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People Share The Unfortunate Realities Of Working From Home That No One Talks About

People Share The Unfortunate Realities Of Working From Home That No One Talks About
Helena Lopes/Unsplash

Having worked almost exclusively from home since 2015, there's a lot that goes into it that people don't realize.

It's not all athleisure and binge-watching shows while you type.


Reddit user TheBruceDickenson asked

"What is an unfortunate reality about with Work From Home nobody talks about?"

The downsides are real, especially if you're not ready for them and armed with a battle plan for how to make it through the unique challenges.

Zoom happy hour isn't anywhere near as awesome as drinks after work... but let's be real, just as few people attend.

Home Doesn't Mean I'm Off

Working Jim Carrey GIFGiphy

"When you work from home people assume you have the day off. 'Can you do...' "

"No, I'm working. I cannot do..."

"Just because I'm here working on the computer doesn't mean I can do your thing. Pay no attention to the fact that I'm browsing Reddit, it's part of my process."

- SuperstitiousPigeon5

"Oh my god yes. When I started WFH due to pregnancy struggles, I noticed that we would have a lot of people knocking on the door."

"I take calls so I’m not just lounging around. I would let the door go unanswered and then I would see my mother-in-law calling me and sending me messages that so-and-so will be stopping by for X thing."

"I would have to explain to her that I’m busy working and cannot leave my desk."

"Another thing that would happen would be her aunt, who was living with us at the time, would come to the living room to watch TV and videos on her phone. The fact that I had to tell her more than once that I am WORKING so she needs to watch TV in another room baffled me."

"I also had to explain that I have access to people’s medical information and how would she feel if she called her doctor’s office and the person she was having a conversation with was discussing her private information in front of others."

- Dreamvillainess22

"THIS. Even my family doesn’t get it."

“ 'Wanna meet for lunch?' Nope working."

“ 'Can you run to the store?' Nope working."

- dinahsaur523

Live At Work

Computer Working Late GIF by Cake FXGiphy

" 'Work From Home' can easily become 'Live at Work.' "

- TanLimes

"When we went WFH in March of 2020, I went from 50-60 hours a week, to an easy 60-70 hours/week."

"Can confirm, it sucked."

"Getting laid off from that toxic place was definitely one of the best things that happened to me over the last couple of years."

- Steve_78_OH

"This was such a problem for me. I live in a studio apartment and so my computer’s always right there."

"I would find myself getting up at 2 am to just take care of something. And just going back to the computer over and over."

"I had to give up space that I had for a desk and doing hobbies to have space for work. My office at work is at least twice the size of the space I work from at home."

"The one day I had to just sit in on some stupid senior town hall type meetings where no one expected me to engage but I was supposed to be listening and I did laundry and dishes and stuff while working. On that day, it was great."

"Every other day I’ve worked from home has ended up being at least a couple more hours of work."

"It’s kept me up at night, I get way more stressed, I never move more than the 10 steps from bed to desk to bathroom and loop and done."

"Hate it. Hate it so much. I never want to work from home if possible - at least not until I have much more space."

- GenericUser435

"I have been working from home since we'll before covid. I have an office, when I am done my day, everything stays in there, including work phone."

"This is how I maintain my sanity."

- captain_redballs

Partner Perspectives

Happy Well Done GIF by LaffGiphy

"When you and your partner both work from home, you miss that natural separation of your lives."

"Suddenly you have much less to talk about, because you're living your lives together more than previously, and then takes more active effort to maintain individuality and not regress into the singular relationship entity in all aspects of life which isn't healthy for anyone."

- opgrrefuoqu

"That's funny, we're sort of the opposite in that we talk a lot more than we ever did."

"It's so interesting and fun to hear him at his work and he likes to come through to my desk and have a wee rant about whatever he's been doing with."

"Also we get to go for lunchtime walks together and make each other cups of tea and I think it's really been very good for our relationship."

- bookschocolatebooks

Exacerbating Anxieties

Arrested Development Television GIFGiphy

"My wife works from home and it seems like a very sedentary lifestyle."

"Sometimes, she doesn't even have to get dressed. I don't know, it just seems like if you're already anxious or depressed, you can accidentally become a shut-in."

- PREClOUS_R0Y

"Can confirm."

"I’ve had to work from home on and off the past month. The depression nest is real."

- i_am_a_toaster

"This is fascinating to me. I've been working from home for almost 2 years and I'm dreading ever returning."

"I wear comfy sweats every day. But at the same time I still shower regularly, eat normally, and maintain my regular life. I just don't have to get all put together and drive to an office for 8+ hours daily."

- Evidence-Visible

"It’s a very sedentary lifestyle while working, but not a tremendous difference from than when I was in an office."

"Oddly, it’s forced me to exercise more because I have to actually burn energy and leave my house for an hour or so."

"Working from home works for some people and not others."

"But I absolutely hate commuting. Combine that with the lifestyle choices I’ve made to stay healthier while at home, it’s made me so much happier. I can’t stress how incredible it is not to commute."

"It’s a true life-changer to get two hours of your day back."

- SPAREustheCUTTER

Sick Days

Excited I Feel Sick GIFGiphy

"Working through what would have been sick days."

- whooligun

"This."

"I have COVID at the moment, first 2 days were write offs, but now I'm back to it because I can stay awake for longer than an hour at a time."

- A7exand3r

"I actually like this aspect of working from home."

"I rarely get too sick to actually work, but would still have to take time off if I thought I may be contagious. Now I can just work through those days and use my sick days as vacation on days of my choosing."

- SpaceCowboy58

Accidental Exercise

Emmy Awards Fitness GIF by EmmysGiphy

"I'm missing out on a lot of 'accidental' exercise."

"I used to walk to the train station, then from the station at the far end to the office. Have a wander around at lunch."

"Now, I walk from my bed to the shower, and from the shower to my office/man cave. If I had a Fitbit, it may get as high as 50 steps by lunch."

- A_name_wot_i_made_up

"Same boat here, I used to get 10k steps minimum going into the office. Now I hit 3,500 most days."

- Lars9

"I used to take the train to Manhattan and then walk from Penn station to the office. I would get my 10,000 steps in before I even got to work. Now I am far less physically active."

- subcow

"Yeah, that’s why I got a cheap stationary bicycle in March 2020 and now I ride it whenever I’m watching TV, to make up for my former commute."

- ThePowerOfStories

Jailed

Adam Ruins Everything Jail GIF by truTVGiphy

"You feel jailed."

"You work in your house, you clean the house, you cook for the family in the house and when everybody gets home from school/work you are the only one who did not get to go outside."

"Nobdy want's to come outside with you because they were outside all day."

- mageakeem

"This is my life."

"After a day inside my house looking at a computer, transitioning to being in my house to look at the TV is the last thing I want to do. I spend at least two hours just wandering around outside my house."

- reason2listen

"I’ve found that it helps to leave the house for a bit before and after work."

"Before work and the school drop off, I take a walk with the family. I don’t go back in the house until it is time for work. At the end of my workday I leave the house to do a short walk, then go back in and change clothes."

"Then I’m officially home. It sounds weird , but it works for me."

- notthatguytheother1

"I'm going to get annoyed with the place I'm working, no matter where that is."

"I'd rather it be somewhere impartial that I don't have to see when I'm not working. I don't need that negative energy towards my home, which is supposed to be my safe space."

- [user deleted]

Foregoing Fashion

Meryl Streep Sunglasses GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy

"I miss wearing my nice work outfits."

"The only reason I leave home is to pick up groceries, go to the gym, or go to church, so 80% of my wardrobe is going unworn."

"But I do NOT miss my 2+ hour round-trip commute, so I would never wear a pencil skirt again if it meant I had to go back to that traffic hell."

- DYITB

"Wow... I haven't seen a pencil skirt in real life for years now. I HAD seen a woman in business clothes around October."

"In Kroger, I heard the click clack of heels and it dawned on me what it was. A woman in a wonderful outfit was pushing a cart and talking on the phone like it was still 2019."

"It was like seeing a ghost."

- Columbus43219


"After the first few months of work from home pajamas freedom, I realized I needed to get dressed everyday to feel good about myself."

"So even though no one but my tiny group of friends see it, I still wear my work clothes and try to look nice."

"I think our very connected social media has us convinced you need to show off if you want to get dressed up, but people used to get fancied up to have dinner with their partner at home. And that just seems nice to me."

- Ihaveacatnamedslim

"Man, not wearing work clothes is like my number one favorite thing about working from home!"

"I've never liked business casual clothing and dress codes seemed so arbitrary to me. My work clothes were always in that category of 'Well I don't love it but it's good for work.' "

"Once I got a permanently remote gig I got rid of all those and got some nice, comfy lounge wear!"

- missluluh

Stranger Danger

I Dont Know Her Mariah Carey GIF by MOODMANGiphy

"I love working from home but it can give you an everybody is just a stranger vibes. Loss of connection to the outside world is real."

- orange728

"I've been working from home during the pandemic long enough that I've seen people come and go from our team without ever having met them."

- bluetista1988

"Completely agree with you on this."

"I’ve drifted apart from certain friend groups simply because I work from home and since I do, I get to work extra long and abnormal hours including weekends. I don’t even want to get ready and step outside after finishing my workday."

"Also, I joined a new company back in June 2021 working remote full time. We have a team of over 10 people and I’ve only ever met the team lead ONCE in person to pick up my laptop."

"Even though we have daily stand-ups and weekly face-to-face meetings where we enable our webcams, I still feel disconnected and not as closely knit as a team should be."

- jwt155

No More Networking

Snl Networking GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy

"Every discussion needs to be intentional."

"Forget about chance meetings in the hallway. Forget about casual lunches where you build relationships. Forget about contact with anyone outside of your immediate team."

"None of that will happen without you making an effort to set up time."

"If you don't take the time to manage things, long term working from home kills networking, culture and comradery."

- hiro111

"I started a job out of college in 2018 on site, built up relationships with my team members while working and when we went hybrid it was fine."

"Started a new job this past November and feel like I only 'know' one person on my team because he’s the only one who is willing to teach or reach out to see if I’m stuck on anything."

"Even with daily meetings to start the day I don’t “know” anyone else on this team. I miss my old team and the dynamic of it so much."

- Underscore330

Must Leave Work

Joanne The Scammer Running GIF by Super DeluxeGiphy

"When working in the office going back home was like a long waited nice thing to happen. I liked being back home and relax etc."

"Right now when I'm done with my work from home day job I feel like I need to leave this space because I've been sitting here all day since morning."

"I have a separate office room but still sometimes I have to leave the place for a walk, grocery etc even though the weather is bad and/or I don't need to buy anything."

"It's difficult to stay home even though I may need to do something else inside like cleaning or repairing stuff."

"I'm done working. I need to leave work."

- pawkorydzek

A Method To The Madness

Not How It Works Season 25 GIF by The BachelorGiphy

"Working with people who aren’t used to working from home."

"At my old job, 50% were remote so there was just a way of doing things, even pre pandemic. Group chat (slack or teams), cc everybody on an email, rarely pick up the phone for a 1:1."

"Current job, they still behave like an office environment with one-off conversations and not keeping everybody up to speed. It’s disorienting and way more subject to Bullsh*t politics."

- pivazena

Ignoring The Chorus

Schitts Creek No GIF by CBCGiphy

"My employer keeps having meetings where they try to convince us how everyone hates working from home and then just ignores the chorus of people saying that isn't true. We're good here at home, thanks."

- monosyllabicmonolith

Time Zone Trouble

Debi Mazar Aftershow GIF by TV LandGiphy

"I work in a time zone that isn't the same as our company headquarters."

"If I was an in office employee, when I leave, done, no more meetings. But nothing is stopping PST folks from making a 6-7pm EST zoom meeting that I feel obligated to go to."

- NCmimsy

Separate The Stress

"When you work from home, your home and safe space also becomes your office. It’s hard to detach yourself from work stress when you just worked all day at the dining room table now you’re trying to enjoy your dinner at the same spot."

"That’s what I hated most about working from home. And this is an even bigger issue if you have a high stress job or one you dislike."

- whoknows947

The Only Negative

Surprised In Trouble GIF by NickelodeonGiphy

"I started working from home in March 2020 and I love it."

"I don't have to drive an hour and a half each way anymore. I don't have to wear uncomfortable clothes. I have more time to clean the house and keep up with it during the day."

"The only negative, if you can even call it that, is that I end up working extra most days. Instead of shutting down at 4:57 to beat traffic leaving the parking garage, I'll often work until 5:15 or 5:30 or even 6 to get something done."

- Codyh630

Factions

Pirates Fleet GIF by Sea of ThievesGiphy

"What I've seen around my workplace is that for those of us who, by their industry, cannot work from home, those that can are highly resented by those who can't have that luxury (and it IS a luxury)."

"When the sometimers come back into the office for whatever reason, they're shunned by those that go in every day, almost hostile towards them."

"Those that WFH a majority of time are treated like they're a part of the cleaning crew. They're in the workplace poking around a little, not talking much and then they're gone."

"There is a clear separation now between the (dare I call them) factions."

- Lincoln_Park_Pirate

If you've been working from home for a while, share some things others may not realize about it.

We'll see you (and your jammy pants) in the comments!

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The All-Time Biggest First Date Red Flags

Reddit user APT3993 asked: 'What’s the biggest red flag you have seen on a first date?'

When you're on a first date, one of three things will happen. Either you'll like the person and want to go out again, you like the person fine, but not romantically, and won't want to go out again, or the person will display a behavior that is so off-putting (or make you genuinely fearful), that you won't even want to see the person ever again.

My best friend and I are basically the same person, so when she met a guy who he had a lot in common with, she figured I'd like him too and set us up (I had previously told her I was okay with being set up).

Well, it turns out the guy actually hadn't read any of the books, watched any of the shows, or heard of any of the bands he talked about with my friend. I didn't understand why he would lie about all these things until I left the table.

When I came back, he was on the phone with someone and he was telling them he only told her he liked all those things because he liked my friend. When he found out she was in a relationship, he decided he'd let her set us up in the hopes that he could date me until my friend and her boyfriend broke up, and then he could swoop in.

I just walked out and when he finally texted me asking what was up, I told him I overheard him, then proceeded to block him. My friend was mortified to hear about the date, and I decided never to be set up again.

I'm not the only one who has gone on a date and discovered a huge red flag. Redditors have experienced this too, and are eager to share their stories.

It all started when Redditor APT3993 asked:

"What’s the biggest red flag you have seen on a first date?"

Dates Of Relationships Past

"They won't shut up about their ex."

– SiriusGD

"Had this happen to me on a 2nd date."

"Asked if she could use my computer, I said OK. Then she pulls up her ex's FB profile to browse through it, and she spent the next 10 minutes comparing me to him, saying he she thinks that I will turn out to be controlling and manipulative like him because we both grew up on a farm and we both like cars."

"Ummm, wut?"

– alwaysmyfault

"He angrily told me I would “love” his ex wife. Proceeded to cry while talking about her. They’d been divorced for 5 years. I genuinely hope he is doing better."

– TX_Mothman

"She constantly compared me to her ex, and sat on her phone for most of the night, then expected me to pay for her two bottles of wine, plus really expensive meal and desert."

"She asked me out btw, not the other way around."

– Stuspawton

I Know What I Want

"The guy who tried to change my order with the waitress because he didn’t think the drink I’d asked for was sufficiently feminine."

"I ordered beer. I don’t remember exactly what he thought I should have, maybe white wine? It was a long time ago."

"The waitress was looking at me like ‘You heard that sh*t too right?’ and I told her actually I wouldn’t have anything, thanks, and I left."

– MaggieLuisa

"He changed it FROM A BEER TO SOMETHING ELSE!!?! That’s amazing to me. Like it’s bad enough if you ordered an IPA and he said, “I dunno, sweetie, your delicate female taste buds probably can’t handle the hoppiness. Hey, honey, why don’t we get the lady a Coors.”"

– AdaptiveVariance

The Position Of Boyfriend

"We met for drinks after work (since we both work in the same industry) and she showed up with a list of interview questions. She literally had a checklist on her phone for me to fill out. I thought she was joking at first, but the questions were extremely personal, like how many sexual partners you've had, the oldest, the youngest; How much money you made the previous year; If you owned a house, a car, a boat, a plane; Did you have a criminal history; Where do you parents live; Are they alive; Who did you vote for in the last election; All kinds of stuff like that."

"I even proposed that we could just use that as a conversation starter and we could work through them like that as a fun way to get to know each other. I was really trying. She tells me that she's not answering any of them because I'm trying to date her, not the other way around!"

"I laughed out loud thinking she was kidding, then realized she was absolutely serious. I wished her all the best in the dating world, chugged my beer, overtipped the waitress, and left."

– OkFrostina

"Yeah, I would really push that to the limit without getting law enforcement involved. Start with all the times I have ended up in rehabilitation, my abductions by UFO, the wild, kinky sex partners I have had, the millions I have lost before living under a bridge, etc."

– passporttohell

Scary As Hell

"Had a guy who insisted on buying the most expensive pizza at the restaurant despite my protests then kissed my head when he walked past me to use the restroom. After dinner we walked along the waterfront, he kissed me and then immediately tried to choke me "to be sexy". First date, last date."

– Twours1944

"What the sh*t?? Who taught this idiot that choking in public on the first date all without consent is a great get-to-know-you move??"

– villainsimper

Stranger Danger

"This was literally the day of a first date. But I had matched with an older man when I was still on dating apps. We planned to go on a hike on a very beautiful day by the water. On the day of the date, he wanted me to leave my car at his place, while he drove us through the backwoods so we can beat traffic. I said I’ll be happy to drive myself, and he laughed and canceled. His reasoning was he’s been stood up so many times and he didn’t want to waste his time and me not show up. I said “okay!I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope you find what you are looking for. “and blocked him."

"The red flag was when he genuinely got upset that I didn’t want to ride in a car with a stranger through the backwoods for our first date."

– Jesusdoescrack

"You should have said “you fear being stood up, I fear being murdered.”"

– The_She_Ghost

Truly Gross

"He pointed to another woman at the bar and said she was his ex. But she happened to be my lesbian roommate."

"Yes, I told him I knew he was full of it cuz she was my roommate, and I pointed out her girlfriend who was there with her. I don’t remember what he said exactly but he had no choice but to admit he was lying. I wish I had asked why he said it. I assume to make me jealous? Like that’s a good way to start a relationship? Obviously, that was the only date."

– Grapegoop

​Those Who Came Before

"He told me he had been divorced 5 times. I'm taking the advice of 5 women I don't know."

– 13liz

"The way you phrased this killed me 😂"

– CumulativeHazard

Got Her Feeling Emotions

"Does bursting into tears after I told them I didn't like a TV show count?"

– JumboDakotaSmoke

"I'm curious as to what TV show it was?"

– ladydamnation

"Grey's Anatomy."

– JumboDakotaSmoke

"bursts into tears"

– akennelley

Um...What?!

"He took me to his house (he lived with his mom) just so HE could eat dinner with his mom while I sat in the living room. I listened to them eat and talk about my looks like I couldn't hear them. Apparently, I was pretty but "needed to be taken down a peg or two." I said my period had started so I had to go home. A future abuser and his enabler mommy."

– BigMcLargeHuge77

Ew...Just Ew

"We went to a movie. He spent the first half with his hand inside one of his socks, then pulling it out and smelling it, putting it back in, repeat, repeat."

"Then he spent the second half trying to hold my hand. With his sock hand."

– Deleted User

Bad From The Start

"She asked if I could order for her because she was uncomfortable talking to the brown waitress.

"Added: Same girl would not stop talking about Kardashian gossip even though I told her I know nothing about them and didn’t care to know."

– CanaDoug420

Stop, Theif!

"He showed up drunk with a bouquet of flowers he admitted he stole from his mother's flower shop."

– LookAcrossTheWater

​Cringe-Worthy

"Went to a charity coffee shop for a date. It was “free” coffee where they just ask for donations which went toward their org’s efforts to feed and house people. They explained this to him and asked if he wanted to make a donation for our drinks."

"He said no."

– Shredded_Wheaties

Oh, yikes! I would be so embarrassed!

In fact, I'm kind of losing faith in dating as a concept.

people sitting inside plane
Hanson Lu on Unsplash

Commercial aviation began in the late 1920s, spurred on by early aeronautical companies and several record breaking solo flights.

Since then, there are few places on Earth that can't be seen or accessed by plane. Only icing limits humans from low altitude flights over certain areas like the polar regions, while a lack of landing locations keeps some areas accessible to only the smallest pontoon planes.

From January through December 2022, United States airlines carried 853 million passengers. Globally, air travel reached a high of over 4.7 billion passengers before the pandemic limited flights.

Since then, global air travel has rebounded to over 3.7 billion passengers.

With almost 100 years and over a trillion passengers, the people who crew these flights are bound to have seen everything happen that possibly could at airports and on a flight.

Keep reading...Show less
A skeptical man
Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash

We've all heard our fair share of conspiracy theories, from thoughts about the White House to aliens and beyond.

But some conspiracy theories have become truly strange and nuanced, and it's hard to stop listening to the person explaining their beliefs, because as weird as some of these theories sound, they could almost by some stretch of the imagination make sense.

Intrigued, Redditor Accomplished-Leg-991 asked:

"What's the weirdest or craziest theory you have heard of?"

Seems Plausible.

"Traffic barrels are left up for so long because the Department of Transportation bought too many and has no place to store them."

- dailysunshineKO

The Grass Is Always Greener

"The truck driver that delivered my flooring gave me this gem: The push for green lawns in the US is by Big Pharma."

"The cliff notes version is that to get green grass, you need pesticides, pesticides cause cancer, and cancer is good business for drug companies. It was like a 20-minute long rant to get to that conclusion and it was an adventure."

- StillBald

"I need to drink with him for one night. That cannot possibly be the only banger he's got."

- karenalphas

The Ice Wall

"Recently TikTok kept giving bizarre suggestions where people trying to prove Ice Wall in Antarctica that Earth is bigger and something is hiding behind ice wall in Antarctica… What the h**l."

- XenophanesJunior

"It's a weird subset of flat earthers, who believe in an 'infinite plane' that lies beyond the ice wall (guarded by NASA, of all people), and the reason? The infinite plane has endless amounts of gold mines and gems they can mine for infinite money."

- bag2d

Tinkering with the Algorithm

"That Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen, and they made the movie 'Frozen' so that when people googled 'Walt Disney Frozen,' the movie would come up first."

- LizardPossum

"They updated this theory, but now it is with Taylor Swift. It basically says that she went to that Kansas City Chiefs vs NY Jets game so that when people search 'Taylor Swift Jets,' it will only show news about the game, and not about her going everywhere with her private jets."

- abirll

"It's so wild now these rely on people being completely unable to go to page two of a Google search."

- LizardPossum

The All-Important Celebrity Weddings

"I had a coworker that fully believes the government controls the weather so celebrities can have nice weddings."

- pinballgizard

"Out of all the reasons to control the weather, celebrity weddings are a top priority for the government."

- Suspicious-Craft4980

The Truth of Social Security Numbers

"Your social security number indicates which bank you were sold to at birth."

- compuwiza1

"Ah, sovereign citizens..."

- CaptainMikul

Dinosaur Bones, Huh?

"Dinosaur bones were placed on earth by Satan to trick people into 'abandoning' God."

- River_7890

"There's a big American Church whose members believe that dinosaur bones exist because God made the Earth with leftovers from a previous planet."

"Mental gymnastics to justify their belief that the Earth is only 10'000 years old and C14 dates dinosaur bones as being millions of years old..."

- mrsrosieparker

"I'm absolutely not shocked. The person who told me jumps through so many mental hoops to try to disprove science. She thinks that the government is secretly working for Satan to convert people, too."

"Oh and of course Disney. She's crazy overall. Not just with religious stuff. I could tell so many stories of her crossing lines and saying off-the-wall things. I try to not associate with her as much as possible."

- River_7890

The Worst Kind of Waiting Room

"The USS Philadelphia Experiment and the US army soldier who claimed he was in an interdimensional waiting room as a greeter for eternity until he was suddenly transported back onto the ship."

"People claimed it was a cloaking device gone wrong and left men's bodies trapped within the steel of the boat upon reentry."

"I never looked into it but read about it in a book that had a statement like, 'Nothing in this book is true but it's exactly the way things are,' or something similar. Always thought it was the wildest conspiracy theory ever when I was a stoned teenager reading it."

- Hereforthecake

Phantom Time Conspiracy Theory

"There’s a whole podcast with hundreds of episodes dedicated to this subject. Worth a listen. One of the wildest ones is that Charlemagne’s grandson moved the calendar forward ~300 years and thus the Dark Ages never happened."

- seandowling73

Gives the Shortcut a Whole New Meaning

"Met a dude at the gym who believed that the CIA had built tunnels throughout the Earth's core, connecting all the major cities. Was some kind of global takeover scheme."

- Latham74

Infathomly Large Trees

"Mountains are all the stumps of ancient fossilized enormous trees."

"I'm absolutely obsessed with this theory. It's connected to flat earth, but flat earth isn't a requirement for this theory nor do most flat earthers believe it."

- inkstainedgoblin

Under Control

"We're all infected by parasites that feed on our stress hormones released by negative emotions like guilt, sadness, anger, fear, and so on. They control our minds and, thereby, us to an extent. The only way to combat them is by being aware and questioning if your thoughts and actions are truly your own thoughts and actions."

- 42clickslater

Enough Said

"The one about JFK Jr. coming back to help Trump win the 2020 election is still tops in my book."

- pinkyknee

Big Pharma Chickens

"That owning chickens is the gateway drug to believing conspiracy theories."

- sarcasawm

"As someone who has owned chickens, the only thing they're a gateway drug to is getting more farm animals."

- CelticArche

"That’s what Big Goat wants you to believe."

- MissRockNerd

"Big Farm-A."

- cannedcream

As wild as some of these conspiracy theories were, there's no denying that they're fascinating, some for the simple fact that they're almost plausible.

They at least get you thinking in a new way, and perhaps that isn't such a bad thing every now and then.

Two guys hi-fiving each other
Tyler Nix/Unsplash

A good friend is not always the one with whom you share laughs and fun experiences.

The friendships you want to keep include those who won't abandon you in a time of need or someone who supports you in a variety of complicated situations where not even a family member can be relied upon.

Unfortunately, many of us have experienced a time when a person's true colors revealed to us that the so-called "friend" we've always trusted wasn't one at all.

Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Aesthetik_1 asked:

"What made you instantly realize This 'friend' is not a real friend?"

These Redditors didn't realized at the time that they were being used.

Recurring Favor

"When he only called me when he needed something. It didn't hit me until much later."

– Queasy-Location-9303

"I have one of those 'friends'. She always gushes about how we're friends but she never initiates contact unless she wants me to do something for her."

– StiffAssedBrit

The Errand Girl

"Several years back, I had a friend who introduced me to this new boy she was seeing. Maybe a year later, their relationship blew up in a fury of bs (whole other story), but by the time they split, I was equally friends with both of them. He and I were both photographers at the time, so the friendship was instantaneous."

"One day we started talking about her, neither positively nor in poor taste, just kind of in general."

"He then asked me 'when she texts to hang out, what does she usually want to do?'"

"I paused. I thought. Holy sh*t, she'd either be asking for a favour or for help with some kind of errand. I was her f'king errand girl."

"She texted me a month or two later, just a 'hey'. I never responded. She never texted again."

"I'm still friends with her ex, though. That dude is genuine as heck."

– ChamomileBrownies

Testing The Friendship

"When you decide to let them be the one to reach out. And you never hear from them again."

– plzdontgetmad

"Yup. Made plans with a friend three times, she cancelled each time. I finally told her to let me know when she was free, we haven’t hung out since."

"She was a good friend for the season, but not a lifetime."

– NoMrBond3

People were shocked to discover the moment they realized they didn't really know who their "friend" was anymore.

The Chaperon

"I had been giving rides to a girl I thought was my friend. To and from school in high school. She wasn’t really suppose to ride with other teens but due to her mothers work hours we could easily pull this off. I thought we were close."

"One day while on the way home my brakes went out. We were about 2 blocks from her gated neighborhood. I managed to roll in safely and parked at her house to call a tow truck."

"She flipped. Told me I couldn’t stay. She knew my brakes were not working as she had also been terrified when we couldn’t stop. She said she wanted to go to a movie that weekend with other friends and her mom would ground her if she saw me at the house. I offered to lie and say I only stopped there as my car malfunctioned on my way home. I had to pass her neighborhood on my way home anyways."

"She refused. Started to scream at me. She didn’t care what happened I had to go. Started to call the guard at the front gate to tell them I had broken in and was threatening her."

"I left her and that friendship that moment. I managed to roll my car slowly to a mechanic not too far away but never forgot the shi* feeling of knowing I could have been seriously hurt and she wouldn’t have cared. She wanted to see a movie. She had the nerve to sheepishly call and ask me a couple days later if I could give her a ride to school. Told her I was too busy and no longer had time… after all I wanted to help her obey her mom's rules. She rode the bus til she graduated."

– Duffarum

Unwilling Companion

"I had this friend in school. Each year there was a funfair in our city, all students received vouchers for a drink and something to eat. This friend complained the whole day that she had no one to accompany her to the funfair. So, stupid me offered to go with her."

"Once we arrived we met another friend of hers. And another, and another... until we were a group of 5 or 6 people. I didn't know anyone and was basically just walking behind them. This friend took me aside and said, 'My friends think you are annoying, and we would like you to leave.'"

"It was a pleasure to see that she failed her exams a year later."

– Auldale

There's the spirit of competition, but when it's taken seriously, we're no longer game for these friendships.

I Can Do It Better

"Constantly 'one ups' me. A real friend is happy for you."

– Complex-Half8338

"That one time I got a fake bag but she doesn’t know and then 2 weeks later messaged me that she also bought a luxury bag… Then when I got a bf, she also went to get a bf within 3 months which is TOTALLY fine but she constantly messages me for us to go on a double date. Anyways, sadly they didn’t last long :( I mentioned that I wanted to go to Cuba, she went ahead and bought herself a ticket to Cuba but I didn’t end up going lol"

– Hot-Coffee-8465

Never Steal The Spotlight

"When they loved the idea of me shining, but behind their shadow, I could never do or achieve anything above them, and when I did, they would get jealous."

– Jasssin23

"Yes! I recently ghosted a friend because of this kind of behavior. She was trying to compete about EVERYTHING. Like she bragged about how her mom’s car accident was more traumatic than my elderly MIL’s - which is not even an appropriate thing to compare. She would also try to 'outshine' celebrations of my milestones and was mean to several of my friends for no apparent reason. She was a loose cannon at best."

– thefifthtrilogy

All About Me

"ALL she talks about it herself and her problems. Granted she has a a lot but never asks about me or my life until she realizes she just bypassed my attempt to want to talk about something in my life bothering me and continued to talk about herself."

– PokemomOnTheGo

People can just be so rude.

"When I got really sick. Very few came to help."

– Tofflus1

"Same here. I got cancer and everyone I knew was over the top supportive for the first six months and then all but three of my friends just vanished. I saw one of them at a Halloween party while I was going through chemo and she told me that my bald head made people uncomfortable. I was dressed as Captain Picard, it was awesome and she ruined it."

– CatGoNoTail

Not Missing High School

"At lunch, she was sitting with her boyfriend, I was sitting with our friend circle. She came up to me, guilted me into sitting with her and her boyfriend, and then proceeded to ignore me for the rest of lunch."

"She didn't care about me, she just didn't want me talking to the friend circle that she had abandoned for her boyfriend. When I pointed this out to her, she called me a jealous b*tch."

"Ah, high school. How I don't miss thee."

– Symnestra

These examples actually served as a good reminder for me to take a moment and assess my friendships.

Not so much about how I've been treated but more about checking myself to see if I'm respecting the people I call my friends.

We've all been guilty of casually mentioning future plans to get together. I embarrassingly wait for people to initiate something, which is terrible.

Show up for your friends. Make them feel important like the individuals they are.