The Fastest Ways People Have Seen Someone Ruin Their Reputation
Reddit user nastrohan asked: 'What’s the best example of “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it” that you know of?'
Just like building trust, it takes a long time to build an impressive reputation, but it can take only one big mistake to ruin it forever.
Some people still find themselves impressed by how quickly their perception of someone could change, though.
Redditor nastrohan asked:
"What's the best example of, 'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it' that you know of?"
Foot Immediately in Mouth
"At my old company, we produced consumer goods and licensed lots of high-end pop culture brands."
"On a call with a team representing a very popular and iconic space movie franchise owned by The Mouse, one of our senior partners was sitting through a call on rights or sales numbers or whatever with like 20 people."
"He thought he was on mute and said something to the effect of, 'How much longer do we have to listen to this obese idi*t jerk himself off, talking about his bulls**t anyhow!?!'"
"The call was abruptly ended. All follow-ups were ignored. Maybe a week or two later, we got a letter terminating all current and developing licensing deals for cause citing contract violations, and the company was effectively quietly banned from ever doing business with any brand under that Massive Mouse Umbrella."
"That dude lost them hundreds of millions in future business in about 15 seconds. When you first start, you’re told never to suggest pitching anything owned by The Mouse and then get told the story."
"The company was the worst job and work culture I've ever had. I'm amazed it stays in business."
- GrayBox1313
Free, Terrible Advertising
"This reminds me of that guy who sold his old company truck to a used car dealer and ended up seeing it in the news with some terrorists in the Middle East driving it. Mounted guns and everything on that thing with his business and his name painted on the side. Great advertising."
"He was forced to close shop after because of the bad rep. It's sad when you think about it since he didn't deserve it, but it's a great example."
- TheBFG420
Leading a Double Life
"My father."
"I grew up believing he was an honest, hardworking, and loyal man."
"While he was absolutely a hard-working man, finding out when I was 21 that he had another house, woman, and child 20 minutes down the street that he went to on his frequent 'business trips' dispelled the notion that he was honest and loyal..."
- ThirstyWeirwoodRootz
The Terrible Insinuation
"A large government organization I was working for had another related organization added to its portfolio, so as many people as possible from both organizations got together in the foyer of the building (3000 people maybe) as the boss talked about the synergies of the two groups, etc."
"There were national news cameras and s**t, it’s a big deal politically here."
"Then the camera panned to the crowd and caught a guy on one of the walkways on the third floor making the machine gun fingers and pretending to shoot thousands of government workers below..."
"Just call him FORMER middle management..."
- whoodzzz
Going Several Steps Too Far
"I used to work for a humanitarian aid non-profit. My old boss was the sweetest, most wholesome, super Christian woman I had ever met."
"A year after I left that job, I read an article about how she kidnapped two kids from an event she worked on because she thought the father was a Satanist or something (he was an atheist)."
"I would've never pegged her as 'that kind of Christian.'"
- AStrangerSaysHi
A Snapchat Affair
"A local couple, the husband was a city alderman/real estate agent and his father was a former mayor so their surname and family were very well-known."
"His wife was a beloved teacher and cheer coach/sponsor at the high school. Apparently, she was trying to snap someone explicit pics on Snapchat and accidentally sent them to everyone on her snap including students, friends, family, fellow church members, etc."
"She was fired and her husband divorced her because he wasn’t on Snapchat and wasn’t the intended recipient of her spicy pics."
- WthAmIEvenDoing
A Questionable Business Model
"My Mom ran a daycare for almost 20+ years. It was her own business that she build up. Not only did I attend it, it was my first real job. And I fell in love with childcare because of it."
"We were very accommodating, we weren’t too strict. Our goal wasn’t to get a three-year-old to read at a fourth-grade level. But to give parents what they needed, making sure the kids were safe and well cared for. Helping out along the way with potty training and weaning and such. We had such a long waitlist. But still found a way to get the children who really needed it care."
"My mother sold it to a larger chain daycare when she retired. They made a bunch of changes, made a bunch of promises that kids will be reading, potty trained by two to three years old, perfect little angels."
"Every child is different. You know why every child was potty trained by age three? Because if they weren’t, they were kicked out."
"No comfort items at nap time. Because they were making little adults instead of babies."
"It took about six months and the waitlist was down to zero. They were offering incentives to sign your child up. They could not bring in or keep workers. I think it downsized but eventually closed."
- lightteenagerbaby
Not On Mute
"We had a guy on a super big important call where my bosses, bosses, boss was speaking and some guy comes off mute in front of 300 people and says, '...Don't get why we gotta be on these stupid fu**king calls. They're all just talking out of their a**es anyway. They're just here to say OhHhHH look...' and then it cut off."
"A way higher-up guy that was speaking said, 'Derrian! (Guy that was talking trash), finish that sentence for us. What have you got to say?'"
"There was silence."
"Then, 'Come on, Derrian. Don't be shy.'"
"There was more silence."
"Then he said, 'Okay, moving on.'"
- 8LeggedSquirrel
The Rumor Mill
"Me. I worked at the same company for ten years and had an excellent reputation. Some wild stuff went down and all the managers except for me had to be replaced."
"My reputation was fine at that point. Then we hired this crazy guy who was lying and saying strange things a lot, then he was sexually inappropriate with a customer."
"I reported all of this to my boss. This crazy guy made up even bigger and more compelling lies… about me. They believed him."
"I didn’t do anything fireable, but they transferred me to a different location. I was told that I needed to 'shape up to save my job' despite ten years of maximum raises and promotions and glowing feedback."
"Two days later, the guy was fired by HR because a customer reported him for sexual harassment. Nobody said a word to me, no apology, nothing."
"I quit in January. F**k Office Depot!"
- Hatecookie
Inappropriate Comments
"I believe there was a cheap jewelry company back in the 80s in the UK whose whole schtick was that its stuff was just as good as the high-end stuff but just cheaper. They had a decent chunk of market share and were on their way to being the largest jewelry store in the UK."
"Then their CEO has a big meeting with I want to say the shareholders and one of them asks how they keep their stuff so cheap, to which the CEO jokingly remarked 'because our gems are all cheap junk' or something to that effect."
"That remark got out to the press out of context and it ruined the company within the year, I believe."
- Ralife55
Racist Rewards
"How about that lady who tweeted something racist right before a flight, and by the time it landed, she was canceled and fired from her executive job?"
"That took five seconds, not five minutes. It’s got to be a record."
- muffinman8urmom
It's amazing how quickly someone's life can change, especially when they've done something stupid.
Life is just fraught with the rumors.
The older you get the more you learn about how easily duped we all are.
Who comes up with some of this nonsense?
And why are we so gullible?
Maybe because we don't learn to Google until we're at least 6.
It is time to eradicate some of these silly lies about hazards and danger.
We are more secure than we want the other person next to us to know.
Redditor AirAmbitious530 wanted to know what certain parts of life we don't have to fret about. They asked:
"What things are said to be dangerous but are actually safe?"
I feel like this a lot of danger in the world. But that's just a given with living.
Sky High
Traveling On My Way GIF by NeighborlyNotary®Giphy"Flying is safer than riding in a car by a long shot, right?"
hostilecarrot
"The most dangerous part about flying is driving to/from the airport."
MadaraU
Chewy
"Swallowing gum."
Working-Spare-4799
"I suspect that myth about how long gum stays in your system came to be because of a misunderstanding. Probably someone laid out some fact like, 'It would take your body seven years to break down bubblegum.' Then some dumba** decided that meant it would stay inside you for seven years because he had never heard of pooping before."
carlweaver
In the Mist
"Gorillas. There are zero instances of a human ever being killed by a gorilla in the wild in all of history. They are peaceful herbivores. If you came across a gorilla in the wild just don't be a fool and respect its space. Don't look in its eyes, don't show your teeth, and just overall act submissive and non-threatening and you will be fine."
"Movies like Planet of the Apes and Congo really got people thinking gorillas are these rampaging beasts just waiting to tear you limb from limb. https://youtu.be/Ld8qkDKl89g"
Dates
"Eating food after the best before date."
Never_stop_caring
"My country has a 'Best Before' and a 'Use By' label. If it's marked Best Before it's going to be fine to eat after the date, it's probably just going to suck. Common 'best before' foods include canned foods, cereals, biscuits, sauces, chocolate, sugar, flour and frozen foods."
"Use by means you shouldn't consume it after that date. Common 'use by' foods include milk, sliced ham and shaved meats."
frogbertrocks
Yummy
Giphy"Eating seeds of watermelon/apples. Would take literal lbs of them to kill you."
No-Job-5915
Seeds? Seeds are suppose to be dangerous? Never heard that one. Not that I'm a seed eater.
MOOOOOoooooo....
Dairy Cow GIF by Milk MoovementGiphy"Sharks, they’re a lot safer than movies like Jaws make them seem."
Final-Blueberry5386
"Statically you're more likely to die by cow than a shark."
Empty-Neighborhood58
Crackle
"Cracking your knuckles - there's absolutely no link to arthritis, people just say that because they hate the sound."
poop-in-the-urinal
"I used to crack my knuckles when I’d get waxed. Just to take the sensation away and try and focus on something else. The lady that waxed me would always yell at me about how dangerous it is, maybe she just hated the sound too. But we’re even for the pain then haha."
coldsheep3
Inside the Squall
"I'm seriously wondering if 'taking a shower during a thunder storm' should be on this list. I've always heard it was dangerous, but I've never in my life heard of anyone being harmed by it."
heelspider
"I don't know about showering but back when we still had corded phones my aunt was talking to someone when lightning hit the phone line. She had burns on her ear and hand and her hair caught fire. She was, of course very shaken but not seriously injured. She was the first person in the family to get a cell phone."
scooterboy1961
8 Legged Issues
"Tarantulas."
LittleRainghost
"I remember seeing a tarantula in the grass when I was a kid. I went in close to look at it, and it turned to me and reared up, fanning its legs out to look intimidating. Then it immediately fell on its back. Totally shattered the tough guy image."
Nut_buttsicle
From Above
cat skydiving GIFGiphy"Sky diving is a lot more safe than people think."
TrickBoom414
"Correct. It's been a long time since I looked at the numbers but IIRC the vast majority of skydiving deaths are experienced jumpers pushing the limits of their skill/equipment. Deaths among first time and students was incredibly low."
Meshuggahn
Life isn't as scary as you might think. You just have to have faith.
How can an entire race stay so gullible for so long?
There are lies that we are still being fed and swallowing to this day.
Myths have a long shelf life, even when proven false.
We need to start digging deeper and then settle with reality.
I guess childhood naivete really is hard to let go of.
Redditor GlamourzZ wanted to expose some long overdue truths. They asked:
"What’s a myth/pseudoscientific belief that has been debunked many times, but people still believe?"
Step on a crack. Break your mother's back. Lies. I know. I've tried. Kidding.
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis, no it won't!"
Cancer-Cinema
"I crack my fingers all the time and because I'm hyper mobile my knees crack every time I bend down more or less. But I love the feeling of it."
l52286
Fluid Scam
"Detox teas. Liver and kidneys do that for you."
BlacGirlMagik
"'Detox' is a scam warning word to me with 'cleanse' right behind it. I might be willing to believe what I'm being told about a product but the moment they use those words they've lost all credibility. The funniest experience I ever had with a product like that was a coworker telling me about this amazing drink that cleaned your intestines of waste that somehow got stuck and built up."
"The 'proof' that it worked was these long nasty looking things they crapped out after drinking this supposed miracle cure which they of course took pictures of to show everybody. I looked into it a bit and found that the primary ingredient they all used was the same as is used in gelatin. People were essentially making jello molds out of their colon and then showing off the results."
Tangent_
Greens
"Spinach has a ton of iron compared to other vegetables. The scientist missed a decimal place and he said it has 10 times as much as it really does. That’s why Popeye loves his spinach. It actually has the same amount of iron as every other green leafy vegetable."
Nettius2
On the tongue
masterchef junior taste GIF by HULUGiphy"'Taste zones.' All taste buds are all over your tongue; there is no such thing as a 'sweet zone,' a 'sour zone,' etc."
berael
Thank goodness that knuckle one is a lie. I can't stop myself.
LIES!
bonnie gordon GIF by AlphaGiphy"-- Caffeine stunts your growth."
"-- Pretty much any 'food pyramid' promoted by the western world prior to ~1998."
sskoog
“evidence”
"Graphology. That you can determine traits about a person by their handwriting. I did an entire research paper on it. Plenty of 'evidence' in the common sensational news, but not a single damn article or shred of evidence from the academic research area, excepting 'yeah no we tried it and didn’t find any correlations.'"
Commander_Meh
Columbus Who?
"Europeans knew the world to be round in Columbus' time. Columbus just calculated the circumference very incorrectly and is lucky there was a whole other continent to run into before he and his men ran out of supplies. To be abundantly clear, the Ancient Greeks figured it out."
"So did the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Persians, and probably the Maya and many many others. My point is that 'proving the Earth wasn't flat' is a myth. Anyone thinking the Earth was flat had nothing to do with Columbus' bid to find a westward passage to East Asia. It is a myth that people thought the world was flat in his time."
Lord0fHats
Doggie Colors
"So my ex is a vet. Dogs can actually view pretty much all of the visible light spectrum from red to blue. They just don't see colour as vividly as humans do, so they don't distinguish very well between different shades. Blue and Violet they can just make out. Indigo and violet are impossible for them to distinguish."
"See also: the difference between reds and pinks and the innumerable shades of blue, green and blue-green."
Apocryph761
Fly High
Honey Bee Loop GIF by Kev LaveryGiphy"The thing with the bumblebee technically not being able to fly because of aerodynamics. Used as a kind of motivational tale about overcoming obstacles."
"Turns out, modeling a bumblebee as a kind of plane is a bad idea, you know with the moving wings and stuff. If you think of a bumblebee as similar to a helicopter then all of a sudden the aerodynamic calculations work out and the bumblebee can fly."
Fridge_ov_doom
Blue
"Your blood is blue. C'mon people, you're saying blood turns red when exposed to oxygen, but neglect the main fact. Hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body's organs and tissues and transports carbon dioxide from your organs and tissues back to your lungs."
wolfpack123343
Still good for you...
“'Tomatoes aren’t vegetables, they’re fruit.'"
"They’re both. They’re botanically fruit, but vegetable is not a botanical category, it’s a culinary one."
MarvelousOxman
"I just don't get why we single out tomatoes. Beans, peppers, squash, corn, and plenty of others are technically fruits, but for some reason, 'a tomato is actually a fruit' is the fun fact we teach to kids."
FutureBlackmail
Shave It
"That hair grows back darker and thicker if you shave it. Only hormones change hair consistency and color. Laser and electrolysis can do the thinning and removal. Every argument for this myth is a misconception and easily proved otherwise by those who actually know about hair and how it works."
supagirl277
Liquid
Water Douse GIFGiphy"That water has memory and feelings.. my mom believes that..."
dadika08
"If you Google 'water memory' a bunch of 'resources' will show up explaining this."
meetmyfriendme
I Debunk It
"Does the lack of scientific evidence that could prove efficacy count as debunking? If so I could point to astrology. Also, fun fact, the Reagan white house had an official astrologer that gave advice occasionally on government policies."
etherend
"Not really 'official,' but she did have way more influence on things (particularly scheduling) than many actual White House aides."
"Nancy Reagan really believed in her, so staff had to take her advice and make it seem like it came from the president's advisors, so the public wasn't aware of the astrologer's influence. Pretty weird situation altogether. Her name was Joan Quigley if you're interested in reading more about it."
Ragnarok2kx
Family Structures
"The Alpha Wolf. The guy who initially published this stuff put his entire life into disproving himself, but the myth is out here and a lot of people ate it up. From personal experience there's a lot of overlap with the bootstrap-believers."
"Wolf packs in nature are most often family structures and they're very social creatures. Here's a source: https://sciencenorway.no/ulv/wolf-packs-dont-actually-have-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-the-idea-is-based-on-a-misunderstanding/1850514"
raxeira-etterath
Man's Worst Friend
"That dogs are a good judge of character. Hitler had dogs that loved him."
BlueRFR3100
"I mean he was probably lovely to his dogs, it was every other human in existence he was an **shole towards Dogs won't care that you are a monster to millions of other human beings, as long as you treat them right - dog's can't read, or get onto twitter, so cannot form opinions of their owners based on other people."
ThatOne749
Did he give up?
"Homeotherapy. It's based on one quack theory that toxins that cause symptoms similar to symptoms from an illness, will cure you of that illness! That's not how it works. The guy who originated the theory went on to kill people with this nonsense. Did he give up? No, he was a trier."
"So he amended his theory to; a dilution of the toxin that is so dilute none of the toxin remains will cure you. Because it gets more effective the less there is! If they dilute it so much that there's no active ingredient left, they claim that the water or sugar 'remembers' the effect of the active ingredient. But only if you slap each dilution!"
"This bull is killing people today. They are forgoing effective modern medicine, because they are told sugar pills and water or alcohol drops will save them."
n3m0sum
Cheers Anyway...
Red Wine GIFGiphy"That drinking red wine is healthy. Debunked a decade ago: people who drink wine eat better than people who drink beer. Hence the first group will have a slightly better health, but that's not due to the wine. Alcohol is a poison. And I love that poison..."
Apotak
Now the truth shall set us free. Spread the good words.
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People Share The Popular Misconceptions People Have About Their Home Country
Every country is unique in their traditions, their customs, and the way people live their lives. It makes traveling so desired by so many people.
However, with the spread of misinformation and the consumption of media that decides to simplify whole cultures, people think wrong things about an entire culture worth of people.
They might think a country acts a certain way, or sounds a certain way, or likes to look for elves in the mountains.
Wait, what?
Reddit user, SodaWithoutSparkles, wanted to know what people get wrong about where you live when they asked:
"What popular beliefs about your country just isn't true?"
There are the classics, the ones right at the top of people's minds when they think of another country, or another continent, worth of people. Wrong, yes, but popular, and maybe that's the problem.
Such A Small View Of A Large Continent
"Kenyans are all long-distance runners, live in huts, speak no English, and have pet wild animals. Ugh."
"So here goes: The long-distance guys are mainly from one community/ tribe called the Kalenjin that's about 15% of the population. Next, Kenya is still a developing nation with a lot of poverty, but there's a lot of modern architecture. Next, the country is rated 18 out of 100 on the English Proficiency Index. And lastly: you can apply for a special (and rarely-granted) permit for your bobcat named Babou, but keeping wildlife is not at all common. And the Kenya Wildlife Service will conduct regular visits to ensure Babou isn't being kept in Meowschwitz-like conditions."
movie_favorit
"People in the west have really outdated views on Africa. We tend to see the whole continent as one blob, and assume everyone's poor or living in a shack."
"Think that's partly due to all the charity videos at christmas. If you see Africans, they're often in a charity ad because some war torn region is suffering from food shortages or a lack of clean drinking water. Meanwhile, as you know, plenty of African countries are poor but wealth discrepancies are large so there are plenty of living relatively affluent lives in modern cities. I assume living in Nairobi wouldn't be that different to living in many a western city, if you can afford that lifestyle."
"Most of reddit is too poor to live comfortably in Kinshasa for example, even if the DRC's a genuinely poor country. And if you explain Ethiopia was Christian centuries before eastern Europe, our brains shut down."
"We're entirely clueless. Sorry about that."
MargarineAndLube
We'll Punch You, Then Apologize, Then Punch You Again
"We're polite"
Homirice
"A fellow Canadian"
bubalub
"We are polite. The misconception is that nice and polite mean the same thing."
Quite_Bitter_Being
They Also Aren't All Plumbers Who Fight Dragon Kings
"No Italian aren't all short, black haired, fat, mobsters that wear wine-stained tank tops and coppolas. We are loud tho"
fawovi7739
"I spent six months in Italy as an au pair, and I don’t think I met a single person I could have mistaken for a mobster. Everyone was very loud and smoked a lot though. I loved every second of it."
MiniatureAppendix
"Jesus, we are so loud. I'm an Italian living with n Germany. We are sooooo loud. Every-single-one. Incredible."
Lelo1293
Keep Things The Way They Are
"No we don't speak Spanish, yes we'll probably understand you when you speak Spanish to us but we'll probably think you're an a--hole. No we don't want to join up with Spain, we like our distance."
throwawaygoodcoffee
"You're from Portugal?"
CharlesChrist
'Ello Guv'na!
"People think British people are either stiff Upper lip public schoolboys or cockney brick layers/football hooligans. There's a whole world of people in between! Some of us don't even like football. One of my friends DOESNT EVEN DRINK TEA! Not sure why she's my friend to be honest."
movie_favorit
It's not just people misunderstand, but the animals of the region. You might think one thing about the creatures of a region only to find out that it's just not true at all.
So Common A Misconception You Have A Retort Ready To Go
"Welsh people shag sheep. Temptation is there but the static shock wouldn't be worth it."
movie_stearm
"I'm English but live in Powys. I get told this joke when other English people find out I live in Wales."
"The best retort I've heard from a Welshman is 'Yep. We shag them and we then sell them to the English to eat...'"
WestEssexEnclave
Let's Go A An Australian Bush Bash!
"We don’t all ride kangaroos to work fighting off giant spiders while keeping an eye out for drop bears."
"I work from home."
ElZoof
"There are a lot of kangaroos though. I feel like that is the one stereotype that tourists wouldn't feel ripped off at"
PissAnt5
"Why would we fight off giant spiders? I keep them as pets, they protect me from drop bears."
LaitueGonflable
Every country has myths, legends, or rumors themselves that spread about, gaining a legacy pushing them into lore. After all, how else do you explain the elves living in the mountains?
Think Of The Magic
"That some high percentage of us believe in elves."
Iplaymeinreallife
"I know about 25 Icelandic people and 2 of them seriously believe in elves and gnomes. To me, that's a pretty big percentage"
Pizzacanzone
"When there’s 5 people in your country and 2 of them believe in Elves, i don’t know, that’s a high percentage of people who believe in them"
CommunitRagnar
Credit His Origins Where They're From
"Dracula is often depicted as living in Transylvania. While he was imprisoned there for a while, he was actually the ruler of Wallachia (another historic Romanian province that neighbors Transylvania to the south). As for the rumor that we are vampires, I neither confirm nor deny this statement."
fawovi7739
"There was another similar question awhile back that said something to the effect of:"
"I don't know why people think Romania is full of vampires. I've lived here for 600 years and I've never met one."
differentiatedpans
At Least We're Nice Half The Year
"Iceland was not named as part of some conspiracy to keep folks away from a good thing. The name comes from the fact that early settlers arrived during summer and then suffered horrible losses of livestock and people once winter hit and icebergs were seen filling the fjords. It was more of a warning than anything, that this place sucked. Greenland on the other hand was probably named as such to make it sound more hospitable"
movie_online_2
Try to educate yourself before you go out traveling.
Educate yourself on how to find those hidden elves, that is!
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Many moons ago, when I was just a wee high school student, one of the girls in my class learned that she was pregnant and by that, I mean other people spread a rumor that she was pregnant.
Why did this happen? Apparently, she ticked off one of the other popular girls. As you can imagine, this made things rather awkward between her, her teachers, and her parents (who thankfully believed her about the rumor not being true).
After the ruckus died down, she had a good sense of humor about the whole thing, which I imagine influenced that popular girl's decision not to bully her anymore. Hopefully she can still laugh about this now, wherever she is.
And she isn't the only one to be the subject of a rumor, malicious or otherwise, as we were reminded by Redditor Cute-Chemistry-4766, who asked the online community,
"What's a crazy rumour you've heard about yourself?"
"I rarely spoke..."
"I rarely spoke in school and half of my year group thought I was mute.."
Android29
People always think this about the quiet kids!
"I used to carry my backpack..."
"I used to carry my backpack with me to the same bar every night after work. I did this probably 3-4 times a week for months. One night one of the other regulars came up to me and, with tears in her eyes, offered me a place to stay."
"...Except I had my own place. A pretty nice one. Right down the road."
"Apparently, it was going around town that I was homeless!"
Glass_Pace_2200
That's hilarious. You should have given her a tour of your apartment.
"A couple of those guys..."
"Rumors at work were constant. I was apparently sleeping with at least four different people, sometimes in the lifts at work as well. A couple of those guys were in relationships too at the time."
smallangryandpink
Why do people say things like this? Rumors like this can be especially damaging to people's careers. (Maybe that's the point?)
"That I was having..."
"That I was having a sexual relationship with a coworker, while planning a wedding with my fiance."
Trutown_FYC
Hopefully things weren't too awkward with your fiance! Rumors like these are terrible.
"I apparently died..."
"I apparently died in Iraq. After the rumor was proven to be false, I was flooded with friend requests on Facebook."
goat-of-mendes
Thankful you didn't actually die in Iraq. But wait, did you actually even go to Iraq?
"I was in the hospital..."
"That I killed myself. My ex best friend told people in school that and then my mother started getting condolences from people."
"I was in the hospital for a heart surgery at the time."
Nazetel
There are always people out there who will take a relatively simple, innocent situation and make it far more dramatic than it actually is.
"By the way..."
"A guy I worked with in California asked me out on a date because he'd heard I was gay. In reality, I just dress really well and have an impeccable sense of style."
By the way, we became besties after that, and I was even his wingman at gay bars on many occasions. We did not, however, have sex."
Anomie_Lad
This is the wholesome story we didn't know we needed. Glad there's a happy ending to this one–and that you're great friends!
"That I hooked up with a guy..."
"That I hooked up with a guy on a first/only date. He actually refused to take me home when I asked and made me feel really trapped and unsafe. Then he lied to all his friends at our small college."
quiet_feet
Glad you got away from this guy! He sounds like a total creep. You dodged a bullet.
"I learned that I was out..."
"I was out because I had to have surgery. I spent a week and a half recuperating at home. When I came back, I learned that I was out due to 'mental issues.' Some guy who I had never spoke to went around telling people this."
"I should have shown everyone the scar to prove that I had actually had surgery."
TheDeadGunslinger
Maybe you should have. The ultimate power move.
"Sounds pretty tame..."
"That it was my birthday."
"Sounds pretty tame but I walked into a room with sixty people and they all immediately started singing happy birthday to me. Nothing I could do but stand there, let them finish, and then sheepishly thank them and explain the mistake. Funny as hell, in hindsight."
Sabahl
This is hilariously awkward and I'm pretty certain your life is a sitcom.
Here's some simple advice, people: Don't spread rumors. Just don't gossip about anyone, because it might come back to bite you. Sure, some rumors are more innocent than others, but they're absolutely more trouble than they're worth.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
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