Redditor mcamilove wanted to hear about the times when everyone knew it was right to flee a relationship fast, so they asked:
"What makes you think 'Run!' in your mind when talking to a new partner/date?"
Always listen to your inner voice when it comes to a relationship.
And have comfortable running shoes.
Miserable
Joe Biden Reaction GIF by Election 2020Giphy"If they complain nonstop about how miserable they are, they're not going to get better in a relationship. It will only get worse."
xain_the_idiot
Hoppers
"I call them the relationship hoppers. In my opinion, they run away from their pain and avoid facing their wounds, hence why they feel the need to immediately get to know somebody new. They are also often really bad at being alone with themselves. But no matter how far or fast you run your pain will get to you and everywhere you go, there you are."
conialogr
Cash Flow
"When they try to casually mention how much money they make or how much money their family has. There's nothing wrong with making good money or coming from money, but I don't like it when I get the vibe that someone is using it to try to impress me."
smugmisswoodhouse
"The funniest part is when they constantly do that and then complain that the opposite sex only wants them for their money."
nanna_mouse
Turn Away
"Sexual double entendres when you’ve literally just met and aren’t quite comfortable with each other yet."
Dramiotic
"I said something sucked, at a bar, and this random woman standing next to me leaned in close and said, 'That’s not all that sucks.'"
"She was ok looking but the delivery was just so f**king awkward and cringe… I made her face away from me."
_Brunonono_
Bye Bye Kitty
Cat GIF by 9CatNFTGiphy"She started talking about being allergic to cats. I have a cat. She said I could get rid of the cat if it would be getting serious. I ended the date on the spot."
Court_esy
Never cross the animals. The animals come first.
Yes, they will...
Janet Jackson Reaction GIFGiphy"If you meet them whilst they are dating someone else, but their relationship is coming to an end. You two are getting on real well, all of a sudden... oh they won't leave you for someone else, oh no. They will. Yes, they will."
gliitch0xFF
The Past Stories
"When they say all of their EXs are crazy."
Hiberniuss
"If the whole world smells like s**t, check your shoes."
RichCorinthian
"Let's be honest, ten exes is a bit of a warning by itself. Unless they are counting ONS partners and short romances lasting 2-3 weeks."
"But yeah, having 1-3 crazy exes is very natural, given the s**t world we live in. Plus it takes time to grow up as a person, to stop attracting and start avoiding those kinds of people/relationships."
merc-ai
A Free Spirit
"Continual contrariness where the intended effect is 'I am interesting and different - a free spirit' but the actual effect is 'this person is way too much like hard work.' I mean you expect s**t testing but when everything seems like a s**t test, whatever happened to enjoy someone's company?"
just_some_guy65
"Yep, and they think they are being smart too lol."
mcamilove
Replacements
"When they trying to control everything. From drinks to food on a second or third date cuz they think I would like what they’ve chosen for me. Or when they still talk about that ex from years ago or trying to find me as their 'replacement' No, I’m not her."
Effective_Math_2717
"I went on a date like this but it was the FIRST date. Didn’t ask me anything, and ordered everything including the drinks before I could even blink. Gave me vibes that he used the establishment often/people there knew his order. Also, casually mentioned he had two other options set up but he chose me. Mid dude that talked about his awesome engineering job and how much money his parents had. Wonder why he’s single with so much money."
AdKindly4291
Stalker
"When it's your first time meeting, at a coffee shop to be safe. You order she shows up and starts going on about 'how they were right we were meant to be together' - 'I am going to tell my doctor how wrong he was you are my husband' etc. I didn't even get my coffee before I left, there was more along those lines but gave me huge nope vibes."
"It was a blind date she apparently knew my best friend and all that. I spoke to said friend after he had no idea who tf she was. She became a stalker for a while after, ended up changing cars, moving house, a large distance, and basically was terrified of leaving the house for a while. Haven't tried dating since really."
azazeldeath
Look at the Signs
Zodiac Sign Leo GIF by Hope is SincereGiphy"Bringing up zodiac signs and assuming my personality based on my birth date rather than actually trying to get to know me."
"Real story. The guy spent half an hour straight checking up my ascendant sign after my zodiac sign to make assumptions about me right to my face. Boy, get a life first please."
FBrandt
Date Over
"One time a guy showed up to pick me up and was already drunk. I did not let him drive me. And another time I was on a date, getting to know each other, and I was talking about my brother and his husband, and the guy literally had his face flush and said 'You have a gay brother? And you support that?' Date over."
LittleNightBright
I'm glad I like to run.
Sometimes it's not just about exercise.
It's about running from crazy.
"How does someone politely end a conversation with a person who won't stop talking?"
Slowly But Surely...
"Worst case I’ve ever had, I basically gave every verbal cue I knew of, eventually stood up, then stood in the doorway, then backed out of the doorway, and this dude was still talking."
'In the end I just said ‘I’ll be back’ and closed the door on him mid-sentence."- delpigeon
Sometimes You Have To Cut In...
"Mental health worker here."
"I see patients every day who will talk forever if you don't stop them."
"You simply have to interrupt and redirect/or end the conversation."
"I always politely tell them, 'let me stop you there' or 'Let me jump in there'."
"Sometimes you have to be abrupt or else you will be held hostage by the one sided conversation."- DeadSharkEyes
Noises In Your Head...
"'Ssshh! Do you hear that??'"
"'No?'"
"'One Sec', and just run off."- i_f*ckin_luv_it_mate
Puppet What GIF by Gerbert!GiphyMy Ride Is Waiting...
"I'm an Uber driver, I was once summoned to pick up two people for just this reason."
"They had me drive four blocks/.25 miles/1.5 minutes to another bar just to get out of a conversation with someone."
"Minimum fare ($3.75) and $10 tip on the app."- verminiusrex
Slightly Outdated...
"I have to return some video tapes"- LeMarcusKing
You're Really Helping Each Other Out...
"I don't mean to interrupt but-"
"It's got to be done, so just do it."
"They need a break anyway."- p1um5mu991er
Awkward Cringe GIF by MASTERPIECE | PBSGiphyWho Are You Again?
“'Ann was getting a little chummy. When people get too chummy with me, I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don't really care.' - Ron Swanson."- Pyre_Aurum
Just Be Straightforward
"I read one of those mildly interesting newspaper features recently with an 'etiquette expert', their advice was rather than make an excuse, you should be more direct that you are ending the conversation and say something like 'I've really enjoyed talking with you, I'm going to circulate around the room now' as it's less likely to create an expectation you might come back."
"It does work too!"- Boyleingbass
Reverse Psychology, The Irish Way!
"We have a great line that we use in Ireland."
"I haven't heard it used abroad but it could well be used all over for all I know."
"The person is rabbiting on and is showing no sign of stopping."
"You clearly and firmly say 'I'll let you go'."
"Then with the confidence of a person doing them a favor, you turn on your heel and stride away."
"This has the effect of making them think you are the one wanting to avoid wasting their time."
"If they figure it out they can't call you out on it because to do so would be to admit, at least to themselves, that they are wasting your time."
"In fact most people never allow themselves to think it might be them who is holding you up so they accept the 'offer' of your leaving in order for them to get on with their important work."
"In general if someone says 'I'll let you go' to me, rare but it has happened, I smile and say bye and end the conversation."
"It is a social convention and I abide by it."
"They want out."
"No ego."
"Let them go and the best of luck to them."
"People appreciate that I imagine."- Nuffsaid98
let it go GIFGiphyOf course, all of the above are ways of telling people whom you presumably do want to see again, one day, to stop talking
If you never want to be on the receiving end of someone talking, a simple "shut up" should prove quite effective.
I haven't tried these rooms yet. Not sure I want to. Highly claustrophobic. Convince me...
No touching...
"I used to work at one. I can’t tell you how many people thought that power outlets were a prop and tried to stick keys into them. Guys. There was a lamp plugged into it and a 'do not touch, not a part of the game' sticker on it. It’s not a trick, don’t do that."
brasscassette
Shackles
"A friend of mine works for an escape room and he told me one about a puzzle where the key to the next door was shackled to a desk by a combination lock. What you are supposed to do is figure out the combination for the lock from the clues around the room to free the key. What one group decided to do instead was get a guy on each corner and pick up the 150 pound desk and carry it across the room, slide the key into the lock, and then rotate the entire desk to unlock the door."
sharrrper
'Yale'
"I am not an escape room employee but I did a lot of em and talked to the employees often. One of them told me there was a simple lock (opened by a key) that had 'Yale' written on it (the name of the lock company) and a lady (not native English speaker) thought it read 'yell' and legit shouted 'OPEN!!' at it, expecting it to open."
Dorza1
searching the fountain...
"Recently went to an escape room with my co-workers. Before we started, we were explicitly warned not to touch or drink the bright blue water coming out of a fountain because it would turn our skin blue - clearly people had tried searching the fountain as part of the escape room previously and now they have to warn everyone."
babers1987
Voice of God
Whos That Voice Of God GIF by Shark WeekGiphy"I was in an escape room once where one puzzle involved some objects that needed to be manipulated inside a structure that made it very awkward."
"We were all looking at it trying to figure out how to proceed when I said 'Well, the bottom is held on with screws and I have a screwdriver in my purse, but that would probably be cheating.' Instantly the Voice of God came over the intercom 'THAT WOULD BE CHEATING!' So we didn't do that..."
Miss_Speller
Well people really do get creative at this game... don't they?
Reverse
genius GIFGiphy"Had a group of engineers who were familiar with the style of the lock effectively reverse engineer the lock. They showed us how they did it afterwards."
Snowf1ake222
Smoked...
"When I was in one they told us several times that the fire extinguisher is NOT part of the puzzle. They said it so many times, I'm 98% sure someone once used it lol."
Zirael_Swallow
"I always wait to see if they say not to disassemble smoke detectors, if they have that warning, I ask about it, and every time they will always have a story about a dumby who ignored the warning labels and disassembled the smoke detector."
cleverplaydoh
Group of 4
"There was a story on here a while ago about a guy in a group of four who took a broom from the first room because 'it had to be for something.' He said it looked too out of place to not be needed. Well he was half right. It was out of place but that's because it was the broom used by employees to clean the room."
"It was simply forgotten when they cleaned last time. The guys giving hints thought it was hilarious that this guy carried a broom through four rooms expecting it to be the key to their escape at some point. I thought that was funny as hell."
PCCoatings
Damages...
"Take in a screwdriver and dismantling furniture or taking doors off hinges... all the while we specifically tell them not to use force and that furniture is just furniture. Though I don't care cause they gotta pay the damages. Also had some groups press our panic button cause that opens all the doors (for emergency cases)."
"So they can skip puzzles and be faster. Makes zero sense to us cause they are paying for an hour of playtime and to solve puzzles, not like the prize is reduced cause you solved less in fewer minutes. Especially since our prices aren't cheap."
karmasabitterpill
Idiots
Idiot Facepalm GIFGiphy"Breaking EVERYTHING. Trying to eat or drink things they should totally not be trying to eat or drink."
Radiant-Comb9058
Perfect Pitch
"My brother and sister once did an escape room where they fell behind 45 minutes in to their one hour limit. Then my brother sat down at the piano and just played the background music that was on (he has perfect pitch). This happened to be the code to open the final door."
B1ue_zangoose
Are you crazy!?
"I did a spy thriller which had a chalk board. Trouble is, 3 of the 4 of us were scientists. A chalkboard full of equations?! Clearly this meant something. Now. In hindsight. It seems unlikely that any puzzle designer would expect you have the working knowledge to solve quadratic equations. Or that you'd need anything but the most basic of mathematical skills."
"So that was our first error. The second error was when our friend (fiancé of one of the three scientists and only non scientist of the bunch) immediately goes to erase the board with its immaculate display of complicated formulae and equations. She was immediately wrestled to the ground."
"Sheer panic. No dignity. Are you crazy!? You don't just erase someones chalkboard!!! Full blown PTSD of Uni is the play here. Lo and behold. Erasing the board revealed some unerasableble text, spelling out the clue. We felt bad for that one. She was right."
Kenobi_01
Numbers
"We were supposed to find the numbers to a padlock. My boss had guessed the answer within 5 minutes."
Th3_Accountant
"I had to do this once. In a poorly designed room, one of the padlocks needed to be open by a hint that led to a 5 letter word, but the lock only had 4 digits so the designers of the room just took the last letter off of the word and spelt it wrong. We were trying real 4 letter words and couldn't figure it out so I just started guessing and eventually got it."
ObsquatuIate
Digits
code GIFGiphy"Not an employee... but my group once was so bad that we solved the room by fully misunderstanding the concept and we ended up getting the five digit code to the lockbox via some truly failed logic that shouldn't have worked."
xeothought
Water Levels
"One of the puzzles is opened at the start of the room to reveal a large jug of water with a floating key, but the water level is too low for you to reach it. As you progress through the room you get smaller canteens to fill up the jug. Bachelor party comes in already tipsy, orders multiple drinks as they progress through the room, and at some point one of them pees into the jug to raise the water level. This is what made me leave for another job. If you ever go to an escape room, just know we're judging you for every move you make."
Xenomorph_Queen
Your UV
"I was in a room once with a puzzle that required UV light - and you did find a UV torch somewhere. Problem was, the batteries were as good as dead. Luckily I had a UV torch on me because I hadn't yet unpacked my pockets from night geocaching the previous weekend. Came out of the room, telling the employees, 'Your UV badly needs new batteries.' - 'How did you solve it then?' - 'Well, had my own...'
bbgreenie
Hey Jeff...
"Went on a team building escape room and ended up in a room with a colleague we'll call 'Jeff.' Jeff is profoundly deaf and a large part of this particular room involved listening to messages on Dictaphones that could be found in different drawers* etc."
"About ten minutes into the timer an employee burst into the room in a panic and we turned to find Jeff taking the Dictaphone apart piece by piece because he had no idea it was making any sound. He was not supposed to do that, still a top bloke."
ifthen_endif
Letters matter...
lights alphabet GIFGiphy"I don't know if it's the weirdest but we had a puzzle which involved morse code. Usually you had to use an endoscope to find the alphabet in a chest. One person in this group actually knew the whole alphabet and was able to solve it."
MrNighty
She broke the machine...
"Not an employee, but while doing a casino-themed escape room with some colleagues, the worker told us 'please do not pull the lever on the slot machine as it will break something later in the game.' The timer started and my coworker went 'well we’re obviously supposed to do that first' and pulled the lever. We were not supposed to do that first. She broke the machine."
ProfessorBeer
Even though there are a million ways to escape, I'm still gonna pass. My claustrophobia won't allow it.
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