People Reveal The Most Disappointing Tourist Attractions They've Ever Visited
A Redditor asked: 'What was the most disappointing, tourist infested place you’ve ever been?'
As a child, my family traveled extensively throughout the United States. Both of my parents loved to travel.
I went to 48 of 50 states—just Alaska and Hawaii left—as well as parts of Mexico and Canada with my parents. As an adult, a job I had for 13 years required travel, sometimes for a month or more.
Through that job I made it to Germany and Japan.
Needless to say I've seen my share of tourist attractions and tourist traps. But I'm a sucker for kitsch.
So while I love going to Wall Drug every time I'm headed west on Interstate 90 in South Dakota, others might say to skip it.
A Redditor asked:
"What was the most disappointing, tourist infested place you’ve ever been?"
For the 'Gram
"I'm sure other cities have this problem, too, but there's an epidemic in New York City of pop-up 'museums' that are essentially just Instagram backgrounds."
"There are some great temporary exhibits in the city all the time that genuinely have cool artwork, or historical items, or just make for a neat experience. ...and then there's ones that just have a bunch of backdrops for people to pose in front of and maybe a placard."
"Special shoutout to the 'Museum of Candy' that was hosted in a random warehouse and where you didn't even get any candy with your ticket admission."
~ blueeyesredlipstick
GiphyThe Locals Are Over It
"Nassau,Bahamas. It was like being in a very expensiveprison."
~ outerproduct
"My grandpa was born and raised in the Bahamas. We used to visit periodically to see a gang of old lady relatives who lived in Nassau, starting in the 1970s."
"There used to be a nice old fashioned island feel to the place, lovely old shops and awesome quiet beaches."
"Once they built Atlantis and all the cruise ships started dumping people in town everything started looking like a crappy strip mall and everything fell apart."
"Now it's dangerous and horrible and all the Bahamians hate all the tourists and can't be bothered."
~ watermama
GiphyNo Wonder She’s Not Smiling
"The room with the Mona Lisa in it, The Louvre, Paris, France."
"It's behind glass and I couldn’t get anywhere near it and it’s not that big of a painting to see from the back of the room when all the people in front of you had giant cameras."
"Maybe it’s better in the age of cell phone cameras—but I doubt it."
~ Appropriate_Panda467
Not Like In the Movies
"Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California… literally a worse version of NY Times Square (which also sucks)."
~ Phader24
"I remember the smell most of all—a heady mixture of weed smoke, urine, and tour bus exhaust."
~ lost40s
GiphyTrying To Get THAT Shot
"The leaning tower of Pisa, Italy."
"A field of tourists trying to take a picture of the tower without other tourists in it and souvenir shops trying to sells those tourists stuff."
~ Korpikuusenalla
GiphyThe Locals Are Over It, Part 2
"Every cruise ship port in the Caribbean."
~ Lallner
"A coworker had a cruise re-routed from its original destination to the Bahamas because of a hurricane.
"He was pretty upset and called the Bahamas 'the McDonalds of the Caribbean'."
~ BGFalcon85
"I don't even get off the ship anymore."
"I just enjoy the opportunity to have a mostly empty ship and drink cocktail after cocktail on the pool deck and enjoy the scenery of the clear blue waters around the ship."
~ HottestGoblin
GiphyNot the Same
"My own city in the last 10 years. Amsterdam, Netherlands really took a nosedive. Lots of unique little shops disappeared in favor of approx. 10 million frozen yogurt/chocolate waffle stores."
"Tourists used to be a few chill, cheery groups interested in the city they were in—now they sometimes look like hordes of zombies hobbling from one tourist trap to the other. Painstakingly slowly, and of course taking up the whole sidewalk."
"I would like to see MORE tourists who actually visit Amsterdam FOR Amsterdam—its architecture, history, culture, etc... Instead of hopping from one chain store to the next, or acting crazy because one thinks one can do anything and everything in this 'free city'."
"Amsterdam can still offer a great time, but make sure to prepare properly so you can avoid the tourist traps that bloat the cityscape and have out-competed the independent shops that gave my city its unique character."
"Amsterdam now often feels disappointing to me, specifically, because I can compare it to the way it was 10-15 years ago. And it's unfortunately just not the same."
~ dreamy_25
GiphyNo Leisurely Strolls
"Venice, Italy in August, I felt bad being there. Luckily was only a day trip but it was like something from a horror film."
~ luckybeee
"I was in Venice in late September last year, so off peak season, and I was told they stopped letting cruise ships stop there, so it wasn't completely packed."
"I had a great time, but the sections of the city that were closer to St. Mark's were still quite crowded. That, and the shops went from local restaurants around our Airbnb to Chanel stores by St. Mark's."
"I could see if it were more overrun with tourists that it would be unmanageable. Those tiny alleys you have to walk through would get crowded fast."
~ Lambfudge
GiphyDo Not Pet the Fluffy Cows!
"Yellowstone National Park, USA is fantastic when it's just you or a few other people."
"However, most of the main sites are so full of people it really feels like Disney World at some points instead of nature."
"It's also infuriating when I see so many tourist disrespecting the nature by walking off of the paths/boardwalks and leaving trash around."
~ wyatt_sw
GiphyBuy a Postcard
"The Sistine Chapel, Vatican City."
"It was incredible to see in person, but it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder with people and they were trying to usher everyone through as fast as possible, so I felt like I was in the way and couldn’t stay long."
"I would have loved to just gaze quietly at the ceiling and take it all in for several minutes, but that wasn’t an option."
~ Atheist_Alex_C
"My main memory of the Sistine Chapel was the guard yelling SILENZIO! SILENZIO! the whole time."
~ ima_mandolin
"I don't even remember what it looked like when I went. We were rushed in, attendants yelled 'no photo' every second, then everyone snuck photos anyway, then got rushed out."
~ MxMstrMxyzptlk
"Ugh, I had the same experience. I was there at the end of June and not only was it crowded, it was 38°C (100°F), so it was f'king miserable inside and reeked of body odor."
~ pinkkittenfur
GiphyNot an Ariel View
"The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark was...underwhelming. To be fair though, I shouldn't really have expected to be whelmed by a little mermaid statue."
~ Apprehensive_Jaguar
"It was so tiny and just swarmed by people with selfie sticks knocking each other in the head! I ended up skipping that adventure and exploring the area instead."
~ BrookeStardust
GiphyIndonesia Has Many Islands
"Any tourist destination in Bali, Indonesia."
"Beautiful place, amazing food, stunning vistas, friendly people, but the pushy salespeople on the street outside every tourist destination trying to extract every rupiah I had for tourist knick-knacks ruined a lot of the good vibe."
~ PeterJoAl
GiphyIt Was Just a TV Show
"Dubrovnik, Croatia after Game of Thrones. So many Khaleesies."
~ ComfyHomonto
"I was in Dubrovnik before GoT and even then it was a bit of a tourist trap. It's probably a million times worse now."
~ f1manoz
"It's insane. We stayed there for 3 nights."
"The first day it felt real crowded, but was still a really cool thing to see if quite touristy. It's just a neat place to walk around and check things out."
"The second day 2 cruise ships came in and dear sweet God. I've literally been to festivals that felt less crowded, zero exaggeration."
~ Regular_Working_6342
GiphyBeware of Scammers
"Cairo, Egypt......all of Cairo."
~ RhinestoneHousewife
"I'll never forget that Reddit thread where people were asked which country they'd never go back to and almost all the top comments were Egypt. Such a shame considering that the country has a really rich history."
~ alicization
"I've seen 4 videos of people in egypt at the pyramids, all 4 were harassed basically the whole time by tourist traps. That's the sad part about going to poorer and touristy countries."
"Many people see a foreigner as a meal ticket to scam, of course there's good people but the bad usually outweighs the good in my experiences."
"My grandfather served in ciaro is WW2 as a prep cook for the military, he loved Egypt so much for most of his life and went many times over the years. Back in 2010 he went for his last time to Egypt with my grandma."
"He had health issues but he mainly didn't want to go back cause of all the tourist traps."
~ Turbulent_Pea_2568
GiphyNot a Jolly Holiday
"Oxford Street, Central London."
"The place for you if you enjoy:"
"Claustrophobic levels of crowding, overpriced/borderline fraudulent retail, traffic that barely moves, groups of roadmen/hood teens everywhere."
~ o1frmda4
"As a northerner I was always led to believe that Oxford Street was the place to be and had amazing shops."
"I was gutted when I got there when I was 21 to find that most of the shops were available in Newcastle, some resembled market stalls just indoors, and the rest sold tourist tat."
"Honestly gutted. Haven't been back and I'm now 38."
~ SparklePenguin24
GiphyI spent time in South Dakota as a kid. My paternal Grandparents lived there in the Paha Sapa (Black Hills).
My Sisters and I would tease my Mother because every time we visited, she'd take us to Mount Rushmore.
They're faces carved in a mountain—they don't change.
If you've seen it once, you really don't need to wade through tourists to see it again!
So, what's on your "not worth it" tourism list?
Though there are many things in life that are worth being thankful for, there are also aspects of life that are really hard to work through.
But when we had our hopes up about a person, event, or way of life, it can be really hard to accept that they were not all they were made out to be.
Redditor tomhigham asked:
"What in your life has disappointed you beyond words?"
Poor Friendships
"Probably unpopular, but personally true for me: friendship."
"Growing up, my group of friends was pretty toxic. After high school, we naturally went our separate ways, but there was a bit of an emotional scar."
"In college, I found a new group of friends… who actually ended up being even worse and almost ruined my life. It has left me with such severe trust issues that I struggle to form meaningful friendships now."
- WaterFlew
"I had a friend from high school that I thought would be with me for life. I had never had a closer friend ever in my life, and part way through college, it blew up in my face. She turned on me, and all communication broke down."
"Losing someone I considered close enough to be family was gut-wrenching. I have trust issues now because how can someone you loved like a family member be so cruel in the end? I lost ties to all but one friend over the years."
"People would come into my life and we’d connect deeply and it always ended. Not as bad as my best friend had but still nothing ever sticks. People would end up with differing views on life or just get busy. Now I rely on family and my husband for friendship. These are the people who stick with me through the years."
- Increasingly_Anxious
"I've been posting about this lately: my former best friend and neighbor. He's a single dad of two special needs kids. I did a lot to help him out much of last year."
"Late last fall, he either broke into my house (or had someone else do it for him) and stole quite a bit of money from me. When I confronted him about this, he physically attacked me."
"After everything I did for him, it hurts so bad someone could simply turn on you. The beatdown he gave me didn't make me cry, I took it, but later on, when I realized our friendship was a sham and he was only using me, I completely broke down."
- llcucf80
Start Saving Up When You're Five
"House prices. I really should have been buying up real estate in grade school, lol (laughing out loud)."
- astickyworm1
"2000s Adults: Oh no, the economy!"
"2007: Oh no, the economy again!"
"Not one f**king adult acknowledged the growth that took place. Meanwhile today…"
"2016 - 2023: The housing market will crash any day now…"
- Hurrington
Older Isn't Always Better
"I realized in my 20s that 'older' people were just as immature and dishonorable as kids, only permanently so."
"Very scary moment. You grow up looking up to those people, and when the pedestal you put them on falls, you are looking down on them, still powerless to change the world."
- litetravelr
"As a kid, I gave the adults in my life a lot of passes for their behavior. I figured I was a kid, and they acted that way for reasons I was just too young to understand."
"Now that I’m in a similar age range as they were when they hurt me, I realize they’re just s**t people who choose to be this way."
- whirlyworlds
The Lack of Agency Was Stifling
"Childhood."
"People kept telling me it was the best time of my life and that adulthood was a misery of obligations and responsibilities."
"Well, my experience of being an adult and able to have much more control over my own life, who I associate with, and what I do with my time is a welcome exchange for my responsibility-free life where I had comparatively little agency."
- zazzlekdazzle
"Oh boy, do I agree with this one zillion percent. I HATED being a kid. You are at the absolute mercy of the people around you."
"I can’t count the number of jobs I’ve quit or the people I’ve kept out of or cut out of my life. I have a boring, mediocre life. It’s still better than being a kid."
- GreatFortune5630
Rose-Colored Glasses
"Love."
- Hot_Wine_2004
"I dreamed of my wedding day and having kids and living happily ever after. I didn't dream about him cheating and leaving me three weeks after our son was born... A**hole."
- tryingtofitin_d**mit
"I almost always never get the love I give."
"Sometimes it's fine, but when it becomes routine, life just gets depressing."
"Still doesn't stop me from being kind. You never know what the other person is going through."
- HydroVector
The Lull After College
"How f**king awful life after college is. In college, you're always learning new things and meeting new people. You have a lot of fun and friends and, sure, you work a s**t job that pays squat and you have to study all the time, but you have this sense of accomplishment all the time and you have goals in front of you."
"Once you graduate, everyone moves to different cities. You get different jobs. It’s way harder to make friends and time seems to go by at light speed."
"Additionally, any third space you want to hang out in costs a ton of money, and no one wants to actually talk and become friends. If I’d known life got this lonely and boring, I’d have tried to savor every moment of college."
- fatboyfall420
"Chr**t, I’m going through the same thing. It feels like the months pass by in seconds. My friends all have relationships and are moving away."
"Trying desperately to be friends with people at work and other places yet nobody wants to be?? I won’t even mention trying to get into a romantic relationship."
"Hopefully joining clubs and taking up hobbies with people my age would enjoy will bring me closer to making friends. Oh, and vacations. Lots and lots of vacations."
- AudioIsland
Shocking Siblings
"My siblings. Never expected them to turn on me and then try to prevent me from getting my share of the inheritance."
- California_Sun1112
"My aunt did that to my dad. He can't bring himself to talk to her anymore. It was less about the money and more about the fact that she pulled that stunt."
- Lokeze
'Murica
"The American government, hands down."
- NoMournersNoFunerals
"Not so much the American government but society as a whole."
"The American government has actually worked out pretty well for me (my family came to the USA as refugees, my parents worked minimum wage jobs, I got a college degree and I'm making well above the median household income), but as I've grown older I've just grown disgusted with how stupid and easily manipulated people are."
"The pandemic was a fine example, like, I may not morally agree with someone doing evil s**t for personal gain but at least that makes sense. Doing stupid s**t to make their lives worse is a level of stupidity that the logical side of me can't handle."
- Zerole00
Using Resources for Good
"Call me a (former) optimist, but there was a time when for some reason, I thought the Bezos and Zuckerbergs of the world were going to use their brains and wealth to do good things for the world. Instead, they are contributing to its demise."
- devilsmile7
"I’m right there with you. This generation of billionaires has thrown away the opportunity to help the world, or possibly, even save part of the world with the wealth we have not seen individuals ever accumulate in history, which could be focused on everything from the climate to poverty to medicine and beyond be remembered as heroes."
"Ironically, it’s only Bill Gates that turned his money to helping to save an entire continent. It just wasn’t ours, so many people don’t know about it."
- Whatstheretosay44
Survival Mode
"Gestures broadly. Honestly, I think life is more about making peace with your failures than it is about racking up accomplishments."
"Most of us are never going to do the amazing things we hoped for as children. It's like the Rolling Stones said: 'You don't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.'"
- Yak-F**ker-5000
A Rude Awakening
"When I was a teenager in the 80s, struggling down to the library to do the research for my homework, I dreamed of a day where everyone would be able to access libraries from a terminal in their homes. They would have unlimited, free access to all the information and knowledge they need."
"How much better would the world be if everyone could be informed of facts at the touch of a button? Ignorance and stupidity would be left behind on a superhighway of information."
- Major_Twang
No Reciprocation
"Other people."
"I've done everything I could to try and make right with people, to help them, to give them support when they need it, to make sure they never feel the hurt and loneliness I feel every day in my life."
"And then people take advantage of it and only see me as useful in transactional situations. It's never reciprocated in any way."
"I just want one unconditional-love relationship from one other person, or at least something that resembles something of a friendship."
"The last time someone reached out to me via text/phone call, was back in October 2022, and the last time someone reached out to me, without needing anything as the primary motivation of them reaching out, was July of 2022. I've reached out plenty of times to check on people I knew, and offered to hang/chat."
- okimlom
The Unfairness of Infertility
"How easy it is for some people to have kids that they don’t give a s**t about and how impossible it’s been for me."
"I really hope to be a foster parent someday but I wanted to practice on my own kid first before I go screw up someone else’s. I say that very cavalierly, but I genuinely wanted some practice before jumping in with a kid that, no matter what, is dealing with trauma from the separation of bio family."
"It’s precisely because I don’t take that lightly that I hesitate to become a foster parent. I knew before my infertility that I wanted to foster but my trauma also holds me back. It’s unfair shoes for a foster kid to fill when their foster parents are looking for a kid they couldn’t have one their own."
- BreakingCupcakes
Crossfire Commercials
"Crossfire wasn’t half as intense as I thought it was going to be…"
- 2Anon4uAnon
"The Crossfire commercial promised quite a lot. You didn't get to fly into the ring upon the game pieces. And there was no actual fire or lightning, nor the chanting horde of post-apocalyptic children. And worst of all, when I beat my opponents, they didn't spin off into fiery oblivion."
- litetravelr
Though there's a lot of good in the world, there are troubling things, too. What makes it worse is that the things that are often the most disappointing are sold to us as children to be the things to really look forward to. It doesn't add up.
People Divulge How Their 15-Year-Old Self Would React To The Life They're Living Now
As teenagers, we have all sorts of ideas of what our life will be like when we grow up.
Living in our dream home, with our dream spouse and working at our dream job, essentially without a fear or care in the world.
Needless to say, life doesn't always turn out the way we expect it to.
Leading us to wonder, how would our teenage selves react to the lives we currently lead?
Redditor Jay-ay was eager to know the answer to this question, leading them to ask:
"What would your 15 year old self think about the life you are living now?"
Just Relieved I'm Still Alive!
"I'd be shocked that I was even alive."- Totallycasual
Surprised By My Profession
"'You hated school every single day of your life so far....why the hell did you become a teacher?'"
"'Wait, you've been in college for how long?!'"- Low_Lengthiness_6620
Not The Bank Account You Expected...
"'What happened to becoming rich plan?'"- SuvenPan
Womp-Womp...
"Disappointment and shame."
"So much wasted potential."- Rangestalker
"What a sad bastard."- EF_A_P
Sad Episode 15 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyOld Habits Die Hard
“;You’re still collecting Pokémon cards?'"
"'Prove it'.”
"And I’d take back a card from childhood and a modern card to show him."
"Knowing me, I’d def believe it after that."- DiggingUpTheCorpses
Glorious Disbelief!
"Show 15-year old me a picture of my wife, and he'd think I was lying."- magnushimself
Noting But Pride
"Surprised that I’m doing everything I thought I never could."- dexZZZ
"'Hey, all things considered, not too bad'."- E_M_E_T
i'll take it tv land GIF by YoungerTVGiphyThere can't be many people who are living the exact life they had planned out for themselves when they were 15.
But whatever your 15-year-old self might think of the life you currently lead, all we can do is live in the moment.
So if you are happy with your current life, whether or not it's what you expected, that's all that matters.
When relationships go south, couples tend to overlook the fact that when they first got together, they were the best versions of themselves.
Over time, true colors are revealed and the poor character traits that reveal the incompatibility of a significant other make an individual question how they ever got together in the first place.
The same type of disappointment can be said outside of personal relationships we have with others.
Curious to hear examples of when people started feeling let down, Redditor zztop610 asked:
"What have you slowly lost all respect for?"
Objectionable conduct and behaviors of various organizations and groups have let people down.
No Loyalty
"Company loyalty. I had only been at my first post- college job a year when they had layoffs. But they didn't get rid of the new person, they fired my coworker who had just celebrated her 15 year work anniversary. They didn't even do it in a dignified way and the way she sobbed while packing up her things is burned into my memory."
"Now I don't think twice when a better opportunity pops up. I doubled my income when I left that place and went to the next. There's no reason to stick around a job any longer than it serves you because your job won't think twice about getting rid of you to save a few bucks."
– SloppyNachoBros
Abuse Of Power
"military forces in my country.... they are criminals in uniform."
– pedrojdm2021
"lemme guess: you live someplace in south/latin America?"
– The_ghost_of_shell
Corporate Magic And Greed
"Disney."
"The company itself, not their creators or their output."
– TheChainLink2
Unforgivable Design
"I have what I recognize to be the smallest complaint about Netflix. When I open the app on my Fire TV, the first thing I see is the Netflix logo animation and their signature 'TA-DUM'. Then it opens to the profile selection screen. And once I select a profile, what do I get next? The exact same logo animation and sound. Even after seeing it so many times, I still wonder briefly if the app just crashed and restarted. But no, eventually the home screen comes up and everything is fine. Why would you program the app to play the same transition screen twice in two different transitions? I don't know the first thing about UI theory, but I know this particular behavior is jarring enough for me to notice and be annoyed by it, which tells me it's a bad design."
– Enginerdad
Political Disaster
"American 2 Party system and the Media. It's a f'king sh*tshow."
– confusedndfrustrated
have we lost all faith in humanity?
Grown-Ups
"Adults. Now that I'm an adult I realize we're a bunch of f'kwits."
– ScottNoWhat
Curmudgeonly Customers
"Elderly people who are extreme bullies to retail workers. I understand being in pain doesn’t put one in the best mood, but to personally verbally abuse someone you don’t know because things are slightly inconvenient?"
– Cdk4_6i
Treatment Of Kids On The Spectrum
"Human beings. I work in foster care. I'm a behavior specialist for IDD children and adults with severe trauma and behavior disorders. You cannot imagine the things people do to children. Autistic children. And then expect you to treat them with respect and dignity when you talk to them, and think they deserve their children back or to have more."
"Somewhere after investigating your third child death in foster care due to abuse you start empathize with serial killers."
– Zonerdrone
Corruption
"People in power. It seems they all have shady sh*t going on."
– Clcooper423
Overrated Work Ethic
”Grind culture”
"I’m so over the concept of working myself to death but i still kind of do. Also yes, i’m in no way special in this regard and basic survival is a thing too."
– Teluvian0
Wiser Or Wicked?
"Adults. Now that I'm an adult I realize we're a bunch of f'kwits"
– ScottNoWhat
Displaced Siblings
"My family did foster care. We took in sibling groups. It was mind blowing to know what happened to these kids to get into the system. Very heartbreaking stuff. Thankfully a majority of the kids we took care of were able to go back to their families and be in better living conditions."
"We got super close to one sibling group. I have one living with me now at the age of 22. I just consider her a little sister now."
– alltheusernamesrtkn
Disrespectful Visitors
"Tourists."
"We welcome you with open arms into our town/region and all you do is bring sh**ty temper tantrums and litter f'king everywhere. I've even caught some pissing in the gutters out front of local shops."
"We're sick of you and because of you. Take your money and piss off."
– VagrancyHD
Some Redditors thought that in the gaming industry, no one really wins.
Gateway To Gambling Addiction
"Ea sports / fifa games."
"They just exploit children now and have found a loop hole which means children are getting hooked on gambling. They make as much money through FUT than selling the actual game and it’s immoral and wrong. Especially when you see the game has coding built into it to make them buy more and more packs and the game will make them miss shots etc as they know if they lost that match they’re more likely to buy more packs etc."
– FireLadcouk
High-Profile Video Gaming
"AAA gaming industry."
– Amethoran
"Yup. I never thought I’d give up AAA titles but these companies seem to WANT less customers each year lol."
– PleaseKillDanny
Wizards Of Warcraft
"Blizzard entertainment. I remember playing the original Warcraft II and III, as well as Diablo I and II. Then when WOW came out was amazing. Over the years though they have fallen from grace to become one of the worst gaming companies there is."
– pr0lifik
On a deeper level, I started losing faith in humanity.
The country has become increasingly divided–evidenced by my Facebook "friends" spreading misinformation that are direct swipes targeting my personal well-being and lifestyle.
The early part of the pandemic didn't help matters, but where are we headed as people? I'd like more examples of compassion and kindness please.
I can only rely on dog and cat TikTok videos to temporarily lift my spirits for so long.
Have you ever walked into your fashion clothing store and found that the favorite shirt you had your eye on was finally on sale only to discover at the checkout counter that the wrong price tag was on it?
Yeah, not fun.
But you knew in your gut the slashed pricing was too good to be true.
Variations of this example are all too common, and to hear of more examples, Redditor No-Boysenberry-9396 asked strangers online:
"What is something you thought was 'too good to be true' until you realized what it really was?"
Few people get paid doing what they truly love.
But even these Redditors begged to differ.
Tedious Dream Jobs
"Dream jobs are still tedious af. Loved learning to code, then spent every day making forms for websites. I love furniture making, days of sanding and finishing after you’ve done the fun part. I’m an architect, construction details, HOA requirements, liability, half the job is to have a drawing to point to if a contractor f'ks up so you don’t get sued."
– ThinkIGotHacked
More Dogs, Please
"Professional illustrator, every client wants cars and buildings in the drawings. Not nearly enough dogs in these scripts!"
– Sisinator
These Redditors were optimistic after being presented with amazing prospects.
Free Wardrobe Scam
"As a teen I was visiting London and I took some time to wander around Kensington while my parents were doing some shopping nearby. All of a sudden, this big car pulls up beside me and opens its rear door."
"A guy comes out and compliments me on my fashion sense. A t-shirt from a church-league baseball team, baggy jeans and an akubra. I was a bit confused because even I knew my fashion sense was sh*t."
"He tells me that he is a fashion designer on his way back from Harrod's with his designer friends and they were on their way to the airport. They realized that their designer clothes that had been on display were going to be way over the baggage allowance for their flight and they had decided to give them away to some random passers-by just for fun."
"I thought that was nice of them. They asked me what I wanted, so I asked if they had any nice jackets in my style. They started bringing out these clothes and showing me. It was fun and exciting. For a few minutes."
"Then one of them said that he'd forgotten to pick up the cash for the car they had hired to take them to the airport. The lead guy said that he was sure that I would be willing to pay for the clothes, since they were such a discount on designer, brand name clothes."
"I was confused and told him that I thought they were free. I didn't have any money. Then they started asking what my daily withdrawal limit was. I told them I was a tourist and my card didn't even work in British ATMs, my parents paid for everything."
"Suddenly, they threw everything back into the car, jumped in and peeled off. I was pretty naïve at the time and didn't parse what had happened until later."
– kitskill
Promise Of Endless Brewski
"All the beer I could drink to use my truck to help someone move. 'we have plenty of help in loading and unloading'"
"had to help load and unload."
– Feels2old
"Manchild" Tenant
"I moved to a new city for a job. The area had a pretty high cost of living but I ended up finding a very affordable room for rent in someone's house. When I went to see it, it was a very nice, well maintained house and the owner was very friendly. I kept thinking 'let me guess, the other tenant is a serial killer or something?'"
"Well, he wasn't a serial killer but he was a 40 year old, unemployed alcoholic who, in the 45 minutes I was in the house, threw a massive temper tantrum because the landlord/homeowner had accidentally forgotten to clean out the lint trap after doing laundry. I'm talking foot stomping, nasally whining like a little kid who was denied dessert. That was when I realized why the rent was so cheap. Told the guy I'd think about it and never contacted him again. It was worth paying more to live with actual adults and not an entitled manchild."
– apocalypticradish
Red Flag Option
"Two years ago when I was on Covid furlough from my day job, I was looking around for other options just in case my job ended."
"First interview offer I got, I should have been tuned into the various red flags. But I had nothing else going on so I showed up."
"Turned out to be a cattle call for one of the more insidious MLM companies."
– Hysterical_Realist
Some people found true love. Others, however, didn't luck out as much.
Dreamy Boyfriend
"My boyfriend. He was too nice, too kind, did too much for me. He asked me about my day and actually wanted to hear everything I wanted to say. He asked where I wanted to eat and actually wanted to go to the place I wanted, instead of wanting me to say the place he wanted. He wanted to give me a bubble bath and a massage without expecting anyting in return. He wanted to give me an orgasm even if it took an hour."
"Seemed really sus until I realized.... that I was in the first healthy relationship with a genuinely good person I've ever been in."
– triflers_need_not
Soul-Wrecker
"Mine started similar and i couldn't believe that i finally met a nice guy who truly cared for me but turns out he was a narcissist who destroyed my soul and my mental health. Now i'm afraid that if i really do meet a nice guy who cares for me, i won't be able to trust that and will destroy the relationship with my suspicion and distrust."
– Faunastar87
Gotta Love Yourself First
"Yep! My story on the nose! Narcissistic parents, toxic family, every single relationship I'd ever had, and most friendships, were one sided, emotional black holes. Wasn't until the pando that I spent so much time alone with myself that I started to like myself. Once I started liking myself I started questioning all the personal relationships I'd ever had: If I'm not complete garbage then why did my parents treat me like I was?"
"If I'm not worthless, why did I let my husband get away with treating me like I was? I started educating myself about recovering from narcissistic abuse, going to therapy, etc, and decided I was going to start being unapologetically myself from then on. The first date I went on after that was my boyfriend, over a year ago now. I was smitten, he was smitten, and for the first time in my life I knew I was with someone who liked ME, not the 'please like me I'll do anything if you'll just like me' character I'd been playing my whole life."
– triflers_need_not
After Saying, "I Do"
"My first marriage. Didn't realize how manipulative he really was until I kicked him out."
– notentirely_fearless
The examples above are a good reminder that if something innately feels like it's too good to be true, that's because it is.
Our gut is there for a reason.
It's up to us to be open to hearing the rumblings deep within our core indicating that there may be red flags on our road to Dreamland.