom that charges are being pressed, and investigations into the living conditions in his house are being conducted, i'll update when the results come in.

--thisishell-

1.

My grandparents small town has had a recent outbreak of teenagers riding horses through the middle of downtown, while wearing nothing but facemasks. It has happened a total of three times now, always different kids, always different horses.

-MoldyDi


Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public

Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;

Collection of VHS tapes
Bruno Guerrero/Unsplash

What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.

Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:

"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"

These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.

Good Clean Fun

"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."

– MrDDog06

"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."

– Bogus_34

Act Of Unwrinkling

"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."

– eerie_white_glow

"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."

"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."

– xdq

Our solo actions can spark joy.

Big Brother Is Watching

"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."

– Bec_121

"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."

– doeswaspsmakehoney

The Multi-Tasker

"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."

– thickening_agent

Releasing The Kraken

"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."

– therapoootic

"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."

– TheWarmestHugz

Ultimate Comfort

"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."

– crazyloomis

Some people are obsessed with collecting things.

So Kawai

"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."

– HavingNotAttained

It's A Staple

"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."

"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."

– _CozyLavender_

Not Caring Anymore

"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."

– Bi-Beast

"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"

– deanie1970

Honorable mentions start here.

The Savior

"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."

– sky_kitten89

Hero Of The Moment

"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"

"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."

– chris14020

Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?

Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.

As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.

historical reenactors
Sigmund on Unsplash

We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.

History is riddled with moments of absurdity.

So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.

Keep reading...Show less