Redditor iicebath wanted to hear about all the crazy things delivery people have witnessed, so they asked:
"Delivery drivers of Reddit, what are some standout moments?"
Reminder: please tip generously because you never know what your delivery folks have been through that night.
Spark it Up
Chris Tucker Smoking GIFGiphy"A guy offered me weed. After I refused he insisted on giving me something, so he went opened a package of nutter butters. I grabbed a handful. They were good."
Tech_Enthusiast49376
WEEERRKKKK!!!
"Walked into a giant skyscraper in central London to deliver a parcel for a guy named Thomas, at the reception I'm told he will be in his office, so I walk in and find him dancing by himself in the corner with no music or AirPods or anything, he's facing the corner just doing the Carlton, so he had no idea I was just standing and watching."
"I leave the room and just try to reevaluate what I just witnessed, when I walk back in he is standing behind a table acting like nothing just happened. So I hand him my parcel and he just thanks me and signs for it. I have never got a delivery from Thomas to this day."
jamessaleh190e
Corpses
"I used to collect biohazards from doctors' offices, hospitals, and other places. I think people that work in funeral homes like to mess with the living. I saw way too many dead, naked bodies at that job. Did that job for 6 years and then went back to slinging office supplies. I have not seen a dead body since."
unhalfbricklayer
blah blah blah...
"I used to deliver Appliances for a major home improvement store. I'm at the end of my shift and standing at the back of the truck finishing up my paperwork in a... not great part of town. Suddenly I hear someone walking up behind me and turn to see three young men approaching my truck."
"My initial instinct is to just be, 'take what you want, blah blah blah,' but as soon as I'm about to go into my prepared statement the guy asks if I have any leftover boxes because they have to help his aunt move the next day. So I got rid of all my cardboard in one shot and had one less thing to worry about when I got back to the warehouse."
plucky13
Just Chill
Chill Leopard GIFGiphy"Delivered food to a guy on Friday afternoon. He answered the door in his hi-viz vest and tighty whities. I've never seen a man more chill with himself than that dude."
Thrownawaybyall
People really have no shame sometimes.
Not a Drop
Happy New Year GIFGiphy"I left the drinks on the roof of my car and made it to a stop light two turns away. A guy behind me got out of his car and handed me the drinks through the window and I was so shocked that nothing spilled I couldn't even thank him. I just exclaimed 'Omg how did they not spill!' and he ran back to his car."
unseenwreckage
'Oh, you're here!'
"Pre cell phone and gps days (1979), I was delivering carpets to an unfamiliar town. We got high to start the trip, lost the directions, but knew the address. We were so lost. We drove until we saw some people in a yard, and stopped to ask directions. Before we said anything, they said 'Oh, you're here!' We somehow found the right house. We dropped off the carpets, no complaints the next day. It must have been the right place."
eightfingeredtypist
Keep the Carvel
"Did Doordash for some extra cash on the weekends about 3 years ago. Had a Carvel order going to a funeral home. In my head I was thinking it was definitely a funeral where some kid was so upset that they ordered ice cream to calm them down and cheer them up. I arrive to the funeral home and it's empty."
"I knock on the front door and a few seconds later a dude answers in nothing but his boxers. Behind him another dude was looking at himself in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. That dude was also in nothing but his boxers. Weird sh*t to be happening inside of a funeral home."
F_a_username
Deliveroo
"I'll never forget when I worked for Deliveroo arriving at the customers door, lifting up the big bag of food to hand it to them, and the entire bottom of the bag fell out, leaving their whole order spilled across their door step. I remember their face of pure shock so vividly. I offered to help clean it, of course, but they refused, I think they just wanted me outta there, haha."
MacyTmcterry
Preparation & Dessert
Licking Ice Cream GIFGiphy"Still my favorite delivery. On a Saturday night, they ordered a pint of gourmet ice cream and a box of condoms."
fd1Jeff
There is so much to learn about people from their deliveries... and I am SHOOK!
Redditor mharris1405 wanted to know about the times everyone could just feel they had no other option but to throw in the towel.
They asked:
"What are signs you lost the argument?"
I'm undefeated so I can't share in this conversation, but I'll listen . ;)
Origins
"You realize that your argument was based on a misunderstanding of the original point of concern." ~ Highwired1
Sasha Banks Reaction GIF by WWEGiphyPoint of Focus
"You're attacking the person you are arguing with instead of their argument." ~ Weirdguy149
"I was associated with a niche but decently large online gaming group for years and they HATED when people didn’t agree with what the general opinion was on anything."
"It always resorted to them trying to destroy the person’s image, even when the point of contention was completely non-consequential. It was wild happened to several friends of mine to the point they literally defamed him in a legal sense. Gotta love insecure nerds who can’t handle being wrong lmao." ~ RiceKrispieMeat
'How does that make sense?'
"Or when the entire argument stemmed from you not realizing how hostile your tone was. I had an argument like that with my sister a few months ago. I just asked 'How does that make sense?' because I genuinely couldn't understand her thought pattern but because the argument was already a bit heated and my tone made her interpret it as me outright calling everything she was saying bullshit, it just kept going. Had I realized what my voice made things sound like it would've been over pretty damn quickly." ~ ad240pCharlie
The Sky is Green
"Hard to tell. Sometimes people really have lost the argument. Other times it's just the irrationality of internet users that beat you into submission. After all, if 5 people are saying the sky is green. Then it doesn't matter how many times you say its blue, you wont win the argument. Because those people are dumb as f**k. And you cant win against that." ~ JailbaitBarbie
Floored...
"Lying on the floor in a pool of your own liquids." ~ DognamedTurtle
Tired Floor GIF by The Drew Barrymore ShowGiphyLying on the floor. Yeah, I've been there. You?
Words matter
"Name throwing." ~ TheRealOgMark
"Ahh reminds me of this one guy that kept on calling me a fatty and replying to me every one of my comments because I said Jojo fans are toxic." ~ Jakeyloransen
Intimidating Season 4 GIF by The OfficeGiphyTopics
"When they start yelling or trying to include irrelevant things into the conversation. Like no, we were talking about topic A. You trying to bring up topic B, C & D doesn’t make me forget about topic A." ~ FlightWolf23949
"It makes it impossible to have an intelligent back and forth with the person. Like no, that’s a completely different thing, we’re talking about A. Stop changing the subject!" ~ hunybuny9000
GOAL!
"You move the goal posts." ~ spastichabits
"I sometimes do a poor job of describing my point. When I figure that out and make it clearer, that could look like I'm moving the goalposts. But otherwise, sure." ~ twopointsisatrend
"This, and you change the subject slightly. cough insults cough," ~ Fancy_Agent_8542
Life's too Short
"I get involved in the argument in the first place, I'm either just plain wrong but realise it way too late and can't admit because the other guy is being a c**t about it, or I'm right and the other guy won't admit it because he's being a c**t about it. Better to just let c**ts be c**ts life's too short 🤷♂️." ~ Philsredditaccount1
Weak
"You resort to weak comebacks and drag on the original argument rather than actually countering it." ~ VapertoweI
Argue Sesame Street GIFGiphyOh to be mean and witty. Such a gift.
But maybe let's try more truth and kindness going forward.
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Unfortunately, life intervenes, and many people grow distant as they embark on new careers or move to another state or country.
But is it just gradual circumstances that come between friends? Not always.
Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy and realize too late they were the reason why a good friendship fizzled.
Curious to hear about the regrettable treatments of others, Redditor rwetreweryrttre asked:
"What's the dumbest reason you lost a friend?"
The root of all evil.
Lending Money
"Over lent out money."
"They wanted to borrow some money (100+ euros) and months later they got angry, when i asked when they think they were going to pay it back. Suddenly i was the greedy one."
– EvilAlicia
Excuses
"legit ended a friendship because of this too. She borrowed $200 from me over a year ago, I went overseas for a year then came back and remembered the money. Within the year I was gone she'd bought herself a $40k car. I asked for the money, she kept promising she'd get it to me but every week it was a new excuse."
"She then asked if she could pay in installments. Ended up only getting half the amount until I released I would never see the other half and ended up cutting her off as a friend for good. Best decision."
– ThrowRARAw
Video Renting Spree
"He kept using my card to buy Amazon video rentals, like $330 worth. Lost my sh*t and stopped talking to him."
– mcfrogboi
The Special Request
"My Cousin and me wanted to play Monster Hunter World together."
"He didn't have much money left and i wanted to Gift it to him. He said 'fine, but remember me Daily to give you the money back!'"
"Yeah, i did that and he got really angry over the time of a few days and then he was really pissed. He then sent me the Money on a different account ( not my personal money account, instead he sent it on to our Teamspeak Provider account.. and then he quit. He deleted me and all friends. ) All because of his wish that i remind him Daily because he didn't like to have debts."
– Pentagon0M
Value Of Friendship
"I lent him $100."
"I didn't even care about the money after a while, I just wanted my friend back."
– TheLikeGuys3
Misunderstandings lead to the demise of the following friendships.
Ulterior Motives
"He misinterpreted every good intentioned thing I did, as some sort of underhanded attack. I still don't understand it."
– AreYouItchy
That Darn Cat
"I was friends with someone for almost a decade and she suddenly quit talking to me and ignoring me. After several weeks of this I confronted her and asked her what was up, why was she ignoring me."
"Turns out that the last time my kids had a sleepover at her house all their stuff smelled like cat pee and she decided that it meant that I let them live in filth. She decided that I was an abusive father and she could no longer be friends with me."
"The reality was that my kids were so excited for the sleepover they packed their bag the night before and put it in the living room so we could grab everything on the way out the next morning. The bag was not fully closed and at some point in the night our cat climbed in the bag and peed on their stuff. We did not realize it because we just grabbed the bag on the way out and threw it in the trunk. But, instead of calling us when she opened their bag that night so we could bring them clean clothes, or even telling us when we picked them up the next morning, she just decided I was a horrible person and never spoke to me again. (Except to tell me why when I confronted her about ignoring me for weeks)"
"The biggest reason this whole thing was so stupid is that she had just been complaining to me 2 week prior about how their cat had recently been peeing on their fresh laundry and they didn't know why. And that she would go to grab something and discover it smelled like pee."
"It never occurred to her that someone else's cat could randomly pee on something and they might not notice it right away. She just decided that I knew my kids stuff smelled like cat pee and just didn't care. Despite the fact that she had been in my house many, many times and nothing had ever smelled like cat pee. it was all just bizarre."
– BranWafr
Obscure Opinions People Are Fully Committing To | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
We all have a set of beliefs about even the smallest of topics. Like sandwiches should have structural integrity. That's something we can all agree on, right...A Bad Judgement
"he traded us in for what he thought were cooler friends."
"we saw them bullying him not long after. Serves him right. Im f'king cool."
– graeuk
Not Into Him
"I've lost friends for various reasons usually because I had issues and pissed a lot of people off. One however I have no idea. We got on great we always hung out and then one night he came round to talk about his friends upcoming surgery since I'd had the same procedure and never heard from him again."
"I tried to message multiple times over the next few years and now reply and this is considering he used to get upset if I didn't reply in a certain time. Personally I think he was gay and was in to me, which is nice but sorry you're a good friend and I'll support you but no."
"After I got with my ex girlfriend who he had worked with he wouldn't even read my messages. Still miss him. If I was gay I'd happily be with him."
– SnooCapers9313
These friendships were just asking to be severed.
Antagonistic Tendencies
"He was incapable of holding a conversation that wasn't about transformers or warhammer. He'd pick fights with my other friends. He would complain nobody would play games with him, but he'd bully other people about their setups."
"He also has some really hardcore misogynistic tendencies. Women are simply objects to him, and his obsession with porn is f'king creepy."
– Cyber-Cafe
True Colors
"My parents wanted to leave a church because the pastor had some problems and the new church leaders were teaching some weird sh*t. So when we left 90% of my friends parents cut all contact with us even though they had known me from birth."
"It was a really sh**ty thing for them to do. I kept my best friend though. And my parents were able to keep 3 of their closer friends. It really showed them who their real friends were."
– Moonacid-likes-bulbs
The Confidante
"I grew up in really rough circumstances. I think my hs friends clicked that something wasnt right at home but I never talked about it. My 'best friend' kept encouraging me to speak to her so she could be there for me as she felt it was important to get things off my chest."
"Anyway one day I finally did. Only gave her about half of the information but it felt good to trust in someone. Next day at school I walk into what I thought was my first class to find no students, just a group of my teachers and my 'friend.' She had told a bunch of teachers and they ambushed me in that classroom with the 'school counsellor' (the 90s kid version of a counsellor so it was not a fun experience)"
"Afterwards my 'friend' asked me never to speak of my life again. She said my life was 'too negative' so she didn't want to be around me anymore. Cool beans'"
– LilPeaHen
Conflict Of Interest
"Apparently my not wanting children and taking two semesters off university instead of one to work meant we didn't have the same path in life. Folks, he was dating a gal very seriously at the time, and we had a sibling like relationship. I can't imagine how my reproductive choices were relevant."
"Needless to say, the fact that someone I loved as a brother ended our friendship out of the blue for such strange reasons broke my heart. While I realize now that he clearly wasn't much of a friend, to this day I still wonder why he really ended the friendship, because normal people don't end friendships for that reason."
– occultatum-nomen
A Bad Exit
"I had a friend who got drunk, had a fight with her drunk BF and they left the bar drunk, BF driving, still arguing."
"The car was going 75 mph when she thought it was a good idea to open the door and step out of the car."
The Anti-Vaxxer
"I ended a 20 year friendship with my best friend cause he refused to get vaccinated and I'm at higher risk. He had high risk relatives and I couldn't understand why not, so I bluntly told him how I felt, he got mad and cussed me out and I haven't talked to him in months."
– Philcollinsforehead
To my knowledge, I don't think I ever "lost" a friend due to disrespect or having a bad fallout.
But, like, most people, I have had friends who have become distant. The main reason, in my case, is because the people with whom I often used to get into plenty of mischief have become parents.
Suddenly, babies became the priority, and I found myself no longer having anything in common with my parent friends.
We'll still keep in touch, of course, although not as often.
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Do we even have a clue that they're the "one" that got away? How long until it sinks in? And how do we not know there isn't another "one" coming behind them? I have no answers. Just asking...
The Draft
Episode 1 Omg GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy"The girl who summoned up the nerve to ask me out towards the beginning of high school. I was so humiliated by the life my family was living that I stalled until she gave up."
"Betsy, if by some stroke of dumb luck you're reading this... I'm so sorry. It was 25-27 years ago, but I still hate myself for that. You were beautiful, intelligent, a good person, and if I had anything resembling a stable, presentable home I would've said yes in a heartbeat... I had a crush on you since 7th-grade 'intro to drafting.'
I Love Her
"Weird, I was just confiding in my mom about this last night. I'm late but for catharsis's sake I'm going to post. My first girlfriend is a classic case of you don't know what you have until it's gone. She's the complete package. Beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, and so kind. We started dating when I was 17 and broke up when I was 21."
"For reference I'm 30 now. I was an idiot. I wanted to play the field. I wanted to party and hook up with college girls. It was fun at first but after a while I felt this gnawing hole in my heart. The feeling of doubt crept up slowly and still, a decade later my chest feels tight thinking about it."
"I didn't realize until my later serious relationships that getting along with your SO's family is so important. Her mom and step dad genuinely treated me like a part of their family. It's not a stretch to say I literally grew up with these people. I spent some of my most formative years with them. Birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases, you name it. They celebrated me and my accomplishments. They genuinely cared about me. Just amazing, salt of the earth, lovely people."
"Her birthday was in March and I sent her a text and we ended up talking for a bit. She's happily married and stable with a daughter and a second on the way. I'm genuinely so happy for her. She deserves happiness. I just wish I was a part of that. Sitting at work 10 years later I'm tearing up. I numbed myself out to it for years, it's so strange to me that I've been so stuck on her lately. Is this normal?"
- direct07
15 Years Later
"My very first real love. I was a teenager and I didn't really know how to be comfortable in myself or with myself. I played silly teen girl games and lost him even as a friend. Now 15 years later I still think about R from time to time. I genuinely hope he's happy in his life."
"Edit: Wow this blew up while I was sleeping. Thanks for all the sweet words and to everyone with their "one" congratulations! I suppose I hadn't looked him up on social media because I'm scared, scared he won't respond, scared he will respond, scared he'll think I'm a stalker. I'm in a happy relationship now, but what if... Etc etc etc. But I'll give it a Google."
Missed You Much
rhythm nation dance GIF by Janet JacksonGiphyA girl I dated in high school. Went on a date one time she took me out parking and I was too stupid to realize it.
"She always talked about moving away as soon as she got finished with high school. I always thought I would stay in a little town the rest of my life. Turns out I was the one who left and move to another state. Later I heard that she had told someone that I knew that she thought that we would be married at some point. Missed it by that much."
Ok... I've been a bit blind to the light. People can be cruel, but also highly creative. Why not just lead with the truth? It'll always hurt more after lies.
Chuck E.
Chuck E Cheese Wink GIFGiphy"Ah the rare AskReddit question I can answer."
"I met a wonderful woman circa 2013-2015. We worked at what I can best describe as an upscaled Chuck E Cheese. Or ghetto Six Flags. Your choice."
"We hit it off instantly, though at the time I was rather romantically inept. Eventually, she says she's leaving to join the Air Force. I tell her I'll miss her, and wished her well. The thought of asking for her number so we could stay in contact didn't even cross my mind."
"Cue the next day, I stop for lunch on my way to work, and as I'm walking to my car I hear my name being called. I turn around, and it's her, running toward me. Universe giving me a second chance, right? Wrong. My dumb butt still didn't ask for her number. She looked a little upset, and I still think about her often. Desiree, I hope you're doing well."
The Getaway...
"He was my first and last love. I was 16 and he was 18 when we met. We bounced around like idiots, on again off again, finally got together mid 20s. We both fell into bad habits - drugs and alcohol, more booze for me, more drugs for him. We had some bad things happen that were pretty detrimental to staying sober. We would split, reconcile, get sober, fall off the wagon, split, etc... repeat as necessary. We realized we were very bad for each other unless we could BOTH just get sober for ourselves, and split."
"Ten years later, I was sober for 7 years (still am, going on 18 years end of this month, actually! Woo, go me!) and he was beginning to come back, sober about a year. He contacted me, we met, talked about trying again. He said that once he had been totally clean for a year, we'd do it. That whole "Don't make any changes for a year" thing. I would visit him, tho, things were good."
"He woke up one morning feeling bad, thought he had the flu. (This was pre-now) I stayed around because he was sick, but neither of us thought he was drastically bad, just the flu, right? He got worse and worse, finally we called an ambulance because he got up from a nap and couldn't breathe. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Aortic dissection."
"He got away, but someday I'll see him again. I never stopped loving him, and him me. We just weren't good for each other."
Ce la vie...
"My most serious Ex."
"Don't think I truly understood love until I met her. Loved her more than I ever thought I could love anything. It eventually ended when she told me that, through no fault of my own, she had fallen out of love with me. That was 2 years ago, still hurts to think/talk about."
"Ce la vie..."
The Avoid...
"I'm in the middle of trying to avoid that right now actually."
"It's not worth the heartache trust me. I fought to stay in a relationship for an entire year. If I would've just let her go the first time she wanted there would've been a lot less pain. We would've left on good terms. I would've lost a lot less sleep. Rip the band-aid off because once the band-aid starts peeling it's inevitable it'll fall off with time."
Kim Tate Eye Roll GIF by Emmerdale"My ex and I broke up over 3 years ago. Mutual breakup through a lack of communication on both ends I feel."
"Thought I was over that hill until this week she messaged just to say hey and ask an innocent question. We text for the best part of the day and it's brought up a lot of old feeling. Feeling pretty bitter sweet right now."
The Breaks...
"I watched him get married to someone, then someone else after that and have about 10 kids. I live alone with my dog and am still single. Thems is indeed the breaks."
The Pusher
"Was with someone who was afraid to commit because of their past relationship. She just wanted sex. I wanted a real relationship. She ended up pushing me away. I stopped contact. Maybe I should have kept contact, but from what I've heard I dodged a bullet. Still think about her everyday. It's funny how such a relatively short relationship can have such a lasting impact."
It was HER!
"The first and only woman I truly ever loved. I was so broken at that time and f'd up royally. I've seen her one time since. Everything flooded back like it was yesterday. All I can hope is that someone else makes me feel the same way someday."
Wrong Choice
Dog Gif GIFGiphy"Ex boyfriend told me 'its me or the dog'. I knew I didn't have the money to be on my own and take care of the dog. Thought maybe I could make it work with him so gave the dog up."
"...should've tried to keep the dog."
Paths
"Me. Other versions of my life. I can point to specific moments where I made a clear binary choice that I know would have sent me down a different path. Conscious choices. I often wonder who I would have been if I had chosen differently."
"For example, in the spirit of this question, a boy who I had been massively obsessed with for a long time called me one evening about 25 years ago. He and I had had a falling out two years previously and I had to get over it. I had developed a new crush on someone else in the subsequent two years. I was getting ready to go out to meet newer obsession and didn't answer the phone on time."
"I heard his voice over the answering machine, and stood there, knowing if I picked up the phone I was going to meet him where ever and whenever he wanted and that would be it for the newer relationship. I did not pick it up. I did not call him back. I am married to second guy, happily. I like my choice. I just know I could have walked down a very different road."
"Anyway, there are a handful of specific moments I can point to like this. Who would I be? The trousers of time."
- 2beagles
Not a Person
"We were looking to buy our first house, found one that looked PERFECT. It was on the market for a price that was a little out of our range and higher than the houses around it. Our agent was a friend and told us to put an offer in anyway, you never know. The guy never responded, and our agent discovered she actually knew the homeowner's agent. The homeowner was a huge rude moron and in all kinds of debt he was hoping to get out of by way overcharging for the house, and it turned out our offer was almost exactly what the house had been appraised for."
"But ehh, nothing we could do. We settled for another house. Out of curiosity, I'd check back in on the dream house every few months, and watched the price drop and drop, bit by bit. Eventually it sold for LESS than what we'd offered. Still kind of salty about it."
The Cheesy
"Myself. Cheesy, but I always find myself wishing I didn't settle down so young. Sometimes I wish I would have waited until I understood what I truly wanted in a relationship before I committed and had children. I've been with the same person since I was sixteen and that person doesn't have the qualities I am now interested in, but I still love them and life is complicated."
Just Gone
See U GIF by swerkGiphy"The only girl I ever really loved. About 9 months ago. One day, we were happy, and everything's perfect. The next day, it all fell apart."
"There was no argument. No disagreement. No warnings. She just left. I'll admit it, she has her reasons, and I don't blame her for any of it. Still hurts like it happened yesterday. I'm not sure I'll ever get over her, but I have come to accept it. I question if I'll ever be able to face her again without that depression creeping its way back into my head."
More or Less
"This is going to sound really depressing, but you have to let someone get close before they can be the one who got away. I have a hard time letting that happen, so I can't really point to any one relationship as the one who got away. As for the relationships I have had, I never really pined for any of them after it ended. Most of them are married and happy now, so I can't help but be happy for them."
"It sucks, but there's no hard feelings. At least not towards them. There's plenty towards myself, but that's more or less how it goes for me in general."
Hey Doc
"Dr Chip: You were in medical school and I just turned 21 -- we had an amazing summer and then for what-ever reason, my stupidity got the best of me and I broke it off."
"I met you decades later by chance. You are a successful Doctor, and have an amazing husband; who all your friends called him my twin in almost every way. *sigh* What might have been."
The Beauty
crazy eyes model GIFGiphy"The girl I dated in senior year. She was the one who asked me out, we dated for a few months, but then I started meeting her friends and they were some of the people I didn't like in high school. I ended things because who you chose to be around says a lot about you. She ditched those friends because they were friends in name only, and moved out to the west coast to become a model."
Love is a mess. Why even bother trying if you can't be true? It's not hard to just spell out the situation. And if you're the one needing to put together the words... look closer. The dialogue shouldn't be difficult.
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In Bed
doctor who blonde woman GIFGiphyOne of my colleagues in grad school didn't finish his dissertation. Our advisor moved universities and told him he wasn't invited.
My friend had a nervous breakdown from which he never recovered. His wife divorced him because he spent all day catatonic in bed for months, and they had two young children to take care of.
Remind me Later
I've only heard of one or two people who didn't pass in the 6 or so years I was in grad school. They just worked on whatever their committee said to expand on and re-did their defense at a later date. Your advisor really shouldn't let you get to the point where you're defending and there's a chance you won't pass. It's more common that people will Masters out or go ABD, but not outright fail.
20 Years Later....
In the early 1970s, my father was an Ed.D candidate, and his thesis was on the topic of self-pacing computerized instruction (at the high school level). He taught himself the Basic programming language and everything, and was quite confident of success.
His thesis was summarily rejected because "there will NEVER be computers in the classroom" other than postsecondary computer science curriculums.
20 years later computers were everywhere in our schools, and you could go to any big box store and buy educational software similar to what my father had envisioned.
The Thief
late night lol GIF by The Rundown with Robin ThedeGiphyWhile in graduate school, a professor at my university came up with an idea to write his thesis on. He told his advisor, who basically laughed him out of the room and told him it was a ridiculous idea. A year later, he learned that his advisor had stolen his idea and written a paper on it to be published in a major scientific journal. The student (my current professor) then left the program in disgust and just finished with a master's instead. Pretty good physics professor though.
Eventually....
I knew a PhD student in Math who discovered halfway through her doctorate that the problem she was working on to get her PhD had just been solved by someone else. She was able to work with her advisor to find a way to make the work she applied to that problem be applicable to a similar one. She eventually earned her PhD.
dead to rights....
I have a friend who is a tenured professor at a major university. He submitted a proposal to a funding agency. He later discovered that the program manager had not only stolen his idea, but even reused substantial amounts of text from his proposal in a publication. It turned out that the same guy was in the process of being hired by my friend's university for a leadership role.
Even though he had the guy dead to rights, and my friend's position was fairly secure, the politics of the situation made him too fearful to mention it to anyone.
I can only imagine what might happen to a mere student who accused a professor of this kind of misconduct. The sad truth is, even if the student had unimpeachable evidence, I think a lot of people would choose to obstruct and bury it and destroy the student's life rather than burn a colleague.
Take 2....
We have a family friend who was in a PhD program that basically got disbanded. Like his advisor and several other faculty members got fired. I believe they ended up giving him two master's degrees, Which is nothing to sneeze at but he did the work for a PhD.
Not Passable....
New York Yankees Reaction GIF by MLBGiphyFrom my experience in grad school, your committee is there every step along the way.
You cant even start until you have an approved thesis prospectus. In this structure, you know if you're ready to defend or not. A member of my cohort was told prior to her thesis defense that she wouldn't pass, so they rescheduled for later.
Frozen...
It's exceedingly rare to outright fail a defense as others have mentioned. One person in my department failed their final defense because they froze up and couldn't even answer the easiest questions from their committee. Most people I know of who didn't complete their defense either left voluntarily with master's degrees for various reasons or failed out for silly, preventable reasons like plagiarism or not turning in their written qualifying exams on time.
Really Fool?
new girl facepalm GIF by HULUGiphyHad a Chinese doctoral student in the program I worked for, who was intentionally putting off and screwing up his thesis process. He only had a student visa, and didn't want to go back to China.
Don't be Salty
I know a guy that eventually got his PhD, but it took extra work and encouragement. Poor guy. His adviser left for another university and forbid him from publishing like 2/3 of his work/data. He failed by trying to honor the former adviser's wishes; he was so depressed and going to just accept it. I was freaking livid, and so was everyone else with a graduate degree that heard about it. In the end he presented all his work, got his PhD, and left for a postdoc. His former adviser was told to pound sand. I'm still a little salty.
"all but defense"
OP, since you're an undergrad perhaps this is new: no competent advisor will let a student defend without meeting requirements. It would be a huge embarrassment for the advisor and committee to fail a candidate at the defense, because it implies they didn't do their supervisory job prior to the defense. Good advisors are invested in helping people in their group succeed.
Nevertheless, not everyone who starts the program will finish. People can drop out for every imaginable reason. From failing to meet the requirements for a PhD (e.g., not producing original work of substantial impact), to losing interest in the topic, medical problems, having problems with their advisor, getting an industry job, deciding to move...
For completeness: the impact of the original research and publications generated during the PhD are the key to a solid defense. Sometimes people put "all but defense" in their resume. This means they took classes and did not defend. But the point of a doctorate is not to take classes, but rather to contribute to the state of the art.
Cheers
Shake Cocktail GIF by Team CocoGiphyI went to post grad school with a few who couldn't or who timed out. They are known as all but dissertation or ABD. They typically find work relating to their masters degree... or they bartend. Those are literally the top two options I've witnessed!
Years later...
The thesis directly opposed the main premise of the field at the time, the board had a political stake in preserving the status quo. Went to another school and they immediately were just like, yep, here's your PhD. Years later, the original school's board was found to be taking oil money on the side.
Just Fail
Failing the defence (or not being allowed to defend) happens, but rarely. What is far more common is failing the comprehensive exams that most PhD programs require. Comps usually happen before or around the time of proposal approval. They consist (for me at least) a reading list of c.260 books that you have to complete three written exams on and two oral exams. It's not uncommon to fail them and not be allowed to continue.
Upon Review....
Not me, but my friend at her quals. She walked in, and the committee said, "We've reviewed your work, and we can tell that you won't pass this. Therefore, we're not going to give it to you so that you don't have it on your records that you failed. Withdraw from the program."
I was crushed, and it wasn't even me.
Predictable...
Giving a serious answer here...
If your dissertation advisor is any good whatsoever, they will tell you when you are ready to defend and not allow you to defend until that point. For this reason, it is rare that a doctoral candidate ever fails to defend. The only times I have heard of it happening are when a student insists on defending even though their advisor says they are not ready, with predictable results.
I Made It...
Idk GIF by VidConGiphyI have always been a horrible procrastinator and did not have the demeanor to complete a PhD. Did great in the coursework first two years then failed out after the third year. Now I make a lot of money as a quant.
Give me my backpack...
There was a guy in my program before I started (early 2000's) that had ALL of his data on one flash drive. He lost it when his backpack was stolen. Rumour had it he almost committed suicide after loosing like 3 years of work. He never finished and I think he went into a trade. Probably makes more money this way so good on him.
In the Netherlands...
My grandfather did not have to defend his thesis because he did not have to make one. In the Netherlands one could do doctoral by defending a number of assertions/propositions in front of the professors. So a real oral exam. He studied law, so he had to make a list of about 60 topics in different fields of law (criminal, civil, bankruptcy, merchant, sea etc.) like e.g. 'victims of violence have enough/not enough ways of getting compensation' and was questioned in depth about those. Apparently he did well, got the doctorate, and 25 years later Leiden University gave him a special diploma commemorating his doctorate.
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