In light of Donald Trump's recent decision to ban federal money going to international groups to perform or provide information on abortions, women from around the globe have come together to share their experiences of abortion, and why it was important to have access to information and safe practices.
1. I had one last year. I can't tell you the amount of women that were like "You will regret this", "You will feel a guilt inside of you for the rest of your life", etcetera. I didn't feel this way. I knew what was best for me, and it wasn't a child. Couldn't afford one, still in college, the dude wasn't even my boyfriend. Immediately afterwards, honestly, I felt relieved. I still feel relieved and thankful that we have the technology to safely terminate pregnancies.
2. Relieved. Sad. Years later- Relieved. I am glad I did not have to have my rapist's child.
3. 5 years ago, on December 14, 2011, I had an abortion. I was 17-years-old. I had been with my ex for two years then and still had one year left in high school. I had already doubts about our relationship, it was definitely not on a solid base. And before anyone attacks: I was on the pill. I took them the way you should. Even people refuse to accept this, it is possible to get pregnant even if you are on the pill. Rare, but possible. My doctor later had theories like on how I was sick could have effected that.
About the actual abortion: I feel nothing else but extremely strong relief, and extreme gratitude that I live in a country that respects women's reproductive rights. When I had he procedure done, I felt absolutely nothing. I was happy I was in safe, capable medical expert's hands, I was happy my nightmare would be over and I could go on with the life I deserve.
Here is one thing I will regret immensely, and what I am still traumatized to this day: Telling my boyfriend and him telling his mother.
Here's it the story, I apologize if it is going to be long and for the bad English (non-native), but it feels good to open up about this.
The moment I found out I was pregnant, it was without no doubt the most overwhelmingly... I can't find the right word, but somewhat disgusting feeling. I felt immediately trapped, I felt my life was over no matter what I would do, that there would be no turning back from now on and this was my future from now on. If you are a man and can't relate: think about finding out your body has failed you and developed a gross tumor. Every day that tumor eats your body more, changing everything from your bone structure to the shape of your body. Its nutrition is your hopes and dreams you ever had for your life. But the nightmare doesn't change after 9 months, you are trapped for life. You are supposed to sacrifice your health, savings, education, everything for that tumor. The worst part is that people around you (people you don't even know) are telling you that tumor is a huge blessing and you should accept your part because it is your "part". The funniest thing is that the people shaming you for not loving the tumor are the same ones that will shame you if (when) you end up being a single mother and living on welfare. You don't exist, you exist to give birth to that tumor. But even when you throw away your life for that tumor, you are still a joke and overlooked by the society (please people, don't give me some shit how single teenage mothers are somehow respected). You are a woman, you had sex, you must be punished for it.
I didn't have a problem getting rid of the fetus. I felt absolutely nothing but sheer terror of the idea I would have to push that out and take care of it. What I did have a problem with and still have, is that I told my boyfriend about this. First he was lukewarm and quite supporting about getting an abortion. He did have some irrational "just pop it out and let's get married"-talks before, but nothing we couldn't work out by talking. Then he told his mother. All hell break loose.
A controlling, abusive mother with a serious alcohol problem decided I was going to keep the baby. First it was quite normal, actually she was acting quite caring. I went to my boyfriend's house and her mom wanted to talk with me. We had a nice (but she was still quite pushing) talk where she told me they would do everything in their power to make sure this baby had a good life. She told me she was excited for my pregnancy, that she loved me and trusted me to do the right decision... I told her I had decided not to have to child and she was upset but quite respectful.
Well, that doesn't stop there. Suddenly my boyfriend has decided he wants nothing more than be a dad. (Continued)
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We have a huge fight where he uses words like "my child", "killing" and "murder" a lot. Her mom starts texting me weird things, like how she bought a pair of tiny sunglasses for her "grandson" (no, we didn't know the sex of course). Then it started getting really bad. I went to their house and there she was, waiting on the living room with some kind of religious lady and a priest. They offered me cookies and tea, and told me that I will go to hell if I abort this baby.
I am not religious. My boyfriend was not religious. Her mother had not once expressed any kind of tendency to be religious.
I got home and cried that night. After that, it got really bad. She started harassing me with calls and texts, but boyfriend told our group of friends, they both were attacking me like there was no tomorrow. I panicked, clammed up and didn't even make any doctor reservations because I was so stressed out I started to absurdly wish this would all go away and I wouldn't have to take their hate if I did this. I started to have ideas that maybe I would go to hell if I did this, maybe I would get infertile if I did this, maybe I would go insane and regret my whole life if I did this.
The situation finally changed when my lovely school counselor found me crying in a classroom. She got me to the school nurse who called my mother and we told her everything. I hadn't told her before that because I felt too ashamed to reach out to anyone, somehow I was convinced she would hate me too, even though I knew otherwise. My mother was furious. I have never seen her so angry. She had noticed I had changed, but didn't know what was going on.
They made my ex's mother to stop. She was threatened with cops if she would still contact me. I finally broke up with my ex-boyfriend, something I should have done a long, long time ago before that, way before getting pregnant. He was an irresponsible, selfish and lazy human being, who smoked pot like there was no tomorrow and skipped school. I actually just deleted him from my facebook friends, because just seeing his wall was too much. He hasn't changed tiniest bit from high school. He hasn't done ANYTHING after the school ended. No school, no work, nada.
I, on the other hand, am going to get my masters in the fall of 2018. I have already started to work on my field. I enjoy it immensely. I have dated a really good man for three years now. He is the kindest, sweetest, most trustworthy human being there is on this planet earth. I wouldn't have met him if I had stayed home with the baby, because I wouldn't have started university the same time. Even if we had met, he wouldn't have dated me if I had a child, just like I was (am) not interested to play mommy to single fathers in my early twenties. He knows about my abortion, we talk about everything. We have talked marriage and kids, there couldn't be a better father to my future child(ren). In short, everything in my life would be so much worse if I was a mother right now.
4. My answer is a bit different because my abortion was done to save my life.
I was pregnant and thought I had a very obvious miscarriage (scans showed no baby) but it turns out the baby actually (Continued)
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the baby actually got stuck in one of my tubes [it was ectopic] and had managed to go undetected long enough to rupture my tube and I was slowly bleeding out on the inside.
It was still alive but yeah... I had to get emergency surgery and to be honest not having a choice really messed with me.
5. Intense fear
Is this the right decision?
Can it feel it?
Am i a monster?
Ok, it's happening
It's over
That was irreversible
Man, im hungry
....in terms of immediate after, you feel empty (?) For a few days. Your hormones get confused. You're tired from the anesthetic. You cry because the experience sucked and y'know, hormones.
3 years later I'm confident I made the right decision but I often trail off into thought about what could have been and feel a strange pang of guilt. Its different for all women I think.
6. I was 19. I was on meth, the bf was on meth and incredibly abusive toward me, and I had been kicked out of my parent's house. After I told my mom I had just found out I was pregnant, she let me come home. I agonized over the decision to terminate the pregnancy. When he told me he wanted me to keep it, that's when I began to see things clearly. What would stop him from abusing me in front of the child? How long would it take before he abuses the child? Would I even make it through the pregnancy unharmed? I was young and naive and high and thought that maybe he would change and become a great bf and father. Then I laughed at myself for even entertaining that idea and began to focus on cold hard facts. I was hooked on meth. I had been using regularly throughout the pregnancy and had no way of knowing what kind of damage I had caused. That was the deciding factor. Nothing about my circumstances was good for a child. I had the abortion and today, 16 years later, I know that was the best and wisest decision I could have made for myself at that time. It took another 6 years before I finally kicked the shit for good and I still believe I made the right decision to terminate.
Immediately afterwards I felt awful and ashamed. That lasted a few weeks. I believe the ex and the meth largely contributed to that shame I felt. Then the relief hit me. And that feeling never changed. I am still relieved that I was able to see beyond me and make the right choice.
7. It was the best choice for me! I got pregnant after dating a guy for one month. I was freaking out because I had been accepted into a challenging health sciences program and there was no way I wanted to give that up to raise a baby. At the time I had no resources to raise a baby and I did not want to be tied down to more or less of a stranger. I have never felt guilty about the decision or like I did the wrong thing. If I could of financially cared for it and I had a better living situation than I may of felt differently.
When I first found out I told the guy and we made an appointment to go to "pregnancy help center." Basically, they tried to make me feel like a terrible person and like I was Satan in the flesh. They also tried to convince to me accept Jesus into my heart. That place attempted to instill more guilt than anywhere I've ever been. They called me off and on for a year after I had the procedure done. They claimed to just want to check up and to see if I wanted to join any of their group..
If you feel 100% about your choice then no one can change it or make you feel differently. Educate yourself and make the best choice for you and only you.
8. I am twenty years old and I got an abortion in August 2011. I am not proud of what I did.
My best friend of two and a half years and I had always had some sort of romantic friction between us because we had sex right after we first met. We decided to keep it platonic after that because we got along too well, but I always loved him. I introduced him to one of my best friends after some time and they ended up together for two years.
Well, they broke up and we wound up together. It was bound to happen. We ended up homeless that summer (we did a lot of drugs and his mom wasn't having it) so we literally spent two months at each others' sides. We were never apart unless we were using the bathroom. Our hardcore, jaded friendship romance was smoldering at this point, we were always having sex because it was all we had... We sure as hell didn't have any condoms, but of course we weren't thinking.
He broke up with me the day after his grandmother died. Tried to play it off like her death was heartbreak warfare for his emotions. He couldn't 'take' the thought of hurting me. Then he went back to his ex, the girl that was once my best friend.
When I found out I was pregnant, the world just sort of stopped... (Continued)
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I mean, there I was, nineteen years old, barely graduated high school, never been able to keep a job, DUI at seventeen, basically a failure as a human being. Now I was pregnant with the child of the one person that I simply could never let go, and he had just broken it off. Out of nowhere. To get back with the girl I introduced him to in the first place. After everything that we'd been through and everything that he said. Left high and dry by the man I'd held closer than anyone else for so long.
My dad told me that he would pay for me to get an abortion if it came down to it and I couldn't handle being pregnant. It wasn't cruel, my dad is an incredibly intelligent man and his ideas are always within reason. He has watched me be this screw-up of an individual for my entire life, he knows what having a kid could do to me.
There were so many pressing concerns about what my being pregnant meant. My first greatest concern was my mother. She is my rock, she is an incredible human being and she is also extremely depressed. Ever since her oldest sister passed away in 2004, she has been in pain. When I started drinking and doing drugs, she saw her sister's behavior in me. It broke her apart and she began to worry about me constantly, to the point that she started drinking. If she found out that I was pregnant, she would drink herself to death. It sounds completely illogical, but you do not know my mother.
My next concern was my drug use. I'd already used so many drugs and drank plenty of alcohol over the entire period of time that I'd been pregnant. Even if I had gone with my first option, which was to put it up for adoption to a nice gay couple, that poor couple could have ended up with a baby suffering from countless [insert endless health problems here]...
Obviously my last concern was the pain of carrying the child of the guy that made me absolutely miserable. I could have put those feelings aside, however, had the other issues not already been present. I made my decision.
My dad brought me to the clinic and what took place there was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I couldn't afford to get any sort of anesthesia, just some sort of 'numbing spray' that wasn't effective for anything at all. I won't go into details, but it was bad. It hurt, and you can hear everything. No matter how many times people remind you that it's just a medical procedure, it's not truly a sentient thing yet, it doesn't matter. It's easy to walk out of there thinking about who that person could have been. I've made peace with it, but I have never forgotten and I never will.
9. I had one when I was 14. I felt relieved. Now I feel thankful, but most of the time it just doesn't even cross my mind.
10. I'm a very nurturing mom of two children. I did not have the resources to have a third, so I had an abortion very early in the pregnancy. Zero regrets right afterwards and still no regrets 8 years later.
11. 1969 - had to travel to UK to get one where I had some relatives for a support network. The father was an idiot who would have ruined my life if I had been tied to him with a child forever.
Best decision ever. No regrets then; no regrets now.
13. Completely devastated, angry, and guilty. I would've been due for birth next month. I feel reminiscent about something I've never even have. But it was for the better. Didn't want to be a young, single mother. Also, my parents were both adopted so I have a strong stance on adoption, instead of bringing a new life into the world... so I knew I couldn't have the baby and I still feel the same way now.
My parents don't know about it... My brother wanted to find and beat up my (Continued)
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unsupportive (ex)boyfriend for leaving me for his ex and being absent in this situation... My sister freaked out about how I could commit such a sin, but still comforted me nevertheless.
I couldn't have the baby and give them away because I've seen way too many foster kids in horrible situations, so there was no way I was going to give birth only to potentially set a child up for a life like that.
14. I come from a country where abortions are illegal so I had to fly to my SO's country in Europe to get it done. Immediately after while still drugged, I felt relieved but immense sadness that I had to go through it because circumstances meant I could not care for a baby. But after a few days I no longer feel sad because we both felt it was the right thing to do. Now, I rarely think about it but when I do, it still is sad but it doesn't sting anymore.
15. Relief.
Best decision I've ever made.
16. I had an abortion in 1986. I felt relieved afterward. Relieved and happy. I was able to finish college and continue on with the rest of my life.
17. I just recently had my first and, hopefully only, abortion. I am 22 years old, I have a 3 year old son. My boyfriend and I got pregnant purely by accident. When I was pregnant with my son I had kidney stones literally the whole 9 months. I spent 10 day stints in the hospital. It was extremely painful and uncomfortable. I am still currently going threw kidney problems. My doctors told me after I had my son that if I were to get pregnant before everything was completely solved with my kidneys I could have serious health problems. I NEVER in my entire life thought I would have an abortion. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs or what anyone thinks of me. It has always just been a personal thing for me. It was an extremely difficult decision, and thank god I had my boyfriend, best friend and family by my side to help. I was only 6 weeks along. I guess when I went in to have it done, I detached myself from the whole situation. I've been in and out of doctors offices and have had procedures done for 10 years now. I just put it in my mind that I was just getting another kidney procedure done. It was the only way I was able to actually go threw with it. I still think about it, and it still bothers me almost everyday. I had no choice in the matter. It was for my health and for my 3 year old son. I couldn't risk anything happening to me and not being there for him. So yeah, that's my story.
18. I was in an abusive relationship physically and emotionally. Went to the hospital I thought I had the flu, but they informed me I was pregnant. I called and called him from the hospital to tell him the "good" news, no answer. I thought a baby would make him change his ways and we could be a happy family but (Continued)
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I didn't hear from him for 24 hours after I had finally texted him that I was pregnant. He came home the next day and I smiled and told him again, in case he didn't get the text and he responded "who you been sleeping with I know it ain't mine!" Pushed me on the coffee table and walked right back out of the door. I took $2,000 that he had stashed in the closet, got myself a hotel room and made an appointment for an abortion the next day. There were about fifteen other women at the clinic, I just felt numb like this is what I have to do. So they had me take a pill right there and also gave me a pill to take home and take. (I was 7 weeks along.) I got back to my hotel room and took the pill a few hours later. I started having severe cramps and so much bleeding and blood clots coming out. I cried for 4 hours straight until I fell asleep. I felt so ashamed and alone at the time. But the next day I was fine physically, I got on the Greyhound bus and went back to my hometown. Now when I think about it I think it was the best decision I could have made, as well as getting away from that jerk.
19. I'm one of those older women who had a surprise pregnancy right after my 3rd and youngest child turned 18. I knew right away I couldn't do it again - I'd be 63 when this one turned 18, which was the age my mother died, and her mother as well (my grandmother). I'd been a mother literally all my adult life, having had my first when 17. My SO isn't in the best of health either. It was an easy decision to make together.
Right after, because of hormones and all, I was a little upset - it struck me it was "last chance" and I didn't take the chance. In the next week we dropped off the youngest kid to college, and I was experiencing the empty nest for the first time ever. It made it a bit difficult... but then the hormones backed off and we could appreciate the house to ourselves...within a month I definitely felt all the relief I still feel.
20. I was annoyed that my contraceptive method failed. And then I was happy because me and boyfriend went to get doughnuts afterwards.
21. I got pregnant at 20, from a boyfriend who I was 100% sure I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life with, but didn't hate enough to break up just yet. I lived with him. I used the pill, but not consistently as I should have. I missed a few days here or there, just absentmindedly forgetting. We were together for almost 3 years by then, and I never had any even a few day late periods. I figured I was doing okay.
I was in my first year of a good apprenticeship for a construction trade. The kind of apprenticeship where it is going to be your career. I couldn't even work after a few months of pregnancy because of the environment alone. Machines, exhaust, concrete dust, etc. Not just having a baby, but being pregnant alone would ruin my job opportunity. I was a week late and freaked out. Took 3 pregnancy tests and all were positive. I didn't even think.
It was like my body hit cruise control. I stopped crying and looked online for the closest center that did terminations. Found one really close and called and set up a procedure for that weekend. Everyone looked distraught and I felt like an evil freak for being happy. They were going to fix my problem instantly! Did my ultrasound, they had me talk to a counselor. I said "get it out". And procedure was done.
I was never so relieved in my life. My life was not over. Even if I gave a child up for adoption, that would require me blowing my job, plus everyone I know would know. Hardly anyone knows even that I was pregnant, minus my sister, my ex, and my husband now because I tell him everything. I would be mortified if my parents knew. I haven't thought twice about it, and not an ounce of sadness really. Not to say I didn't understand the severity, just that I was no (continued)
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I was no more than 6 weeks. That's not a baby to me. I asked them if I could ever have kids, they said it absolutely doesn't affect that at all.
I have an alarm on my phone and take my pill every day at noon. I haven't missed it once in probably 3 years, except once where I forgot them at home and took it a few hours later instead. (Note:I'm not 23, I just broke up with ex and wasn't having any sex for a long while, I'm much closer to 30 than 20) I am now married to an amazing man. If I got pregnant tomorrow, I'd keep it. I am at a happier place in my life with less pressure and uncertainty with money/jobs/boyfriends. I want kids. Just not now.
100% best decision I ever made.
22. I miscarried before my abortion...I was ready to be without a child, but I wasn't ready for the emotional backlash. It was horrible. I felt so alone.
23. I was euphoric. Hear me out: I was 17 and had just escaped an abusive relationship with a much older man. I was still dealing with his harassment when I found out I was pregnant. If I had his child I'd never be free of him. My first thought was suicide. When I stopped panicking, I made the appointment. Some might ask why I just didn't opt for adoption. He would never sign away his child. I couldn't hide a pregnancy because he'd find out.
During the procedure: Scared. I drove myself, so I couldn't have the sedative, only the local. But the PP nurses held my hands and told me it was okay to cry.
After: I felt incredible. For the first time in months I could breathe. My ex was hardline anti abortion, and I knew he'd never speak to me again once he knew. And he didn't. The harassment stopped. It was like I had a new lease on life.
Now: I don't think about it often, and it's still a relief when I do. It is my belief that my child waited for me to give her a better father. I know that both of our lives are a thousand times better than they would have been had i had her with my ex. Honestly, I doubt I would have survived to the end of the pregnancy.
24. I had one when I was 22, so about 13 years ago. It was actually covered under my moms insurance. No one knew, and no one knows now. Except my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time. It was incredibly difficult and the entire experience changed me forever. It was done at a clinic and I just remember waiting in the waiting room filled with girls that all had the same look on their face that I did. We didn't want to look each other in the eye, I can still close my eyes and remember the flooring because that's all I could look at. I didn't want to look at another girl, not necessarily because I was ashamed, but because I couldn't muster seeing another girl with the same look on her face. It was too hard. I knew I loved my boyfriend, and I knew that he was going to be my husband someday. I was certain of that. So it was kind of hard for me to tell myself that why I was about to do was ok. Even though I knew that there was no way I could handle a child at that point in my life, and we wouldn't have been able to give that child the life he or she deserved. I knew I was doing the best thing, but I think I still needed to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. I was called back to a room, my boyfriend couldn't come with me. Then I was told to lie down on the bed. I lied down and they got the ultrasound machine out, lifted my shirt and put the jelly on my stomach. They purposely put the machine behind my head so I couldn't see the image, but the volume wasn't down so I heard the heartbeat. I heard it and it fucking broke me. The nurse and doctor knew that they fucked up and took the wand away as fast as they could, but I still heard it. And I lost it. Instantly started crying, so badly that they had to stop and leave the room. They left me there alone for, what seemed like forever. I was questioning everything, my brain was going a million miles a minute. And I was hysterical but I knew that I still needed to go through with the abortion. So they came back and very dryly just explained what was going to happen. I lied back down, they put an IV in and I was asleep before I knew it.
I woke up very groggily in a giant room lined with big fluffy recovery recliners filled with girls. Some were awake, some were still out. I remember looking around and seeing the girls that were awake and their eyes were just dead. We all looked fucking exhausted and worn out. I was still deeply, deeply sad but I couldn't cry. I was still loopy and groggy from the anesthesia. There was one girl that was crying and I just wanted to hug her. I wanted to hug all these girls, we had all just been through the same thing, and I wanted to help them through it. I wanted them to help me through it. But we all just stared at each other while dozing in and out. The next thing I remember was waking up in my boyfriends bed. I got up, went to the bathroom and spent at least an hour sitting on the floor of the bathtub bawling my eyes out. I went back to work the next day, but I was constantly being reminded of what I had done by the minor cramps and pain I felt for the next few days. I couldn't escape it. It's all I thought about for months. It took me over. From that point on, I never looked at sex the same way. Sex is how you make babies, it was no longer as enjoyable to me. It's still hard for me to think of sex in any other way. I have 2 wonderful kids now, been with my husband for 15 years and I'm happy. But I'll never let go of that day.
There are few things more satisfying than a crisp $20 bill. Well, maybe a crisp $100 bill.
But twenty big ones can get you pretty far nonetheless.
Whether it's tucked firmly in a birthday card, passing from hand to hand after a knee-jerk sports bet, or going toward a useful tool, the old twenty dollar bill has been used for countless purposes.
Breaking Even
<p>"I got a jacket and a pair of jeans at goodwill for about $20. My first time wearing the jacket I found a tiny zipper inside a pocket."</p><p>"There was a secret inner pocket with a twenty in it."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpdv70q?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">TheBrontosaurus</a></p>Keeps On Giving
<p>"23 Years ago I was in the US for some work and was not prepared for the cold of Chicago. Went to wal-mart and bought myself a cheap, warm jacket."</p><p>"I'm wearing that jacket right now - still looks fine, still keeps me warm."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpe41xv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">TastyEnd</a></p>As Good As They Come
<p>"Wool pinstripe double breasted suit from Goodwill, fit perfectly and was brand new. Ended up wearing it to get married the next year." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpdw6mx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">verminiusrex</a></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"God I love Goodwill!!" -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpe5aee?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Neverthelilacqueen</a></p>The Socks She Needed
<p>"I work at a thrift shop. A homeless lady came in and asked us where the socks were. We only sell new socks, so I directed her towards the new socks and she was... shocked and disappointed by the price tag, surely."<br></p><p>"I gave her a moment as she looked, and she moved to some kids' socks and picked them up, and I... just couldn't let that happen. I told her that I would help her, and told her to get herself some socks and a jacket."</p><p>"She kind of just... held out the children's socks, so I took them, put them back, and grabbed the extra fluffy socks that were hanging."</p><p>"She grabs a jacket and some pants, and I pay for it. My coworker looks the other way since we're not supposed to purchase anything while on the clock. The lady is in tears as she walks out."</p><p>"I notice that she's still outside a minute later putting them on, and ask her if they fit her or if she needed something else; and she told me they were perfect and proceeded to cry. I cried in return."</p><p>"It was a good day."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpen3w1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Snowodin</a></p>Not Forgotten
<p>"A guy came into my work when I managed a mom and pop Pizza Place. He said he was stranded with no phone, and no money, but that the people at the Verizon store next door to us said they could get him a cheap phone with some minutes on it for 20 bucks."</p><p>"He offered to do dishes for a few hours to make some money so he could get this phone. I told him not to worry about it and gave him a 20 from my wallet. He thanked me, asked me for my name, and then he left and I never saw him again."</p><p>"Skip forward about 5 months, and when I get into work the owner was there and said she had gotten a letter addressed to me. 'Weird,' I thought."</p><p>"But when I opened it there was a 50 dollar bill and a short note from the guy I gave 20 dollars to thanking me for my kindness and for not turning him away."</p><p>"Turns out he was in a bad way (addicted to hard drugs and homeless) and really was stranded there. He was trying to get a phone so he could contact his parents (who lived in another state) for help."</p><p>"From what it sounded like, he seemed to really turn his life around. He was clean and working a stable job while still living with his parents."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpem2xc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Mixmaster-McGuire</a></p>The Best Finale
<p>"It was the day before payday. My wife came to see me at work. My break was in an hour, so I asked for her to wait a bit, so we could enjoy it together. She did."</p><p>"I bought her some lunch, because it was what I could afford. I bought her a ham and cheese sub sandwich and two iced teas. These were her favorite. I bought gas with the rest of the twenty so she could get home. She dropped me back off at work."</p><p>"That night, she passed away. It brings me comfort to know that I bought her favorite sandwich and drink for her that afternoon. It was likely the last thing she ate, since it was near dinner. I'll never forget it. Best $20 I ever spent, because it was for her."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpe9c6d?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">LollipopDreamscape</a></p>Leaning Into the Nerdery
<p>"It was my ninth or tenth birthday. My grandparents gave me $20. The first $20 bill I ever held in my hand! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it."</p><p>"A week later, we went into the city and Toys R Us. I went straight to the Transformers aisle. And there he was. My favourite Transformer. The one I always wanted...Soundwave."</p><p>"He's the one who turned into a Walkman and he could eject cassettes that turned into robot animals. The price tag said $19.99. It was meant to be."</p><p>"I took Soundwave to the clerk and gave her my $20 bill. "And here's your change!" she said, as she gave me a single penny."</p><p>"Ah, Soundwave. The best friend a lonely little nerd could have."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpdzzxe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">originalchaosinabox</a></p>Different Time
<p>"I went to a Rush concert in 1982. The ticket was $9.50 and the t-shirt was $10." -- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpdyr0k?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">PaulsRedditUsername</a></p>Motivational Spending
<p>"My then six year old niece had a loose tooth she loved to show off and had resisted pulling out for two weeks. We were all at my parents and I was getting ready to leave, I pulled out a $20 and said 'I'll give you this right now if you pull out your tooth.' "</p><p>"She was already crying because her little sister had did something so when she ran into the bathroom none of us had no idea in what she was about to do."</p><p>"So she comes out crying still, but a little bit of blood I'm her mouth because of course, she pulled out her tooth. But the now removed tooth fell down the drain to the sink and she was crying because she lost her proof!"</p><p>"After she calmed down she was happy as a clam with a brand new $20 and everyone was quite proud of her. My sister told me she spent it on candy and shared with her little sister."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpdxi4k?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">themasimumdorkus</a></p>For the Story
<p>"It was actually to a scammer in Rome. There was this guy right outside of Colosseum who started tying strings around my wrist and told me to make a wish. I knew it was going to cost but I thought what the hell, last day in Rome so might as well go with it. </p><p>"My wish was to find love."</p><p>"I spent rest of the day getting lost in the city and stumbled across two weddings and one baptism ceremony. So I did find love, just not for myself."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvu5aq/whats_the_best_20_you_ever_spent/gpe7b2w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">FatalFinn</a></p>I realize that school safety has been severely compromised and has been under dire scrutiny over the past decade and of course, it should be. And when I was a student, my safety was one of my greatest priorities but, some implemented rules under the guise of "safety" were and are... just plain ludicrous. Like who thinks up some of these ideas?
Redditor u/Animeking1108 wanted to discuss how the education system has ideas that sometimes are just more a pain in the butt than a daily enhancement... What was the dumbest rule your school enforced?Don't Peek
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxNDc4OS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDE0Mzc2OH0.Y1Lzy1MTqxyVqOCe9xjeHTRZsKnbyVjYzdb4-Heldyo/img.gif?width=980" id="78b19" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e14a90be026b734830e7661f776ba4a8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="475" data-height="475" />schitts creek wtf GIF by CBCGiphy<p>Took all the doors off the men's room bathroom stalls because of vandalism for 2 months.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gphrfce?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"> Endless_Vanity</a><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Endless_Vanity/" target="_blank"></a></p>Scanned
<p>School added thumb print scanners at gates of school which counted as registration - needless to say I would just walk to school scan my thumb and walk back home with them none the wiser. Was a great few months until they noticed. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpidnou?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">richpianofan5</a></p>Age of Empires...
<p>Conservative Christian College. A group of us played Age of Empires one weekend. They didn't like it and called a meeting. Everyone involved got misdemeanors on their records. There was nothing in the handbook about it being against the rules. The only person that didn't get any punishment was the son of the president even though he was just as involved as the rest of us. <span></span></p>"Genius"
<p>In my freshman year of high school we had a terrible vandalism problem, the bathrooms would be broken in various ways almost constantly. In a stroke of pure genius, the staff decided that any bathroom that was vandalized would be closed for the week on first offense, the quarter for second, and permanently on the third offense.</p><p>They took back the rule after closing every bathroom on day one. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpi77co?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"> Samus388</a><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Samus388/" target="_blank"></a></p>Is this Footloose?
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxNDc5Ny9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzg0MjU2M30.PeBUt-YWZeeRStaD_RZlGPQzo29E9t733yqZbIiJlYs/img.gif?width=980" id="3a5bd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="102730e3b1b90ba9cb393561c702c9af" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="500" data-height="500" />kevin bacon dancing GIF by STARZGiphy<p>Prom was a mandatory lockdown for the night in order to avoid students going to parties after prom.</p><p>Prom was held at various house parties across town instead. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpi37x7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Coffee-spree</a></p>HOLDEN FOREVER!!!
<p>My high school mascot was Daniel Boone holding a musket. A kid wore a Guns 'n Roses shirt to school and was told he had to change shirts because of the pistols on the shirt. He pointed out the hypocrisy of the school mascot and they changed EVERYTHING. The mascot was switched to holding a flag pole instead. <span></span></p>No Dots
<p>You couldn't wear ANY kind of head items that were "gang colours" (red or blue) - this No included hair bands, scrunchies, beads in your hair, ribbons - ANYTHING. I got in trouble for wearing a blue hair band with white polka dots. </p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gphzpyf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Pleasant-Flamingo344</a></p>Clothes Check
<p>We had to wear belts. Someone snitched that people weren't wearing belts under their sweaters, and they actually checked and a bunch of people got detentions. Stupid. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gphz3y6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">ooo-ooo-oooyea</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gphz3y6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>We had belt raids at my school where the dean would burst into classes, completely interrupting any education, to check that everyone was wearing a belt. </p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpia8pp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">GuinnessMicrodose</a></p>Chase the Flat
<p>We weren't allowed to play tag football at lunch, only frisbee. When I asked the principal what the difference was, he responded with a sarcastic tone, "A football is round and a frisbee is a flat disk."</p><p>He left the school later that year, went to another school, and a few years later was brought up on charges for failing to report the abuse of a student by a teacher. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpi6lh3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">uninc4life2010</a></p>Poke-Thief
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxNDgwMy9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODg5MzY2Nn0.5LMPk1suou6U2SvAURKP-sHEuK7Izpkbxm0PWqvx95E/img.gif?width=980" id="b6e9f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="92383d30e34aa92fd74cf6c1374ec294" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="480" data-height="480" />hotline bling pokemon GIFGiphy<p>Pokemon cards got banned in middle school because someone stole the vice principal's kid's cards. Yep. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpiapym?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"> Skadoosh_it</a><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Skadoosh_it/" target="_blank"></a></p>In the Face...
<p>If you were involved in a fight, you got suspended. While it sounds reasonable, context didn't matter.</p><p>I got suspended once not for throwing a single punch, kick, whatever. I got suspended because someone knocked the books out of my hand and when I reached down to grab them they punched me in the face.</p><p>I got suspended for walking down the hallway and unprovoked getting punched in the face.</p><p>Forget Brandon Valley Middle School. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpicbyx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">CLG_MianBao</a></p>One of the golden rules of life? Doctors are merely human. They don't know everything and they make mistakes. That is why you always want to get another opinion. Things are constantly missed. That doesn't mean docs don't know what they're doing, they just aren't infallible. So make sure to ask questions, lots of them.
Redditor u/Gorgon_the_Dragon wanted to hear from doctors about why it is imperative we always get second and maybe third opinions by asking... Doctors of Reddit, what was the worse thing you've seen for a patient that another Doctor overlooked?Grandma Wins
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxNDcxOC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTQxNTgzOX0.n9IaFGgHwnULMlI2kg7RUftxDg6lyWvdM9CnhvptCRY/img.gif?width=980" id="a0857" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9762f97a23c27ccf6b75974caa854361" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="480" data-height="270" />Old Lady Wine GIF by MattielGiphy<p>Not a doctor, but my grandmother saved my father's eyesight because she didn't listen to their doctor. </p>The Mummy Appendage
<p>When I was a resident, an 80yo female was admitted from the nursing home for confusion. Workup showed some mild UTI and we were giving her antibiotics. The nurse mentioned that her toe looked dark and asked me to look at it. The toe wasn't just dark, it was mummified. It looked like dry beef jerky. I touched it and pieces flaked off. So the patient from a nursing home, had a mummified toe, probably for months, that no one knew about. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lw2g2z/doctors_of_reddit_what_was_the_worse_thing_youve/gpg00qn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Dr2ray</a></p>The CT Save
<p>Here's my story:</p><p>A guy came in to our ICU and was very septic but still talking. He had visited his primary care MD with complaints of a sore throat for a couple of days. Dismissed without any intervention since he didn't appear to have strep throat or the flu. At this point he was having pretty severe abdominal discomfort, so we sent him for a CT scan. As the scan was finishing, he coded and had to be intubated, multi-organ failure, etc. </p>Patches
<p>When I was an ER nurse we got an elderly lady in for altered mental status from a nursing home, when we undressed her to put her in a gown and hook her up to the monitor, I noticed no less than 5 fentanyl patches on her, guess I discovered the cause of the AMS. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lw2g2z/doctors_of_reddit_what_was_the_worse_thing_youve/gpg1lml?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">ChewbaccaSlim426</a></p>Use your Words
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxNDcyMi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDA1NjI0MH0.WtyCdxL1vRZwD2-jpKZXMOEakwhiBaJIkp1YPnOzlvo/img.gif?width=980" id="e45ca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f5b98e6a4605a587dbd97579468a51d8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="498" data-height="367" />Communication GIF by memecandyGiphy<p>Neurologist sent patient to our ED without informing her that imaging showed a glioblastoma assuring her impending death. He didn't overlook the disease, he overlooked the communication. </p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lw2g2z/doctors_of_reddit_what_was_the_worse_thing_youve/gpfl5t5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">AzureSkye27</a></p>Mad Cow Realty
<p>During my residency we had this lady in her 60s who was getting progressively more forgetful, just overall declining and getting less and less able to take care of herself. She had been seeing her pcp who diagnosed her with dementia. And she saw a neurologist who agreed. She was not really able to provide an accurate history. <span></span></p>After Birth...
<p>I used to work in maternal-fetal medicine, and every single week, we would have women referred to us "because the doctor couldn't see something clearly with the baby and wanted to double check." Nope, they just didn't want to have to be the ones to tell you that your baby had a complex cardiac defect or multiple anomalies indicative of a genetic syndrome or any other of a large number of horrible things that can happen during fetal development. Still pisses me off when I think about how many women waited weeks for more information because their doctors were cowards who couldn't tell them, "There's something seriously wrong here." <span></span></p>bad doctors
<p>I'm not a doctor, but a RN. This happened to me, but isn't nearly as bad as most of the stories on here.</p><p>When I was in college, I got to where I couldn't swallow. It started with difficulty swallowing, progressed to me having to swallow bites of food multiple times/regurgitating it, and then got to where all I could swallow was broths and mashed potatoes with no chunks. I went to the doctor multiple times, and was told every time it was acid reflux and part of my anxiety disorder. <span></span></p>The Valve...
<p>He put the pacemaker lead in the subclavian artery (and across the aortic valve into the left ventricle). The proper approach is: subclavian vein to right ventricle). And then he didn't notice it for over a year. I saw the patient (a 25 yo woman who didn't need the pacemaker in the first place) when she was in congestive heart failure. <span></span><br></p>Bitten
<p>Rattlesnake bite. On a 2 year old. Patient and dad out in the fields near a small town that is several hours away from the nearest big city, where I work.</p>When we think about learning history, our first thought is usually sitting in our high school history class (or AP World History class if you're a nerd like me) being bored out of our minds. Unless again, you're a huge freaking nerd like me. But I think we all have the memory of the moment where we realized learning about history was kinda cool. And they usually start from one weird fact.
Here are a few examples of turning points in learning about history, straight from the keyboards of the people at AskReddit.
U/Tynoa2 asked: What's your favourite historical fact?