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People Describe Their 'The One That Got Away' Experiences

People Describe Their 'The One That Got Away' Experiences
Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

There is always that "one." There is always going to be that person.

That person who you will always remember. And when they are the one who you regret losing most... they are the ghost that will haunt you forever.

I have a few escapees. I'll never know how it would've turned out. But that is part of why I'm haunted. I need to discuss....

Redditoru/AssistantNo1733wanted to discuss all the times we've lost in love by asking:

Who's the one who got away?

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.'

- foxden_racing

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."

- lady_fapping_

Missed You Much

rhythm nation dance GIF by Janet JacksonGiphy

A 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."

- MarkkraM123321

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."

- Headbutt_ABullet

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."

- Ok_Stargazer_333

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..."

- CanYouSeeStars

The Avoid...

"I'm in the middle of trying to avoid that right now actually."

- SteeleHeart1

"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."

- reddinator5

Sweet...

Kim Tate Eye Roll GIF by EmmerdaleGiphy

Damn man why bring this up.

"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."

- Its_not_a

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."

- TheLegendOfLahey

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."

- hesitantmaneatingcat

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."

- Sebastian_reaper

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."

- BlabBehavior

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."

- EvilSeedlet

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."

- letsbeliars

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."

- otterpaws27

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."

- FarseerTaelen

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."

- KNoturUserName

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."

- xxcarlsonxx

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.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Things People Didn't Realize Were Expensive Until They Became An Adult

Reddit user ForeignReviews asked: 'What item did you not realize was expensive until you became an adult?'

I was very fortunate that my parents were able to pay all expensive not only through adolescence but even through college. However, they made it very clear that once I graduated, I was on my own.

I made every effort to make sure I could afford to live once I graduated. I made copies of all the recipes my parents got when they bought stuff for me, and started saving my own receipts, something I didn't do through high school. I calculated monthly expenses and created a budget for the future.

When I graduated, I had accounted for all the big expenses: take-out food, the expensive skin care essentials I needed to keep my acne at bay, and utilities (heat, AC, electricity).

What I didn't realize was that small expenses are not so small. Microwavable meals went up by $2. Gas, which was pretty steady while I was in college, seemed to shoot up daily. And things that don't seem expensive at first glance, such as toilet paper, become big expenses as they add up.

I'm not the only one who had these realizations. Redditors have too, and are eager to share what items they didn't realize were expensive until they became an adult.

It all started when Redditor ForeignReviews asked:

"What item did you not realize was expensive until you became an adult?"

Yummy, Yummy

"Food is both more expensive and goes bad quicker when you're an adult."

– BriSnyScienceGuy

"I know right! I honestly love grocery shopping, so when I started driving I would go grocery shopping when I had the car and so nowadays I do maybe half of the grocery shopping. But, it's just so expensive. I often look for deals and will buy generic/store brand on most items but, still."

"My biggest tip for "goes bad quicker" is to always get from the back, because usually that's where the longer lasting stuff goes and when it's stacked, get from the bottom. When it's stuff with longer shelf life like cereal and canned stuff, I don't usually bother. But I mostly do that with bread and dairy products. My mom taught me that when I was little."

– ariana61104

"Yes! Having to feed yourself and your household is getting too expensive and so tedious. I really admire my mom for making dinner every night when I was growing up. Thankfully I don't have kids so me & my husband are okay with just eating snacks sometimes."

– WildMoonWitch

So Sweet

"My parents split up when I was a kid in the 90s, and I remember going to my dads apartment in another city, and him cooking us steak on the grill. I always loved that."

"Once I moved out I was like "wait steak is how much? Why the hell did Dad keep feeding us this?""

"Then I realised he was eating poverty meals all week to treat his kids on the weekend."

"For his 60th birthday us kids pooled our money and took him to arguably the best fine dining restaurant in my province for the full tasting menu. Seeing him light up at trying things like caviar and truffles for the first time made me realize how much he has sacrificed for us."

"So yeah, steak is expensive."

– KFBass

"You guys are awesome; what a nice story. He raised y'all right."

– Augustus58

Where Do I Sit?

"Gotta be furniture."

– harrisrichard

"When I bought my house I only had a bed in the master bedroom and all my friends kept saying “you make good money just buy furniture, you could have it furnished in a month.” Then they themselves bought houses and now understand why it took me a year to furnish my house."

– Stetikhasnotalent

They Don't Need To Be That Nice!

"Rugs. Why did no one tel me a ‘nice’ rug was $18,000."

– BenSadfleck

"But it really ties the room together."

– alittlec4

"Dude, you could fly to Morocco and get a hand made wool rug for that much. What the heck are you buying?"

– mofukkinbreadcrumbz

"My dog isn’t going to want to butt scoot on anything cheaper than 10k."

– iamaliberalpausenot

Car Accessories

"New tires. Most unexciting $1,000 purchases I have ever made."

– PRCraig

"Also why the hell are oil changes so expensive now!?"

– johnstonb

"Bro fr I swear they were just $20 just a second ago now it’s like $60?? I asked my dad to teach me how to do it myself as a teen and he said it was so cheap that I might as well pay someone else. That didn’t last."

– greeneggiwegs

Walk It Off

"A good pair of shoes will set you back a bit, especially if you need more specialized ones for whatever reason."

– sedition-

Part Of The Family

"Pets."

– TeacherLady3

"They have gotten a lot more expensive due to expected care changing dramatically, and how we feel about them."

"The idea that you would put a pet down because a vet treatment costs too much is horrible now, but was pretty common in the past. Outdoor cats were the norm so they pretty much fed themselves and you had far fewer litter changes - litter was just clay, and you tossed the whole thing."

"Dogs ate table scraps and whatever they hunted down, or cheap as dog feed made of whatever ended up on the slaughter house floor (bones and all)."

"While purebreds were probably still super expensive, most people had a mutt or tabby, that the found/were given, instead of buying."

– RandomChance

"All true. But I waited until I was in my 50's and had raised my kids until I could afford a pet. Like kids, I wasn't going to be a pet owner until I could provide the care they deserve."

– TeacherLady3

The Cost Of People

"Kids."

"I'm amazed how my parents could afford me."

– only_stupid_answers

"My parents had 5 of us. It amazes me to this day, that my fathers paultry salary at the time had to support it all. How the f**k could anyone do that today?"

– The_REAL_McWeasel

Vroom, Vroom

"Cars, all grown-ups had them, maybe even multiple. I still think its insane that some cars are more expensive than a 2 bedroom apartment."

Tommer_nl

"I remember people restoring cars all the time when I was growing up. I would love to do it but even a rough condition rolling rust is super expensive now for even common things people aren’t super after."

Pup5432

"Yeah what the hell!? I feel like everyone's dad (mine included) had a project car that they were tinkering with."

"All of my 'tinkering' is to keep my single, daily driver running!"

disisathrowaway

Shiny Teeth And Me

"My teeth."

– Bumfuzzled_Hobgoblin

"Teeth are luxury bones, don’t ya know? Why on earth would regular health insurance cover them? Hahaha. The fact that vision and dental are separate from the rest of your body is absurd."

– Blackfoxx907

I See You!

"Glasses. I have awful eyesight and an astigmatism and got quite a shock when I had to pay for my own prescription glasses for the first time."

– Heavy_Mycologist_104

Time Flies

"Free time."

"As a kid I had loads of it and gave it away. now I can't afford even a minute !!"

– TokenFeed

"I took a toll road home today for an extra hour of free time and it was the best money I ever spent."

– squidkiosk

What I wouldn't give -- or pay -- for some extra free time!

businessman straightening tie in dim lighting

Ben Rosett on Unsplash

In the 1987 movie Wall Street, actor Michael Douglas' antihero Gordon Gekko infamously said:

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."

Wall Street GIFGiphy

The quote became a perfect representation of rampant corporate greed and corruption prevalent in the era during and after Republican President Ronald Reagan's stint in the Oval Office. The Reagan administration pushed deregulation and elimination of consumer protections.

While the government may not always step in to thwart shady or harmful businesses, consumers have one way to control them—their money.

Money talks.

Keep reading...Show less
Young kid laughing outside of school
Photo by Moses Vega on Unsplash

When we hear the term "class clown," we inevitably can think of a specific person who filled that role when we were growing up.

And in some cases, we can recall a time when they took their role much too far.

Curious about jokes gone wrong, Redditor Sharp_Emu6639 asked:

"When did the class clown go too far?"

Cancer Isn't Funny

"Kept making ‘Yo Mama’ jokes to my friend who’d just lost his Mom to cancer. My friend snapped and broke his nose."

- darksaber522

The Speed of a Fire

"When I was in High School, we had a Firefighter Explorer program where we could go and do shadow work at a few of the local departments."

"One all-volunteer department let some of us Juniors and Seniors respond to specific calls to do minor light work (hold stop signs, carry the ladders, fetch tools, etc.) and allowed us to have a code to their cipher lock. They gave the code to the four local kids so we could get there, unlock the doors, and open the bays and get trucks started and ready to roll."

"One night, the class id**t decided to go into their fire department and play 'pranks' on them. Took all their hoses off the trucks, strung them around the bays and looped them through the axles, discharged all the foam out of the main engine, and screwed with everyone’s bunker gear by swapping boots and removing the liners of structural gear among other things."

"Naturally, it ended very badly when a call came in for a structure fire and when the actual firefighters showed up the entire house was in such disarray that no truck could even leave."

"They ended up calling a town 20 minutes away to respond."

"Two people passed away in the fire. Naturally, all four of us were the top suspects, and it didn’t take the police long to figure it out as the place was full of surveillance cameras. He was arrested, his parents got the bill for all the damages, and we never saw him or his family again after that. They just skipped the area and vanished overnight."

"The fire department killed almost all ties with the Explorer Program and stopped allowing us to respond to minor calls. I went on to get certified as a firefighter and spent five awesome years with them where I still seasonally volunteer (during wildfire season) with them."

- JimSpieks

A Ruined Presentation

​"We had a student teacher for like six months when I was in sixth grade, and towards the end of her time with us, she had to record herself teaching a lesson to the class and then provide the video to her school (as a final exam or something)."

"We had this class clown who had to sit in the back, which happened to be near the camcorder. During the recording, he kept saying things like, 's**t, pen*s, f**k,' quiet enough for no one in class to hear but loud enough to be obvious on the recording."

"The student-teacher ended up having to redo the entire video and we had to sit through the exact same lesson a week later without the class clown present."

- sloppyjoesandwich

Deflected Trouble

"Art class. Teacher leaves. Class clown says, 'Dare me to eat this paint!?'"

"My buddy and I ignored him. He got real pushy about eating paint."

"We told him to do whatever the h**l he wanted. He stood on a chair and ate two bottles of paint before the teacher walked back in."

"He got marched to the nurse. We breathed a sigh of relief that he was gone."

"Later that day, my buddy and I got called to the principal's office. We were informed he was at the hospital getting his stomach pumped and it was OUR fault."

"I had never been in trouble before. I spent one hour in isolated detention to see if I 'wanted to share more,' literally just locked in a tiny a** room."

"I got a really long lecture about if I told someone to jump off a bridge and they did it, it would be my fault. I denied any fault again. Then I got put back in isolation until the end of the day."

"My parents went nuclear when I got home and told them what happened."

"The clown showed up the next day just grinning and laughing because he heard we got in trouble."

- Remz_Gaming

Boy Cries Wolf... Or Eats Candy

"Slightly off-topic, but our class clown choked on candy. We thought it was another one of his jokes."

"The whole class laughed at him, even the teacher. Then his face started to go red, his eyes got bloodshot, and he started slamming the table violently."

"Luckily somebody gave him the Heimlich maneuver and saved his life."

"Dude nearly died while everyone sat laughing at him."

- seneca_7

Enough Said.

"A classmate thought it would be funny to light somebody's mullet on fire in the middle of class."

- DrDWilder

A Graduating Vandal

"He came back to the school after hours and put caulking in the locks, and spray-painted pot leaves everywhere."

"Of course, he didn’t know there were cameras so it didn’t take long for him to be caught."

"This was right before graduation too so needless to say, he didn’t walk at graduation and his parents had a hefty damage bill to pay."

- Ozziwulf

Senior Prank Week Gone Wrong

"In my school district, it was tradition for the exiting seniors to pull a prank. One year, a few of the class clowns decided it would be funny to cover all the tile floors with cooking oil, cover the handrails of stairs with Crisco, and put large puddles of oil at the top of each stairwell."

"A girl already on crutches broke her jaw. We had to be evacuated to the bleaches outside. It was super not cool."

- QueasyAd7509

A Ruined Graduation

"Public school, small town. The graduating class only had 54 students in it."

"The kid smeared his s**t all over the bathroom. Walls, floor, sinks, everywhere. The principal had no way of knowing who it was, so the solution... they took the bathroom doors off the hinges."

- PhatWhiteCheeks

No Future in Serving Drinks

"He spilled formic acid on another kid who ended up with some light scarring on his chest."

"To be honest, it was a terrible call from the teacher to get him to carry it around for people to smell."

- CoolioMcCool

Substitute Teaching is Already Hard Enough

"They put staples in the substitute teacher's coffee... I went to school with some real monsters."

- This-Ad-1886

A Traumatized Teacher

"In seventh grade at a public school, our class was on the second floor."

"The class clown stood up in the middle of class, said 'I can't take it anymore,' and ran to the back of the classroom, opened the window, and jumped."

"The teacher screamed, and we all laughed. There was an addition to the building and the roof was under the window where the class clown was standing with a big grin."

"The teacher quit shortly after due to this and several other incidents in her class."

- OMOAB

Targeting the Substitute Teacher

"Sophomore year biology class, we had a substitute teacher during fetal pig dissection week."

"She had stepped out of the classroom for some reason while we were working on the dissection."

"The class clown took out his shoelaces, wrapped one end around the piglet, and rigged the other end to the door so that when the door was opened, his piglet would raise to eye level."

"He scared the teacher when she came back in and he was suspended for a few days."

- Ambitious_Misgivings

Caught Butter-Handed

"We had this kid who would take the small butter packets from the cafeteria and bring them to fifth-period history class. At some point, he would scoop out a glob with his pen and flick the dairy bullet on our history teacher's a** when he walked by."

"He did this probably five or six times without getting caught."

"One day, he f**ked up and scraped the teacher's butt with his pen."

"The teacher checked his pants and found the butter smear."

"The kid's eyes got super wide like a true deer in headlights. He had no excuse for why he did this prank. He just kept apologizing like it was an accident."

"Lol (laughing out loud). Who accidentally flicks butter on an old man's a**?? I'm pretty sure he never graduated. Not surprisingly."

- CannabisaurusRex401

Fun for the Students, At Least

"He stole the English teacher's substitute plans and rewrote them, giving us all a free period instead."

"Terrance, wherever you are, you're a f**king legend."

- jeconti

We can all agree that these pranks, jokes, and even assaults went much too far, whether the class clown was of minor age or not.

Sometimes a prank can be funny, when when it scares someone, severely scares them, or even injures them, it's obviously much too far. A joke is only funny if everyone involved is genuinely laughing.

Man on bke wearing an American flag with a woman running behind him holding an American flag.
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

When studying or learning about different countries and cultures, many Americans find themselves fascinated and/or perplexed by some of their customs and traditions.

Up to and including Canada having their Thanksgiving celebrations in October, Guy Fawkes night in England, or spitting on the bride for good luck at Greek weddings.

Many of these same Americans who scoff at the very idea of these customs might not stop to think that the tables can be easily turned, and visitors from abroad often find themselves in an equal state of confusion at some of our customs and traditions.

Redditor thunderpower1999 was eager to hear which American customs foreigners found to be the most baffling, leading them to ask:

"Non- Americans, what is an American custom that you find unusual or odd?"

The Only Thing More Ridiculous, Are Most Of The Candidats

"I find the length of your election campaigns so crazy."- Olivia123321

Presidential elections seem to be some sort of two year affair. It's out of control.

Most Meteorologists Would Agree

"My friend from India once asked me (an American) to explain Groundhog Day to her."

"I had no explanation- it’s just weird."- marmosetohmarmoset

Groundhog Day Winter GIFGiphy

Slowly Becoming Extinct Though...

"The waiter taking your card away to pay."- Vlakob

Trick Or Treat!

"I’ll never forget when a college schoolmate from China asked me 'is it true that you have a holiday where children dress up and go around asking for candy?'"

"I had never thought about it before but all I could say was 'yes, I guess we do…'"- EverLong0

They Think That's Strange, Ask Them What They Think About Our Health Care System...

"The Canadians I worked with in the oilfield were blown away by all of the television commercials for medicines."- rufneck-420

Happy Mental Health GIF by Jimmy ArcaGiphy

Gobble Gobble!

"Pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving."

"Cracks me up every time, and I've lived here 20 years now!"- sandithepirate

Strange Isn't Always Bad

"Let me pull the Uno reverse card on this."

"I am an immigrant, living in the US for a very long time."

"Getting your leftovers to go at the restaurants was a surprise to me."

"But my reaction was, 'yeah, why is that not the norm?'"

"Rather than “Americans are strange'."- BobTheInept

When You Think You Have Exact Change...

"Not including tax in the price tag."- klc81

The Simpsons Animation GIF by FOX TVGiphy

So Much For Camaraderie...

"The obsession with college sports…and in some places even high school or middle school!"

"I just came back from a work trip to Texas and one of my colleagues told me the football stadium for his daughter’s middle school held 20,000 people!"- Speedbird223

Valuing Children? The Very Thought!

"That new parents, especially fathers, are expected to show up to work within days of having a newborn."- kellygrrrl328

How Long Have You Got?

"Some things I found strange in America:"

"Lack of recycling bins everywhere."

"That homeless people have tents everywhere like streets (Washington really surprised me)."

"Ice filled to the brim of the cup."

"Anything and everything having a tipping option."

"Tipping in general."

"Tax not included in the price."

"Massive lawyer billboards on every highway."- effypom

The Office Yes GIFGiphy

Civic Duty, But No Civic Holiday.

You have holidays for everything but a day off for election is too much

Just Plain Gross

"Child beauty pageants."

"Just stop it."- LoadedGull

It should be said that most Americans are equally confused, if not downright horrified, by many of the abovementioned customs.

Which begs the question, what keeps us living here?

Perhaps Americans desire to stay put, in spite of a heavily flawed electoral process, a convoluted healthcare system, and winter being dictated by a groundhog's shadow is the strangest American custom of them all...