We all find ourselves having an unexpected run-in with someone we know on the street every now and then.
In some cases, it's a pleasant surprise and plans are immediately made to catch up.
In other cases, you dig out the first excuse you can to keep on moving, as this particular individual was not someone you hoped would re-enter your life.
Then, of course, there are the times you run into an ex.
Whether you ended things amicably or acrimoniously, it's always going to be an awkward encounter.
Just how awkward it will be, however, depends on your reaction.
Redditor rageondad was curious to hear how people would react if they unexpectedly saw their ex on the street, leading them to ask:
"You see your first ex on the street, what do you do?"
Nothing But Happy Memories...
"1st ex: say hi, nice conversation."
"All good."
"2nd ex: hide from her again, like I did that one time at the gas station."- jfg1435
Who?
"Ignore him because he’s not worth saying hi to."
"And I wouldn’t care about him at all."- Big-Elevator2491
One Way To Handle It...
"Start taking a sh*t on the side walk immediately."- ceiling_fanzz
Excuse Me What GIF by Bounce
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No Harm, No Foul
"Say hi."- hot-breadfruit_poop
"And ask how they are doing."
"I'm a curious creature, what can I say?"- Lamacorn
Nothing But Excitement
"Give each other a huge hug."
"We're going to see each other next week for the first time in 25 years."
"It'll be good."
"We've remained friends this whole time, so we're both looking forward to it."- riceme0112358
"Say hi, give him a hug, ask him what he's doing in town."- m00nf1r3
Couple Love GIF by Pantaya
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Ouch!
"Didn't you die?" -Reddit
"Wonder who dug her up."- 8urfiat
"Walk On By..."
"Just keep walking."- MythicalMicrowave
Walking By Moe Szyslak GIF by Football Australia
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Even If It Means J-Walking
"Cross the street."- no_days_grace
Avoiding Your Ex In Five D's...
"Dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge."- catinatank·
The Passage Of Time
"I would wish her well if I recognized her."
"It’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen her."
"It’s not like we parted on bad terms or anything."- Fangsong_37
Lana Parrilla GIF by Paramount+
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Go For The Jugular
"You've sure gotten old."- drpepper1992
About Face
"Run."- saus_blu
Remain Amicable
"Have a chat."
"We are still friends."- Mentalfloss1
Meg Ryan Comedy GIF by Coolidge Corner Theatre
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Of course, the worst element of surprise is having no idea how we might react.
Try as we might to plan just what we'd do should we ever run into an ex, we can't possibly know what will actually happen should that moment arrive.
Though, hopefully it won't ever lead to defecating on the street.
"What's one 'type' you'll never date again?"
Bring Me Up, Don't Take Me Down
"The type that makes you feel really bad about yourself."- Claralaraa
People Afraid Of Monogamy
"The type with a partner they didn’t tell me about."- 69MILFdudes
People Who Refuse To Be Wrong!
"Those that invalidate your feelings and are never in the wrong, no matter what."- False_Stuff835
Im Right Told You So GIF by DeRay DavisGiphyWhat Are They Hoping To Accomplish?
"I also will not date girls who try to make me jealous."- funck93
But Enough About Me, What Do You Think About Me!
"One sided and pretty surface level conversation type."
"Never again."- WorkingFI
No One Likes A Know It All
"The 'smartest guy in the room' guy."
"He was a know it all and no one could tell him any different."
"It was insufferable."- Mean_Parsnip
Know It All Adventure GIF by PeacockTVGiphyTalking To Everyone But Me
"Always-on-the-phone-type."- Pattt2602
Everyone Needs A Little Personal Space
"Clingy girls."
"Like for real she made me sit on calls with her for 5 hours at a time and she barely said sh*t."
"I wasn't allowed to hang up or she'd have a f*cking tantrum, and there's some extra things im not going to say here."- LoginPuppy
Always Be Your True Self
"Closeted."
"I don't want to be anyone's dirty little secret."- SallyHeap
People Who Refuse Help.
"Someone who seems like a victim in life."
"I wanted so badly to help my ex out."
"To get her out of her sh*tty living situation."
"Help her get her finances and medical needs in order."
"I really stuck my neck out."
"Gave it 150%."
"Exhausted myself regularly just so I could help her out."
"I just wanted to see her quality of life improve."
"I just wanted her to feel like life was going ok."
"It was never enough."
"Eventually she moved in with me, and spent almost a year doing nothing but playing PS4, eating, and sleeping."
"Didn't even start looking for a job."
"Eventually I ended it, and a few months later she moved back to her mom's place."
"The day after, I woke up to literally hundreds of messages from her begging me to take her back."
"Saying that she'll change."
"She'll do anything."
"She had forgotten how much worse her life was."
"I try to stay friends with her, but she's taken to making herself the victim in our relationship since we broke up."
"Maybe I wasn't perfect, I can admit that."
"But I willingly went to hell and back on multiple occasions just to try and make her smile."
"It crushes me that after everything, she trivializes everything I put into the relationship."
"This post was longer than I thought, but writing this out was therapeutic."- SinisterPixel
It's easy for people who have been single for a long time to run into the arms of the first person they can.
Though before doing so, it's always good to reflect on any past relationships and why they didn't work out.
Because when push comes to shove, being single is infinitely better than being in a relationship with someone who doesn't make you completely happy.
Curious to hear examples of why people are no longer with their exes, Redditor into_the_void22 asked:
"What's the craziest thing an ex friend/lover has done to you?"
These Redditors found out they were not the other's "one and only."
WTF
"She met me for a date, went to go meet her parents. I had a beer with her dad while she went upstairs and f'ked her brother-in-law. Then she came downstairs and left with me to resume our date. I found out after the fact, got tested and dumped her a**."
– Sol-Blackguy
A Double Life
"Found out my long distant boyfriend of three years got married and had a baby while we were together. He was in my town every weekend... It was nuts."
– pyrexsony
The Therapy Failed
"Cheated on me. Then cheated on me again after we went to months of therapy. Then emailed my parents and told them I was bad at sex."
– lowlybananas
These exes revealed their true colors.
The Catfish Attempt
"Attempted to catfish me on blackplanet using a picture she manually snapped from a magazine as her profile picture. I could see the seem down the center of the picture. I knew it was her because she had a very poor grasp of grammar and she makes specific mistakes that no one makes. When we 'met' on the site, before I realized who she was, I asked why she was single. She stated that her ex died two years ago. Considering she pulled a gun on me in a prior instance, that may well have ended up being true."
– Agreeable-Ad-4791
The Squatter
"Got mail delivered to my house when she found out I was going to break up with her. Then wouldn’t leave when I did break up with her. I called the police and since she received mail at my house they said it was officially her residence as well. I had to call my land lord and have him evict me to get her to leave. Once she left he rescinded the eviction notice and I moved back in."
– armhat
The Early Morning Complaint
"Called me at three in the morning to yell at me and call me a wh*re for 'liking' a YouTube video by Dashie a month before."
–curiositykills33
Pot Calling The Kettle
"Tried to tell me she was pregnant when i broke up with her for being a compulsive liar which just confirmed that she was indeed a compulsive liar."
– DarthVader9696
Some exes thought violence was always the answer.
No Room For Negotiation
"Woke up from a heavy night of drinking next to my ex. She asked if I wanted to try to put a baby in her and when I said no, she pulled a knife on me asking if I wanted to die."
– onmysadboyshhhrn
Auditory Assault
"One time my gf at the time was staying over. I'd been at work late the night before so I wanted to sleep in. She tried to wake me. It didn't work so I fell back to sleep. So after an unknown amount of time (I was in deep sleep) she apparently lost patience. She put her mouth directly against my ear and screamed as loud as she could... A high-pitched horror movie scream. The pain was immediate. It's been about 15 years and my left ear (if I'm in a loud place) buzzes like I've got a wasp in my ear. It sounds exactly like a blown-out speaker."
– Crackracket
Sometimes We Make Bad Choices
"Had a girlfriend edit old Facebook messenger timestamps to make it look like I was cheating on my new girlfriend."
"Would like to say that my taste got better but I got stabbed after that by an ex."
– Tobadiahtheblack
Ouch
"Came over to my house and punched me awake because I didn't answer her phone call. Because I was sleeping."
"Oh and she stabbed me with a pencil."
– lotus38
A Dramatic Exit
"Ex Boyfriend just absolutely lost it when I had enough and ended things. He took my dog when he went back to work (away from home), told my parents I was suicidal so he had to know where I was, and when I tried staying at either of my parents' places, my vehicle would get vandalized."
"Threatening to take me to the police because he had someone do something to his house and demanded that I give him money because it HAD to be me (I was at the bar on the night in question). Blackmailed me for my dog, threatening that he was gonna have one of his friends shoot her, or that he was going to release her in traffic and if she gets hit it's my fault."
"My work had to create a plan where the building would go on lockdown should he show up as he was threatening that too. The final straw was when my brother left his phone out and my ex was non-stop calling it.... I picked up and lost my absolute sh*t. I found a place to rent, told nobody (not even family as my dad thought I was being dramatic and should forgive him because he's a good guy on paper; yeah that man can be another post), and somehow made out all right but drank a bit in this time."
"My mom sent me a picture one day of my dog in her house, I hauled a** to her house. She will never admit to it but I think she paid him money so I could have her as she was important to me. Now, she is snoring in bed beside me 6 years later."
– MajesticCanadian92
What's With The Dognapping?
"She made a key to my house and stole my dog after we broke up. She then called me and told me she found said dog running loose in my neighborhood. Neighbor had it all on video. Dog was very confused."
– Saltwindandfire
Sneaky Time Capsule
“'Helped' me pack. Knew I was putting things into storage. Put RAW chicken into a Rubbermaid with appliances they knew I wouldn’t open for months…."
– bellcait
Violent Concert
"She attacked me with a ukulele, while screaming."
"We had been arguing, heatedly, and she went to another room. I assumed she was just getting some space and cooling off. A moment later she came running out of the room, screaming and swinging a little guitar at me."
"We didn't break up then, but eventually did and that incident was the main reason. However, until then I could never be calm if she was in another room."
– Absurdionne
Let's end the thread on a positive.
Sometimes, the "craziest" things done by an ex are not always abusive.
Gift That Keeps Giving
"My ex donated a kidney to me, it still wows me how she decided without even a moment of hesitation. Great person for sure."
– theoldcollegetries
The most disturbing thing about a person not taking a breakup well is that it unleashes a side of them that was only indicated as hints of a red flag.
The good news is, the display of someone violently unraveling after you break up with them is a reminder of why you never should have been with them in the first place.
The bad part in all this?
Well, that would depend on whether or not the person you broke up with is prone to stabbing you with a pencil in a moment of unbridled fury.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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