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.'
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."
"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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Professional Secrets From Customer Service Employees
"Reddit user Psychological-Name15 asked: 'Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?'"
Customer service jobs are not for the faint of heart.
Dealing with people at their angriest and rudest does not breed a positive work environment.
Customer service can be a downright toxic job.
And if it's not the customers setting your spirit on fire, it's the companies themselves.
Some companies seem to revel in creating discontent.
That's why these types of jobs have such high turnover.
Redditor Psychological-Name15 wanted the customer service reps out there to give us some truths, so they asked:
"Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?"
I want to know about the inner workings of Comcast!!
I loathe them!
Oh Dear
Jennifer Lopez Smh GIF by American IdolGiphyI used to work in tech support for Citi Bank. The people working there are not intelligent. My favorite interaction went like this..."
"Banker - How do I type the upside down I?"
"Me - Ma'am, that's an exclamation point."
slappy_mcslapenstein
The Crappy People
"In every CS job I’ve ever had: we will bend over backward to help a nice person. We will expedite any complaint, give maximum compensation, and harass other areas of the business for you."
"We will do the absolute bare minimum to help a shi**y person and if you’re really bad, we will do everything in our power to make sure you get nothing but what you’re legally entitled to and it will be a process to get that."
11catsinahumansuit
"I don’t work in CS but 100% the same for us in IT a nice person will get new stuff while a shi**y person will get questionable secondhand crap that will take 12 months to fix! I will make sure that you wait as long as humanely possible to have anything fixed!"
Sharp-Demand-6614
Go to Holiday Inn
"If you ask for a supervisor calling Marriott you will just get another person who is not a supervisor, but say they are."
cryptnificent
"Yep. I've seen this done numerous times across multiple industries. Usually, it only involves an actual sup if it's a genuine problem or if they want to make a point."
"The last job I had was in towing junk cars. Two of the inside buyers, one male, and one female, would bounce that sup card around constantly. Idk how no one ever put it together. We'd get repeat callers and repeat sellers so I don't know."
ItsBobFromLumbridge
Heartless
"Worked at a contracted call center for Centrelink. The manager told us to deny as many emergency payments as possible and they would back us no matter what. They were actively working towards a culture that despised the callers and churned staff to get heartless right-wingers who hated the poor."
Rizza1122
"I feel ya. My best mate is a quadriplegic. Centrelink denied his disability pension because he wasn’t disabled enough."
Less-Storage
Go to Home Depot
You Are Dumb Patrick Star GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"I worked at Lowes. I didn't know anything about anything in the electrical department yet that's where they put me without any training."
Eattherich187
Not training people is not just a Lowes thing.
There are too many unqualified people doing too many things.
Switcharoo
Drag Race What GIF by TAZOGiphy"Can confirm it's an unwritten policy for deli departments in Coles Supermarkets to change the written expiry dates on their tickets so they can sell out-of-code products at full price."
A Little Sunshine
"I worked at a call center for the billing department of a major internet and cable service provider. We were authorized to give up to $90 credit per customer on their bill but only as a last resort. Always remember to be nice to all customer service workers. You never know just how much they can help with a friendly attitude."
Axel_Dunce
"Former call center employee here. Highly accurate. Use your manners, and well fix your issue. Anything else, just makes us want to take longer, and you won't get a credit. Just because we are authorized, doesn't mean you'll get the credit for being an a**hat. haha. I've been verbally abused a few times for asking them not to swear at me. Lol."
Ok-Ad-7247
LELU
"I worked for a major telco company for many years in something called a ‘LELU’ which stands for Law Enforcement Liaison Unit. This 'unit' is pretty self-explanatory, but it essentially is a team who worked directly with the police/FEDS to monitor people's information for things such as obtaining communications history of call logs, SMS loss, etc."
"However, most importantly, the software we used, we as agents could directly see all your SMS texts, including MMS and their explicit imagery of whatever you were sending. This would include sexting, naked images, family photos, and everything. There were instances where people abused this position by stalking or 'monitoring' their SO’s comings and going’s."
MidniteMischief
Cookies!!
"I worked at a cafe chain called 'The Cookie Man,' 95% of their cookies arrived in cardboard boxes layered with bubble wrap. The last 5% arrived as pre-made dough that we would bake on-site to make the place smell like fresh cookies."
"I also worked at a cupcake shop. It's literally just packet mix that you add eggs and oil to before baking/piping pre-made icing onto. Don't waste your money on these places, 90% of these chain shops are the same and most are severely underpaying their workers (this is for Australia btw). Just purchase some packet mix from the supermarket and call it a day."
Frequent-Selection91
Look in the Back
"I was a Store Manager for a very large grocery chain and I can tell you that 95% of the time when customers complain to the manager, we may be professional and show empathy, and even resolve the problem."
"But then we usually just make fun of or talk crap about the person who complained to the other employees. And when a customer is really rude when we go 'look in the back' for something, we legit just stand around and talk to other employees, and make zero effort to look for the item."
A_Womans_Thoughts
From the Box
Kaitlin Olson Brunch GIF by The MickGiphy"I once worked at 'the area's premiere day spa'; the mimosas were made with Sunny D and not real orange juice, and the wines came out of a box."
SailorVenus23
Sunny D and champagne?!?!
What in the name of Lucifer?
Who does that?!
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
For anyone who has attempted to adopt a new habit, like rising earlier or exercising or eating healthier, they've likely heard the advice to make the change a little at a time, rather than trying to do it all at once.
Because truly, sometimes it's those smaller choices that make all the difference.
Redditor robbbala asked:
"What life hack changed your life?"
Alcohol Elimination Diet
"If you’re trying to lose weight, eliminate alcohol from your diet."
- dem4life71
"Uggghhhhhhhhh. F**k you, man. I know. I KNOW."
- r_u_ferserious
The Importance of Good Sleep
"When I was 16, I made the life-changing discovery that if I sleep eight or more hours before school, it will suck less. I've been doing it ever since."
- Princessss5
"I keep the same sleep schedule every day no matter if I work or not."
"I fall asleep right away and get better sleep from it."
- chaedog
Be a Good Example
"'Just because someone is doing it wrong shouldn't stop you from doing it right."
- in-a-microbus
"I'm a building inspector and I regularly run into guys who are doing something wrong and when I explain to them how it's supposed to be done according to the code, they always say, 'I've been doing it that way for over 20 years.'"
"I always respond, 'Well, I guess you've been doing it wrong for over 20 years.'"
- lukewwilson
Be One with the Sim
"When you're stuck in a rut of not being able to take care of yourself, I pretend I'm a Sim and someone is controlling me to fill all my bars back to green."
"For some reason, it works. It even works with cooking and doing the dishes. It's kinda fun to feel like you're leveling up in cooking or writing or something, too."
- Tired_tall
"This is how I’ve gotten by as an adult so far. Learned how to turn off the fear response sort of in order to get things done. Go into it mechanically, and deal with my anxiety later."
"Pretending to be confident does wonders. It doesn’t teach you how to handle personal struggles on your own, though. Still gotta figure that one out."
- TinyChaco
Become a Social Media Influencer
"Lol (laughing out loud), when I don’t feel like doing something, like a household chore, I’ll say, 'Hey guys, welcome back to my channel' like a blogger and pretend I’m showing people. It's stupid but sometimes it works."
- Ok-Mechanic9136
"Directions unclear. I used a meme as a model, and now my kitchen is on fire."
- jlp120145
Helpful Apps
"For fellow gamers: I've been using this app called Habitica. You have a little pixel avatar with health and experience bars and completing tasks will raise your experience while continuing bad habits will affect your health."
- WitherWithout
"It works when trying to make friends, too. You have to actually do stuff with people to fill your friendship bar. You have to compliment and say nice things and do your best to actually connect with them. And three to five interactions and activities really do help a friendship solidify."
- HarrisonRyeGraham
A Capsule Closet in the Laundry Room
"Buying one color of socks and undershirts saves so much time on laundry."
- kukukele
"Even better, buy also the same model of socks, so you don't even have to sort them."
- FireBone62
Pick Your Battles
"Care less."
"It leads to less stress and generally makes you better at what you’re doing. Also, caring less tends to help set boundaries, you’ll say yes to less nonsense when you don’t care."
- TurboEthan
"My friend and I always say we only have so many f**ks to give in this lifetime so choose wisely."
- starcielizabeth
The Importance of Exercise
"Exercise. Oddly enough this gets a lot of crap on Reddit sometimes, but it is an excellent depression treatment. Numerous studies have shown this and it's been shown to be just as effective at treating mild to moderate depression as medication is but without any side effects."
"People are not made to sit in front of screens all day. Just get out and walk for 30 to 45 minutes a day and it's super helpful. If you do weight training on top of that, it's a bonus."
- throwaway_4733
An Effective Evening Routine
"This is super basic, but preparing my kids' lunches and outfits in the evenings for the next day has massively reduced my morning stress level."
- mejok
"Setting out my next day's clothes at night is so great. Whether I wake up fresh as a daisy or groggy, I don’t have to make a decision, because it’s already made."
- ccx941
Useful Automation
"Automate everything you can. Bill pay, calendar reminders for taking the garbage out, schedule the dentist a year out etc. Not having to spend mental energy remembering to do stuff makes life WAY better."
- brycebgood
Clean Space, Clean Mind
"Not really a hack, but carving out a couple of hours on the weekend to clean out my car and place. Cleaning it all. Really made me feel better about myself."
- JMT2492
"It is surprising how some self-discipline helps mental health, at least in my experience. Helps my mind feel less cluttered if that makes any sense."
- B3TST3R
Understanding Anxiety
"Understanding most of my anger issues were actually caused by anxiety. Lack of control of a situation doesn't mean I need to mentally produce a solution, and act out emotionally when the situation doesn't go the way I expect."
"Shrugging and saying, 'I guess we're just going do it the dumb way today,' is so much less stressful than freaking out because I'm not in control. I just go with the plan unless it's going to get someone hurt. It's been years since I remember being angry at work, I still get disappointed but it doesn't ruin my day."
- Dizzy-Particular-258
Keep Reminding Them
"Go to the Dollar store. Buy three or four cards you can write 'I love you' in. Randomly give your partner one every once in and a while. Bonus points if you put them somewhere they’ll easily find them when you’re not there."
"It’s the little things."
- Chicagostupid
Gratitude Before Remorse
"Express gratitude instead of remorse, whenever possible. People enjoy gratitude and generally don't know what to do with remorse (and kind of feel like they're now responsible for making you feel better)."
"I.e. don't say, 'Sorry I'm late,' say 'Thanks for your patience,' and don't say, 'Sorry for bothering you,' say 'Thanks for your time.'"
- AWildRapBattle
Though each of these tasks are seemingly simple in and of themselves, it's clear from these Redditor's accounts that they've made a serious change in their lives.
Sometimes it's truly the smallest stone that makes the biggest ripple!
When we were much younger, we thought we could get away with anything.
To cover up something we did that we as children inherently knew was wrong, we may have said something that wasn't true to make us seem more innocent than we actually are.
It doesn't always go as planned, however, and hopefully, that was a good lesson to learn while the consequences are less harsh and people are more forgiving.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Drizzho asked:
"What is a 'little' lie that backfired on you when you were younger?"
These young students who thought they could get away with lying got schooled for their dishonesty.
Scholastic Setback
"Not sure if it's a lie, but in a big state-wide exam day in the 3rd grade the teachers said if you finished your test you go to recess for the rest of the day. I filled in random answers so fast and had the best day ever."
"The test results came back and I was put into special needs classes for 4th and 5th grade before anyone realized I wasn't developmentally disabled."
– hamletreset
Skipping Homework
"In fifth grade I wasn’t doing my homework and I got home from school one day to my mom and mamaw sitting in the living room with serious looks on their face. My mom told me to sit down and said that the school called and told them that I hadn’t been turning in my work. I instantly started crying and said that I had been turning in my work, just not my homework."
"They would always ask if I was doing my homework and I’d say yes even thought I wasn’t."
"My mom said, 'Okay, well you better start doing it.' And then proceeded to tell me that the school never called, she just knew I hadn’t been doing my work."
"Another time when I was fifteen my mom told me to fold the fitted sheets and I said that I would. I thought she was on the back porch so I just shoved them into the storage container and she was sitting right behind me watching me lol."
– RandomLurker04
Fake Pregnancy
"Told my kindergarten teacher that my mom was 'going to have a baby.' Not sure why. My mom volunteered at the school so when she came in a few days later, my teacher hugged her all excitedly and went "congratulations!" She had even gotten my mom a card and everything."
"It was really awkward when my mom was super confused and then had to explain to my teacher that she wasn't really pregnant."
– princessedaisy
Failing To See It Through
"I had an eye appointment in grade 2 and I told my teacher my vision was so amazing that the eye doctor said I had 40/40 vision. It was actually 20/20, but I fibbed and thought 40/40 sounded better."
"She made me read the next chapter of the book in front of the whole class because I had excellent vision."
– 19VWGTI
You can't always fool your parents.
Tongue Clicker
"My parents told me I clicked my tongue in my sleep so that when I pretended to be asleep I would click my tongue and they’d know I was awake."
– AcademicNose7
Leaving A Mark
"I wrote my sister’s name on the closet wall in crayon. I told Mom and tried to frame her. She said my sister can’t write yet. I still remember how stupid I felt for pulling that stunt. But it makes me smile, remembering. I will have to ask Mom if she remembered that. I noticed years later, she never painted over it."
– Ok-Essay-2352
Bad Liar
"In 6th grade, we had weekly behavior reports or something like that. It was weird. Had to get them signed and turned in every Monday morning. I was horrible at remembering to get my parents to sign it."
"One Monday morning, I realized I forgot to get it signed before my parents left for work, so I thought I could get away with forging my mother's signature. After the 10th try with a pencil, I was proud of how similar it looked! Turned it in that morning not thinking about all of the eraser marks left behind from my previous attempts."
"That night during a conversation with my mother, she looked at me and said, 'I'm really glad you got that report turned in on time today. It's funny how I don't remember signing it.' And then she left it at that. I immediately knew I was caught and the guilt ate me alive until I slipped a note under my mom's pillow confessing to my crime. Never heard anything about it, but I quickly learned I'm bad at lying."
– ComplexWest8790
Authorities had to get involved in order for the truth to come out.
No Mickey D's For You
"When I was young, was at a daycare for the summer, along with younger sister and brother. One day, early afternoon, I'm hungry after mom picks us up and ask if we can get McD's. Mom says no, I can wait for dinner. I insisted, 'but I'm hungry...' and then lied and said 'they forgot to feed me.' I claimed I was in the bathroom or something during lunch so I didn't get any.
"My mom went ballistic. She called the daycare right then, sitting in the car (early days of cellphones) and gave them hell. After she hung up - just as I was thinking I won - she declared we were not going to McD's, and I'd just gotten myself grounded for lying, to boot, and how embarassed she was at having just yelled at staff who had been good to us just because I wanted McD's, and that I owed them an apology the next morning."
"Not only did the daycare staff know they gave me lunch, they knew which of the 2 sandwich options I had eaten and exactly how many pieces (quarter-of-a-sandwich sized) I had eaten."
"Lesson learned, kids: don't lie. The truth will always come out and bite you in the @$."
– TellMeRUThatSomebody
Hard Evidence
"I forgot my keys and got locked out of the house in like seventh grade, Usually I'd just wait on the porch, read and do my homework because locked myself out at least twice a month, but it was a long day and I was tired, so I donkey kicked the door."
"When my mom and stepdad came home they asked why the door was broken and I said I didn't know, it was like that when I got home..So they called the police and the police matched my shoe to the shoe print."
"luckily I was generally a good kid and wasn't one for lying, so I just got yelled at a bit."
– MarshmallowFloofs85
Foul Ball
"Holy sh*t my story was incredibly similar! I broke a window playing soccer and lied that a burglar broke in. Police showed up and found the ball in the living room and put two and two together."
– Martini_b13
Prank Gone Wrong
"When I was elementary school age, my parents left me home alone while they went to pick up my sister from a school event. I thought it would be funny to prank 911. I called and said “There’s an escaped murderer in my house!” and hung up, laughing at my funny joke. I got an immediate call back. I panicked and answered the phone and hung up. They called back. So I tried to unplug the landline."
"Just as the police were pulling up, my parents pulled up too. The police pulled a gun on my dad and made him prove he lived there. I was so scared of getting in trouble, I made up a story that a man knocked on the door and tried to force his way in. I told them it was a white man with a dark beard and he ran off in the cornfield. I don’t think my parents ever knew I made it all up."
"The next day, the Oklahoma City bombing happened and I thought it was God punishing people because he was mad at what I did."
– Skr000
Of course the one time I fibbed in fifth grade, my teacher who knew about my deception right away shamed me in front of the whole class.
When she asked us who read the assigned short story, I raised my hand even though I didn't read it.
She called on me and asked me what I thought of the ending and how the character's situation might relate to me.
My blank stare said it all, and she singled me out in front of everyone and I had to write standards on the chalkboard, writing, "I will not lie to my teacher and I will do my homework."
I still haven't read the short story, but I never lied to my teachers ever since.
Many people prefer to know as little about what they're eating as possible, while others will do copious research about their food, namely how safe and hygienic what they just ate was.
Sometimes going down that rabbit hole of research, you might learn something about a product you just purchased or a restaurant that you wish you hadn't.
Then too, some of what you may read is purely urban legend and has absolutely no basis in fact.
Unfortunately, some information is merely the surface of shocking, disgusting secrets.
"What dark facts do you know about food industry?"
Unwanted Extra Ingredients...
"Sometimes the salads aren't bug free."
"There were times where I received crap for taking too long washing lettuce."
"Staff would wash a large container of lettuce like once or twice."
'I did it 3 or 4 times."
"I didn't stop until the water was clear and had no bugs."
"The others had a 'who cares' attitude."
"One time my boss needed my help and said to me frustrated, 'The lettuce is already washed, unpack it in salads quickly'."
"The lettuce looked dirty so I said to myself 'I can't sell this to people'."
"I washed it and guess what the water looked like."
"Dark brown from soil, 50+ dead gnats, a living and swimming spider the size of a penny."- FightStageYouTube
The Contaminants Will Not, Though...
"Worse I participated in as kitchen staff in a rather top-flight restaurant."
"On a slow summer Sunday afternoon, the boss sent us down to the walk-in meat coolers to spray paint the rusted walls."
"We were instructed to not remove the contents of cooler first; rather just shift the meat from one side of cooler to other."
"The coat of silver spray paint will come off during cooking."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
Season 11 Cooking GIF by MasterchefGiphyYou Have No Idea What's Been In There...
"The deep fryer grease is long overdue for a change; but it’s expensive to do so nightly."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
And People Go To Bed Hungry...
"The amount of waste thrown away every single day by grocery stores."
"I worked in the meat department of a decently sized grocery store and the waste their was nauseating."
"I sh*t you not, we would throw away an industrial sized garbage bin worth of meat, fish, and poultry every single day."
"The expiration dates dictated everything which is obviously a sensible policy to have, but they wouldn't do anything about it."
"They wouldn't donate it, let employees take it home, or make adjustments to the orders so we wouldn't have to throw so much away."
"The reasoning was always 'better have to much than not enough' which I guess makes a little sense, but when I am throwing away dozens of pounds of tenderloins, center cut fish and shellfish per night, its to much."
"Mind you, this is one department of one grocery store."
"Sorry for the rant but I feel like it needed to be said."- Zastrow_Studios
Waste Management Food GIF by UC DavisGiphyThere's A Reason They're "All You Can Eat..."
"In my country, buffets often sell spoiled food, like if the employees see mold on top of the sour cream, they just scrape it down and continue selling it."
"Also, if they sell cooked meat, they often leave them on the counter for days and add some oil to it every morning to look fresh."- Wooden_Potential_699
Don't Believe Everything You Hear... (But Remember, This One Was In Canada...)
"So odd to see all of the comments that chain places are dirty!"
"On the weekends I work as a server in the lounge of Boston Pizza (Canadian chain—not sure if there are any in the states) and when I started working there I was seriously impressed with the cleanliness procedures!"
"For one example, parmesan and chilli containers are emptied and cleaned every night, as well as salt and pepper shakers!"
"Kitchen protocols are very clean and organized as well!"- noobishpineapple
Happy Season 17 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyNot Exactly "Haute Cuisine"...
"You'd never want to eat at a restaurant again once you saw how much of your $70 meal for two came frozen and pre-prepared in plastic bags."- PhilipLiptonSchrute
It's Not Just The Greens That Need Washing...
"Grocery distribution warehouses are often extremely filthy and rarely cleaned."
"Wash anything canned, bottled or jarred!"
"They're filthy as hell, covered in microplastics, rotten food, mouse pee, bird sh*t, etc etc."
"I used to do maintenance on conveyor systems for a major US chain and they just send sh*t flying down the conveyors so fast that, its fairly common for glass to shatter because of the vibrations, food to fall off, etc etc."
"I saw Bats, Birds and Mice in that facility, but it was within tolerance of their health policy."
"Also saw people that were sick sneezing and coughing on products."
"Never saw a floor scrubber go through the warehouse the entire 3mo I worked there and I was doing alternating double shifts!"
"The only time I saw a broom was if there was shattered glass."- -Plunder-Bunny-
mice GIFGiphyRemember, All These Incidents Are Case By Case...
"As a former chef, I've got to say that I've never seen any of the horrible stuff mentioned here over my career (mostly higher end and fine dining establishments)."
"We on ocassion would have things like frozen airline chicken breasts brought in, but other than that we did all prep and cooking by hand with fresh ingredients from mostly local purveyors when possible."
"We also broke down and deep cleaned every night from the ranges to the floors to the wells to the vents."
"Every night."
"Myself and staff have always taken this sh*t very seriously, and it's always disappointing when you hear of this kind of behavior."
"Do better, people."- iamtehryan
They Trick You With The Language
"It’s more like misleading labeling."
"No sugar."
"Right?"
"Wrong if you read ingredients on a lot of these packaging it will say things like maltodextrin and dextrose."
"That’s actually a sugar."
"Because of regulation they only have to label it no sugar and people think it’s healthy, etc."- SavemebabyK
Maybe Just Stick With Sausage...
"Worked in a pepperoni factory 20+ years ago as an accountant."
"Found that the more MSP in the bill of materials, the lower quality and cheaper the product."
"Looking at the stuff, it looked kind of like an old square crumbly eraser if you remember those."
"So I asked what MSP was."
"It's 'mechanically separated pork'."
"When I asked what that means, they told me that after all the good meat is cut off of a pig, a power washer is used to blast the remaining flesh off the carcass."
"That's scooped up, dried out and packaged as MSP."
"Enjoy your next cheap pepperoni pizza."- Lahk74
Catering Happy Birthday GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyIt's very easy to decide not to eat at a certain restaurant, or dine at a certain grocery store owing to a less-than-appealing appearance.
That being said, many people might be surprised to discover that conditions at the "higher end" options might be as bad or worse.
Then too... if the food is delicious, and has yet to make you sick, then perhaps ignorance is, in fact, bliss.