Friendships crash and burn for the same reason they thrive: the relationship is based on the ability to completely let your guard down.
That transparency is a coin with two very different sides.
One is wonderful for its openness and desire to collaborate. Struggles are shared, advice is trusted, and the ability to be one's true self is cherished.
The other side is the kind of trust with a shadow. Simply put, the relationship is taken for granted. Little work is offered because things became too comfortable somewhere along the line.
In those conditions, an ugly corner of character will rear its head one day. And then it's all over with
Yeetus_the_freakus asked, "What was your 'We're done' moment with a friend?"
A Self-Serving Ethos
"She got mad when I was faithful to my girlfriend and turned her down, so she tried to torpedo my relationship." -- Liamiller
"When he was jealous of my relationship with a girl that he liked and tried to make himself look better by trying to make me look bad." -- Denster1
"Apparently when someone gets into a relationship it makes them THAT much more attractive to someone else or they just don't like seeing their 'Lessers' happy." -- Spiced-Apples
Not a Good Look
"He threw a house party. He then convinced everybody to play drinking games and get extremely drunk. He even convinced the dedicated drivers (one of whom was me) to also get drunk by saying everyone can crash at his place so no one needs to drive home and everyone can get drunk."
"He later threw a tantrum because everyone was drunk and he didn't want his house full of drunk people. He then threw everybody out in the middle of the night and just shut the door. He did this twice within one year."
-- _monicorpse
"But Should Old Acquaintances Be Forgot"
"When she complained that I was ruining her new years' eve after a drunk guy assaulted me and hit me with a bar stool and I wanted to go home." -- ElectronicFerret
"Ah yes, how dare you wish to seek medical attention for possible serious injury. So selfish of you. Like seriously, in what world does this dumb piece of sh*t think that's decent logic? She must have been absolutely tanked but that doesn't make it any less stupid and wrong." -- VTark
How Unaware in Your House?...
"Used my house as a middle point so he could come into town and f*** around on his wife (also a friend of mine). When it all blew up he was unaware I knew what was going on and he fed me a bunch of sh*t that wasn't true in attempts to convince me he was somehow the victim."
"So that was that."
-- Happy8Day
The Priorities Come Out
"My grandmother had just passed away, and I was really upset about it. She told me that people die, 'that's how life works,' then proceeded to complain to me for 15 minutes about how upset she was that her mom stole $20 from her to get some weed." -- VaticanCameos714
"Ah the default idgaf answer." -- BobMarleyTot
A Poor Pupper Catalyzed the Break
"When he decided an out-of-town party was more important than staying home with his dog that was dying." -- notasleannotasmean
"Dogs > People 100 times out of 100." -- w0ke_brrr_4444
Rough Place to Patch Things Up. Rougher Place to Screw Things Up.
"When I found out he f*cked my wife in the Pizza Hut bathroom. This was nearly 30 years ago and I never spoke to him since, until the other day I was at a convenience store and he walked in and tried to make conversation like we were long lost buddies."
"I never gray rocked anyone so hard."
A Tough Ask
"She was having an affair with a married coworker at my company and asked if I'd spy on him at work for her."
"I was not about to jeopardize my career to facilitate her banging someone else's husband."
-- coo_coo_mf
Never Looked Back
"He and and another friend complained about a $3 cover charge, insulted the band, insulted the waitress and brought her to tears."
"I stood up, threw enough cash on the table to cover the tab and the cover charge and walked out of the pub."
"Never spoke to them again. That was 16 years ago."
-- shavemejesus
Impatience for Cheap Shots
"When she made fun of my husband to his face. It was when he and I first started dating and she just straight up said: 'What the f*** is wrong with your nose?' "
"For the record there is nothing wrong with his nose, its just a curved nose like idk, Vincent Cassel's. It was pretty rich coming from her. Regardless I stopped talking to her at all after that, total b***h move."
-- YouJabroni44
One-Sided Effort
"We were friends for 8 years, neighbors for 3. After we both moved we wound up in different countries for a while, still talked weekly. Then I wound up five hours away from her, I would drive to see her at least every three-four months on my way to take my daughter to her dads even though she was an hour out of my way."
"Loaned her money to keep her water on (never saw the money again, also never asked for it cause if I didn't have it to lose I wouldn't have given it in the first place) paid for everything when we went out."
"She gets a new boyfriend and they drive to my city for a vacation. Tells me she's there. She's 2 miles away in a hotel. I invite her over she says no because boyfriend doesn't want to, I offer to meet her for lunch at the mall she says can't because she missed the shuttle and the 10 min 2 block walk to the mall is too far."
"I just finally said screw it told her she was a crappy friend and haven't spoken to her since. It sucks, I miss her but I have better friends that deserve my attention and time."
-- spiffydrew
Regrettable Investments
"It took about 18 months to two years, but I gave a bunch of money to a 'friend' to buy a beater car for my sibling ($700-$800). I didn't push; work and life gets in the way, but after about a month, I asked what was going on. Apparently there'd been two decent cars on the hook, but they fell through, and now I/we needed to wait. I was cool with that."
"The excuses kept coming, and, at around the 12 month mark, I was asked to do some house/puppy sitting for them. I checked the small tin that had been conspicuously on the TV unit for the past year (I wanted a pizza and was a day before pay), full of money for my sib's car. Yup; empty."
"Okay. Righto. I let it lay for a week or so, then told them that hooray, they didn't need to shill for my sib any longer, as their work was going to enter a lease agreement for a vehicle (absolute f***ing lie). So, if they could just drop the cash back off, that'd be the end of that."
"Cue the next six months of whinging and whining, until I decided it just wasn't worth it; and if they'd been willing to lie to my face for over a year, they're not a friend."
-- Nemisis1509
A Slew of Horrible Discoveries
"Damn. I'd say when I realized she was a total sociopath. At first I thought she just had a rough upbringing. But she lied about half the things she accused her parents of.
"Started hitting her boyfriend and blaming it on her multiple personality disorder (something she made up about a year after we became friends). Tried to kick my dog."
"Told me about how she put a hamster in the microwave to watch it blow up. Started to set fires in our neighborhood (never got out of control luckily). And started spreading rumors about me."
The Last Straw
"Anytime we'd hang out, she would do/say some stupid shit that would make me look at her sideways. Then, one day she said something to me so rude, under the guise of being funny and then I snapped on her. That was the last interaction between us years ago."
"Everyone kept pleading for me to reach out and mend things, but I didn't do anything wrong, so."
-- khaila_
Financially Motivated
"Tried for years to keep the friendship going with zero effort from her. Finally had some progress when she got pregnant but quickly realized she only wanted gifts from me."
"I didn't try at all after that, she sent me a happy birthday message along with an invitation to some MLM party she was having, blocked her."
-- unkind-raven
An Ethical Impasse
"She decided to kill her current horse instead of trying to sell him or give him away. She thought he was dangerous, when really she was just a wuss and he didn't want to jump. She had a new horse coming and needed the stall."
"Done. I can't be friends with a person who treats animals as disposable. Especially horses, a herd animal that trusts is enough to let us strap a saddle onto them and ride them around. Don't be a sh** human."
-- Holybull79
A Hasty Approach to Posting
"My friend posted on Facebook about us going to the pride parade together. I asked him to remove my name or take down the post because I wasn't out to many people yet and we have a lot of the same friends. He flat out refused. What a d***!"
-- vizzie1
Just a Bad House Guest
"I gave him a ride to brunch. He proceeded to get so drunk that he got all of us kicked out for making repeated lewd sexual comments at the waitress after being warned about it, then he threw up all over the side of my car and said he's pay for washing it, but couldn't come up with 10 bucks when we got to a car wash."
-- ElToberino
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
Crowd-sourced forums on the internet remind how unique the capabilities of the internet are. A simple question on Reddit gives readers a vast trove of real-life examples of the most difficult topics to discuss.
For one Redditor, that topic was murder. They wanted to know, when it happens, what the motive was, how it happened, and the ramifications.
According to these responses, murder is often a fit of realistic emotional rage, and almost never does the person get away with it. It's the ultimate mortal act and it can never be taken back.
The details of these accounts illustrate that dynamic at play.
Mystik-Palace asked, "Redditors who know somebody who got murdered, what happened?"
Career Change
"Two children I babysat twice along with a friend (their usual babysitter) were abducted and murdered by their father. I stuck with dog walking after that." -- runwhiterabbit
Neighbor Danger
"My cousin was murdered by a teen male. They lived in the same condo complex and he broke into her place and stabbed her repeatedly."
"His motive was not entirely clear, he liked my cousin and she was apparently polite but not interested in him. He was sentenced to 25 years and comes up for parole every few years."
"Every parole hearing causes my aunt and uncle a lot of stress, but he gets denied every time."
-- koshimonkey
Euthanasia, or Foul Play?
"I was doing private care giving for a gentleman who had ALS. Went to his house for work one day and found he had passed away."
"Initially I thought the disease had gotten the best of him because of its rapid progression, but turns out he was killed via asphyxiation by his wife and her lover."
-- ArmaBlanka
The Forgotten Kind
"Her name was mouse, she was a homeless girl living in Santa Cruz who I would talk to at the local cafe. Our town is known for its spontaneous murder sprees, many murders occur along highway where the homeless live.
"Two summers ago, 9 homeless people were killed along highway 9 and it never aired on the news, typical. She was one of them."
-- mmancub
Waves Were Made
"When my cousin was six years old, her father shot her mother to death in the garage of their house. We lived in a tiny, tiny town of under a thousand people, so it was a huge deal." -- THATSWHATSHESAID1313
People Break Down The Best Purchases They've Ever Made | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Liquid Courage Confession
"Had a good friend of mine back in high school pass due to a 'drug overdose.' "
"Turns out the friends he was hanging out with gave him a more than lethal dose of heroin after they beat him unconscious for apparently talking to one of their girlfriends."
"Was only found out years later when that person got drunk and decided to let that little known fact slip. Currently serving a life sentence."
-- Cuppycakesterr
Crimes of Passion, a Common Theme
"A friend of ours was shot to death by the ex-boyfriend of his new girlfriend. He was still holding the flowers he had bought her."
"It was just so needless and stupid. And he terrorized him for a bit before killing him. I mean really dude you think you kill the good guy so she'll come running back to the psychopath?"
Mortally Possessive
"I didn't hear about it until after the fact, but apparently he'd been complaining to people that his mom was acting weird that week and had dropped his cat (?) off at the animal shelter without warning and stuff like that."
"She drove him up to the local mountain a few days later and shot him in the back while he was taking in the view, then shot herself. All just so her husband couldn't get full custody of their son."
"Domestic Dispute," the Real Life Loose Cannon
"I knew a woman my entire life who went to her sister's home to calm a domestic dispute and was shot by the brother in law. Extremely tragic." -- cathtray
"I've heard that domestic violence calls are the police's least favorite kind of call, because of how volatile the people involved are." -- OMEGA_AS_F*CK
Disproportionate Punishment
"My wife's cousin was killed by a dude who had stopped to ask him and his friend for directions. They got lippy and pissed off the dude. He drives away but comes back and shoots them both."
"He turns himself in and at first tells the cops it was self defense. But they were shot in the back, so it was clear that they had been trying to get away. He ended up pleading guilty."
-- RussBof6
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
Human beings have the profound capacity to disregard logical thinking and do what feels more emotionally ideal.
Moments like that are absolute torture for the one's still clinging to reason. They're stuck observing what look, to them, like cartoonishly unproductive decisions all around them.
At times, the head-scratch inducing behaviors are vestiges from the past. Sometimes there based on myths or misinformation.
Whatever the underlying cause, these Redditors are at their wits' end.
cantthinkcantsleep asked, "What doesn't make sense to you?"
JUSTICE
"When people don't want the world to become a better place because they had it hard so now everyone until the end of time should have it just as hard."
"Because that's somehow fair or something."
-- Jauxerous
Psh, I'm Fine
"People will drive in rain, at night, in a black vehicle, without headlights on." -- ItalicisedScreaming
"The government can't track you if your lights are off" -- sond1369
"Or walk around at night in dark clothes in the middle of the road, nowhere near a crosswalk. You're going to get yourself killed!!" -- thedoomdays
But it's So Heavy!
"How airplanes fly."
"Yeah, yeah, Bernoulli's principle, lift, air moving fasting over the curved part of the airfoil, etc. I understand the principle involved."
"But seriously, it's a metal tube with flat sticks that somehow make it stay up!"
"Confession: my father is a glider pilot, I've flown in them since I was a child, and it still makes no sense. Must be magic."
Bit of a Leap
"How Dick is short for Richard" -- sarahkatie123
"Richard = Ric = Dic = Dick." -- MissDynamax
"This is the biggest pile of bullsh*t I've ever seen. According to this logic you can turn any name into anything." -- HitomiSato
"For a female version: Margaret = Peggy" -- crazydisneycatlady
Wait Til You See Me Do It
"The fact that we cut down bird's houses to make birdhouses." -- Dhriti05
"The bird doesn't know what's good for it. It will sit in our tiny cube houses instead." -- SuperSaiyanTrunks
I Gotta Turn RIGHT NOW
"Why people don't use their god damn blinkers. It is literally positioned next to the steering wheel to be as convenient as possible to flip on and off." -- hwell_w_t_f
"Or people who hit the brakes then use their blinker. Like, yeah, thanks for warning me you were gonna slow down." -- Narge1
What a Time to be Alive
"The f*cking moon being exactly the right size and distance between us and the sun to appear the same." -- TheWestwoodstrangler
"Pure chance. Seriously, we are so goddamn lucky to be alive when we are (at least in respect to the size of the moon). If the moon were a bit bigger or smaller we wouldn't get full eclipses." -- Hanif_Shakiba
Must Be Loving Social Distancing
"Handshakes. Do we really still need to check if your business partner has a dagger hidden under his sleeve?"
"And people are disgusting! Not washing their hands after using the restroom and all. (Women equally as bad as the men I've heard about.)"
-- MissDynamax
Obligations > Feelings
"People who won't go visit someone very sick (this is more pre-virus days) but will move heaven and earth to make it to their funeral."
"Hey when my time comes, come visit me when I am still able to recognize you and talk about the old times. Don't drive all night in a blizzard in a beat up car with bald tires after working all day to attend my funeral."
-- kendebvious
Magic Secrets
"Wifi. How is the internet just flying around in the air, waiting for a device to grab it?"
"Honestly grammar. I can do calculus fine but could not tell you wtf a clause is."
The Human Capacity for Self Delusion
"When you give someone verifiable evidence that they're wrong, but they don't believe you because they don't feel like it."
"And I'm not talking about something that could be doctored or is ancient history, I'm talking about things like a certain law being on the books, and showing them it on a state or federal website, and they still don't believe you."
"How Terrible. Welp, Best of Luck."
"When you give evidence of a door cam of package theft with the thief's face on full view, ad they can't do anything about it. O well. Just put a glitter bomb outside." -- ElucidMid_
"The police is and has always been an establishment dedicated to enforce a government's wishes." -- PeterPorty
More Magic
"Electricity. No matter what age I've studied it in school (and I'm now in college), I always can't wrap my head around all the concepts of it. Like, why the hell is electricity even a thing? Where and how do charges come about and work?"
-- 1regit
GiphyVery Non-Secret Codes
"How all information online even what you're reading here is just a bunch of 1's and 0's." -- short_n_curlies
"When you think about it, all stored information is coded. Language is a code. DNA is a code. Perhaps the universe itself is stored information in some sense." -- SuzQP
Got Us This Far
"Why America can't have the same measurement system as the rest of the world." -- purpleBarny
"Because it would be expensive and difficult to change every road sign in the country to metric." -- AnCearnaighMor
"We actually tried once in the 80s when I was in elementary school. They taught it for a few months and then gave up. I assume after people realized how much it would cost." -- GaryNOVA
All About the Kids
"People call it a 'cold' if your temperature goes up, shouldn't it be called a 'hot'?" -- Dhriti05
"Nah, it's called the cold because your body feels cold. More relatable and easier to explain to children." -- Paxelic
Priorities
"How people care more about dying and starving animals than dying and starving people." -- AbbyRayne01
"Because animals are viewed as innocent beings who can do no harm and only want to be loved while humans are viewed as flawed, selfish, and evil, therefore the suffering of humans is justifiable in their eyes." -- MariachiBandMonday
A Dose of Sense for Ya
"I never understood wind." -- WnderMut76
"Materials heat up/ cool down at different rates."
"The quickest example of this is the land and ocean (ocean is slower). When the sun comes out, the land (or whichever material gains heat faster) heats up quickly but the ocean heats up slowly."
"The air above the land becomes hot, but the air above the ocean is cool. Since hot air is less dense than cold air, it rises, and the air over the land moves over to the air over the ocean, while the cool air above the ocean rushes in to fill the space."
"The warmer air is now over the ocean and cools down, while the cooler air warms up. This creates a cycle of air motion that you feel as wind." -- neumonia-pnina
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
